Resident Evil 4

Resident Evil 4 (Japanese: バイオハザード 4, Biohazard 4 ) is an episode of the series of video games of adventures and action survival horror Resident Evil putting in scene the governmental agent Leon Scott Kennedy at the time of a mission in a rural part of Europe. This play is published by the company Japan ease Capcom.

Gameplay

The play differs much from the other episodes of the series:

the decorations are not fixed any more but in 3D real-time, the sight is an objective sight where the main character is seen back, slightly on side.

The play is now more based on the action and the handiness was entirely reconsidered for this purpose: it is more flexible, allows a better control and a better immersion. In certain situations, a contextual menu appears in order to propose special actions: to go up on the scale, to jump by the window, to give a kick, to hide, jump, etc These actions are carried out all starting from a single button, with the manner of the Zelda in 3D or of Shenmue . " Quick Time Events" (or QTE) give an addition of dynamism to the play: in order to leave itself certain critical situations (to avoid a blow, to flee etc) the player must press a combination of keys quickly posted with the screen. If it fails, the exit of the sequence is generally fatal.

The sight of back authorizes from now on the shooting of precision and the localization of the damage. When they are reached on part of their corp, the enemies react in a suitable way (touched with the leg, they fall etc) what makes it possible to develop strategies of combat to come to end from very different enemies all, in particular the boss, often spectacular.

Lastly, times of loading to each passage of door, trademark of the series, disappeared with the profit from an uninterrupted action. The decorations take care indeed uninterrupted, which still reinforces the immersif character of the play.

Scenario

The player directs Leon Scott Kennedy, already accessible character in Resident Evil 2 and centers history of Resident Evil Gaiden , which must save the girl of the president of the United States, Ashley Graham, which was removed and is found held in a dark village of the deep Spain. The organization which holds it would have found a parasite called “Mow Plagas”, according to certain documents found by Leon during the adventure. These parasites would divert the inoculated person of its will and would transform it into a kind of Marionette obeying the orders of the chiefs of the organization: Bitores Mendez (chief of the Pueblo village), Ramón Salazar (8th Governor of the castle of the Village Pueblo controlled by a religious worship, “Los Illuminados”) and Lord Osmund Saddler (Main as a chief of the sect controlling all the people affected by the " Mow Plagas" such as the chiefs previously quoted).

Course of the play

The play proceeds in three quite distinct stages.

Initially, one is in a Spanish village, or one fights mainly of the villagers reached of insanity. Environment is that of an unhealthy place, with worms, corpses, and where dirtiness seems main. One there recontre an enormous marine monster, like " beings formerly humains" , El Gigantes, which resembles to the trolls of the Lord of the Rings.
the player is found then in a castle, where it is surrounded by fanatics psalmodiant continuously, of increasingly powerful monsters (with the image of this blind gladiator controls by dorsal Plagas) a medieval environment and traps everywhere. The play is less violent there, but more distressing: one finds a little the environment of the first episodes of the series.
the island. The third part is most oppressive by far, with many and very powerful enemies; for example Régéneradors, monsters obese and quiet horriblements, and their evolution Iron Maiden, of the name of a famous torture (no relationship with the group of Heavy Metal). Environment a little commando, magnifiée at the time of the combat against insane and megalomaniac Krauser! An environment of laboratory per moments, or one discovers the unnamable experiments of Illuminados.

Development

The history of the development of Resident Evil 4 resembles to some extent the tumultuous history of Resident Evil 2 which had known a first not finalized version, named by the fans of the saga Resident Evil 1.5 before being completely given to zero to become the version which one knows today.

With regard to Resident Evil 4 , it did not have a very different version there before leaving on the market but does of them four (even five) others! The play put more than four years to succeed and it is only the fifth version of the play which was retained by the team of the development.

The objective was clear: Resident Evil 4 was not to resemble the preceding episodes of Resident Evil.

Versions

the first version of the play was directed Hideki Kamiya, which had already work on the first opus and which had directed the creation of the second. Capcom had required a play which would be sold with more than two million units. To achieve this goal, it decided to upset the concept even of the series: the fear was to be replaced by an intense and impressive action. The distressing sound effects and the realistic elements became elements contributing to the fun of the action and the main character, Dante, are inspired by Cobra, character of Manga. The play becoming too different from the remainder of the series and the fact that Dante inquires into its past and the origin of its capacities caused by science did not register any more in the history common to all the episodes.

the play was not abandoned but would not be any more a Resident Evil : it became Devil May Cry .
Jamais what one knows as Devil May Cry was presented to the public under the name of Resident Evil 4 . It is at the time of the presentation of DMC which one learned that it was the ex-project Resident Evil 4 .
It seems that there was still another version of the play before the present one which gave DMC. This adventure wanted to be truly terrifying, démoniaque, very black and intense in action which would proceed on a boat. It is difficult to confirm or to cancel the existence of this version because it is only evoked by Hiroyuki Koyabashi, producer of play of the series, in an interview granted to the magazine Consoles + . In addition, Resident Evil Gaiden , which left on Game Boy Color, chose to be held on a wreck of cruising ship. The mystery concerning this sixth version remains whole.

the second version was presented at the time of the Tokyo Game Show of the year 2002 in the form of a video. One discovers there that the main character of the play is not other than Leon S. Kennedy, which is infected by a virus. The play is still rather close to the preceding project: the step and the movements of Leon resemble much those of Dante and the play occurs in a castle. Besides one distinguishes a passage which seems to occur on an airplane and decorations which resemble by far certain passages of the marketed version. In an interview, it will be explained later that the goal of this version was to infiltrate the buildings of Umbrella Corporation where completely new creatures were faced.

Capcom presented RE4 following the advertisement of dealing agreement Capcom/Nintendo the exclusive for five plays GameCube (the Capcom Five): Killer7 (which finally left on GameCube but also on PlayStation 2), P.N. 03 , Dead Phoenix (which were cancelled), Viewtiful Joe and thus, Resident Evil 4 . With final, from these five excluded there will have been only one real: P.N. 03 .

the third version is presented to the Electronic Entertainment Expo of 2003. This version is presented in the form of a trailer card enough intriguing pretense to turn around the mystic and of the hallucination. Terror wants to be more than ever in the middle of the play. It will be necessary to wait until 2005 and the exit of the “true” RE4 to more deeply discover this third version of RE4 which is presented five minutes lasting in the DVD no-claims bonus where one re-examines the headstocks and the blue phantom of the trailer card of the play. The light has more than ever its importance in environment, mixing the effects, the shades and a kind of bluish lighting seems to inform danger and to accentuate it. It is supposed that Leon was to be continued by a recurring “Nemesis” as in episode 3 or in the series of plays Clock Tower .

This version made run ink near the fans at the time because it is certainly the version of the play which was furthest away from the spirit of the series, as well in the intrigue which resembled itself more that of a Silent Hill because of fantastic and very glaucous dimension of the play but also by its inspiration on Devil May Cry : the step of the character, the framework of the castle, the way of drawing… It will be noted on the other hand that the sight in third nobody real-time was already definitively acquired.
the DVD will make it possible to learn some much on the play. For example, that the objects are directly placed in the inventory without confirmation not to stop the action more; that certain doors cannot be open as long as all the enemies were not eliminated, condition also to make disappear the blue gleam illuminant the part. The video also shows that passages where it is very quickly necessary to carry out combinaises of keys (as in the marketed play) were envisaged.

It is Hiroyuki Kobayashi, producer of the play, which confirmed the existence of this fourth version different from the play at the time of the making-off of Resident Evil 4 which was diffused on IGN.com and Gamespot.com. This version on the other hand presented forever of any way to the public or the press. In fact, it was about a version making re-appear usual mechanics of the series, namely the zombies, the gameplay… whereas Capcom wished a deeply different play.
Lastly, there was the fifth version, that which was marketed in 2005 on GameCube then on PlayStation 2.
Recently, the magazine Japan board Famitsu , specialized in video games, announced the bearing of the play in a version Wii. The history will be the same one, but the play should profit from the exclusive no-claims bonus with the PS2 as well as a mode 16/9 and progressive scan (480p).

Development team

Producing: Hiroyuki Kobayashi
Realizer: Shinji Mikami
Range Design : Hiroshi Shibata, Koji Kakae, Shigenori Nishikawa
Lead To code : Kiyohiko Sakata
Programmers: Kazunori Inoue, Yuji Hagiyama, Yoshiaki Nishimura, Takaaki Yamanouchi, Nao Ueda, Naoki Hashimoto
Art Production - Lead Designer : Yusuke Kan

Art Production - Conceptual Artist : Yasuko Shimada
Art Production ‑ Designers : Koichi Minami, Yoshizumi Hori, Eirou Yoshii, Toshiko Katayama, Kentaro Yano, Naoto, Hidenori Kouyama, Akiko Yokoyama, Naotaka Yoshitomi, Gaku Shimada, Kouji Nagano, Nanatsu Yasuda

Character & Creatures - Lead Designer : Masaki Yamanaka

Character & Creatures - Modeling : Yoshinori Matsushita, Yoshifumi Hattori, Yasuyo Kondou, Yuichi Akimoto
Character & Creatures - Motion : Naohiro Taniguchi, Nobuaki Yamazaki, Eijiro Nishimura, Keiichi Satou

Visual Effects - Lead Designer : Yusuke Hashimoto

Visual Effects ‑ Designers : Tokuo Yamamoto, Hideki Nakanishi, Kazumasa Kuroda
Interface/Item Design - Designers : Naoki Yoshikawa, Shigeomi Okamura

Sound ‑ Lead To compose/Arrange : Misao Senbongi

Sound ‑ To compose/Arrange : Syusaku Uchiyama
Sound - Lead Sound Designer : Yoshihiko Wada
Sound ‑ Sound Designers : Yoshito Kato, Shuji Takagi

Realizer kinematics: Hidé Gondoh, Kenichi Ueda

Cinematics ‑ Lead Designer : Yoshiaki Hirabayashi
Cinematics - Designers : Toshiya Kotani, Kunihiko Tsuda, Shuuichi Kawata, Satoshi Ogino, Tsubasa Nakai, Yusuke Maeda, Akira Masuda, Mitsuhiro Kubo
Cinematics - Facial Animation Lead Designer : Yoichiro Tajiri
Cinematics - CG Opening Scene : Koichi Hidaka

No-claims bonus

Once the completed play, of the no-claims bonus will then be resolved:

the level “pro” (to finish the play in normal mode). Once the play finished in level pro one obtains the P.R.L 412 (exclusively on Playstation 2 and Wii).
the mission “Assignment Ada”. (exclusively on Cubic Range and Wii).
the mode “Mercenaries”.
mode “ Separate ways ” (exclusively on Playstation 2 and Wii).
an alternative behavior for the protagonists (several behaviors in the version Playstation 2).
Of new weapons in solo ( Mathilda , infinite Rocket launcher…)

Additional weapons

Once the first completed part, the new turn will make it possible to acquire the rocket launcher with infinite ammunition for a million pesetas.
Once the mission “Assignment Ada” finished, the machine-gun Chicago Typewritter will be available for a million pesetas (on the version Playstation 2, this weapon is released by finishing the mission “Separate Ways”).
Once the four missions “Mercenaries” completed with five stars in all the levels of the Mercenaries mode with all the characters, Handcannon will gracefully be proposed.

Mission “Assignment Ada”

You take the control of charming Ada and must recover five samples of the virus " Mow Plagas" in the level of the island. Once the completed level, you will free Chicago Typewritter in the mode seperate ways which will be available, even at the time of a part in progress, with the shop for a million pesetas.

Mode “Mercenaries”

They are four different levels in which it will be necessary to kill the possible maximum of enemies. According to the number of points obtained and the survival of the character, a score from one to five stars will be obtained. Each score with four stars will make it possible to free an additional character for the mode “Mercenaries” and the five stars on the four levels with each of the five characters will make it possible to obtain Handcannon free with the shop of the merchant, arms drawing only three blows before the improvements available. For a total improvement of 700.000 pesetas, you will be able to obtain this weapon with ammunition unlimited, and an incomparable power of 99.9. What is almost impossible!

To note

the play is classified “18+” by PEGI. This play comprises very violent scenes and many coarseness (in Spanish, however…). The play is also very bloody.
the play is held in a window of play close to the 16/9.
In this play is present a mysterious commercial of weapons, which has various capacities and makes it possible to buy weapons during the adventure. It is an innovation in the universe of Resident Evil. You can however kill it but it will return in easy and normal mode, but not in difficult mode!
Two editions of the play were proposed at the exit on Playstation 2: a normal edition and an edition collector with a metal case.

External bonds

Official site
Test of the play on krinein.com

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