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Resident Evil 4 is the worst in the series - Game Revolution
- Thread starter Deleted member 249
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It's not a bad game in the traditional sense of it being broken, unplayable or just cheaply made. However for me, playing it back when it released on the GC, it removed the fear element. I'd played through REMake prior to RE4 and the difference between the two games was night & day. One was a horror game, the other was an action game which you could replace the main character and call it "The Presidents Missing Daughter". It didn't feel like a Resident Evil game, and back then this was a common theme with gamers. Yes these days things have changed and its ZOMG GOAT, but back in the day, the feelings were a lot more varied than they are now. From it not having zombies, to the third person perspective, no Umbrella etc, it felt very disconnected from Resident Evil. Is it the worst in the series? No, but it's not the best either. It seems mid-tier, above 5 & 6 but below 1-3. It is on par with CV, Zero & 7, all of them have their own set of pros & cons.
It's perfectly possible to make a game that fundamentally shifts the way a certain genre is designed and STILL think that the game isn't good.
Like you don't see anyone caping for fucking Kill.Switch do you
There are more kinds of fear than self inserting yourself as the main character, just because Leon is a tough, experienced guy in familiar surroundings doesn't mean the player isn't fearful for him and the effect of the parasite. I was personally always fearful that his confidence could lead to complacency and despite how capable he was he was still forced into situations of feeling out of control in protecting Ashley.
Honestly, sharing an article like this is exactly what he wants. The opinion is it's the worst because it leads to Resi 5/6 is so stupendously stupid. Annoyed I even clicked the link.
RE4 was scary though. Not 24/7, but it had its moments. If Resident Evil 4 isn't horror, then niether is The Evil Dead.
Ah, so it's one those "it's a good game but a bad [series] game" type of takes. Execution matters. Sure, RE4 took the series in an action direction but it was on RE5 and RE6 to execute on being good action games. That they didn't live up to RE4 isn't on RE4.
They have a point on one thing.
A lot of people even here, like to pretend RE4 wasn't the reason we got RE5 & 6. Liking RE4 doesn't mean you have to like 5 & 6. But when we're talking Action RE, it gets lumped with them due to how it is.
With that said, the rest of the article I don't really agree with. The fact that RE as a series can support being Survival Horror or Action is a great thing and one of the best aspects of the IP.
The RE fan base is always filled with the odd gate keeping on "If it's action it isn't a real RE/Real fans don't like or prefer those titles".
Which I think is rather limited in scope.
Especially when a whole generation of fans grew up with those titles.
Hell, we know that the big reason for the change was growing disinterest in the IP.
People seem to forget when literally every article was always harping on how formulaic the series had become before 4 and how after the GC exclusivity. It needed to do something to expand or else go the way of Dino Crisis. RE definitely could've become one the IPs in the Capcom Vault if not for 4.
A lot of people even here, like to pretend RE4 wasn't the reason we got RE5 & 6. Liking RE4 doesn't mean you have to like 5 & 6. But when we're talking Action RE, it gets lumped with them due to how it is.
With that said, the rest of the article I don't really agree with. The fact that RE as a series can support being Survival Horror or Action is a great thing and one of the best aspects of the IP.
The RE fan base is always filled with the odd gate keeping on "If it's action it isn't a real RE/Real fans don't like or prefer those titles".
Which I think is rather limited in scope.
Especially when a whole generation of fans grew up with those titles.
Hell, we know that the big reason for the change was growing disinterest in the IP.
People seem to forget when literally every article was always harping on how formulaic the series had become before 4 and how after the GC exclusivity. It needed to do something to expand or else go the way of Dino Crisis. RE definitely could've become one the IPs in the Capcom Vault if not for 4.
RE4 is a damn fine action game that deserves all the praise it gets. Just because it reinvented the series in a way many older fans don't like doesn't make it bad. Resident Evil needed a shakeup at the time. Change is needed often times to keep a series from becoming irrelevant.
This is basically just the age old argument from old-school RE fans that RE4 is too action-y and different taken to the extreme.
Anyway, let's entertain this absurd article's central idea for a minute. One of the most defining and influential traits of RE4 is the over-the-shoulder third person camera angle and controls. If it wasn't for RE4 paving the way for most third person shooters in this regard we may have never seen games like Dead Space and The Evil Within.
RE4 had more action than 1-3 and you had better control over your character; this much is true. That said, it's not RE4's fault that 5 and 6 took the wrong lessons from 4 and ran with them. The aforementioned The Evil Within is more of a proper RE4 follow-up in my opinion, and it offers plenty of tense, scary moments.
Anyway, let's entertain this absurd article's central idea for a minute. One of the most defining and influential traits of RE4 is the over-the-shoulder third person camera angle and controls. If it wasn't for RE4 paving the way for most third person shooters in this regard we may have never seen games like Dead Space and The Evil Within.
RE4 had more action than 1-3 and you had better control over your character; this much is true. That said, it's not RE4's fault that 5 and 6 took the wrong lessons from 4 and ran with them. The aforementioned The Evil Within is more of a proper RE4 follow-up in my opinion, and it offers plenty of tense, scary moments.
I mean, yeah, it was the reason we got RE5 and 6, but is it fair to criticize 4 because those two weren't good? (5 wasn't even that bad)
The evolutions made are also the reason Revelations, RE7 and Re2 Remake are also so good
So considering I had a blast playing 4 and 5 and didnt have to wait long for them to swing back to horror while keeping the good changes I would actually argue the opposite of this article
RE4 pushed us in a net positive direction even if it meant dipping into the Action genre
Here we go again.
Resident Evil 4 was an action horror game. It is different from the other ones in the series but that does not mean it sucks or isn't a Resident Evil game. The game was scary back when it came out.
Resident Evil 4 was an action horror game. It is different from the other ones in the series but that does not mean it sucks or isn't a Resident Evil game. The game was scary back when it came out.
Please, it's factually incorrect where Umbrella Corps and Operation Raccoon City exist. 0 and CV are at least serviceable and entertaining.
Article doesn't give RE4 enough credit.
RE4 basically defined how ALL third person action games would be presented from that point onwards. It was one of the primary format inspirations for Gears of War, which could arguably be credited as the first real mainstream third person action game. RE4 defined a lot of the design philosophy of that series via it's tight camera, aim/shoot mechanics, environment design.
It really helped catapult an entire genre into a new standard of quality, not just RE5 and 6
RE4 basically defined how ALL third person action games would be presented from that point onwards. It was one of the primary format inspirations for Gears of War, which could arguably be credited as the first real mainstream third person action game. RE4 defined a lot of the design philosophy of that series via it's tight camera, aim/shoot mechanics, environment design.
It really helped catapult an entire genre into a new standard of quality, not just RE5 and 6
It might not be much of a Resident Evil game, but it's an incredibly high quality game. It doesn't matter if 5 and 6 weren't as good.
Nah.
Nah.
For alot of people, RE4 aged well, not for me. I wish I had not started another playthrough last week. It went from one of my favorites to making me consider if I was overhyped at the time or not. Most other games from the same time period I dont feel this way.
It always surprises me that people lean on the idea that the whacky, hyperbolic shenanigans of Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6 came from nowhere
The whacky shit started came from O and Code Veronica aka the worst games in series. Cross dressing weirdos and singing leech monster people and campy Wesker comes from Code Veronica. But lets ignore that to fit the narrative.
The whacky shit started came from O and Code Veronica aka the worst games in series. Cross dressing weirdos and singing leech monster people and campy Wesker comes from Code Veronica. But lets ignore that to fit the narrative.
Yes and No. It depends on where you fall on the fan spectrum. There's people who absolutely loathe anything action in the series. So in those cases you would have to point at RE4.
If your someone who goes "RE4-6 were dark times". You're definitely gonna criticize 4 regardless.
Are we talking only numbered titles? Even if we are, I can totally see arguments for 7, 0, 1, 2, and 3 because they're so different. I can maybe see the argument for 5, a big fat maybe. But 6 is absolutely not better in any way, shape, or form. There is no timeline in which 4 is the worst Resident Evil. Not the best one? Sure, but not the worst.
Hey, more people that agree with me that RE4 is terrible and highly overrated! Yall the real mvp!
And can we PLEASE stop using that terrible logic that the classics were action games, when they were not. Yeah you shoot in them, but they don't have enemies dropping ammo, and the atmosphere was well done in those games. RE4 is not frightening and I find it funny that anyone does. How is the chainsaw guy frightening when you can see dude miles away before you even engage with him in an open space lol.
And can we PLEASE stop using that terrible logic that the classics were action games, when they were not. Yeah you shoot in them, but they don't have enemies dropping ammo, and the atmosphere was well done in those games. RE4 is not frightening and I find it funny that anyone does. How is the chainsaw guy frightening when you can see dude miles away before you even engage with him in an open space lol.
As disappointed as I was that RE4 shifted the series from survival horror to action, I could have lived with action-RE if the games were still of a high quality. RE5 and especially RE6 certainly were not, and frankly neither were the Revelations games. It was 12 years between RE4 and RE7 without a really good RE game.
There are some things I definitely hold against RE4, but I can't blame it for this.
There are some things I definitely hold against RE4, but I can't blame it for this.
In RE4, I felt that the enemy encounters and behaviour was perfectly matched by the limitations in the controls/gameplay mechanics.
While there are some parts in RE4 that I don't like (playing babysitter), it a great game overall. Sure, it is pretty action heavy, but the atmosphere, the sense of being overwhelmed and being on the edge generated a different kind of horror.
RE7 felt scary to me. RE4 I can just hit the A button to roundhouse kick four people at once, and then hit a German suplex on the fifth.
I think re4 gets way more praise and attention than it deserves, but it's still one of the best games in the series.
It's definitely not remotely scary though. I think the only thing that got me was the jump scare in the later half with the burning dude
This is the most click bait of articles
It's definitely not remotely scary though. I think the only thing that got me was the jump scare in the later half with the burning dude
This is the most click bait of articles
i ca see where he is coming fromsince he seems to consider the survival horror resident evil inhernetly better than the action version..personally i never liked the old resident evil, but i can understand why a fan would not like such a strange turn..there's also to say that at the time the old RE formula was already really old and tired..i remember the resident evil 0 reviews highlighting how the series needed a refresh.
personally i'm always against completely reworking the gameplay of a series to the point you even change its genre, but many people think otherwise.
personally i'm always against completely reworking the gameplay of a series to the point you even change its genre, but many people think otherwise.
No. I'm fact I would love an extra 5 hours. I didn't want it to end
Loathing RE4 for its own action-y aspects it's totally fine. I don't agree with it, but I can understand it.
Loathing it for the action-y sequences in 5 and 6? Nah, that's weird. Loath 5 and 6 for that. Just because 4 led up to them doesn't mean it's 4's fault that they were bad. 4 also led up to REmake 2 and Revelations.
God of War 3 led up to Ascension in so many ways, but you don't see people criticizing it because Ascension was so forgettable.