Recent reviews by Walk 'Em Like A Dog

Despite advertising itself as teens+, the lovely and very fair people running the ban system here will hand you a perma ban for naming yourself after a controversial podcaster. Way to go, EA, treating your loyal customers like that.

While a fun game for people who like action, Resident Evil 4 to a fan of the original Raccoon trilogy (1-3) just doesn't feel like a part of the same series. The only thing making it a "Resident Evil Game" is the branding and (maybe) Leon. RE4 feels much more like a shooter with slightly scary visuals than a challenging survival horror game like RE 1-3.

In addition, the game has little to nothing to do with the preceding and succeeding games. The only plot relevancy there is is in a small opening cutscene mentioning that after the destruction of Raccoon City in RE3, Umbrella Corporation's stock plummeted, leading them to go out of business. For those who aren't familiar with Umbrella, it's a pharmaceutical giant secretly involved in the creation of bioweapons to fund eugenics experiments, and it's the overarching antagonist of 2-3 and the secondary antagonist in 1. The plot design of 1-3 is such that it gets you worked up and excited to take Umbrella down, only for 4 to give players a big "♥♥♥♥ You" and give them a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ cinematic instead of a clean and climactic end to the Umbrella saga.

The fact that RE4 is a giant non-sequitur to the rest of the Resident Evil series aside, the plot is still awful. RE4 goes like this: Leon Kennedy, once a rookie cop in RE2 (and extremely out of character, but I'll get to that later), is now a secret agent working for the President of the United States, sent to investigate the kidnapping of the President's daughter in a rural village in Spain, where the villagers there are infected with a parasite called Las Plagas that makes them susceptible to mind control. You (as Leon) find Ashley (the daughter) pretty early on, and the rest of the game is basically a glorified escort mission instead of a survival horror classic. There are virtually no suspenseful moments or plot twists involved like the infamous Wesker betrayal in RE1, or the slow, suspenseful transition of Spencer Mansion into a bioweapons laboratory.

As I mentioned earlier, RE4's characters feel very bland, one-dimensional, and not true to their original counterparts. Leon in RE2 was a rookie cop wanting to right wrongs done to Raccoon City and save as many lives as he can. He didn't seem super overconfident, especially in his interactions with Ada where he was a bit gullible. Capcom in RE4 decided to change this (for whatever reason) and change him from a sweet little rookie cop wanting to do the right thing to... a macho, womanizer secret agent spitting pickup lines to his superiors and not showing an ounce of fear even in front of giant bioweapons? It's like two completely different characters. Ashley, even as a secondary character, is very one dimensional in her role as a dimwitted useless bimbo.

The last negative point for RE4 is its gameplay. A key component of the preceding games (and, ya know.. survival horror... the genre RE is supposed to be.....) is the conservation of resources and choosing your battles. As RE4 enemies drop loot (ammo, herbs), there's never a time when you will be like "oh ♥♥♥♥, I need ammo" and have to avoid a fight because of it. The fights just aren't threatening because of this. The "Merchant" character also exacerbates this. Instead of finding cool new weapons in the environment by exploring, you just show up to him (he is marked on the map) and pay him a easy-to-get amount of money for OP weapons that make fights even less of a challenge.

The final few things I will say are the positives of the game. I don't have any specific ones in mind, even the graphics because they just aren't anything new, but a lot of the negatives can be viewed as positives by fans of different genres. If you've never played a Resident Evil game before and you really like shoot-em-up action games with maybe a little bit of a scary ambiance, I would highly recommend RE4. It checks all those boxes. However, if you're a fan of the preceding games and the RE franchise in general, I really wouldn't recommend this game. It may have been good as a side game, but as a main installment in the franchise it's sorely disappointing. It doesn't "feel" RE. If you enjoyed RE for its gameplay and ambiance, I suggest you replay the first game, as its the most exemplary in the series. If you enjoy RE for the plot so far... just skip 4. It's a giant disappointment. Play RE5- it suffers from some of the same gameplay problems as 4 but is faithful to the original RE story and has some insane graphics.

What is there not to like about this game? Resident Evil 1 takes fans on a terrifying and immersive ride through an abandoned mansion filled with zombies, undead dogs, and grisly secrets.

Gameplay:
Plot:

-Buggy
-Toxic players
-Bad devs
♥♥♥♥ this game and everyone who plays it