I love being a PC gamer, but one of the downsides is waiting. So as I am waiting for the PC version of Dark Souls 2, I have been playing Resident Evil 4 HD, another game that has been a long time in the waiting. So I figured I would review RE4.

There has been a previous version of RE4 on the PC, but it was such a bad port that it was literally unplayable. Fortunately Capcom have done a pretty decent job of making it work well on the PC. Most of the controls are remappable and the mouse movement feels fluid. The exception being the inventory control which has no mouse support. This lead to an awkward tetris style block movement, a little annoying but far from game breaking. The visuals hold up well, this is a game that always had amazing level design and being able to play in 1080p really shows that off. There are some sections that look a little sub par but it all looks respectable. One oddity I did discover is that a couple of times the frame rate dropped to a stutter for no obvious reason and went back up.

That said it plays smoothly and even the quicktime events work well with a keyboard and mouse. Fun fact, RE4 is the only game with quick time events in that I don’t despise. Well there isn’t anything to despise about Resident Evil 4 really. It is nearly a decade old, and still shames most games with it’s pacing, set pieces and tension. It is an action game first and foremost, so the plot falls on the cheesy side as you face increasingly more dangerous “not zombies” as secret agent Leon Kennedy in his mission to save the presidents daughter. The game is a constant balancing act of throwing just enough at you to handle, and is a masterclass of pacing that hasn’t been surpassed. I was a little fearful that playing the game with a keyboard and mouse, as opposed to a pad, would make it a little too easy, given the mouses accuracy, however after being stabbed with a pitchfork a few times I can confirm it is still not without challenge.

It makes me a little sad that in the last decade I am not sure that there has been a better action game, and certainly not a better Resident Evil game (I am very fond of 5 but doesn’t hold a candle to 4′s set pieces and silliness). If you have never played Resident Evil 4 do yourself a favour and pick it up, it has never looked better than it does on the PC, and it is the best version. Oh and it you don’t have a PC the Wii version, while not looking as nice, is also great so get that instead.

No score, because I think they are a trope that we can all do without, just the recommendation that you like games in anyway, you will love RE4.

@hangmansj0e

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