Here's another game I completed back before I was making shrines, but now that I'm making shrines, I decided to re-play it in order to make a shrine for it. The summer after my sophomore year, I stayed with my friends at Cornell and we played many video games, including Resident Evil 4. A friend and I took turns playing through the game and at one point we inadvertently played all night. I remember looking out the window and being like, "...why is it light outside?"
The game isn’t perfect, of course, so let's go through the flaws first.
First flaw: quick-time events. I don't know how this feature made it past this game, but it's constantly been a thorn in my side. The game gives you a split second to press a button combination or you die instantly. Sometimes, this means you then have to repeat a long stretch of the game to get to where you died. Come on, guys – this is sadistic game design.
Second flaw: Ashley Graham. Nobody in the history of gaming has enjoyed escort missions, and long stretches of this game have you protecting Ashley. Now I will say Ashley's AI is pretty good about not standing in front of you when you're shooting enemies, so it isn't all bad. But I will also say the game is a lot more fun when (1) Ashley is separated from you or (2) she's in her armored costume, which makes her invincible.
Third flaw: those blind Garrador enemies. They're not actually blind. I remember a part of the game where you need to fight 2 of them at once and invariably one of them would come right after me even if I wasn't making any noise. And, of course, they have an instant-kill attack if they get near you. And while we're at it…
Fourth flaw: instant-kill attacks. They just don't seem fair. I mean, yes, it makes the game more realistic because you can die instantly upon being cut with a chainsaw, but let's be honest here. A game in which said enemy with chainsaw can survive several sniper rounds to the head is not realistic to begin with. Hell, the random mooks you run into can survive multiple point-blank shots to the face.
Now despite all this I think this is a great game deserving of a shrine. It made the Resident Evil series fun for me, as all subsequent games follow this style. So here it is, my shrine to Resident Evil 4. It's a pretty simple shrine; I just include screenshots of how I did in each chapter. Originally I wanted to write a series of reports from Leon's perspective, but that came out horribly boring, so I'll keep this one low-key.
Chapter 1
132 kills, huh? This must've been one packed village in not-Spain, and we haven't even left the village yet. Also, there are a lot of bear traps in this village (trust me, I know). Are bears even native to this area of Europe?
The game isn’t perfect, of course, so let's go through the flaws first.
First flaw: quick-time events. I don't know how this feature made it past this game, but it's constantly been a thorn in my side. The game gives you a split second to press a button combination or you die instantly. Sometimes, this means you then have to repeat a long stretch of the game to get to where you died. Come on, guys – this is sadistic game design.
Second flaw: Ashley Graham. Nobody in the history of gaming has enjoyed escort missions, and long stretches of this game have you protecting Ashley. Now I will say Ashley's AI is pretty good about not standing in front of you when you're shooting enemies, so it isn't all bad. But I will also say the game is a lot more fun when (1) Ashley is separated from you or (2) she's in her armored costume, which makes her invincible.
Third flaw: those blind Garrador enemies. They're not actually blind. I remember a part of the game where you need to fight 2 of them at once and invariably one of them would come right after me even if I wasn't making any noise. And, of course, they have an instant-kill attack if they get near you. And while we're at it…
Fourth flaw: instant-kill attacks. They just don't seem fair. I mean, yes, it makes the game more realistic because you can die instantly upon being cut with a chainsaw, but let's be honest here. A game in which said enemy with chainsaw can survive several sniper rounds to the head is not realistic to begin with. Hell, the random mooks you run into can survive multiple point-blank shots to the face.
Now despite all this I think this is a great game deserving of a shrine. It made the Resident Evil series fun for me, as all subsequent games follow this style. So here it is, my shrine to Resident Evil 4. It's a pretty simple shrine; I just include screenshots of how I did in each chapter. Originally I wanted to write a series of reports from Leon's perspective, but that came out horribly boring, so I'll keep this one low-key.
Chapter 1
132 kills, huh? This must've been one packed village in not-Spain, and we haven't even left the village yet. Also, there are a lot of bear traps in this village (trust me, I know). Are bears even native to this area of Europe?
Chapter 2
252 kills, and that's not even the entire village, since upon running into the castle at the end of the chapter there's a giant mob of villagers chasing you that you don't kill.
252 kills, and that's not even the entire village, since upon running into the castle at the end of the chapter there's a giant mob of villagers chasing you that you don't kill.
Chapter 3
In this chapter we meet the transvestite (otherwise known as Salazar), who keeps trying to kill Leon and Ashley even though the master plan of Los Illuminados was to send Ashley home. Salazar does at one point capture Ashley, but that was mostly due to Ashley stumbling into one of his traps and not him trying to capture her; furthermore, his goons don't find her until much later. Don't these guys know the layout of their own castle?
This chapter is also where Saddler extends a long, thick appendage from underneath his robe and impales Luis with it, eliciting heartfelt screams from the latter.
In this chapter we meet the transvestite (otherwise known as Salazar), who keeps trying to kill Leon and Ashley even though the master plan of Los Illuminados was to send Ashley home. Salazar does at one point capture Ashley, but that was mostly due to Ashley stumbling into one of his traps and not him trying to capture her; furthermore, his goons don't find her until much later. Don't these guys know the layout of their own castle?
This chapter is also where Saddler extends a long, thick appendage from underneath his robe and impales Luis with it, eliciting heartfelt screams from the latter.
Chapter 4
At around this point I noted that the transvestite equipped his castle with advanced traps, such as the giant mechanical statue of himself that chases you across a bridge or his spiked pit trap equipped with some sort of giant bell. I feel that this money could've been better spent on equipping his goons with better weapons - I mean, besides one guy with a Gatling gun, the most advanced weapon his goons use on you is the crossbow. The villagers had an excuse (they were farmers so they mostly used farm tools on you) but these guys are supposed to be his castle guards, right?
At around this point I noted that the transvestite equipped his castle with advanced traps, such as the giant mechanical statue of himself that chases you across a bridge or his spiked pit trap equipped with some sort of giant bell. I feel that this money could've been better spent on equipping his goons with better weapons - I mean, besides one guy with a Gatling gun, the most advanced weapon his goons use on you is the crossbow. The villagers had an excuse (they were farmers so they mostly used farm tools on you) but these guys are supposed to be his castle guards, right?
Chapter 5
Not counting the Big Bad I killed 785 enemies in this game with 91% accuracy. This is the computer version; on the GameCube version my accuracy was much worse as I'm better at aiming with a mouse rather than with a controller. As for the deaths, I want to say most of those were from the damn quick-time events.
Not counting the Big Bad I killed 785 enemies in this game with 91% accuracy. This is the computer version; on the GameCube version my accuracy was much worse as I'm better at aiming with a mouse rather than with a controller. As for the deaths, I want to say most of those were from the damn quick-time events.
So at the end of the mission, Ada jacks the Las Plagas sample from you and then jumps off a cliff to emerge sitting comfortably in a helicopter. Look, I know this chick is a super femme fatale spy dudette, but the chances of pulling that stunt off without jumping into the helicopter blades is really low. Also, what was she doing the entire time I was fighting Saddler? She could've swung in and helped. I mean, it's not like it jeopardizes her mission, which is to retrieve the sample.