Resident Evil 4

Resident Evil 4
Studio	Capcom
Publisher	Capcom (consoles) Ubisoft (PC)
Erstveröffent- lichung	January 11, 2005
platform	GameCube , mobile phone , PlayStation 2 , PlayStation 3 , PlayStation 4 , Wii , Wii U , Windows , Xbox 360 , Xbox One , Nintendo Switch
genre	Action adventure , survival horror
Game mode	Single player
control	Gamepad
medium	2 MiniDVD (GameCube), DVD-ROM (PlayStation 2, PC, Wii), download (PS3, Xbox 360), Blu-ray Disc (PS4, Xbox One)
language	English, Spanish (subtitles in other languages)
Age rating	USK PEGI

Resident Evil 4 ( Japanese バ イ オ ハ ザ ー ド 4 , trans. Baiohazādo 4 , Biohazard 4) is the sixth part of the video game series of the same name from Capcom . The title belongs to the action adventure genre and contains elements of survival horror . The director of the game was Shinji Mikami .

action

Resident Evil 4 takes place in the fall of 2004, shortly before the time of publication. Six years after the Umbrella Corporation was broken up, Leon S. Kennedy, known from Resident Evil 2 , is now working for the US government. He gets the job, Ashley Graham of out of the hands, the daughter of the US president, Lot Illuminados - sect to rid their residence in the fictional village of Pueblo in Spain is suspected. In the course of the mission, Leon meets, among other things, the believed dead agent Ada Wong , whom he met during the events in Raccoon City and learns that she is there on behalf of Albert Wesker . From the Spanish scientist Luis Sera , Leon learns more about Los Illuminados and their plan to control people using the Las Plagas parasite . This parasite takes over the host's central nervous system, rendering it completely willless. Both Leon and Ashley are also infected with this parasite with the aim of allowing them to return to America and infecting all important decision-makers in the White House (including the US President) there in order to take over the world. Leon fights against several creatures such as the giant El Gigante , the sea monster Del Lago and the mayor Bitores Méndez, who has mutated into a monster by the parasite .

Hunted by the infected villagers, Ashley and Leon escape to the castle of Ramon Salazar , who, however, also belongs to the cult. Luis Sera is killed by the leader of the Los Illuminados, Osmund Saddler . Ashley, in whose body the parasite spreads, runs away in a panic and is captured again by the members of the cult. Leon defeats Salazar and learns that Ashley has been taken to a research facility on a nearby island. Leon manages to defeat a large part of the Los Illuminados and then meets his former comrade Jack Krauser , who, like Ada Wong supposedly also, works for Albert Wesker and has infiltrated the Illuminados. After a knife duel with Krauser, Leon encounters a monster that Saddler only calls Es . Leon succeeds in defeating this and soon afterwards he meets Krauser again, who has been infected with a special form of the Las Plagas parasite, and kills him in battle.

Ultimately, Leon finds Ashley in an underground complex on the island and frees her. They flee and eventually find a way to remove the parasite from their bodies as well. Before Leon can complete his mission, he has to face the final battle against Saddler, who has mutated into a gigantic creature due to the parasite. The fight is hopeless at first, but with the help of Ada Wong, who throws Leon a special rocket launcher (as at the end of Resident Evil 2), Leon can ultimately defeat Saddler. At the end of the fight, Ada forces him to hand over a special sample of the parasite that Saddler was carrying before she can flee in a helicopter and hand the sample over to her unknown client (Ada has, as will be explained later in the additional chapter "Separate Ways "finds out, smuggled into Wesker's organization as a double agent). Leon and Ashley escape the exploding island on a jet ski .

Characters

Playable characters

• Leon Scott Kennedy : Former Police Officer, Now United States Government Agent. He was sent to Europe to rescue the President's kidnapped daughter, Ashley. Except for the rumor that the girl was spotted near a Spanish village, there is no trace of Ashley. Leon is one of the few survivors of the events in Raccoon City six years ago.

• Ada Wong : When the T-Virus breaks out in Raccoon City, Leon meets the Asian. She told him that she was looking for her boyfriend, John, but the truth was that she was supposed to be recovering a sample of the G-Virus because she was a spy. Along the way with Leon, Ada developed feelings for him. In the end she sacrificed her life to save his, or so Leon thought. Leon meets Ada, but the relationship is more tense than a happy reunion. After completing the game with Leon, this character will be unlocked.

Supporting characters

• Ashley Graham : She is the 20 year old daughter of the President of the United States. On the way to the university, she is kidnapped by an unknown group. The kidnappers neither confessed to the crime nor made demands. Ashley is an open-minded girl, but completely overwhelmed in her current situation. She has no experience with guns, so she prefers to hide until the danger is over.

• Ingrid Hunnigan : Ingrid is the interface between the US government and Leon. It provides the agent with news via video codec and keeps him informed about the progress of the headquarters. She works around the clock and only has the rescue of the president's daughter in mind. Free time does not play a major role in her life, she is dedicated to her job, which her colleagues also feel. Ingrid is quite cool and aloof.

• Luis Sera : Leon finds the 28-year-old tied up and gagged in a closet. He, too, used to be a police officer, but because his heroics were not properly appreciated, Luis quit his job. The slick, self-proclaimed womanizer has a pronounced nicotine addiction and seems to be more involved in the process than he admits.

• Bitores Méndez : The Mayor of Pueblo coordinates and oversees the actions of the residents. As a man of faith of enormous size and imposing figure, he stands firmly by the leader of the cult, Osmund Saddler. He successfully spread the thinking of the Los Illuminados cult. He is capable of almost superhuman deeds, as Leon discovered when he met him. Bitores makes it crystal clear to the American that his fate is now in his hands.

• Ramon Salazar : Outwardly Bitores' diametrical counterpart, the tiny, senile Salazar looks like a weakling. But far from it: the allegedly only 20-year-old is a strong offspring of the noble Salazar family and in continuation of an ancient family tradition, he maintains close ties to the Los Illuminados cult. Ramon grew up alone, so he was not up to Osmund Saddler's whispering and brought him on the path of the Illuminados.

• Jack Krauser : According to the official version, the elite soldier died in a plane crash. Leon's former comrade in the army is very much alive. He appears in his rescue mission with the stipulation to kill his former comrade. Apparently the thoroughbred warrior sold his extraordinary talents to the highest bidder. He is a close combat specialist, wild and dangerous. Leon will have to face him if he wants to do his job.

• Osmund Saddler : Eminence gray, pulling the cord: Lord Saddler is the undisputed leader of the Illuminados. His will is done, can control every spirit of the residents. As Leon had to learn to his own regret, Saddlar can create beings that are against all nature. The spiritual leader dreams of controlling all of humanity.

Game principle and technology

Just like Resident Evil Code: Veronica , Resident Evil 4 no longer uses pre-calculated backgrounds, but is now completely calculated in real time. In addition, the camera perspective has been changed: the events are no longer presented from predetermined viewing angles, instead the camera is now positioned directly behind the controlled game figure , giving you an "over your shoulder" view of the event. This and the greatly increased proportion of exchanges of fire and fights with z. T. masses of opponents give the game strong characteristics of a third-person shooter . The controls in turn remained largely unchanged, which means that no penalty is still possible. Running and shooting at the same time is still not possible either. Aiming with the weapon is much more precise due to the new camera perspective, and all weapons in the game have a laser target marker . An exception is the version for Wii , which uses a crosshair instead.

A variety of weapons, grenades and remedies are available to the player, some of which, however, only have to be unlocked or found or bought from the dealer during the course of the game. The weapons can also be improved in terms of damage, ammunition capacity and reload speed. Pesetas , which can be found in the game or earned by selling found treasures or weapons and objects that are no longer required, serve as a means of payment .

Another new game element is the so-called quick-time event . This requires the player to react quickly by fading in one or two buttons and pressing them within a short period of time. If it fails, the character usually dies immediately or suffers serious damage.

The opponents have also been changed: the classic zombies have been replaced by people who have been infected by a parasite. They act much faster and more intelligently. B. in the case of fire in cover or evade, or attack with long-range or firearms, which in turn requires a much more tactical approach by the player to successfully fight the opponent. The Umbrella Corporation , which had previously served as an arch enemy , was also no longer used; Albert Wesker , the real nemesis of the series, however, has brief appearances in the game, which show that he is heavily involved in this case too. The main opponent of the player is the Los Illuminados sect.

After playing through it once, several mini-games are available, but these differ depending on the version:

• In Assignment Ada you have to collect five Las Plagas samples with the character Ada Wong on the island 's military area
• In The Mercenaries you have to defeat as many opponents as possible in a certain amount of time on different maps, for which several characters are available.
• In Separate Ways , the player can re-enact some sections of the main game from Ada Wong's point of view and unlock the “Chicago Typewriter” weapon and the “Special 2” clothing set (armor for Ashley) after successful completion.

The GameCube version only contains Assignment Ada and The Mercenaries , while the PlayStation 2, Wii and the later HD versions also contain separate ways . In the versions officially distributed in Germany, Assignment Ada and The Mercenaries were not included due to a lack of USK classification . The indexing, which had existed since 2005, was lifted prematurely in April 2016, for the uncut version including the additional content, USK approval was granted from the age of 18.

Production notes

The released Resident Evil 4 is the second variant that was developed. First, a version was developed that became known as Resident Evil 3.5 . This version also had graphics calculated completely in real time, the same camera perspective and Leon S. Kennedy as the main character. However, it was not accepted by the developers as the successor to Resident Evil 3 and was therefore never published. One of the main criticisms was the use of ghosts and other paranormal phenomena as opponents. However, some elements were carried over into the final Resident Evil 4 , including: a. the setting in Europe and story elements like the liberation of a kidnapped woman and the infection of Leon Kennedy with a virus.

Resident Evil 4 was released in January 2005 as an exclusive for Nintendo GameCube . Towards the end of the year, the title was then ported to PlayStation 2 ; Shinji Mikami , the inventor of the Resident Evil series, has publicly apologized for the porting and the broken promise that Resident Evil 4 will become a GameCube exclusive. In February 2007 there was also a version for PC ; the Wii edition in May of the same year . A version for mobile phones was released in Japan in February 2008. In September 2011, an HD version appeared as a download for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360; This version has been distributed exclusively in Japan since September 2011 together with an HD version of Code: Veronica X as Resident Evil: Revival Selection on disc. Another port for the PC was announced for February 28, 2014, which runs at 60 FPS in 1080p and is advertised as the "Ultimate HD Edition". On October 29, 2015, the Wii Edition was released as a new edition in the Nintendo eShop for the Wii U .

Capcom also announced another HD port for the current generation consoles, which was released on August 30, 2016 for Xbox One and Playstation 4. The resolution was also increased to 1080p and the frame rate to 60 FPS, and the visible image section was slightly enlarged. Due to the previous deletion of the game from the BpjM's index for media harmful to minors , this was the first version that appeared in Germany completely uncut (including the additional content " The Mercenaries " and " Assignment Ada ").

• The Spanish used in the game is kept very simple: This is the name of the village “Pueblo”, which is just the Spanish word for “village”. The names of the giant "El Gigante" and the creature from the lake "Del Lago" as well as "Las Plagas", the vermin , are literal translations.
• Fantasy names were used for the firearms available in the game, but some of them are based on real models: The " Chicago Typewriter " corresponds to a Thompson submachine gun.
• At one point in the game the player has to walk through a corridor secured with a laser trap. This is a direct reference to a similar trap in the first Resident Evil movie .
• In a limited edition, an additional controller in the form of a chainsaw with a pull cord and the corresponding engine noise was released.
• The story between Leon Kennedy and Jack Krauser, which was hinted at in the game, was covered in the 2009 sub-series title Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles .

reception

reviews publication Rating GC PS4 Wii MAN! AC 92 k. A. 92 Meta-ratings Metacritic k. A. 96 k. A.

Resident Evil 4 scores 96 out of 38 aggregated ratings on Metacritic. Although many gamers were concerned that the massive redesign of the series would be detrimental to the gaming experience, Resident Evil 4 is considered by critics to be the best part of the video game series. The British magazine Edge , for example, ranks the game in second place in its "Edges Top 100 Games of All Time" published in 2007. The title has also received numerous awards. It has often been honored as the “best game of the current generation of consoles”. Famitsu awarded 38 out of 40 points, IGN 9 (Wii), 9.5 (PS2) and 9.8 (GameCube) out of 10 points each, and Maniac / M! Games 92% for the GameCube and Wii variants and 93% for the PS2 variant. In 2016 4Players checked the modernized versions for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and gave both versions a rating of 80%.

Web links

• Official website of the game series
• Resident Evil 4 at MobyGames (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ IGN.com: Wii Cheats. Retrieved May 11, 2017 . 
2. ↑ IGN.com: PS3 Cheats. Retrieved May 11, 2017 . 
3. ↑ MAN! AC: Issue 166, 8/2007, p. 48.
4. ↑ http://www.gameradio.de/news/Alte_News/Resident_Evil_4/10125/Resident_Evil_4_-_Entschuldigung_für_PS2-Version/
5. ↑ IGN.com: TGS 2007: Resident Evil 4 Mobile Report. Retrieved January 13, 2019 . 
6. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from September 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ↑ http://www.gamepro.de/news/spiele/ps3/1970503
8. ↑ Computerbild.de: Resident Evil: Capcom is planning new HD editions. Retrieved January 19, 2019 . 
9. ↑ Nintendo.de: Resident Evil 4 Wii edition. Retrieved January 18, 2019 . 
10. ↑ Resident Evil 4: Remaster for Xbox One and PS4 terminated . In: Gameswelt . July 7, 2016 ( gameswelt.de [accessed July 14, 2017]).
11. ↑ Resident Evil 4 is no longer indexed . In: Eurogamer.de . ( eurogamer.de [accessed on July 14, 2017]).
12. ↑ ^{a b} Maniac.de: Resident Evil 4 - in the classic test (GC). Retrieved January 26, 2019 . 
13. ↑ ^{a b} Maniac.de: Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition ( Memento from December 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
14. ↑ ^{a b} Metacritic.com: Resident Evil 4. Retrieved June 1, 2017 . 
15. ↑ Edge-Online.com: Edge's Top 100 Games of All Time ( Memento from October 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
16. ↑ FAMITSU REVIEWS RE4 WII - May 21, 2007
17. ↑ IGN.com: Resident Evil 4. Retrieved January 20, 2019 . 
18. ↑ Maniac.de: Resident Evil 4 - in the classic test (PS2). Retrieved January 27, 2019 . 
19. ↑ Test (rating) for Resident Evil 4 (Action) - 4Players.de . In: 4Players . ( 4players.de [accessed on November 22, 2017]).