Resident Evil 4 (GameCube) Preview

Of course, this was never going to be enough. The man with the mind, Shinji Mikami wanted to improve on his latest masterpiece and make something, bigger, better and with more pant-wetting possibilities. May we introduce Resident Evil 4. Everything that was achieved in previous titles under the franchise has and will be bettered here. Chop off a zombie's head with an axe, and it will roll off and bounce on the floor, shoot the thing in the head and you will be greeted with an explosion of claret that adds a new look to the room. Whilst the original on the GameCube, and indeed most of the Resident Evil games, featured 2D, pre-rendered backgrounds, Capcom have gone for the full on 3D approach this time round.

Now this should mean that the game looses some of its visual finesse, but amazingly, and somewhat seemingly impossibly, Resident Evil 4 is the best looking yet. To say it is a pretty title would just be stupid, there is nothing pretty about having your eyes pecked out by crows, this is just polygon mastery at its very best.

For those of you that aren't up with all the techno-mumbo-jumbo might not know what real-time lighting is, so allow us to explain. This very special effect allows lighting to be created in-game, and for that light to adapt to its surroundings as you move about. Rather than just having a set shadow, with real-time lighting shadows will wrap around other objects and change depending on your physical surroundings.

Now this is clever stuff with simple 2D pre-rendered background, but bring in 3D and you have a whole load more problems. Shadows wrap around you as you creep and shuffle down the very atmospheric corridors as the camera pans in and out to take in new views, following you all the time from behind.

Capcom love to use an excessive amount of detail on their game characters, and they have really gone to town here. There is just so much precision with breathtaking detail on hair and skin, you can almost touch it.

Another effect worth noting is the use of reflective surfaces in the game. One example that we personally love are the mirrors. Set at the end of a dimly lit hall, covered in dirt and possibly cracked when you come along shining your torch all over the place, the mirror will shine it back at you, you might think you've seen something, you might jump or let out a little squeal, it is all part of building up a glorious atmosphere.