Although this was voted as one of the greatest games on consoles (Nintendo's Gamecube case) due to lots of innovative and revamped features incorporated in it, these 2005 facts are now considered to be obsolete and are insufficient to produce the same reaction on Pc like it did on consoles two years ago.

Yes, RE 4 revolutionized the genre it created so much time ago. But after two years of drought (work at RE 5 is still in progress status) gamers surely expected a much more refined shifting from Gamecube console. In comparison with its predecessors RE 4 is simply another game, just about everything is substantially improved, giving even more value to this established franchise. Amongst the novelties in this installment, the plot change has to be the most striking. Raccon City and its subsequent Umbrella corporation tie (present in past RE titles) are no more. This time around, the action takes place on the other side of the Atlantic, somewhere in villageous Spain. Here, Leon (now working for the U.S government) has to carry out a finding and rescuing operation of U.S. president's daughter. The kidnappers, an organization that has its roots in "los illuminados" are using parasites affected human (instead of zombies, like we were used to) to fulfill their objective, which is to cut the dominance and power of U.S.

Another obvious change that vastly affects gameplay in a positive manner, is the new aiming and shooting system. The old system in which you could control the characters through fixed or relative fixed to the player camera perspective was pretty hard getting used to it. Now, with new over-the-shoulder camera, players have the best control RE titles have been offering to date. Furthermore, this new system adds a laser-scope aiming method which improves accuracy and helps players by making use of very accurate body locational damage. You can shoot to the knees and watch how the aggressor stumbles to the ground crawling to a headshot; while the depriving of assailants handheld dangerous item can be done by shooting to the limbs.

The 'moving and strafing while shooting' feature has been put to sleep in RE4, forcing the player to hold-still the ground when dealing with this new breed of enemies. There isn't anymore that puzzle solving, shelves checking, survival mode past RE titles are all to well known about. Instead of this, the game category under which RE 4 now falls, has shifted from a survival-horror genre to an action-adventure-3rd person shooter that even makes use of simple platform jump puzzles (another new addition) to diversify the gameplay.

The new type of adversaries are a whole lot faster than the zombies we were used too (and they come in larger numbers too). The fact that they are much smarter and capable of new moves doesn't make things easier at all. For example, they can climb/put ladders, open doors, enter through windows, side-stepping to avoid enemy fire. This is contra-balanced by Leon's context sensitive actions he is now able to perform. He can dive through windows, move bookshelves, knock down ladders, or perform some special actions needed in critical evading situations; whether they are boss battles or escaping from boulders/cars let lose on a steep ravine. It comes very handy when unconditioned help is given by NPC's, because you'll be constantly attacked by large groups of enemies and big bads. Luis Sera, Ada Wong, Ashley are the ones that occasionally soften up a bit these confrontations.

And what an arsenal you've got to pursue your killing rampage. Not only that you have at hand an exotic display of weapons (ranging from usual pistols and shotguns to mine throwers, rocket launchers and new weaponry items such as as sniper rifles); but this new installment of RE brings yet another cool feature to the title. Now, the player has the possibility of upgrading weapons found in inventory by improving firepower, capacity, reloading time and firing speed. All this is done with the help of the 'merchant'. This NPC can help you getting rid off unwanted items in your inventory offering you 'pessos' as a trade currency (another new stuff introduced); or he can sell/upgrade weapons to you for a certain amount of cash.

In an attempt to maximize item buying capabilities, different gems, jewels, rings, watches are scattered throughout the map. Collect as much as you can, combine and then sell them, and you're all set for a weapon buying/upgrading session. You even got the chance (later in the game) to participate at shooting contests held by the merchant to gain even more 'pessos'. This instantly gives more depth and replayability to the game; and the building of an effective arsenal (kept in your inventory) not only becomes imperative, but actually a pretty rewarding and stimulating experience.

As for the environments, some obvious changes were made. Large open spaces are preferred over the building interiors found in past RE titles, different cultural and architectural designs are used with this occasion ( villageous Spain instead of U.S. city outskirts) rejuvenating in this way the whole story.

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Gameplay: 82%

On its transition to PC, the game maintained the same type of control mechanics that console versions had. The acquisition of a gamepad is therefore a must, because using a keyboard (default way) in this game is next to impossible. Later mods of the game are even offering support for mouse, realizing in this manner the potential RE titles had , that until now was just fractionally materialized. The new context sensitive actions are increasing the arsenal of moves Leon has, making room for more interaction and diversity while exploring in-game environments. Loading times are kept to a minimum when progressing to another area or new level; the transition from one room to another is drastically different ( no more old long sequences of opening-closing doors on black background). What remained the same and still affects the gameplay quite a bit, are the saving method and the selection of weapons through the inventory. On the first dissent, the afresh presence of typewriter method with all the subsequent troubles it brings, is disturbing enough. Only this time around the use of ribbons is required no more. On the second issue, RE 4 doesn't change the old primitive selection of weapons system. Instead of cycling through weapons by using dedicated buttons, you are again forced to enter the inventory and change weapons manually. It takes about 20 hours to finish the game having Leon Kennedy at play. New missions are unlocked after completion the original scenario, giving the player the opportunity to reenact the storyline through another perspective, Ada Wong perspective that is. All this, cumulated with the new system of upgrading and buying new weapons bodes well when we bring replayability into discussion.

Graphics: 75%

This is the weakest point in RE 4. Not only that the graphics are presented at 2005 standards , but at its porting to Pc the game lost most of the brilliant visuals it had on Gamecube console. Besides the added support for increased resolutions, no current graphic technologies are applied in the PC version of RE 4. Although the game constantly hovered at 30 fps with no stuttering of any kind, the game overall value is largely influenced by this shortage in keeping the graphics up to date ( innovating surely wasn't the interest).

Sound: 85%

Like all Resident Evil titles, Capcom proves once again that sounds, tracks, sound effects are something they excel at. They know how to induce and maintain tension in the game, while adequate brief resting breaks keeps the whole experience outside the stressful area. There are some voice repetitions that bothers a bit, "un forastero" will probably stick to your memory for a few days. The dialogs are at times hilarious, but that doesn't affect the gameplay to much. We know that when a Resident Evil plot debate is ongoing, the acting and the cross-talks aren't that great.

Hardware: 80%

Loading times are kept to a minimum, the game doesn't require too pretentious configurations to run at a resonable framerate.