#16: Resident Evil 4

This game is starting the run.  The next 16 games are all fantastic.  They're polished, they're revolutionary, and they're perfect.  I looked at these 16 games and I had an extremely hard time figuring out where to place them.  So, please understand that while I may rate one game higher or lower than another, these are all perfect games in my mind.

K, now on to the game.

Resident Evil 4 is the best survival horror game I've ever experienced.  The story is excellent, the character's are somewhat realistic, and the environments are perfectly woven into the mood of the game.

The camera in Resident Evil 4 was a massive shift from its predecessors.  In the original games, there was a fixed camera, but RE4 tried a new system that worked very well.  It was a third person camera system that gave you more freedom, but required you to stand still while shooting your gun (you know, like real people do).  The camera worked so well that it became the standard for all third person shooters.  If you liked Gears of War or Dead Space, you owe a lot to this game.

The mood was perfectly set in every scene.  Capcom realized that in a survival horror game, having dead silence and creepy exploration is just as important as varied action and set pieces.   The feel had me hooked.  Heck, the feel had my wife hooked, and she doesn't play shooters.  She was so hooked on the game that she got mad at me when I played a section without her witnessing it.  That doesn't happen.

RE4 was extremely replayable, because you got some goodies after each playthrough.  Attempt #1 at the game is getting scared by enemies and managing your ammo.  Attempt #2 is remembering where every creep made you pee your pants in the first one and making them pay with upgraded weapons.  It's an excellent way to release your frustration and fear from the first game.

I dunno.  I could go on and on about how wonderful Resident Evil 4 is and all of the things that they get perfectly right.  But to keep this brief... this game gets nothing wrong.  Ever.  If you've never played it, you're in luck.  In the next few months, it's being ported to Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Network.

Get it and enjoy.  You won't regret it.