Resident Evil 4 (PS2) Review
Resident Evil 4 remains one of the most important video games of the 21st century, and of video games writ large. Leon S. Kennedy's campy romp through rural-ass Spain begins with a cop pissing on the side of the road and end with jetskis and rocket explosions.
The worst part of RE4 is the way you constantly must enter the pause menu to change weapons to fit the current moment. The combat's dynamism is hampered by these constant interruptions. Alongside my frustration with the constant pause-menu equipment shuffling I was consistently surprised by inorganic fights could be. You will exit a completely empty area and inexplicably half a dozen villagers walk through the door behind you. The way the game pincers you in these moments is tense and fun, but cheap. I don't hate it, it's just awkward.
"The PlayStation 2 port of RE4 is a graphical downgrade from the Gamecube original," say some. I don't care and unless you made me look at the two side-by-side, I wouldn't know; the PS2 version rocks.
RE4's soundtrack is one that manages to impress and enforces the oppressive atmosphere across the game.
Resident Evil 4 was one of the first games to employ a close-up, over-the-shoulder third person camera angle and Capcom opted to heavily restrict that camera as a result. I get why they did it. Returning to this style after nearly 20 years of games using similar cameras and perspectives was challenging for me. The inability to move the camera while reloading coupled with being unable to swap shoulders and the narrowing FoV led to a few too many deaths to enemies that were off-screen and unknown to me. Bosses were a mixed bag, with each one having enough jank built into their encounters to cause more friction and frustration than joy when I overcame them. "Big Cheese" Méndez was a fuckin' pain in my ass.
To be fair I was very adamant in not using my only green herb mix. Some of that was my fault! But other times it felt like he was able to fuck me up from further away than I expected and way faster than I anticipated.
I'm complaining a lot, so let's shower one of the most acclaimed games of all time with some more acclaim. The attache case inventory, weapon management/upgrades, and the game's overall economy are so fantastically balanced and well thought it. Finding treasures and making just enough money to buy a new big upgrade for the Red 9 always felt good.
"Oh, wait this RPG is just here for me...? What bullshit are you going to throw at me next?" is a real thing I said out loud to a room full of myself and my cat in 2024 when RE4 handed me an RPG during Chapter 3-3. The game anticipated my question, and then I promptly didn't use the RPG for hours. Telling myself that "now was not the right time" to use it.
Resident Evil 4 is not a game that can be escaped. It's a black hole of game design, warping how we see every game that even approaches similar mechanics, styles, and design. There are hundreds of games and thousands of designers that would not be here without it. I started playing RE4 again on a whim while my girlfriend was playing on our Switch. I put at least two hours into the game that night, its age and my quibbles with some decisions pale to the hold it had over me after just a few minutes.