Review: Resident Evil 4 game

Resident Evil 4 has taken a long time to get to the PC.

The game was originally released back in 2005 for the Nintendo Gamecube and then on the Playstation 2 later on that same year, in both cases to rapturous critical acclaim and massive commercial success.

And, while it might have been fair to take a bit of extra time over the PC version to ensure that it wasn’t just another lazy console port, there’s very little evidence to suggest that this has actually been the case.

If there has ever been a perfect candidate for high-quality PC conversion it’s Resident Evil 4.

Graphically it looked fairly good on the Gamecube (although the PS2 version was a bit mushier), so it’s not hard to see how a little work on the lighting effects and textures could have helped scrub the game up rather nicely.

Unfortunately, the PC version’s visuals, while benefitting from much higher resolutions, look suspiciously rough, and textures are crude enough to make you wonder whether anybody bothered doing anything to the game other than to slap it onto a PC DVD-Rom.

Worse still are the controls. Resident Evil 4’s ‘revolutionary’ over-the-shoulder aiming technique would have translated perfectly to keyboard and mouse use but, for some unearthly reason, the PC version doesn’t come with any support for mouse control at all. The game can be played with a USB gamepad, console-style, but if you don’t have a compatible device you’re stuck with keyboard-only control.

If this is the only version of the game you’re able to play, then you’re still in for a treat, despite our disparagement. Brace yourself for a lengthy, engrossing campaign with a near perfect balance of action, puzzle solving and gore. Resident Evil 4 is about as atmospheric and cinematic as survival horror gets. It’s just a shame the PC conversion wasn’t treated with the care and attention it so obviously deserves.