Resident Evil 4

THE GOOD:
*The Graphics
*The Mood
*The Music
*The Enemies
*Aww hell, just about everything...

THE BAD:
*No Strafing
*Ashley's voice can get very annoying
*needs more and better puzzles

SUMMARY:
Resident Evil 4 or, according to the boxart, 4 Resident Evil is one of the best games I have ever played and I can confidently say the best I've ever played on the Gamecube. Everything is so perfectly done. I don't know where to begin, so I'll start with the thing that's easiest to write about, the graphics.

The graphics are the best I have ever seen on the Gamecube and maybe the best I've seen on any home console ever. They're seriously that good. The fire is extremely realistic looking and everything is so intricately detailed. You know the feeling you get when your looking at a natural wonder? Like the Grand Canyon or Victoria Falls. That's the feeling you'll get at parts of Resident Evil 4.

The controls are great as well. They take a little getting used to, but after that they are very fluid and extremely easy to use. After you get used to the controls, when an enemy pops out at you you won't even have to think about blasting it with your gun, it will come as a reaction. In Resident Evil 4, it's not like that you are moving Leon, but rather that you are moving with him.

Probably my favorite part of the game is the mood. In parts of the game the mood is frantic and combat is very fast paced. But once you get to the next part, it becomes different. It is eerie. The music is creepy plus the enemies will chant as they come towards you (what makes this chant even creepier is that it is in Spanish I didn't even know what they were saying). And then there are the times when you just killed a big wave of enemies and you start to relax thinking that that's it, but then another wave will come. And there are the times that I've screamed (yes I admit it) and times when I've thought, ohcrap-ohcrap-ohcrap. While playing a game, I've never gotten as much into one as in Resident Evil 4.

The Plot is great as well, when starting the game, you'll probably be thinking the plot will be shallow and cliche, but as you get farther into the game you'll discover all the twists and turns in the story and how deep it is. The characters are great too. You'll actually care about them. you'll not only get scared because it looks scary, but you'll get scared that Leon is going to get killed, bashed, slaughtered, burned, eaten, etc. (yeah there's a lot of ways to die). And then you'll get really worried when Ashley gets taken. I often cursed and hurried to try to shoot down the enemies who had taken her (I shot her by accident once...). Overall, the characters are great, and you'll really get into them.

And I can't forget about the gameplay. It's so fast-paced and has so many options. I often go back to certain parts where there were big battles because they are so damn fun. You'll have a great time in and after battle, or when your just roaming around looking for items. Upgrading weapons is great and can be very hard. This is when your short on cash and you can't decide what to upgrade. Another great thing is organizing all the stuff in your attache case. You'll have a limited amount of space so you have to organize everything just right. And my friends and I often get a little bit obsessive compulsive about it. Throughout the game Capcom threw in things to spice up the gameplay and it works. Your not going to get tired of it.

I haven't run out of things to say, but I've realized that I've been rambling on for the past half hour and practically made an essay out of it. Seriously folks it's that good. All I can say to finish this up is if you don't have it, go get it. I don't care if your not a Resident Evil fan, you'll still enjoy it. It's one of the best games I have ever played and maybe the best to appear on this generation of consoles.