Not for the Faint-Hearted – First Official Resident Evil 4 Screens Emerge
Capcom gets dark – planet awaits horror masterpiece.
Capcom Japan has released the first official screenshots taken from Biohazard 4 - Resident Evil 4, the latest offering in the best-selling survival horror series.
It would be fair to say that, aside from the odd 'jump out of your skin' moment, the previous games in the series were a fairly light-hearted look at the world of the undead, with sequences in some titles being decidedly camp, an issue compounded by some of the worst voice acting ever.
It would seem that this is all set to change with the fourth game, which Capcom promises will be an entirely new experience, albeit blended with some familiar elements.
Frustratingly, little official information has been released as to the content and structure of RE4, though in a massive information leak last month, the following was revealed. First up, the game's inherent presentation will be changed for the first time. There will be a choice of three views, a distant over-shoulder third-person view, a closer over-shoulder third-person view and, amazingly, a first-person view.
Another significant change in the basic structure of the game comes with the news that RE4 will be powered by the game engine in real-time. There will be no FMV and - thankfully - the tedious door animations, something of a trademark for the series, have been scrapped.
In slightly more vague news, the levels are said to be more expansive and not so much of an 'on rails' experience, which again is a dramatic shift in focus for Capcom. There will be more of an element of exploration in the game, similar to that seen in titles such as Silent Hill, indicating not only an evolution for the series, but a dramatic up-scaling of production values.
The 'tank' control method will remain unchanged, a move that will no doubt cause endless debate amongst the Biohazard faithful. However, given the new viewpoints, this is a rather canny move by Capcom. The game will take on a new, almost FPS feel, though the way it is controlled will remain essentially unchanged, meaning that players of earlier incarnations will feel immediately comfortable with RE4, despite it's radical presentation re-design. This should also see newcomers to the series able to hit the ground running, recognising a well-established control method.
It would be fair to say that, aside from the odd 'jump out of your skin' moment, the previous games in the series were a fairly light-hearted look at the world of the undead, with sequences in some titles being decidedly camp, an issue compounded by some of the worst voice acting ever.
It would seem that this is all set to change with the fourth game, which Capcom promises will be an entirely new experience, albeit blended with some familiar elements.
Frustratingly, little official information has been released as to the content and structure of RE4, though in a massive information leak last month, the following was revealed. First up, the game's inherent presentation will be changed for the first time. There will be a choice of three views, a distant over-shoulder third-person view, a closer over-shoulder third-person view and, amazingly, a first-person view.
Another significant change in the basic structure of the game comes with the news that RE4 will be powered by the game engine in real-time. There will be no FMV and - thankfully - the tedious door animations, something of a trademark for the series, have been scrapped.
In slightly more vague news, the levels are said to be more expansive and not so much of an 'on rails' experience, which again is a dramatic shift in focus for Capcom. There will be more of an element of exploration in the game, similar to that seen in titles such as Silent Hill, indicating not only an evolution for the series, but a dramatic up-scaling of production values.
The 'tank' control method will remain unchanged, a move that will no doubt cause endless debate amongst the Biohazard faithful. However, given the new viewpoints, this is a rather canny move by Capcom. The game will take on a new, almost FPS feel, though the way it is controlled will remain essentially unchanged, meaning that players of earlier incarnations will feel immediately comfortable with RE4, despite it's radical presentation re-design. This should also see newcomers to the series able to hit the ground running, recognising a well-established control method.
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Comments
Toast 5 Mar 2004 14:14
1/6
Wow those shots are looking superb. Now and then I look at a game and it really makes me take a step back and look at the graphical improvements over the years....simply awesome.
dyne 5 Mar 2004 14:34
2/6
Toast wrote:
>Wow those shots are looking superb. Now and then
>I look at a game and it really makes me take a
>step back and look at the graphical improvements
>over the years....simply awesome.
Yeah, it looks great.
It looks different too - more Silent Hill-ish - which is a good thing for a series that hasn't changed in the slightest in eight years.
>Wow those shots are looking superb. Now and then
>I look at a game and it really makes me take a
>step back and look at the graphical improvements
>over the years....simply awesome.
Yeah, it looks great.
It looks different too - more Silent Hill-ish - which is a good thing for a series that hasn't changed in the slightest in eight years.
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almondVanHelsing 8 Mar 2004 19:21
3/6
And now it catch up to other games with moving camera!
And no more doors!
Woo hoo!
And no more doors!
Woo hoo!
SPInGSPOnG 9 Mar 2004 08:47
4/6
almondVanHelsing wrote:
>And now it catch up to other games with moving
>camera!
Dude, the catching up is irrlevent. The Resident Evil game is of no interest to me.
I found the first game to be atmopheric in the extreme. But atmosphere is for astronauts. I wanted really big guns, explosions and Milla Jovovich in the nude.
Except for the bit with the dogs, where I nearly shat myself, RE was a borefest. The openeing and the closing of doors, the costantly having to edge forward to get the best camera angle (which was never possible) the zombies laying in wait where, not matter where you stood you couldn't see them. It just pissed me off.
I never bothered with the subsequent games. But if RE4 is gonna be FPS style, but have the superb atmosphere (and Milla Jovovich in ther nude) I'm coming back to the franchise. What platform/s is it for? Have I been paying attention (clearly - no) is this a GayCube exclusive?
>And now it catch up to other games with moving
>camera!
Dude, the catching up is irrlevent. The Resident Evil game is of no interest to me.
I found the first game to be atmopheric in the extreme. But atmosphere is for astronauts. I wanted really big guns, explosions and Milla Jovovich in the nude.
Except for the bit with the dogs, where I nearly shat myself, RE was a borefest. The openeing and the closing of doors, the costantly having to edge forward to get the best camera angle (which was never possible) the zombies laying in wait where, not matter where you stood you couldn't see them. It just pissed me off.
I never bothered with the subsequent games. But if RE4 is gonna be FPS style, but have the superb atmosphere (and Milla Jovovich in ther nude) I'm coming back to the franchise. What platform/s is it for? Have I been paying attention (clearly - no) is this a GayCube exclusive?
config 9 Mar 2004 10:27
5/6
Rod Todd wrote:
>almondVanHelsing wrote:
>
>>And now it catch up to other games with moving
>>camera!
>
>Dude, the catching up is irrlevent. The Resident
>Evil game is of no interest to me.
Dude, you are SO right.
RE got boring about 15 mins in to the game. The dog through the window was the first and last scary bit, because I soon launched the joypad at the wall through frustration at the s**tty control method and utterly evil, blinkered camera.
Exactly the same thing happened with Dino Crisis.
After that I gave up on RE and any other games in the same vein.
Oh, except for the hour or two I gave to RE: Nemesis, which was really tedious too, thanks to the pathetic door opened/ladder scaled/stairs climbed cut animation.
Um. That's it, for now. Bye.
>almondVanHelsing wrote:
>
>>And now it catch up to other games with moving
>>camera!
>
>Dude, the catching up is irrlevent. The Resident
>Evil game is of no interest to me.
Dude, you are SO right.
RE got boring about 15 mins in to the game. The dog through the window was the first and last scary bit, because I soon launched the joypad at the wall through frustration at the s**tty control method and utterly evil, blinkered camera.
Exactly the same thing happened with Dino Crisis.
After that I gave up on RE and any other games in the same vein.
Oh, except for the hour or two I gave to RE: Nemesis, which was really tedious too, thanks to the pathetic door opened/ladder scaled/stairs climbed cut animation.
Um. That's it, for now. Bye.
config 9 Mar 2004 10:29
6/6
Toast wrote:
>Wow those shots are looking superb. Now and then
>I look at a game and it really makes me take a
>step back and look at the graphical improvements
>over the years....simply awesome.
Don't know how you could write that. There's barely anything to see in these shots. One of them is so dark it's just an itty bit of the protagonist and a bunch of silhouettes.
Yawn.
Show me more and I might be slightly interested.
>Wow those shots are looking superb. Now and then
>I look at a game and it really makes me take a
>step back and look at the graphical improvements
>over the years....simply awesome.
Don't know how you could write that. There's barely anything to see in these shots. One of them is so dark it's just an itty bit of the protagonist and a bunch of silhouettes.
Yawn.
Show me more and I might be slightly interested.