Resident Evil 4 Wii

[miffy495]

Got it this afternoon and began to play. Just turned it off. Already almost to where I was after two weeks of play on the GCN. The game just feels right on Wii. It was already a great game. Hell, it better be as I've now bought it twice. Now it's surpassed great to fucking incredible. The controls, 480p, and widescreen definitely help.

The only bit I dislike is the waggle-run in cutscenes. The interactive cutscenes are fine when you're just pressing a button to dodge or something like that, but having to swing your arm wildly to outrun a rolling boulder is a bit odd. Especially when you need to hit a button to dodge at the end of the run. I don't know about you, but when I swing the remote as quickly as the game requests, I choke up on it, making button presses just awkward enough to fuck up. I've died twice, and both times were at one of these boulder segments.

But yeah, that's one minor complaint. Everyone with a Wii, go for this one. It's cheaper than most Wii games by about $20, and probably one of the Wii games I'm happiest with so far. I think the best thing I can say about it is that I don't regret that I've paid for it twice. Can't wait to finish story mode and check out those Ada Wong missions and the other bonus stuff they've included.

In conclusion: :tup:

[SpiderMonkey]

How do the controls compare for you? I bought the GCN version earlier in the year, but only got round to my second major chunk of play last week. What surprised me was that Eurogamer marked the Wii version down to 6 or 7 because of bad controls ... and yet, the Gamecube controls are pretty damn clunky in their own right.

[brkl]

I read the Eurogamer review. That guy must have two left hands or really, really suck at games. The Wii controls are great.

I really love the game. The The Thing inspired baddies are superb. My only quibble would be that the game's wonderful atmosphere is marred by silly arcadeish stuff like the Merchant. A game like this should have me find all my ammo & guns from the environment. Collecting money just doesn't fit. And what kind of gun merchant stocks rocket launchers & uzis, but not ammunition?

EDIT:

Oh yeah, I just found out that the semi-auto rifle apparently has a scope which you can't aim with the remote (you use the stick). This fucking sucks, as it'd be a great weapon otherwise. I guess it's back to sniping with the Red9.

[Wrestlevania]

I've finally gotten around to playing RE4 just this week, but the unhobbled (i.e. post-patch) PC version, which appears to be an emulation job of the PS2 version.

Fairly indifferent to the game at the moment, but the Wii version certainly has me interested. Hoping a colleague who owns a Wii will buy it and bring it in sometime. He didn't seem bothered though, so I'll stick with trying to get into my semi-original, knocked off, patched up version for now.

[miffy495]

The controls are great. I don't know why they'd be considered bad. Sure, you turn using the stick rather than dragging the pointer over to the edge of the screen as you may be used to, but that takes all of 30 seconds to adjust to. I'll say this much for the Wii controls. On the GCN, my accuracy in a mission was around 75 - 80%. On the Wii, it's now 90 - 95%. Most of that headshots, too. The aiming is great. Leon's landspeed is about on par with a sloth with multiple sclerosis, but that hold's for the GCN as well. Really, any complaints I have with the Wii edition can be said for the GCN version. And usually they're much more irritating on the GCN.

[brkl]

I'm not sure if the game ever tells you that you run with Z.

[Fayk]

EDIT:

Oh yeah, I just found out that the semi-auto rifle apparently has a scope which you can't aim with the remote (you use the stick). This fucking sucks, as it'd be a great weapon otherwise. I guess it's back to sniping with the Red9.

It's not specific to the semi-auto or to the scope on it. I think it's an artifact of the original game. I don't have the GCN version in front of me (actually, I'm at work, uh oh!) but I think the rifle aiming controls were different on that version, too. Just a weird little artifact, probably to keep the rifle from being even more absurdly awesome than it is.

I agree though, that the reviewer for eurogamer seems totally weird - I can only imagine he didn't play it for very long, based on my experience of the controls becoming quite natural. Besides, even if you didn't like the Wii controls, the old control method is still available.

[lobotomy42]

Man, and I thought the GCN controls were pretty much perfect. I may have to get this, if it's as improved as everyone says...

[miffy495]

I'm not sure if the game ever tells you that you run with Z.

Seriously??? FUCK. That would have been good to know last October when I played the fucking game the first time. :(

[brkl]

Holy shit, how did you get more than a couple of hours in without running?

Oh, BTW, I object to the little run-down village suddenly having the world's biggest castle right next to it, filled with stupid traps and levers and whatnot.

[SpiderMonkey]

Seriously??? FUCK. That would have been good to know last October when I played the fucking game the first time. :(

Lol, October? It was B on the GCN version. And you'll never guess what, pressing B and down on the stick spun you round quickly, providing an easy getaway! (Or constant frustration at your inability to run backwards.)

Man, and I thought the GCN controls were pretty much perfect. I may have to get this, if it's as improved as everyone says...

The more I play the game, the more I appreciate how tightly interwoven the controls are with the camera, enemy and level design, to create that intense claustrophobia. But that still doesn't change the fact that I feel like I'm driving some kind of vehicle (as in all RE games) rather than controlling a human being.

[Roderick]

Hahaha, oh man I'd have freaked out if I hadn't been able to run!

I also thought the Cube controls were pretty awesome, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it works on the Wii.

[miffy495]

Damn, after those comments, I'm actually kind of proud that I got as far as I did. Nope, didn't know I could run until you told me. I was a ways into the second disk when I stopped playing on GCN as well. *sigh* I wonder how much easier this will make the game?

[Roderick]

On Normal mode, it's actually not a very hard game. Some bits are challenging, but they appear mostly in the first act and at key points during the third.

[Wrestlevania]

I've finally gotten around to playing RE4 just this week, but the unhobbled (i.e. post-patch) PC version, which appears to be an emulation job of the PS2 version.

Fairly indifferent to the game at the moment, but [...] I'll stick with trying to get into my semi-original, knocked off, patched up version for now.

OK, so I've pressed on and have now made it across the lake and gotten stuck at the waterfall. I'm enjoying the game more now, though, so I'll probably try to finish it.

[brkl]

On Normal mode, it's actually not a very hard game. Some bits are challenging, but they appear mostly in the first act and at key points during the third.

You're right. I haven't really been stuck once. A couple of tries at most will get me through a spot and I have a bunch of mixed herbs & first aid sprays stocked up.

[Roderick]

What I like about the game is that it isn't 'fixed'. If you come across a setpiece that's very hard, chances are at the third time you'll suddenly breeze through it without any effort. Because of all the random little factors you can just keep trying and eventually get the right combination of events and overcome the obstacle. That's what happened to me time after time at difficult points like the village in the beginning and the siege at the cottage with Luìs.

[SpiderMonkey]

Mini-threadjack:

The full trailer for RE5 is fucking stunning. http://www.gamersyde.com/news_4724_en.html

These gameplay mechanics:

Prolonged exposure to heat will make it harder to shoot, due to hallucinations and mirages.

One feature is the importance that light and darkness will play in the game. If Chris enters a building his eyes will gradually adjust to the dark interior, while stepping out into sunlight from a dark area will result in glare temporarily hindering his vision.

sound excellent too. More than just the ideas themselves, they excite me because Capcom will really nail the execution of them.

Also, I can't help but feel they will suffer some misdirected "omg racist!" outrage at some point around release.

[Roderick]

Yes, it's terribly exciting to see where Capcom will bring the RE4-spawned gameplay. There's so many neat little sophistications that are already apparent. And the trailer shows you'll be besieged by at least twice as many folks as in any of the RE4 situations: holy shit! Chris will have a hell of a time getting out of that one.

As for racism: there will surely be some idiots who fall for that one. Where we they when we were shooting Spanish peasants? Oh wait, Spaniards aren't a handy token racial minority, so let's just cherry-pick which group we defend.

[toblix]

The last time I saw a RE game being played was a couple of years ago, and there were some people inside a house, and I remember a lady being trapped behind a door or something. And dogs came crashing through windows. That was Resident Evil, right?

So, I always figured RE for some kind of actionified Silent Hill, and never cared about it. But then RE4 gets all these great reviews, and the trailer for RE5 looks fucking amazing.

Anyway, I get the impression RE4 is like a 3rd person action game, with lots of fighting (you against groups) and scripted events? Is it just balls-out action, or are there sneaky, creaky, dark stuff too, like Silent Hill (which I thought rocked until The Room)?

[DanJW]

Yeah, I was never all that enamoured with Resident Evil (mainly due to the afore-mentioned people-that-drive-like-atruck thing). I always seemed more fun to watch than to play (I actually watched someone play through most of RE1 and 2, so I knew what was what).

All that changed with RE4. The over-the shoulder controls were the best thing they did to the series.

RE4 does have some scary stuff in, although the majority of the horror is of the "oh shit that giant thing is after me" type. It's a superb game though. Looking forward to number 5.

[Wrestlevania]

Right, figured I owed it to you lot to 'fess the love I have for Resi 4 now.

Played an arse-load of it whilst off ill last week and I'm really enjoying the game now. The new way of handling and upgrading your equipment is actually fun! And I like the guns a lot; being able to pick your armoury and then tailor it to suit is great.

I'm currently making my way into the depths of the castle, having just gotten past the prison section and then covered Sophie whilst she raised those bridge sections. This "covering" mechanic was actually more fun (given hindsight) than I first gave it credit for. My initial frustrations with it were because I a) wasn't using a suitably ranged weapon, and actually shot Sophie by mistake - whilst she was being carried off! - on my first two attempts.

Precise control seems to be a big factor, more so than any other RE game I've played in the past. Which definitely suits my tastes more. The camera and aiming revisions make a huge difference in how fun this game is to play, compared to my experiences in the earlier games. I'm just envious of anyone playing it on Wii; I can imagine it can only be even better. (The weird motion-sensitive interpretations of the Quick-Time Events don't count in my opinon, as QTEs are lazy and shit anyway.)

I'm making a point of trying to play this every night - even just for a little while - at the moment, I'm that enthusiastic about it now. Will share my final thoughts when I've completed it.

[Roderick]

Very nice that you're enthusiastic about it. The game definitely has that level of polish that makes it shine.

The girl's name is Ashley though, not Sophie. Let's blame it on the virus.

[Wrestlevania]

Oh well.

I wasn't sure as I was typing out my post, but neglected to go off and check before hitting the Submit button.

[Roderick]

You had me doubting there, though, for a moment. I knew Sophie wasn't it, but I couldn't remember her proper name. So I just Wiki'd it. Yeah. The joke's on me!