Resident Evil 4 (Game Cube, 2005)

This two disk game will provide you with hours upon hours of gaming delight. This game features elements which are consistent and true to the prior Resident Evil games, however, offers many improvements. But perhaps most importnatly, it's addictive and just plain old fun to play.

As far as improvements...you no longer have to continually find a storage box to manage your inventory - you now carry it all with you in an attache case. Any number of weapons can be bought from "merchant" vendors and may be upgraded at your discretion. The puzzles are not as tedious nor do they (or any part of the game) involve you going back and forth and around and around in circles over the same areas. This game in much more linear and is a true platformer. The zombies and other badies are much more animated and not so campy - making it so much more meaningful when you blow their head off. The mid-level bosses are completely new and unlike anything seen in this series before. Valuable items are easy to spot and you will have more than enough ammo if you are even the least bit conservation.

The story is simply "save the girl" so you don't have to put up with this mindless Umbrella conspiracy - T-Virus gibberish - although you still find the occsional pointless "report" laying about. Who reads those anyway. This game may be considered challenging by some, but I never felt frustrated or that technical flaws were to blame for my demise. This is one of those games that after you've played it for six or seven hours you begin to realize just how different "where you are now" is from "where you started" (creepy village, to gothic castle, to retro army base...etc). And finally, every single area within Resident Evil 4 is satisfying and unique. So whether you're being chased by a truck full of zombies, riding and sniping bad guys in a gondola, finding your way through a courtside maze, being stalked by a blind prisoner with razor sharp claws, or having dynamite thrown at you from a hilltop - you're sure to be experiencing hand cramping well into the night.