Resident Evil 4 – Reviewed – Wii

By Philip Dunkley

I’m going to keep this review down to the minimum length, purely for the fact that this game has been out for a long time on PS2, Gamecube and PC for over 2 years now, and even on the Wii it’s been out overseas for ages. We have just launched the game in SA.

I going to assume that everyone is familiar to the concept that is Resident Evil 4, but if you are not, here is a quick breakdown. It’s a third person shooter that was launched on the PS2 and GameCube initially, and broke to rave reviews worldwide, albeit the PC version did not fare as well. You are a specially trained individual who is sent rescue the Presidents kidnapped daughter, somewhere in Europe. You come across a town of people in the middle of nowhere, who are like hypnotized Zombies from a religious cult. Life gets pretty bleak, and said specially trained guy must make his way through hordes of these guys, save the girl and escape unscathed. Easy enough, yeah sure.  It was a great game, which I still rate very highly, even to this day.

Now it’s been released on the Nintendo Wii, with no exclusive content, and a direct rehash of the original, with new controls. Worth it or not?? Absolutely.

Thanks to the great replay value of the original title, this brings back all the greatness of the game, just with much better controls, which fit the Wii perfectly. It’s a basic concept, aim with Wii Remote, pull on the B button to enter aiming mode, pull off the rounds with the A button. Movement is controlled with the Nunchuck analogue stick, with sprint and knife control on the same control. The only thing that has changed in the game is that the laser dot has been replaced with a reticle, for accurate aiming; shooting enemies in exactly the spot you want too. The controls feel good, and they complement a game that already has so much going for it.

Visually the game is good, dated by today’s standards of other consoles, but great on the Wii. Camera angles bothered me in this game, and I don’t remember it being quite so prominent on the PS2 version.

From a sound point of view, the game still manages to make you look over your shoulder, and get the hair standing up on the back of your neck. Very Creepy.

Overall, this version is the best of all releases, and even if you have completed this game on other formats, it’s worth the money for another go, and if you have never played this game before, it’s really worth every cent.

Scoring:
Graphics – 80%
Playability – 90%
Originality – 85%
Tilt Factor – 90%
Overall – 88% (Excellent)

Last Updated: March 24, 2008