You know those games you always heard were ground-breaking and era-defining but you never got round to playing? The ones you know, as a devout gamer, you must experience at some point in your life?
Have you piled up 50 or so of these games over the years and need an excuse to play through them?
...No?
Well I do!
Welcome to Green Ornstein’s Bucket List of Games! Where we go through the classics, the gems, and the hyped to which we all went “Wow, I should play that...if I have time and it goes on sale”.
Will these games ring true to their reputations or will all those recommendations have been for nothing? Either way, let’s have some fun.
Let's brush off that laser-sight pistol those and hunt us some Spaniards.
Although I’d not played Capcom’s Resident Evil 4 (2005) until this year, the game gives me a strong sense of nostalgia. I even remember, when I was young, seeing it advertised for the Nintendo GameCube in a magazine, back in the days when people...you know...bought magazines. Since then, the franchise has always been in the background for me; I know of it and I can name a few characters, events and - of course - terrible dialogue.
Exhibit A:
Currently, RE4 is the only one in the franchise I’ve played. However, I have it on good authority rest are mostly shit, so RE4 will do for now. The thing about RE4 isn’t just that it’s the most acclaimed Resident Evil (1996-ongoing), it’s considered a landmark title in video games as a medium, as well as one of the best video games ever made.
Despite being 15 years old, I still think it deserves its accolades.
Despite the plethora of games I have yet to touch, I keep seeing RE4 on my home screen and it always gives me a sense of… “god I want to play that again”. There’s part of me that feels guilty - there are so many games I’ve yet to play and other games like DOOM (2016) that are made to scratch the I-want-to-murder-everything itch. But RE4 has that kind of allure to it.
Snarky Government Agent Leon Shaniqua Kennedy (I don’t know his middle name but the initial is “S” so I’m filling in the blanks) has to save the president’s daughter, Ashley Graham, from a group of angry, Spanish peasants. It’s later uncovered that the Spaniards have been infested with a parasite and are merely puppets of a cult hell-bent on world domination.
So...the game is a big escort mission. You’re tasked with defending Ashley from the hordes of Spaniards and cultists wanting to… well, let’s not dwell on that. This may be a turn-off but Ashley isn’t really an obstacle. You can command her to stay still anytime, so it’s honestly easier to just plop her by the entrance with a book while you proceed to paint the town “rojo”, so to speak.
(It means “red” in Spanish. Aren’t I clever?)
I’d give Ashley a B overall in terms of video game characters you have to escort. She’s not the A+ that was Elizabeth in Bioshock Infinite (2013), but the quantity of Fs in this category could band together and take over a whole continent (provided they don't encounter resistance or glitch through the walls). Buggy AI, unclear commands and lack of support in actual combat make escort missions one of the deadly sins of gaming. However, RE4 finds a good middle-ground where you don’t rely on them, they’re not needed in combat and all you have to do is check on them every now and again.
Now, I imagine many would be reluctant to play a game that’s nearly old enough to vote. I initially thought that whatever innovative mechanics RE4 brought at the time, other games have since come along and done it better.
And I was wrong.
It's datedness is what makes it fun. There is a layer of self-awareness with RE4, similar to a B-movie horror film and some of the primitive gameplay elements end up adding to that charm. One such element is the camera: both your movements and the camera are controlled with the left analog stick, as opposed to movement to the left stick and camera to the right. This means that in comparison to modern Third Person Shooters, you have less manoeuvrability. The game compensates for that by pelting enemies at you at top speed, who will immediately slow down when they approach you. This never failed to make me smile. It’s like they were called over to kill a spider and now they're just edging towards it with a rolled-up newspaper, praying it doesn’t jump at their face.
The inventory system involves you having a finite amount of space, but it goes for the Deus Ex (2000) approach as opposed to a numbered carry weight. Each item has a different size that you have to fit into a set amount of space, so it’s more like you’re playing Tetris. This type of inventory works well in a horror game as you’re constantly aware of your finite resources. It does a good job of making you consider what you actually need to proceed, whether you hold out for another healing herb, stick to small, uncomplicated weapons or just stock up all the grenades you never used then realise you have like 10 of them when you’re in a pinch.
You’ll love this especially if you’re a hoarder, frugal or just cheap.
I’m all 3, ladies…*wink wink* …
*cough*...
It rewards you for sticking to the bare essentials and being tactical with your weaponry. As such, the pistol and SMG have added portability value, whereas the grenade launcher and RPG are just too big to fit in a suitcase. Believe me - I learned this the hard way at airport customs.
But you can find what works for you, and what you’ll buy from the omnipresent pirate merchant. I really grew to love that guy...It was always comforting to see his massive coat and bloodshot eyes and know “I’m safe for now.” It's also a reminder that, regardless of world-threatening epidemics and violent, infected hordes, nothing can kill the consumer capitalism.
Sending you love, Pirate-Merchant-Guy.
Wherever you are.
Speaking of capitalism, there is a question worth addressing with RE4. Given the remake of RE2 (2019) and one of RE3 (2020) on the rise, it begs the question: will Capcom remake RE4? Or, more importantly:
Should they?
What would change and what features would actually improve it if they did?
Well I imagine the camera will be added to the right analog stick, as it should be, but this means RE4 will just become… well… another 3rd person shooter. It'd be to the detriment of its hilariously clunky (but indubitably unique) character, and the game would suffer for it.
That’s what makes it great. It's essentially a time capsule of the 2000s, and still feels unique because of how much shooters have changed since then. If I had to compare it to anything, it’d be like watching Back to the Future (1985). A great film that holds up today. Sure, it’s laced with all the 80’s-isms in the book, but it’s part of its identity. The same applies to RE4 - it came out at exactly the right time, and it brings all the early-2000s schlock that’s either been ironed out or so diluted you could call it a homeopathic medicine.
Reasonably, though, it holds up because it feels distinctive compared to modern shooters. The camera was the main “new” mechanic for me, largely because it adds to the tension. I know that, in my panic to move away from a chainsaw-wielding Spaniard, I’d forget the right analog stick does bugger-all and make a high pitched squeal as I jolt the left analog sporadically.
While it does feel like a product of the time, assigning both the movement and camera to the same analog stick benefits the game’s horror. This encumbers your movement and your peripherals, making it harder to see what (or who) is behind you. You always feel cornered as the army of Spaniards grows nearer, fully equipped with machetes, hammers and rolled up newspapers. That said, balanced with the action and the bravado of the characters, RE4 is somehow both scary and action-packed.
If you’re simultaneously wanting to be both a womanising badass and a scared little child, RE4 is certainly a strong contender for that. Enjoy it as you would a well-aged B-movie that still has its charm, just with twice as many Spaniards to kill.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a merchant to find.
*combs hair and checks breath*
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