August 8, 2007 - Resident Evil 4 was the best game of 2005 on the GameCube. There's no ifs ands or buts about it. Upon its release, the Resident Evil franchise and the GameCube itself were getting stagnant. While Resident Evil's graphics were as gorgeous as ever, the weird tank like controls and pre-rendered backgrounds were stuck firmly in the PlayStation era. At the same time, Nintendo's GameCube was trailing both the Xbox and the PlayStation 2 in sales. But like a breath of fresh air, Capcom revitalized both with their outstanding re-imagining of the Resident Evil franchise. Now, everything was in full 3D, you could aim over the shoulder, and the annoying "find the three pieces of this stone to open this door" puzzles were mostly given the axe in favour of purely visceral thrills and frights. RE4 was a true system selling masterpiece, and I maintain to this day that if RE4 had come out a year or two earlier, the GameCube would be hailed as a sales success, rather than the disappointment it is seen as now.

In case you didn't know the story at this point, behold a quick rundown. After surviving the events of the Raccoon city zombie infestation in RE2, Leon Kennedy has become something of an elite secret agent. As a certified badass with a license to kill, Leon is chosen to go on a dangerous mission to a remote Spanish village which is the last known whereabouts of the president's daughter, Ashley. No sooner than he arrives at the village do psychopathic villagers start to attack Leon with a variety of pointy farming equipment and chainsaws.

After a PS2 conversion, Capcom has seen fit to port the game over to the Wii, whilst taking full advantage of its unique controller. While the brilliant game that you know and love has arrived intact, I am proud to announce that the new Wii controls work so well that you'll believe that RE4 was built from the ground up for the system. One of my biggest complaints with the game at first (and it's a very small one, I assure you) was that it was sometimes hard to judge your aim with analog stick and the onscreen laser sight, as it seemed to be at awkward angles from time to time. Now, even that complaint is gone, as you have a crosshair on the screen at all times which is relative to where you are pointing the Wii-mote. Think of it as kind of twisted version of Duck Hunt with pseudo-zombies and exploding heads instead of pixilated ducks. Oh, and horrifying death animations instead of an incessantly giggling dog when you fail.

The Wii controls extend to other facets of the game as well. Make a swiping motion with the remote and Leon will swipe his knife at enemies. Shake the remote while in the aiming stance and Leon will reload his gun. I'll say it again; the Wii controls make RE4 even better than it was before. They take a little bit of getting used to at first, but now I will never be able to go back to playing the game with a basic controller on the Cube or PS2.

Speaking of aim, the game features the standard array of guns such as handguns, shotguns, magnums, sniper rifles, and rocket launchers. The weapons all seem to handle quite well, and some pack a mean punch. Capcom has also implemented a sweet upgrade system that allows you to upgrade your guns in terms of capacity, reload time, firing speed, and power. Weapons are purchased and upgraded by a lovable hobo-looking guy who keeps calling you stranger. Sure, it doesn't make a lot of sense, but the ability to purchase and upgrade your items makes suspending your disbelief much easier to do.

The game's intensity stems from the feeling of being hopelessly outnumbered by a collective enemy that is smarter and more lethal than any zombie(s). There is more than one instance in the game in which Leon is hopelessly barricaded in a cabin or room that is surrounded by dozens upon dozens of enemies, all with an axe to grind against Leon's jugular. However, thanks to the context sensitive A button, Leon is capable of dozens of cool moves of his own, and all he has to do is stand near the potential action. An onscreen prompt tells you what the A button does at any given moment. It's an elegant and satisfying way to roundhouse kick, jump out of windows, push down ladders, and pretty much any other action you can think of.