Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition

I've got a certain respect for the approach Capcom took with their Resident Evil series. Instead of giving up and letting it go south after a few signs of failure, like what they did with Dino Crisis(a game I played the hell out of on Dreamcast). They took a step back with a long, cold stare, revved up the chainsaw and went to work, reinventing the franchise.

At the time, Resident Evil games were getting lame. After RE 1, 2, and 3, the games took a turn away from using numbers for their sequels and pumped out a whole load of extras. The first being RE:Code Veronica. After that, there were 2 RE: Outbreak titles for the PS2, a port of EVERY SINGLE RE TITLE for the GameCube, a whole bunch of light gun games (the RE: Survivor series), and a spotty GameCube exclusive prequel: Resident Evil Zero.

The series was getting stale...and don't even get me started on the movies!

The blokes at Capcom finally woke up one morning and decided to move on from Raccoon City, the T-Virus, and Umbrella Corp. Then, got to work on Resident Evil 4.

RE4 takes place 7 years after the events in Raccoon City. Leon S. Kennedy (last seen in RE2), is sent to a small island in Spain to rescue the U.S. president's daughter, Ashley, from the hands of the terrorist cult inhabiting the island.

Things make a huge turn from the Resident Evil signature, zombies, when Leon gets the hint that the population of villagers on the small island has been infected with a parasite that allows them all to be controlled by the cult leader.

So, you're dealing with a bunch of pissed off villagers, carrying pitchforks and chainsaws, opening doors, climbing ladders, co-ordinating with eachother, smashing windows, and throwing axes at you...y'know, instead of the same ol' slow-walking stupid zombie thing.

This...is my BOOMSTICK!

This game was originally released in 2005, ported to the PS2 in the same year and won dozens of awards. I've had plenty of time to play this game.

I can't believe I waited until 2008 to play this game on the Wii.

It's simply awesome. The gameplay keeps you challenged, yet is always rewarding, the story never bores you, and the twists and turns are plentiful.

Being one of the few mature-rated games for the system: If you've never played a Resident Evil game, or if you just haven't played this one, you have to. It's priced lower than most new Wii games, and I'm sure you could get it for even less used.