Presenting...the blog's first Wii review!

Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition

Release Date: 2007
System: Nintendo Wii (earlier versions available for GameCube and Playstation 2)
ESRB Rating: M (Mature) for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence and Language
Publisher: Capcom

"Resident Evil 4" is undoubtedly the best game released in the "Resident Evil" game series. Unfortunately, while the Wii version is still an awesome game, the addition of Wii technology doesn't do a lot to immerse the gamer in the experience.

In "Resident Evil 4," you control Leon Kennedy, the hero of "Resident Evil 2" - a former rookie Raccoon City cop, now working as a member of the president's Secret Service. The president's daughter Ashley has been kidnapped, and Leon has gone to Europe in an attempt to find her.

Upon tracking Ashley to a village, however, Leon finds the place inhabited by hostile villagers fallen under the sway of a weird cult - the same cult that has taken Ashley prisoner. Now Leon must stop the cult's diabolical plans and free Ashley from their clutches.

The reason that this is the best entry in the "Resident Evil" series is evident from the moment the game begins. The control system has been given a complete overhaul, switching to a behind-the-back view of your character. The aiming system has also been nicely overhauled, allowing for more precise shots.

In addition, the inventory system has been improved to allow more items to be carried, with each item taking up space depending on their size (a healing herb will only take up two squares, for example, while a huge honkin' rocket launcher will stress your capacity quite a bit more).

Thirdly, the nearly-useless knife has actually been made into an effective weapon with a new knife combat control scheme that works nicely with the new perspective. You'll soon learn to appreciate the knife as a nice ammo-saver.

The game designers deserve some credit for transforming what is usually the most annoying part of a game - the dreaded escort mission - into something painless. At some point in the game you'll find Ashley and have to escort her along, all the while protecting her from the creepy cult and its murderous hordes. Fortunately, Ashley is actually an intelligent escortee, and will follow Leon flawlessly without any prodding necessary (unless prompted not to), which is a godsend when you're cornered by psychotic cult members. In addition, you can heal Ashley if needed, and while it requires some economization of healing resources, it helps keep the game from coming to a premature end.

As if all this weren't enough, you get a whole lot of fun weapons to play around with. You meet a merchant early on in the game that you can purchase weapons and other items from, and the weapons this game offers are a lot of fun to wield with the new aiming system. In addition, these weapons can be upgraded to make them even deadlier, faster-firing and -reloading and capable of holding more rounds of ammo, all for a price (money, which you find throughout the game).

The Wii Edition of this game falls somewhat short in the interactivity department, however. The controls are easy enough to get used to for anyone who's played the earlier version of the game, and the Wii Remote offers a few advantages over the controller, such as somewhat faster aiming, one-flick reloading (flick your wrist up and you reload) and the ability to use your knife simply by swinging at the screen, it doesn't quite provide the "being there" feeling that the Wii strives for. Part of this has to do with the fact that "RE4" wasn't originally a Wii game, however, so it's hard to be too harsh on that point.

Another thing that could have been improved on the Wii controls is the firing buttons. You press A (the thumb button) to fire, while holding B (your trigger finger button) puts you into aiming mode. The controls may have been a little more intuitive by reversing those two buttons, allowing you to use your trigger finger to shoot.

Other than these minor flaws, however, "Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition" is a welcome addition to any video game library. Play this game - you'll enjoy it.

Score: 9.5 out of 10 (Best. Resident Evil game. Yet.)