So, anyone who has spent more than three minutes with it knows that Resident Evil 4 is a spectacular game. It is completely unnecessary to assign it arbitrary numerical values (usually high in the upper tenth of whatever rating spectrum is being employed) – in fact, it might even be a bit insulting. Resident Evil 4 isn’t just a 9.7. It’s a 9.7 that makes you shake your controller in spastic dread and exclaim, “Son of a bitch! Where did that thing come from?” at the top of your lungs.

When Capcom announced that they were re-releasing it for the Wii, my bullshit sensor went off. This was probably due, at least in part, to the flurry of GameCube titles that received a hasty, pointless Wiimote port over the first year of the system’s life. Splinter Cell was rendered maddeningly unplayable, and while Prince of Persia at least had some merrit, it was clearly just a port being re-sold at brand new prices. Considering that everyone who owned any video game system of the last generation (or a computer for that matter) already had access to RE4, I figured this was a dud title with no applicable market. I was wrong.

First off, Capcom acknowledged the obvious facts that the game is several years old, and that we’d probably all played it before, by launching the port at $30. I appreciated that. In fact, that places the title at only $10 more than the sticker price for the GameCube verison of RE4, and the new version includes all of the PS2 extended missions and a properly functional widescreen mode. Those almost make up the difference right there.

But, of course, the real highlight of RE4 on the Wii is the new control scheme. And notice I said highlight. I honestly think Capcom started the project as an experiment. How can a company take a traditional game and convert it to the Wii contol scheme without making it cumbersome and silly? The easy way to answer that question is to use an already established, polished game that requires a great deal of point-and-fire gameplay as your baseline. Resident Evil 4 was the obvious – perhaps the most obvious choice for a Wii port of any game in the past few years.

Now, some people claim Wii aiming is jittery or shaky, and a few reviews of Resident Wiivil reflected that. I have to tell you, honestly, I’ve never had that problem. Ever. I’ve played a Wii on a standard definition, curvy-faced 15″ television, on an ED 32″ tube, and on a 54″ HD projection television. They were three different Wiis and three different remotes played in twice as many lighting conditions. I’ve just never experienced any jitter that a fresh set of batteries couldn’t resolve (rechargable Energizers for the win). It could be that I rest my elbow on my knee or on the armrest of my chain and aim from the forearm. It could be that I am just a fucking deadeye. Either way, I get very good aim on the Wii.

In fact, I think the aim is too good. Honestly and truthfully. I tore through RE4 in a way I never imagined possible when I originally played it on the GameCube. Even with my knowledge of how most of the game would work, even with my better choices in weaponry selection, even with every advantage that I had playing it the second time around. I decimated that game in a way I never thought would be possible otherwise. I don’t think I fired more than a dozen shots over the course of the game that didn’t blast my target right between the eyes. I earned a bottlecap on every attempt in the shooting gallery. There were times when I thought, genuinely and tactically, “Okay, six enemies, eight bullets, I’m golden!” And yes, I mean with the 9mm.

There were points in that game that I just started using the Red9 as a sniper rifle, because my aim was so precise that it was both possible and economical to do so. What I’m trying to say is that the Wiimote actually trivialized the game. It made it too easy. Not that I never died, because occasionally I did (usually in areas where precision aiming gave way to either sheer numerical superiority or my early-level woefully underpowered shotgun). But a lot of the content was reduced to a fly swatting game, an through no fault of Capcom’s. It’s just that RE4′s movement and aiming system was never designed to accommodate such a refined and precise system of aiming. Having both the speed to whip my crosshairs from one side of the screen to the other, but also the careful finesse to aim, literally, centimeters to my left or right to line up a shot was simply more than the game’s mechanics could challenge. It made RE4 feel less like a console game and more like a PC game (which I’d always heard was easier for this exact reason).

Now does that mean you shouldn’t play Resident Wiivil? Pffft, of course you should. Professional mode returns much of the challenge to the game, and you can run through the game with less than optimal weapons (the Punisher 9mm, while low on stopping power, is crazy fun). People who didn’t play the PS2 version can finally access the Ada Wong missions as well. It’s a great game, and it is a precursor to where the series and the genre is going. It screams, “This is my potential!” with every loaded level and gurgling adversary.

In the mad, crazy rush for gaming realism, this three year old port has done more to create a realistic gaming experience than all of the pretty graphics in the world. Not that RE4 wasn’t one of the prettiest games of the previous generation, but the Wii version simply feels more real. It may be a sad commentary that, thus far, the game to best realize the Wii’s potential is a port with a control scheme slapped on top of it. But if that had to be the case, at least we can take solace in the fact that the game in question was of RE4′s caliber.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 1st, 2007 at 1:11 pm and is filed under Games. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.