Last night at 4:00 a.m., I *finally* finished Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition. Finishing the story mode unlocks some bonus missions featuring secondary characters, which I haven't played yet.
This is the first Resident Evil game I've ever played. I played it a lot before Christmas '07, but then put it away for months, and actually bought+finished games in between. The slow pacing kinda got to me. But I was determined to finish it off when I had the time. .. so now, summer '08 and I finally got around to it.
A common complaint from gamers is that games are too short. Well, if you're looking for a long game, Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition fits the bill... it's at least 10-20 hours if you're really fast. If you're like me, or you want to check everything out, it'll take 30+ hours to complete.
But part of what makes it long is the gameplay... it's designed to be slow-paced. The control scheme is intentionally difficult & clunky; you can move, or shoot, but not both. Movement is handled by the left analog stick, but when you want to shoot, you hold down the B button & it goes into a "shooting mode" where the analog stick controls the camera, and you use the Wii remote to target. This control setup does work really well on the Wii, I haven't played any other version but I have to say that the Wii version must be the definitive one... I can't see it being any easier to use the right analog stick to aim under these circumstances.
The slow pacing of the gameplay is compounded when you have to account for EVERY bullet... you simply cannot waste a shot; every one has to count. It's very stingy, and counter-intuitive to the gamer instinct to just blast away.
The production quality of this game is pretty darn amazing. Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition is the best-looking game I have for my Wii; it blows me away that this is a port of a Gamecube game. I never thought the Gamecube was capable of such a nice-looking, sounding game that compares to the best from the Xbox.
The combination of intentionally clunky controls, difficulty & high production values is probably why Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition has gotten extreme reviews; many are very good, but there are lots of complaints and "not for me"s too. This is a game you either really love or would find too frustrating, which I think is a Capcom hallmark. Now I can take the plastic off of Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles and bust out my Wii Zapper!
Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition cutscenes/gameplay footage:
later
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