Game Spotlight: Resident Evil 4: Wii edition

I’m about to have a huge epic co-op game of Resident Evil 5 with Jeff in about an hour so I thought this would be a good time to talk about my favourite Resident Evil game and how, even in its ported form on Wii, it still manages to impress after all these years.

Originally released on the GameCube in 2005 and ported to the PS2, PC, as well as to mobile phones (lol) and Wii. This game has been around, though for good reason. It’s a great game and Capcom obviously wants to milk as much from it as they can. Even with all of these different versions floating around, the undisputed definitive version is the Wii edition.

Despite the games visuals showing their age, especially with the HD capable consoles sporting Resident Evil 5 in all its visual goodness, I still believe RE4 to hold up against newer games. I see Resident Evil 4 as being one of those obscure horror movies you’d only find at video rental stores that still have VHS tapes. The picture is blurry and you can see the grain of the film and the imperfections everywhere and the sound is nowhere near as good as things get now… but that’s how it SHOULD be and you don’t want it any other way. After all, what has Resident Evil been but a series of very cliché horror movies?

The game has become a classic, something I think all gamers should experience and the Wii edition is the way to experience the game at its best. It includes the same quality visuals as the GameCube version, the added content of the PS2 version and the addition of Wii Remote functionality which is oh so perfect for this game. Plus, if you want to go back to the traditional controls, simply plug in a GameCube controller into your Wii and you can play the game exactly how it was played originally.

You COULD go back to the original control scheme, but I honestly don’t know why you would want to. Resident Evil 4: Wii edition is a perfect example of how to adapt a great traditional game for a system that throws tradition out the window. The aiming mechanics are precise and the control scheme mapped to the Wii Remote and Nunchuk perfectly. You can shoot three Ganados in the head and watch them all explode in a shower of blood and brains and then shoot a fourth Ganado in the face to make him stumble. While the headless remains of the first three Ganados are about to fall to the ground, you’ve already performed a melee attack that kicks the stumbling Ganado and all of his friends who have surrounded you and knocks them all to the ground. All in the space of 2 seconds. Sounds like I’m exaggerating? Well, I’m not.

If you own a Wii and don’t own this game… for shame!