Resident Evil 4 still stands as one of my favourite video games of all-time. When it came out on the GameCube, it featured hands-down the best graphics on any console game and basically gave birth to the third person shooter. I’ve played through this game at least three times and it will always hold a special spot in my heart.
The iPad edition of Resident Evil 4 is a weird product. It tries really hard to be just like the original version, but in some cases, to a fault. What you’re left with is a game that feels like a hollow shell of its former self.
Just by looking at it, you may not suspect that this version isn’t the version you remember. Sure, there’s a downgrade in visuals, but it looks great for an iPad game and runs well. Most of the levels are also taken from the original, so players familiar with RE4 will know their way around. But then you realize that there are hardly ever any zombies on screen at once. The lack of brain-craving zombies on screen at any given time really makes the world feel empty, not scary and not that fun.
Unlike the original, the iPad edition is broken out into numbered levels. It plays out like a greatest hits version of Resident Evil 4, where you’re only concern is to shoot things. This structure lends itself well to the portable nature of the device. Where it feels messy is the way Capcom ties the levels together. In between levels, there are static images with text to convey the story. It does what it has to do, but feels cheap.
For better or worse, this game controls like Resident Evil 4, except with the added imprecision of the touch screen. You still only have single joystick control, which means you can’t strafe. You also can’t move and shoot at the same time or move and knife at the same time. In 2010, it’s horribly clunky to have to hit a button to get into your shooting pose, fire off shots, then have to hit the walk button so you can walk again. If you’re a Resident Evil purist, you wouldn’t want it any other way. However, controls for third person action games have evolved since this, and this solution now feels dated. It also doesn’t help that the touch screen isn’t as responsive as buttons, which makes switching between all the stances really clunky.
Resident Evil 4 iPad Edition really irked me at the El Gigante level. The controls made this fight a lot more difficult than it needed to be. The game also took away the most satisfying part of that fight away from you. Instead of letting you jump on the monster’s back and hack away at its weak spots, the game prompts you to climb the monster and cuts to static images and text to explain what you did instead. Lame.
If you really need a Resident Evil style fix on your iDevice, try out Zombie Infection, which is supposedly a better Resident Evil clone than Resident Evil. Here’s the iTunes link. The more I played Resident Evil 4 iPad Edition, the more I realized that this not only falls short of recapturing my memories of the original, but this version of the game just isn’t that good, period.
In Third Person 