Why don't I like Resident Evil 4?

[Robert Sharp]

OK, so I'm playing this game for the first time (PS2 version). My wife and I love survival horror games, especially the Fatal Frame series (still haven't played 3, but it's sitting on the shelf!). I'm in chapter 2-2 now (*SPOILER: found the President's daughter and I'm trying to rescue her. Just got past the house defence scene).

But neither of us is really drawn in. The game still feels sluggish to me on controls, despite everyone raving about them. The pacing seems off. Nothing in the story so far has me particularly intrigued. It's not spooky, except for the ambient noises, which are pretty cool.

Should I play further? Does it pick up AFTER the first 5 hours?

[Jonathan Crane]

Robert, if the pleasure of shooting people in the kneecaps and having them spin over and fall down isn't enough for you, this might not be the game for you. There are some pretty cool scenes coming up, but if the first five hours didn't grab you, I'm not sure what to say. I think you might need to accept that there might be some damage to the part of your brain that in normal humans produces feelings of pleasure and contentment when presented with endless opportunities to shoot zombies in the face.

Maybe you just need to man up and get Fatal Frame 3 down from the shelf, turn all the lights out in the house, and forget about sleeping peacefully for a few weeks? Seriously, given how wonderful FF3 is, I'm not sure why you're wasting time with RE4 (which is a lovely game, I think, but not really horrifying in any way).

[Wholly Schmidt]

Bob#, whatever's wrong with you is wrong with me too. I tried to get into RE4 on three different occasions (and two platforms) and just never got hooked.

[Robert Sharp]

Maybe you just need to man up and get Fatal Frame 3 down from the shelf, turn all the lights out in the house, and forget about sleeping peacefully for a few weeks? Seriously, given how wonderful FF3 is, I'm not sure why you're wasting time with RE4 (which is a lovely game, I think, but not really horrifying in any way).

We love the series so much that we've delayed playing it because it's the last one. We know it will be great. RE is considered survival horror, but I guess I just prefer the more suspense-type horror of FF to the shock-style of RE. Blowing people's heads off is pretty fun though, I must admit.

[merryprankster]

I wasn't crazy about RE4 either. I got sick of protecting the daughter (re: telling her to hop in and out of dumpsters) and just kinda drifted away in the castle.

[BobJustBob]

Because it sucks.

[Robert Sharp]

You may be right, Bob, but this game is almost universally lauded. Reviews give it 9.5 out of 10 at the very least it seems. I thought this was one of those can't miss games, like SS2 or something (and yes, I realize some people don't like System Shock 2, but percentage-wise, it's pretty good)

[Rock8man]

I didn't understand why it got such great reviews either. I didn't like the controls or the story much either. One of my roommates who was sort of a stranger to me, only a roommate for about 3 months (found him through Craigslist) looked like he wanted to hit me when he found out I didn't like RE4. He kept insisting it was the best shooter ever made.

[Jonathan Crane]

We love the series so much that we've delayed playing it because it's the last one. We know it will be great. RE is considered survival horror, but I guess I just prefer the more suspense-type horror of FF to the shock-style of RE. Blowing people's heads off is pretty fun though, I must admit.

There's a fourth Fatal Frame (Mask of the Lunar Eclipse) coming out for the Wii. While it has only been announced for Japan and Europe, I still hope it might see a release in the US.

I know what you mean, though, as games like Fatal Frame are pretty rare. Have you tried the Siren remake on the PS3?

[BobJustBob]

I can only assume it was a selection bias. You know how everyone knows some moron who saw Norbit? Review sites probably keep someone around who likes scarce ammo, poor controls, QTEs, and gimmicky boss fights, and toss him games like this.

[Not One Of Us]

Resident Evil 4 isn't a survival horror game. Capcom may say it is, but it isn't.

Think of it as an action horror game and go from there.

[Kent William Innholt]

Oh please. Complaining about "scarce ammo" or "poor controls" in RE4? You just don't get it, then. That's not the game's fault.

RE4 is an excellent rendition of all the game mechanics actually suggested by early zombie movies such as Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead. It is the way it is because it needs to be like that in order to instill the fear/panic that it does. It's by no means unwieldy, but the player can't treat it like a FPS and expect to understand it.

As for the story, yes, it's hardly the best writing seen in games. I think the point is to enjoy its narcissistic campness, but I can see how this may not be everyone's cup of tea.

[malkav11]

See, I could never get into it because (absent perhaps the Wii version...I don't have a Wii) I could never get any sort of decent aim together in any version I tried. It's a game where locational damage is a huge factor and conserving ammunition is very important, and I can't shoot straight in it. So I get into the village (yes, the first scene of the game) and die horribly. I'd so hoped that the PC version would fix that, but they neglected to have mouse support and the aiming is actually worse than on PS2 using either available control scheme (controller / keyboard).

It's a pity, because it sure looks like I'd enjoy it if I could play it.

[merryprankster]

yeah I had a hard time with the controls as well, mostly because I can't aim with the left stick. Not being able to move is fine, but please let me use the stick that every other game uses for aiming.

[Kevin Grey]

You're playing the wrong version- the PS2 controller is a very poor match for the control scheme. The Cube controller is a bit better but it's really on the Wii where the game really shines.

I wouldn't necessarily give up though- the game is relatively long (you're maybe a quarter of the way if that) and I think it really gets better as it goes along.

[David Hellman]

The story clearly is shit, but the action is really meaty. It's not a creeping horror kind of game, but I found much of it very tense. Mechanically it's been surpassed by Gears of War, but personally I think it holds up.

If you're not feeling it after 5 hours, it might not be your thing.

The Wii version is the best.

One of my favorite games.

[Kent William Innholt]

I don't think you can say that Gears of War "surpassed" RE4 mechanically. The base mechanic may be similar, but the resulting dynamics are quite different.

But yeah, the Wii version is a lot easier to use. As for left-stick-aiming, one simply has to get used to it, or pass on the otherwise excellent game.

[Lizard_King]

The first time I played RE4 on the PS2, I quit after 2 hours and didn't touch it again for months. What it took to get me back into it was seeing someone play who was really good at it, and dominated the mechanics of the game to get amazing results. Much like with Godhand, I needed to see some of the potential in the controls in order to put in the time to get there.

Take that first village situation: there are at least three possible places you can hole up during that engagement. They have different risk/reward ratios, and one even introduces a fairly challenging higher level enemy. Once you know how to play effectively (shooting conservatively, moving, and employing context sensitive attacks in order to control crowds), it turns into calculated mayhem rife with possibilities.

As for the plot, I think it's exactly the sort of thing that completely eluded No More Heroes. That is, satire with depth that also works as a parallel B movie story on its own. Leon calmly pshes his way through some of the most absurd scenarios imaginable, armed primarily with the ability to fight effectively without the crutch of a circle strafe.

There are ups and downs in the design, from moments of brilliance like the "two paths" you have coming up to the lows of the Alien boss. But I can't think of another game that I purchased for two different systems and played multiple times on both, and I felt rewarded by the experience every time. Then again, my wife actively encouraged me to play because she enjoyed watching it, so perhaps the chemistry has to occur across the board.

I'd also say the game has a tendency to inspire angry initial first impressions by people who came into it expecting something more universally accessible and simultaneously create exceptionally rabid me-too ism in its fans. It's definitely got very little in common with Fatal Frame or Silent Hill, which for me is its greatest strength. I like that style of games as well, up to a point, but for a game to really pull me in I need a solid, well balanced action element that pays off in the long run.

Also, the merchant alone is a superior character and mechanic to anything in any game BJB has ever liked. Ever.

Anyway, we all have those moments with 10/10!!!!! games. Maybe it'd be best to come back to it during a gaming drought versus a time period like this one. I know I will.

[Erlend Grefsrud]

Oh please. Complaining about "scarce ammo" or "poor controls" in RE4? You just don't get it, then. That's not the game's fault.

RE4 is an excellent rendition of all the game mechanics actually suggested by early zombie movies such as Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead. It is the way it is because it needs to be like that in order to instill the fear/panic that it does. It's by no means unwieldy, but the player can't treat it like a FPS and expect to understand it.

As for the story, yes, it's hardly the best writing seen in games. I think the point is to enjoy its narcissistic campness, but I can see how this may not be everyone's cup of tea.
Seconded, and bear in mind that it's not really a survival-horror game, but more of a tactical shooter oriented around crowd control. The rules go like this:

Shooting people in the head will cause them to stop and stagger, and you will deal a lot more damage. However, subsequent shots beyond the first will likely miss. Shooting zombies in the arms causes them to drop their weapons, and they will most likely charge after coming out of their stagger animation. Shooting them in their legs will deal a small amount of damage, but cause them to drop to their knees, with a long stagger animation.

You can roundhouse kick enemies during the head shot stagger animation, dealing damage in a fairly wide angle in front of you. This will knock enemies off their feet, allowing you to reposition yourself. You can do a suplex during the knee shot stagger, which causes massive damage to a single target (and potentially to enemies behind you), but it disorientates you massively because of the camera shift and long recovery animation.

The point is that you'll mostly be facing more than one opponent, and you'll have to prioritize which one is going to be able to deal you damage first (sort of like in light gun games) and how you can cause "splash damage" to all of them. If one is carrying a throwable weapon, that enemy is immediately the biggest threat, unless the enemy is quite distant. Some enemy types are more prone to charging, so you should keep them in check. The list goes on.

When you've made your decision as to which enemy is more of a threat, you pop a shot. You decide where to shoot the enemy dependent on what outcome you want. You want to deal damage to a group of enemies standing close to each other, you shoot the middle zombie in the knees and perform a roundhouse. If you've got a single enemy left and you want to conserve ammo, pop him one in the knees and suplex your victim.

Of course, as the enemy types becomes more varied, you have to vary your tactics accordingly. When you get enemies with sprouting parasites, you should stay the fuck away and try to figure out a way to insta-kill them. There is a way, and I could tell you every single trick in the book, but what would be the fun in that? Experiment!

[Aszurom]

The best thing would have been to make a 50/50 mix of this game and God Hand. Especially with the roulette wheel attacks.

[Robert Sharp]

OK, cool. So it's an action game? Maybe that's the problem. My wife and I were expecting survival horror. We wanted a Halloween game, and this just isn't it. Playing it like an action game might change everything, so I'll try that.

[Bahimiron]

I can only assume it was a selection bias. You know how everyone knows some moron who saw Norbit? Review sites probably keep someone around who likes scarce ammo, poor controls, QTEs, and gimmicky boss fights, and toss him games like this.

I think it's more like 'you know how everyone has a friend whose girlfriend thinks the Godfather is bad?'.

[peacedog]

OK, cool. So it's an action game? Maybe that's the problem. My wife and I were expecting survival horror. We wanted a Halloween game, and this just isn't it. Playing it like an action game might change everything, so I'll try that.

Yes, it being a Resident Evil game is something of a misnomer. Now, as an action game it can frustrate you because it's still got a very RE-like controls cheme. But that's what the game is. Your ammo will wax and wane but it won't ever be like the earlier games in the series where every bullet is precious (ammo for a given gun drops more frequently as the amount you have lowers). The tension comes from facing more enemies, from the set pieces (which ranged from lame to interesting, IMO), and as others have said learning what tactics to use and when.

[SmokeyNecrosis]

Its kind of like Dead Rising on guided rails. The plot didnt do much for me, but shooting zombies heads off and those leather face dudes with the chainsaw was just pure mayhem fun. A few gun upgrades were cool

[unbongwah]

RE4 is action-horror, not survival-horror. If you're looking for something to compete with Silent Hill, Fatal Frame, etc., look elsewhere.

[jeffd]

You're playing the wrong version- the PS2 controller is a very poor match for the control scheme. The Cube controller is a bit better but it's really on the Wii where the game really shines.

I'll pipe in to disagree - I tried this game out on the Wii and it was damned near unplayable.

Back during the early Playstation days, poor controls in games like this were forgivable. But that was over ten years ago - there is absolutely no reason for a game to have such awful controls, on any platform.

[Tim Partlett]

95% genius 5% retarded

Was this game fucked up by over zealous producers?

The story was half decent, but ruined by some scripting that felt completely over the top and designed to hammer home the message that was more subtly given in the rest of the story. The worst culprit were the videophone dialogs between Leon and his enemy's, which served little purpose other than to taunt him and lead him by the nose through certain story elements.

The gameplay was similar. The core gameplay of shooting zombies was fantastic. Apart from a clumsy interface, the game worked near perfectly for 95% of its 20 hours. There was a constant feeling of stress generated by the music, sound effects, and the closeness of the action. There were few instances of "monster in the closet" cheating, like in Doom 3, but the whole experience was very satisfying.

The weapons were finely balanced, so that they all felt distinctly different, and I was constantly switching between them during battles against different enemies. They all upgraded, giving me a nice sense of progression. It would have been nicer if the interface had been better, and my progression through the different levels of weapons would have been easier than having to sell my current gun, buy another similar gun, and then check how much I need to upgrade to get it up to the same level.

The enemies were great. Varied, and requiring different skills and tools to overcome, and placed with enough variance in difficulty, intensity and skill sets that I was constantly on my toes and enjoying the challenge.

Where the game fell down was in the often annoying scripted special action moments, especially forcing gameplay into unskippable cut scenes. Three particularly bad offenders came towards the end:

1. The Bulldozer Scene

After killing zombies for a few minutes, a truck barrels down the road towards you. The last time this happened, I had to take out the driver through the windscreen, but oh no! different rules this time. The truck's windscreen was armored. I had two seconds to try and work out what the solution was before I was hit and had to start the entire section again. I repeated that section several times until I worked out the solution.

2. The Krauser Scene

Ooh! I walk in and start to watch a cut scene. Suddenly "PRESS RANDOM BUTTONS!" is displayed. Oh, I spam these difficult to access buttons but fuck it up. So I have to watch that part of the cut scene again! I fuck up several times during the scene, to pointlessly have to watch it ALL OVER AGAIN. Can there be anything more irritating? The only tension in this scene was not the action, but the fear that I would make one small mistake and be forced to watch the entire five minute scene again and again like some kind of hell.

3. The U3 monster on a hanging crate. You have 30 seconds to work out what the fuck was in the mind of the designer when he wrote "find the exit!" Oh, didn't work it out? You are dead! Try again.

4. Worst of all was the final Krauser scene. I couldn't bring myself to face the final boss monster after this evil.

The trick, it turned out after hours of trying to beat the shit, was that I had to blast away his legs with a shotgun, and then smash his unprotected head with the most powerful weapon I had.

The fuck up was that shooting at his knees only worked 1 out of 3 times. If he happened to be moving rapidly left as you fire: Nothing happens. If he happens to be throwing a special move as you fire: Nothing happens. Even if the fire goes straight through his knees: Nothing happens. Even sometimes he is just walking towards you, and you shoot his knees, and nothing happens.

You are supposed to work out this rule from a rule that is constantly being broken by the AI. Rule breaking is about as bad as game design gets. Expecting a player to learn a rule from one that is constantly being broken is fatalistically retarded.

This is compounded by the fact that you need shotgun shells to defeat him, and you are drained of these before the battle by his robot minions. The only ammo you get before the final battle is 3 lousy magnum shots. Just pray you bought this weapon, because otherwise you are never going to complete this.

With all the missing in spite of being on target, the limited ammo is a killer and a source of endless frustration.

Worst of all, and the final nail in this game's coffin: When finally defeating this interminable boss, I wasn't reminded of the fact that I only had 30 seconds to escape the tower before it blew up. No warning, no telling me what I had to do, but I guessed it was run like hell out of the tower.

So I climb down the ladder, and ran out the way I came in. But oh no! The little tricksters blocked the door I came in through, and put a secret door that I couldn't see when I came down the ladder because it was behind me. What a laugh! By the time I'd run at, punched, and shot the door I came in through in the vain hope it would open: it was too late!

Haha! You'll have to fight the boss again with 10 shotgun shells and 3 magnum bullets. Ahahahahahaha!

No. I just fucking won't.

[Warning]

Back during the early Playstation days, poor controls in games like this were forgivable. But that was over ten years ago - there is absolutely no reason for a game to have such awful controls, on any platform.
Absolutely agree with you on this. People have argued with me that the controls *had* to be like this to make the game tense. I think it's just lazy design.

[gordonrumble]

Absolutely agree with you on this. People have argued with me that the controls *had* to be like this to make the game tense. I think it's just lazy design.

I heard it was something about Japanese gamers not being as used to the second analog stick, so games designed there try to avoid it in twitch use. I don't know if that's true or not, but it's an interesting hypothesis.

[Lizard_King]

Absolutely agree with you on this. People have argued with me that the controls *had* to be like this to make the game tense. I think it's just lazy design.

You're in the wrong thread. Both of you are referring to RE games prior to 4, or possibly the Silent Hill series. There is nothing lazy or artificially tension raising about RE4 in a structural sense; at worst, it has some less than stellar moments in an overall excellent design.

[Chris Nahr]

As LK said this has nothing to do with RE4, but just on this point...

I heard it was something about Japanese gamers not being as used to the second analog stick, so games designed there try to avoid it in twitch use. I don't know if that's true or not, but it's an interesting hypothesis.

The fact that a device as over-engineered as the PSP has only one analogue nub seems to bear out that hypothesis. The Japanese designers evidently didn't realize or mind that this makes the PSP basically useless for shooters.

[Thoro]

Bob#, whatever's wrong with you is wrong with me too. I tried to get into RE4 on three different occasions (and two platforms) and just never got hooked.

I have nothing of relevance to add to this thread, but I see what you did there.

[Fersis]

Maybe you dont like it because is 'too action focused' ?
I didnt like too, but i can see why people like it so much.
Oh and the last boss and last cutscenes are the lamest on any Resident Evil.
I was really mad at the lack of 'awesomesauce' on the final battle.

[David Hellman]

The pacing for much of the game is a little weird. It feels like it's about to end for the entire second half. Then it does end and it's like, oh ... that's it?

[Shmtur]

4. Worst of all was the final Krauser scene. I couldn't bring myself to face the final boss monster after this evil.

The trick, it turned out after hours of trying to beat the shit, was that I had to blast away his legs with a shotgun, and then smash his unprotected head with the most powerful weapon I had.


I'd just like to point out that the trick here was that it wasn't a gunfight. It was a knife fight. The knife was easily the best weapon to use against Krauser. It took me a bit to get the timing down, but he goes down quickly once you have it.

[Lizard_King]

Leave it to Tim to bring a gun to a knife fight.

[Wholly Schmidt]

Bob#, whatever's wrong with you is wrong with me too. I tried to get into RE4 on three different occasions (and two platforms) and just never got hooked.

Make that four different occasions and three different platforms. I felt I had to give it one more chance before RE5, the PS2 isn't hooked up any more, and I'd rather sit on the couch than at the PC, so I bought the Wii version.

I don't even remember how I got as far as I did the last time, though I'm sure the WIi controls being my least favorite of the three isn't helping.

Anyway, I still hate RE4.

So someone talk sense into me before I get all caught up in the Qt3hype and the appeal of co-op and pretty graphics: If I hate RE4, will I ultimately hate RE5?

[BDGE]

So someone talk sense into me before I get all caught up in the Qt3hype and the appeal of co-op and pretty graphics: If I hate RE4, will I ultimately hate RE5?

Probably. But I also think you're insane for not appreciating the awesome of RE4.

[Lizard_King]

So someone talk sense into me before I get all caught up in the Qt3hype and the appeal of co-op and pretty graphics: If I hate RE4, will I ultimately hate RE5?
Yes. I can't imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth this is going to inspire after the Wii's instant aim accessibility opened up the game to more players.

[Wholly Schmidt]

Probably. But I also think you're insane for not appreciating the awesome of RE4.
I'm really going to try to make it through this time. And it's partly my own fault that I'm already frustrated again, because it was lazy and foolish of me to buy it again on the Wii instead of just getting the PC version going again. Now I've got my basic frustrations with the game coupled with having to learn a new controller setup. It's terrible that a game I've gotten about 4 hours into on four separate occasions still leaves me confused and dying again and again for about an hour at the very first village scene. I think I'm going to compromise and use a walkthrough, which will probably minimize both frustrations and any fun surprises, but it's the only way I think I can make it through unless the game just seriously takes off at the five hour mark or something.

But if I still feel like this at the end of the game, I guess I'll pass on RE5.

[Lizard_King]

The PC version is reviled across the board by fans of the game, fwiw, so I think you made the right decision. The Wii controls, on the other hand, make it the best game I've played on that console, and along with House of the Dead/Overkill one of the few that I wouldn't really care to see on any other platform afterwards.

Walkthroughs are fine and not particularly damaging to the gameplay. Most of it is just knowing where to find stuff, which adds nothing to the game's fun for me if I do it on my own. The real turning point is when and if the controls become natural to you, and you start dropping suplexes and precision fire without thinking twice.

[BDGE]

Dude that section is one of the many highlights of the game! The idea is to think of that village as a total playground. Just be creative and lure zombies to their death, escape through windows and find safety in a different house when things get rough. It all ends when you kill something like 14-ish zambies, but once it clicks, you'll wish you were taking on 1400.

And yes, the game does a pretty tremendous job of introducing all sorts of wacky scenarios and variety that lasts upwards 15-20 hours right to the end.

If you are having trouble taking out typical zombies, you can always put a bullet in the leg and then run up for a suplex/kick while they are hobbled over. Pretty useful trick that saves ammo and works for much of the game.

[David Hellman]

If you have a Classic Controller or even an old Gamecube controller, you can plug those in and RE4 Wii will instantly, automatically give you classic dual-stick controls.

But in my opinion, the Wii remote works really well in RE4. Far preferable.

[malkav11]

The PC version is reviled across the board by fans of the game, fwiw, so I think you made the right decision. The Wii controls, on the other hand, make it the best game I've played on that console, and along with House of the Dead/Overkill one of the few that I wouldn't really care to see on any other platform afterwards.


If the PC version had only had proper mouse controls. If only.

I imagine the Wii version to provide something more or less comparable, but as I don't own a Wii and have been less than whelmed by the game selection for it so far (or the Wiimote and nunchuk as controls for most games I've played with them), it doesn't do me much good.

[Thomas Wilde]

So someone talk sense into me before I get all caught up in the Qt3hype and the appeal of co-op and pretty graphics: If I hate RE4, will I ultimately hate RE5?

Yep.

RE5 is RE4 co-op.

[Brakara]

If the PC version had only had proper mouse controls. If only.

Wouldn't that just kill all the tension? At least that's the argument I get when I call for better console controls.

I imagine the Wii version to provide something more or less comparable, but as I don't own a Wii and have been less than whelmed by the game selection for it so far (or the Wiimote and nunchuk as controls for most games I've played with them), it doesn't do me much good.

People gushing over the RE4 Wii controls is what made me realize that a waggle future is not for me. I just couldn't get to grip with them in that game, and much prefer a standard dual analogue controller for these kinds of games.

[Warning]

Wouldn't that just kill all the tension? At least that's the argument I get when I call for better console controls.
We need *more* tension, not less. I really wish RE5 featured a one-legged paralytic with a blowgun hopping around. Now that'd be tense, man.

[MSUSteve]

My only problem with the Wii version was that the aiming reticle doesn't move the camera when you hit the edge of the screen. It's a bit counter intuitive to use the nunchuk for that.

[metta]

My only problem with the Wii version was that the aiming reticle doesn't move the camera when you hit the edge of the screen. It's a bit counter intuitive to use the nunchuk for that.

That's why I keep stopping and starting this game. I play it for an hour and end up getting frustrated with the control scheme. Then, a few months later, I remember we own a copy and I pop it back in determined to overcome whatever it was that pushed me away last time. The player movement + camera + aiming just never quite clicks for me and my adventures always end in frustration because I feel like I'm fighting the controls more than the zombies.

I wonder if I'd have a better time if I used the Classic controller?

[MSUSteve]

I wonder if I'd have a better time if I used the Classic controller?
It'd be just like it was on Gamecube, which was pretty awesome. I haven't spent enough time with RE4 on Wii to say that I can't get used to the motion control, but it seems like a weird design choice to tie the camera movement to the left stick instead of just having the Wiimote control the view entirely.

[Chuck]

I'm playing the PC version right now, using a PS2 controller, and I'm having
no trouble controlling Leon. It seems very MGS, with the codec messages, and, yes, it's hard to aim, but that makes it kind of frantic and fun.

I will say the Simon Sez/ Indigo Prophecy styled action sequences (hit buttons X & Y now!) kind of suck, mainly because the PC version displays the buttons as letters instead of the PS2 symbols. It would be easier with a 360 gamepad.

[FoRmaT]

Chuck, there's a mod for that.

And there are infinite mods that put the Gamecube's textures into the PC version. I didn't bother to download any, because they're around 1.5 gb, but I did download a high-res jacket for Leon, which is what I'm looking at most of the time, and I'm fine with it.


Update: I got the mods here (http://z6.invisionfree.com/Resident_Evil_4_PC/index.php?showforum=10). Get the laser sight-mod, too.

Update 2: I am SO getting this high-res mod (http://z6.invisionfree.com/Resident_Evil_4_PC/index.php?showtopic=6383) tonight and reinstalling RE4.

[psu_13]

I have played this game over and over again on the Cube, the PS2 and the Wii and the stick controls are just too programmed into my brain for me to try and re-learn things.

There is definitely a state of mind and rhythm to this game that you have to learn and accept. I distinctly remember realizing this after continually failing at the mercenaries mini-game and then suddenly figuring out how it should work.

[FoRmaT]

I couldn't get past that siege in a house, shortly after rescuing the girly. Tried for an hour, and then quit out of frustration and because the creepyness was getting to me.

[Wholly Schmidt]

I'm playing the PC version right now, using a PS2 controller, and I'm having no trouble controlling Leon. It seems very MGS, with the codec messages, and, yes, it's hard to aim, but that makes it kind of frantic and fun.

"I'm having no trouble playing it, it's just as easy as this other game frequently maligned for its controls!"

:)

[Chuck]

Chuck, there's a mod for that.

And there are infinite mods that put the Gamecube's textures into the PC version. I didn't bother to download any, because they're around 1.5 gb, but I did download a high-res jacket for Leon, which is what I'm looking at most of the time, and I'm fine with it.


Update: I got the mods here (http://z6.invisionfree.com/Resident_Evil_4_PC/index.php?showforum=10). Get the laser sight-mod, too.

Update 2: I am SO getting this high-res mod (http://z6.invisionfree.com/Resident_Evil_4_PC/index.php?showtopic=6383) tonight and reinstalling RE4.

Dude! Thanks for this. Going to check out the mods now.

[Chuck]

"I'm having no trouble playing it, it's just as easy as this other game frequently maligned for its controls!"

:)

You've got that right. I'm currently replaying MGS2, and yeah, those controls take a bit of brain power to keep it all together. And I love how they use the 'circle' button to fire, as opposed to the 'X' button like every other PS2 game in the world. I think Kitsune once wrote that it had to do with the X symbol meaning something negative in Japan.

[Lizard_King]

Wouldn't that just kill all the tension? At least that's the argument I get when I call for better console controls.
No, because that's essentially what the Wii provided and the game was just fine with absolutely no tweaking. Add some more tangible benefits for headshots and crippling injuries and you would really have something great. The control/tension thing has a lot more to do with your field of vision, the trade off between shooting and moving, etc, than with being able to have supernatural accuracy.

People gushing over the RE4 Wii controls is what made me realize that a waggle future is not for me. I just couldn't get to grip with them in that game, and much prefer a standard dual analogue controller for these kinds of games.
The only "waggle" in that game is almost entirely optional, and you retain the exact same "attack position and stab with a button press" option the other console versions offered (you can shake the wiimote to do a quick stab, and it works remarkably well). Other than that, there are a few QTE segments that require shaking to make Leon run fast enough (which is about equally annoying when compared to the "mashing x button rapidly" action it replaced).

What the Wii brings to the table is point and kill, and because of the way the game's designed (with a character onscreen whose arms guide your eyes) it sidesteps the pointing vs aiming problem that Wii FPS games can have (Metroid 3 dealt with it successfully by having your weird floating arm onscreen).

Whatever your problems are with the waggle future thing, this is not the windmill you want to be tilting at.

[Wholly Schmidt]

This isn't a direct response to LK.

I'm about as far as I've ever been, which isn't far. Starting on Chapter 1-3, which I never finished on my other playthrough.

I get the whole moving vs. shooting thing. I like that fine, I understand that as a tension/gameplay choice. What I still hate is that when it's time to move, I still move like an idiot. It sucks when I want to run past someone, which involves running in this goofy half circle wide arc completely around them, during which I have to completely look away from them. I understand some of the field of view limitations working for stuff sneaking up on you, but it's just infuriating that I can't move like a normal human. It sucks that the game wants to reward and encourage stunning/crippling with a gunshot then running in for the kick kill, but the transition between the two is so awkward. Half the time I let go of the wrong thing first and instead of running in during that split second, I look straight up helplessly for just long enough for someone to get a pitchfork in me. It sucks that if I see someone slightly around the corner in the distances waving a stick of dynamite and I'm at the wrong angle, I have to turn completely away from them, run in that direction, then turn back at them to aim again, during which time I am exploding.

Fight vs. flight, interesting gameplay. RE4 so far, terrible technical execution of it. Some of this will keep getting better as the controls get more familiar, but it's stupid that the controls are so clunky in the first place, and some of my complaints are just how Leon moves.

[Lizard_King]

If you stick with it, you might end up seeing the logic in it. Or you'll just continue to be convinced that everyone that liked it was simply delusional about obvious technical issues.

The transition between shooting and QTEing is difficult to get the hang of at first, but you'll probably get the hang of it with time, particularly when it comes to crowd control. The siege scene later on is a great showcase for those moments. Footage of people absolutely destroying mercenaries mode really showed me how relatively limited my application of the RE4 tool set is, much like Godhand youtubes did for me back in the day.

[Wholly Schmidt]

Still making slow progress.

"Hey, I got the President's daughter!"

"Cool, we'll send a chopper."

A short time later...

"Oh, lost contact with the chopper. We'll send another chopper."

What? I have the President's daughter. You should send about a dozen choppers, carrying tanks, and the tanks should fire smaller choppers.

But yeah yeah, I know story isn't really the point of this game.

[Wholly Schmidt]

The arrival of night time and its effect on the villagers has done a remarkable job of offsetting how comfortable I was getting with the controls. "Oh, you're getting the hang of this? Here, now it sucks again."

[Wholly Schmidt]

Arrrrrrrgh. I might not make it past 3-1. It already feels longer than all of chapter 2, and it's just monster closet after monster closet. I think I was getting used to the village setting and enemies, but for some reason I hate the castle. Plus, the walkthrough I'm using is full of lies: "There will be plenty of shotgun ammo in this room, so just keep blasting them as they come through the door." Right. 5 shells. Thanks.