Resident Evil 4: a blast from the past
Sixteen years ago, on January 11, 2005, one of the most iconic games in the Resident Evil franchise was released by Capcom. Resident Evil 4 arrived completely changing the dynamics and gameplay of its previous games.
The watershed
Resident Evil 4 brought innovation with it in gameplay aspects, leaving behind tank movement with static scenarios and opening the doors to the fully 3D world and the famous over the shoulder camera, revolutionizing the gaming world and setting a new standard for the industry.
Cool guy saves the girl from the evil cult
RE4’s story is as cinematic as it could be (the way Capcom likes it), but that’s not a flaw, a well-used cliché is always fun. Along with the new changes came something that nobody wanted, but Capcom insisted on the absurdly insane action and left survival horror aside, but not forgotten. The game has a suspense atmosphere all the time, you rarely have time to relax and literally go shopping. Despite the action, the game’s scenarios are still horrifying, the initial village, the classic mansion that cannot be missing, bizarre places with strange monsters and medical/military installations that make you ask yourself “How did it get here? Oh, Umbrella. ”
Mata-no!
The game has the most distinct environments of the franchise, leaving the streets of the city and entering the small village of El Pueblo in Spain, where we find the infamous Ganados (flock, commoner or riffraff in Spanish), who, unlike zombies, are infected with Las Plagas virus, thus maintaining a moderate intelligence.
Especially the game has the presence of one of the most beloved characters in the franchise (the merchant ?!), Leon S Kennedy. After surviving the Racoon City disaster on his first day as a police officer, he apparently became the most trusted person in the country and was sent ALONE to save Ashley Graham, better known as the president’s daughter, who was kidnapped by the evil sect Los Iluminados by Osmund Saddler.
The evil we like
The antagonists of RE4 are incredible, full of charisma and even if they do not speak they are striking, such as: The chief of the village of El Pueblo, Bitores Mendez, yes, he hides something horrible inside that overcoat. The castle’s owner, Ramon Salazar, a deluded dwarf. Verdugo, with an emphasis on Verdugo, one of the scariest monsters that has ever appeared in a Resident Evil. Of course we can’t forget the Regenerators, they appear later in the game and are difficult to kill and to make matters worse were the scariest things I had ever seen after the Verdugo (at least they were slow).
There are other interesting characters like Jack Krauser, a longtime partner with Leon (which is only developed in the game Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles in 2009). Krauser has a feud with Leon (romance not solved?) And wants to solve everything with the knife, which gives us a beautiful scene, but with damn quick time events.
Ada Wong: dressed to kill
But she doesn’t kill, it has to be love. Ada has known Leon since Resident Evil 2, when both were square and ugly, just getting cuter in RE4, living up to the inspiration of the film “Nikita”.
Ada is a longtime character in Resident Evil, breaking records of involvement in biological incidents, the triple agent, Femme fatale. However, she certainly has a heart, which prevents her from killing Leon all the several times she has had a chance. Ada is a mercenary, but above all a rebel who despite following orders, does it the way that suits her. A charismatic and mysterious character who shines whenever she appears.
In the “Separate Ways” expansion of Resident Evil 4, we follow Ada’s path and see how bad ass she really is, doing her mission and helping Leon to do his. (ok, sometimes disturbing him too.)
Endless
The Racoon City disaster brought us many adventures, some scary, some more exciting, which became the franchise’s identity, despite many fans complaining about the action, Resident Evil has “mutated” over the years, and now the franchise is back in metamorphosis, but returning to the horror genre, trying to find themselves at their roots, but always bringing new elements. Resident Evil tries to adapt according to the time, now we can only wait to see what the portrait of this generation will be in RE: Village. Let’s hope for the best! And considering the wave of remakes in recent years, we can dream of a remake of Resident Evil 4 soon.
