[13/3/08] Resident Evil 4 - Wii Edition [Wii]

[emwearz]

When Resident Evil 4 was released on the Nintendo Gamecube in early 2005 it made many heads turn, an awesome game that was as graphically violent as it was addictive and it really brought the Resident Evil series back on track and back on top.In late 05 it hit the Playstation 2, with some downgrades such as pre-rendered cut-scenes, downgraded lighting effect (something that played an important part to the feel of the GC version) and downgraded water effects. So how does Resident Evil 4 hold out on Nintendo's new little white box? Does it still have the hard hitting effect it did 2 years ago?

Read on to find out.

 

- System Tested On

Played using a PAL Wii with and imported NTSC-U version of Resident Evil 4 running at 480p over Component cables.

 

Gameplay (Score - 9 / 10)

While nothing has changed in terms of level design, puzzles and enemy's, the overall feel of the game has changed to the point where you can really play this one through again just for the fun you have with beheading enemy's with your wii-mote, and yes despite all those romours of a censored version RE4 comes to us in all its gory glory. As little has changed from the previous installments I will move onto what makes the Wii port what it is, the controls.

 

The controls are crisp and precise, without a doubt one of the best use of the Wii-Mote we have seen in terms

of how well it was implemented, no annoying accidental flics of your wrist and your character spins 180, no accidental reloads. The only downfall I see in the controls is that unlike many games before it on the Wii you no longer control the direction your character is looking via the wii-mote, it is still dont through the analog stick via the nunchuck, you simply aim with the wii mote once you have your weapon drawn. Thats not to say this did not work out well, after a good 10 or 15 minutes in it will feel second nature to you and you will be aiming at enemys heads before even having you weapon drawn. One thing that this really has over the Gamecube and PS2 versions is the button mashing (seen in the running from boulders scenes / to get enemy's off you) has now been swapped over for a simple back and forth motion on your controller, its feels much more natural and before you know it once a enemy has latched onto you you will find yourself frantically swinging the controller left and right. Another natural feeling motion is when you slice horizontally with the wii-mote Leon will slash with his knife, this I must say is something I am really happy with, I use the dagger a lot more now than I did in its counterparts.

 

Sound (Score - 9 / 10)

The sound, like in the other versions of RE4, is pretty much perfect, it sets the mood and scares you even if theres no action happening on screen, the only The only annoyance I had with the sound is lack of Sorround sound support (which is due to Nintendo, not RE4) but Pro Logic II more than makes up for this loss.

 

Graphics (Score - 8 / 10)

The graphics are pretty much what you find in the Gamecube version, I have not been able to find any differences that are noticeable in terms of increased texture size or AA levels. It still is a beautiful game to look at with its lighting effects (That were absent in the PS2 version) which still drop jaws to this day, but it doesnt have the same impact that it did 2 years ago. It now has true widescreen support as well as running through 480p. Playing at 480p really gives you an advantage in this game as you can see much further much clearer as well as making the colours all that much more natural and thus scarier. The funny thing about this is that it currently is one of the Wii's most graphically impressive games, and it was created for the last generation Nintendo Console.

 

Replay Value (Score - 7 / 10)

With no Online/hot seat multiplayer (For obvious reasons) and the fact many people have all ready sat through this title once the replay value is a little short. It does however have all of the extra content that the PS2 port held so that should keep you busy for awhile.

 

Overall (Score - 8.25 / 10)

Overall this is a well rounded game that shows what Wii owners should expect graphically from games at a minimum. The game plays well as is well worth another play through if you have finished it before. If you have never played Resident Evil 4 before then you are in for one massive treat as this is without a doubt the cream of the crop in terms of the best version to play through. The Wii-Mote is used to its fullest with its dead on accuracy. I highly recommend every Wii owner to get there hands on this. You wont be disappointed. Another thing I would like to point at this game retails a lot cheaper than normal new release Wii games.