Having played this through a second time, and being a longtime fan of the RE series, my overall thoughts.

Graphics are amazing, no question. I enjoy many of the gameplay changes. The over the shoulder view improves boss battles greatly, and makes the overall fighting a bit better. The inventory setup is much better, and more logical (although Zero had a rough version of it). The Ashley factor actually helped the gameplay a bit, as it created extra tension in trying to keep her protected. Few things sent me into "Oh shit" mode than hearing "Leon!" and realizing they were dragging her ass off into the darkness when I thought I had left her in a 'safe' spot.

As for the cons? First, it suffers from something that I think plagues most RE games... the first 'area' is really spooky and scary, but the later areas aren't so much. I thought the Village was so atmospheric and creepy, but the Castle wasn't so much and I thought the Island wasn't a scary place at all. Sure, there's tougher enemies as you go, but that's not the same thing. I think I felt the "oh crap" thing only a few times in the later areas.. 1) when the regenerators appeared, 2) the dog things in the hedge make, and 3) the weird are in the Castle with the two chainsaw guys, where one is 'hidden' in the downstairs part of the area I THOUGHT I had cleared. Otherwise, there's much more tension in the beginning. But I suppose this comes with the territory, as this is a problem with all the games to some degree.

I'm not finished with this game yet, (in Chapter 4-2), but here are my gripes:

This game is not scary enough. Like DRG said, the village was good and scary, but each place after that seems less scary than the one before.

This game is not hard enough. (at least on "normal"). I'm still only using my 9mm pistol (updated a little bit), shotgun (with its firing power still at level 1, only updated the capacity), and the basic rifle (with no updates at all, besides the scope). I've used 2 rocket launchers I could easily update all my weapons, and buy all the better weapons, since I have ~250,000 pesetas (and I haven't sold a single spinel, gem, or other artifact yet. If I did, I'd probably have ~500,000 pesetas)

Lest you think me too critical, those are really my only gripes. I really like this game.

I was actually very pleased with the difficulty of the game. Alas, I'm someone that likes my games mildly challenging but not too hard at all. Perhaps they should've had the professional difficulty level open at the beginning for those who like a more amped challenge.

Nonetheless, compared to some of the previous REs, it's not really that much easier. Really the ease of the game in comparison to the others comes directly out of them placing more typewriters and save points, and of course, not limiting ammo like in the previous games. Plus, the game scales its difficulty as you play so if you suck, it'll get easier as you go along and if you're really kick ass, they'll hold back on giving you craploads of ammo and whatnot. But considering I blew through RE2 in 6 hours on my first playthrough, the difficulty here hardly bothers me.

I finally got a chance to play this game. (haven't played it since I first bought it). Couple questions for anyone who can answer:

1. I got the treasure map. I'll get to an area that has a star where treasure maybe, and I can't seem to find it. Is there something I am doing wrong? Tips?

2. Because of not being able to locate treasure I'm low on funds. How long until I need to get a bigger bag? (I just started Chapter 2-1)

Awesome game by the way.

although i don't know which treasure you are speaking of, look in the trees or ceilings of where you are, might have something to shoot the treasure from above.... if you look while having your gun aimed, you can tell what you can and can not shoot by if it has a red dot on it, or if it appears as though your laser sights go right through it, no dot, don't shoot, nothing there but scenery.... i'm going to go play this game right now (only on 4-2 myself, started over somewhere in the middle of 3'rd chapter after i realized that i could kill animals for $ or bullets, etc, and wanted to better my standing...) but now i have everything i could possibly use and plenty of ammo.... just not enough time to use it all, lol.... enjoy all, GREAT GAME

more questions

How are you guys able to fit a rocket launcher in so early? I have a large attache case right now, with a rifle, shotgun, handgun, TMP, and Punisher, can barely fit anything else in. Is there a gun you guys are skipping on to be able to carry the rocket launcher?

I never bothered with the TMP, and I don't see much use keeping both the pistol and the punisher. That would clear up some space for you.

Well, first off the rocket launcher is a one shot deal, so I never bothered with it until much later on. Second, you have two handguns. That is called, a waste of space. Dump the handgun, keep the punisher, I for one thought the TMP was useful since they give you so much ammo for it, but you can make that call. Otherwise, I'd just not buy a rocket launcher at all myself.

I hate to say but this game disapointed me in the end. The parts in the village were awesome. I started losing interest in the castle. Then totally lost interest on the island. I pretty much forced myself to finish it.

Finished it tonight and I was pretty happy with it from start to finish. I thought they tossed in enough boss battles during Chapter 5 to keep it interesting even if the Island itself was pretty bland level wise. I haven't enjoyed a shooter more in recent memory. This one is really close to GTA: SA for overall fun and gameplay for me. Easily one of the top 3 GameCube games ever released and in my personal top 10 for best games I have ever played.

I've already started through it again with the Chicago Typewriter and Hand Cannon and I will start some of the extras tomorrow. Don't see how Capcom will ever top this one.

i wish that i didn't have to work tonight, i'm near the end!!!!

As someone who had never played RE games when they originally came out and couldn't get into the remake of RE 1, I have to say that I really, really, really liked this game. First of all, I love that I can save as many times as I want. I usually end up doing my gaming in short spurts, which I never felt comfortable doing with RE1 because I was always afraid I would run out of typewriter ribbon. The graphics, of course, kick ass and the sound can be pretty creepy, especially when playing after midnight. I've finished it twice, so now I'm running around with my Chicago typewriter and infinite rocket launder ... haven't really played mercs yet, but I guess I'll have to at some point. Also, definately cannot complain about Ashley's special outfit .

I just picked up RE4 today (after finally completing Ratchet and Clank 3 and MGS3) and holy ****! It's only been a half hour and this game is giving me the willies. It doesn't help that it's raining and there's no one home but me. I just entered the village and I'm sneaking around but the villagers keep catching me. The women are especially creepy. One snuck up on me and killed me when I wasn't expecting it.

The graphics so far are amazing. The use of sound, especially when the villagers spot you, is unsettling. The close up kills are AWESOME! I just smashed some ladies skull with a high kick! Take that you old hag!

My only complaint is the widescreen perspective. I want to see outside of the black bars but I imagine this is on purpose and adds to the paranoia aspect of the game.

It's actually to keep the frame-rate up, what with all the polygons it's pushing.

Pics?

after not playing it for a while, I finally beat RE4. such an awesome game, and hands down one of my favorite games of 2005. all the boss battles were great.

question for everyone who has beat it. does the money you pick up from killing the last boss carry over if you start a "Round 2" game?

Yeah, all the money you previously had (along with your weapons) will be transfered to your new game.

I finally picked up this game. Holy crap! This is game is simply beautiful! Only three months in the new year and I think GotY has been locked up!

My wife couldn't believe the graphics (which look awesome on a Sony Vega BTW) when I popped this sucker in the other night after picking it up at Target. worth every penny on sale and one of the few games worth its full retail price. Challenging yet instantly playable and engrossing I hope that Capcom can keep this standard up with the inevitable RE sequels that will follow. Also the new NP has some great tips in the last three issues that have increased my enjoyment of the game without ruining the surprises.

Yes, but not if you want to try to play on "Pro" level, only if you play the next round on the same level you just played at.

I've finished this game 3 times now.
1st time on normal
2nd time on pro
3rd time on pro, keeping my stuff from the 2nd time. Man, does the make this game too easy!

I've had this same problem. This game totally bitched me for the first 2 hours when I would hear the villagers scream out but I couldn't see where they were coming from, still getting used to the controls, and when I would get sorrounded. I just couldn't take it. Yes, I fealt a bit like a school girl but I had to shut the game off so as to avoid extended play.

Now I'm more confident and enjoying this game like few before it. The story has me hooked, the controls are pitch perfect for this type of game, and it's just a blast to play. I'm saddened to hear the game losses it's scare factor down the line, but this has already started to happen with me. It's turning more and more into an action game with scares along the lines of a Doom or Eternal Darkness (which I've just started playing...yes the Gamecube is owning so hard right now in my eyes).

FYI - I killed the merchant dead the first time I ran into him in hopes of being able to raid his body...that came out a lot gayer than I had planned. Anyways I would say he takes me out the game a bit because he just makes no sense in the context of it (and I doubt his story is explored at all), but he freaks me the hell out so oddly it works. If only the bastard sold ammo, right now I'm up shits creek because I used a ton of ammo to and now I can't get through either path that follows right after.

I'm on 2-2 right now I think, maybe 2-3 and cannot wait to see what happens next.

I can't imagine how any game coming out this year could be better.

Sorry for the bump, but I had to comment on this game. I got it quite awhile ago, but got frustrated around Chapter 3. I don't think I really had the hang of it yet. But, after a couple of pointers and a little bit of practice, I picked up the controller again and am almost done with Chapter 4. This game is freakin' brilliant. It has impressed me time and time again. Hopefully it enjoys a larger audience once it's released on PS2, because quite frankly, this game deserves all the praise it's getting.

Just beat it for the first time last week. Awesome game. I'm playing through again to get all my weapons upgraded. Already played Assignment Ada too, which was pretty fun. Don't know if I'll do the mercenaries games. Anyone play those? Are they any fun?

Mercenaries is a lot of fun. A couple of the levels even have this chainsaw-wiedling-Leatherface-fellow who does these cool flips through the air.

And I won't even get started about the chainsaw sound effect. I would hear it and just run in the opppostre direction. Scary stuff. Scary stuff indeed.

I also just finished this game last night after I picked it up for the cool price of $19.99.

My keys to the game, (or at least I thought) were to conserve ammo. This has always been the hardest thing to do in other RE games, so I made it a point to use the handgun and save shotgun/rifle ammo. Unless I was surrounded by 3+ people, bigger guns never received any play. Shooting the villagers in the head and running up to them and kicking them, then pulling out the knife and stabbing them a few times and repeating the process really helped out. I would also wait behind closed doors for the villagers to knock on them, knocking them to their knees, so I could suplex them, or on the ground so I could stab them. I ended up with 200 handgun, 50 shotgun, 20 rifle, and 20 magnum bullets left. I was obviously too conservative.

I personally thought that the bosses were too easy in this game. Saddler was simple and only had to use one or maybe 2 first aid kits to complete the entire game.

I didn't both doing any but one of the training missions. They seemed pointless at the time, but I plan on going back through and beating this game again.

I also agree in that the game was much more scary at the beginning, until it wasnt scary at all at the end.

Overall it was the best RE game in the series.