Resident Evil 4 Hands-on
Capcom unveiled the latest version of its now-classic survival horror title (re-dubbed Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition) at its Gamers Day event in San Francisco on Thursday. Naturally, we were on hand and ready to give the re-worked title a go with the new Wii remote-improved controls. And they are improved -- the Wii endeavor delivers the definitive Resident Evil 4 experience at a bargain price, but we'll get to that. Before we do, though, humor us as we take you through a commercial-like video Capcom previewed in an attempt to outline the development philosophy behind this latest rendition. Apparently this is survival horror for mom, dad, and maybe grandma, too.
The trailer opened on a hip, young couple enjoying RE4 for Wii in a IKEA-modeled living room. As her boyfriend stares intently at the screen, the woman says, "Wow. That's amazing. That's so great. And what's that?" The scene cuts to the chief villager and the woman cringes in fear at the sight of him. "I got 'em all," the man says, blasting away at the trademark foes from the title. Just then, the village chief materializes in their living room and takes the girl hostage, at which point the man stands up and uses the Wii remote to shoot at the enemy character and other villagers -- all rendered for the purposes of this promotional piece. Once he's capped them all, his girlfriend smiles and runs into his arms; in the background, we can see their television screen, where Ashley has run into Leon's embrace.
We understand that the Wii is potentially a gateway to new markets. Wii Sports and Wario Ware have already found their way into the homes of untraditional players. And yet, we don't think too many families will be crowding around the television together to watch Leon S. Kennedy get his head chainsawed off after he has used a shotgun to cut villagers in half. "Look at that, dad -- you see the way I blew his legs out from beneath him? Here, you try."
"RE4 has sold more than three million copies around the world and with the Wii version, we are focusing on improving the interface and being able to interact with the game via the Wii remote," said the title's producer Masachika Kawata during Capcom's presentation. "We on the development staff feel that the Wii is perfectly suited for the point-and-shoot style of gameplay that comes with the series." And having played the finished product, we couldn't agree more.
Resident Evil 4 for Wii is the GCN game with the PS2 extras. What you get is the core GCN title plus both the added content and true 16:9 widescreen mode that the PS2 iteration brought to the table. The Ada Wong missions are in and the black bars are out, in other words. And on top of that, you get to control Leon with the nunchuk and aim at enemies with pinpoint accuracy using the Wii remote. It looks better than it ever has before and it plays better, too. So if you're a Wii owner who never got around to playing this acclaimed project when it initially debuted, you are in for an absolutely treat this summer when the title ships.
"At first touch it may seem like the controls are hard to adapt to, but after five minutes you will be running around blasting zombies left and right," said Kawata. Honestly, it took us about 30 seconds.
The fundamentals have not changed. It's not as though you are suddenly going to be running through Resident Evil 4 with new first-person shooter controls, but the old system has been made superior with the addition of the Wii remote. You control Leon with the nunchuk's analog stick, Z button is held to run and you can press the C button to draw Leon's knife, although that is not necessary because you can simply shake the Wii remote at any time to slice and dice. You aim with the Wii remote and it works brilliantly, enabling you to achieve head-shots with ease if you have any idea what you're doing. As you travel through the game's selection of spooky locations, you will find yourself walking or running and easily targeting with the on-screen reticule -- no longer a laser pointer, but now a full-blown circle. You'll still have to stop moving to shoot, though, which may be the biggest disappointment since the added maneuverability of the Wii remote would seem ideal for simultaneous running and gunning. Still, the pause to pop off shots -- handled with the A button -- is probably an integral element to the sense of character vulnerability that the series promotes. Wii owners who have grown accustomed to pointing the Wii remote at the corner of the screen to drag the viewpoint to the left or right will find that's not possible in RE4 for Nintendo's new console; you still turn the screen with the analog stick regardless of the reticule's position. The - button brings up Leon's inventory, the map is assigned to the 1 button and game options are linked to the 2 button.
There are a variety of context-sensitive actions that have been re-mapped to gestures on the Wii remote. When Leon is fighting the giant ogre-boss El Gigante, you must slash at the beast's exposed top by shaking the pointer and when the villagers get a hold of the character, you'll have to do the same to bust him free. When Leon must run from a rolling boulder, the only way to survive is to shake the Wii remote left and right. Meanwhile, you'll need to rapidly tap A, B, or both in order to avoid certain environmental traps.
We asked the title's producer all sorts of reader-submitted questions about additional alterations to the game and, really, there are none. There's no online mode or downloadable extras planned and the game won't be running at 60 frames a second all of a sudden. But even without what would've been admittedly welcomed inclusions or enhancements, the added true 16:9 mode, Ada Wong Missions and, most importantly, new Wii controls, make this the best version of Resident Evil 4 ever.
Kawata-san, who calls RE4: Wii Edition the "definitive version of the game," told us that the effort would ship with a reduced price tag, although Capcom would not go on record with an exact figure. Retail sites across the Web have been listing the sales price for a solid week, though, and it's $29.99. That is an incredible bargain for an outstanding title.
Este tem fatos e armas extras e tem o Separate Ways (umas 6 horas de jogo extra), um modo 16:9 "verdadeiro" e nativo, salvo erro partes com mais inimigos on-screen (e um modo de dificuldade superior, não confirmado) e claro os comandos com o wiimote, que até agora só ouvi dizer bem. (enquanto mantém opção para os clássicos).
Então a pedirem 30€ melhor ainda 
