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Biohazard 4: Was *this* it? by Schadenfreude 02/21/2007, 9:04pm PST
I've been reading about the fourth Biohazard/Resident Evil and what a gigantic departure it is from pretty much everything that the series used to be, and how every single change that's been made is for the absolute best and what an incredibly amazing game it is on its own for a number of reasons --the most interesting of them all -to me- being the outstandingly smooth new control interface.

So, recently I got the chance to pick up a copy of the PC version when... ehmmmm... I... was in... Taiwan... yeah, that's it. Well, anyway, the important thing is: I got to try out the PC version, and after an hour or so I gotta ask: Capcom: Are you serious?

First of all, if these guys are planning on selling this at anything above 10 US dollars, good luck with that. I hope they throw in a free ticket for the third movie or something, because the game sure isn't worth even that much. This has to be the ugliest port I've seen in a good while. Let's not even get into the horrible, washed out, unfiltered textures and the absolute lack of any form of shader at work in friggin' 2007, and just concentrate on the main problem: A game where you have to aim and shoot, on the PC, AND YOU CAN'T USE THE MOUSE? What the fuck were they thinking? I don't know squat about programming, but I don't think coming up with a mouse driver is THAT difficult, certainly not for kids as smart as these. God damnit, even Pencil Whipped had a half-decent mouse controller.

Last night I was at some gaming forums and this guy was saying he actually prefers playing with the gamepad and not being able to use the mouse, as "the thumbstick doesn't let you aim properly, and that enhances the horror a lot." I don't know about you, but I find that to be the stupidest fanboyish statement I've read in my life.

But I got an even more serious complaint: All ugliness and non-mouse whining aside, what is it that was so great about this game? The control interface sure can use a lot of tweaking. Some 20 minutes into the game I couldn't for the life of me understand how is it that no one during playtesting figured we would really appreciate it if our guy had the ability to sidestep. Bursting into a room and starting blasting stuff away becomes really uncomfortable when my character can only run in circles (not to mention, it looks fucking stupid). I mean, sidestep, man, it's not that odd an invention, it's something shooters have been doing for over 10 years now!!! RE4's controls are better than the controls of the previous iterations of the series in much the same way as puking your shirt is better than crapping your pants ( (c) 2005 Something Awful's Zack Parsons :P ) --they're still awkward and uncomfortable, they hardly help you out when you need to react quickly, and they could sure use a lot of polishing.

But the worst thing is, a few months after the GC version of RE4 came out, Ubisoft released Cold Fear, some -admittedly, forgettable- survival/horror game with a control interface that holds a suspicious number of similarities with RE4's, only Cold Fear makes every single thing better; it feels way more solid in every aspect and it's much more responsive. And in the PC port you can use the mouse.



Oh, and RE4 couldn't scare even my 4-year old daughter. "Horror" my f'ing ass.
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Biohazard 4: Was *this* it? by Schadenfreude 02/21/2007, 9:04pm PST NEW
    Resident Evil 4 is not a FPS by Flavio 02/22/2007, 12:12am PST NEW
        Re: Resident Evil 4 is not a FPS by Quentin Beck 02/22/2007, 4:16am PST NEW
            Re: Resident Evil 4 is not a FPS by Lizard_King 02/22/2007, 7:07am PST NEW
                5 should have strafing sure. by Jhoh Cable o_O 02/22/2007, 9:59am PST NEW
                    Spoiler above! I only narrowly stopped reading in time to sidestep it. NT by Jack "Mobile" Alabama, Action Hero 02/22/2007, 12:38pm PST NEW
                    also it's about time Silent Hill got a jump button (double jump would be better) NT by Flavio 02/22/2007, 4:34pm PST NEW
                        It's about time Silent Hill was a playable game, sure. by Lizard_King 03/06/2007, 11:21pm PST NEW
                            As playable as Metal Gear Solid's control scheme? NT by Flavio 03/07/2007, 2:22am PST NEW
                                THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH USING X TO DRAW AND SHOOT. by Lizard_King 03/07/2007, 4:42am PST NEW
                                    Re: THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH USING X TO DRAW AND SHOOT. by Flavio 03/07/2007, 5:34am PST NEW
                                        Re: THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH USING X TO DRAW AND SHOOT. by the author space 03/07/2007, 1:51pm PST NEW
                                            little Fahbsy? Katana fetish? NT by is this Zseni? 03/07/2007, 8:46pm PST NEW
                                                Actually that was my ator by Lizard_King 03/08/2007, 12:56pm PST NEW
                                            Congratulations on finally mimicking her writing style then by Flavio 03/08/2007, 6:21pm PST NEW
                                                I'm sorry you are so haunted by your fears. by Lizard_King 03/09/2007, 8:45am PST NEW
                                                You're making the same point I intended to make back up there! by Schadenfreude 03/10/2007, 8:58pm PST NEW
                                                    Re: You're making the same point I intended to make back up there! by Flabby-o 03/10/2007, 9:58pm PST NEW
                                                        Re: You're making the same point I intended to make back up there! by Lizard_King 03/14/2007, 5:20am PDT NEW
                                        Donny Richmond NT by Taylor Riddle 10/07/2007, 11:06am PDT NEW
                                            I WARNED YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN, DIDN'T I? NOW YOU *WISH* ME AND BDR WERE HERE! NT by SENATOR BARDORITO OFFICIAL GAME DEV 10/07/2007, 11:36am PDT NEW
                                                THEY DID IT!! YOU MANIACS! YOU BLEW IT UP! DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!!! NT by Mischief Maker 10/07/2007, 12:42pm PDT NEW
        Re: Resident Evil 4 is not a FPS by Schadenfreude 02/24/2007, 7:27pm PST NEW
            Re: Resident Evil 4 is not a FPS by Flavio 03/07/2007, 9:57pm PST NEW
                Actually, Sammy Davis Jr. did that as part of his act :( NT by Jerry Whorebach 03/07/2007, 11:01pm PST NEW
                    Sammy Davis Jr. was not human NT by Flavio 03/08/2007, 5:57pm PST NEW
    Sample size too small to judge all versions. by Fussbett 02/23/2007, 11:25pm PST NEW
        I must give them even more props than before by Fullofkittens 02/23/2007, 11:39pm PST NEW
    canada home NT by canadahomeda 01/26/2008, 11:05pm PST NEW
        QFT by Jerry Whorebach 01/26/2008, 11:52pm PST NEW
    grats, you bought the worst possible version of the game :( NT by Grumah 01/27/2008, 10:32am PST NEW
        Where were you 11 months ago, man?! We needed you!!! NT by Fussbett 01/27/2008, 1:20pm PST NEW
            You don't wanna know. 8( NT by Jhoh Creebul, Witch Toucher O_O 01/28/2008, 3:45pm PST NEW
            I was also surprised to see I had not already posted to this thread back then NT by Grumah 01/28/2008, 6:41pm PST NEW
 
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