Control:  
Controls are... fixed! Right is right! Left is left, up is forwards, and down is backwards! You hear a zombie, you know it's in the room... aim for it and you can look at it! No more firing guns randomly at targets you can't see (take that, tv's Blind Justice!). Hold R to aim, fire with A. When not aiming, A is the generic context-sensitive action button. B is the run button, a function I usually have a beef with. In most games, there is no point in having one button to clamp down on at all times. Better to have the character run by default and slow down at the touch of a button. In this case, however, I don't mind because running isn't that intrinsic to the gameplay, and the default slowness of your character adds to the atmosphere of the game. Zombie-like creatures tend not to win footraces; their numbers make the onslaught.

Gameplay:  
As you can imagine, the revamped controls have a drastic effect on the gameplay. For the most part, it plays like most third-person shooters. Guns have a point-and-click interface, as usual. The traditional Resident Evil about-face in particular comes in handy, since this is the first one where you can see what's behind your character zero percent of the time. Context sensitive actions give the game a good deal of variety; blasting out one second-story window with a shotgun while continually tipping a ladder-full of baddies to the ground is surprisingly effective in keeping yourself alive.

Also making a return to the series are the “insert tab A into slot B” puzzles (“if you say 'that's what she said' one more time...”), only this time they aren't so puzzling. Most of the tasks are pretty mundane-- usually finding the key to the next area rather than dissecting a pig, making a balloon animal out of its intestines, riding the balloon animal across the acid lake, flipping up the Shakespeare bust and sliding down the bat-pole.

You will put more thought into managing your inventory than the puzzles. Inventory management has become a game of its own this time around. Leon's attache case can only fit so many items, and this time they have to be arranged to fit the case. This alone can make for hours of obsessive-compulsive fun. You will also find yourself doing all manners of weird math concerning weapon upgrades. For instance, if you sell some bullets to afford an upgrade, you can make up for them many times over in housefrau-head-bursting power.

Sound:
Due to the type of the game, there isn't too much music. It's mostly ambient horror noises when you are alone, punctuated by enemies bringing their own theme music. The game's use of Dolby Pro Logic II is worthy of special mention. When an enemy is sniping your character from a distance and you can't quite pick him out from the scenery, crank the volume and listen for grunts. What the near-zombies lack in smarts, they make up for in lack-of-smarts.

OVERALL:
I would be remiss if I didn't say this was one of the best games I've played in a long time. Despite any criticisms I could have, it nevertheless is clever in nearly every way. Even the dialogue in this game (never use the line “I don't remember being part of your crappy script!” in an homage to As You Like It) isn't enough to bring it down. Resident Evil 4 for the 'Cube: be there and be square.

 

The Lowdown on  Resident Evil Four Aesthetics: Awesome Control: Awesome Gameplay: Awesome Multiplayer: Sound: Very Good Innovation: 5/6 Lasting Appeal: 6/6 Rating Explanation Overall: Awesome! "Top of the Genre"