I recently saw the preview video Capcom released for Resident Evil 4. There's no loading as Leon enters the cabin, and
find that yes, someone is home. Someone with an axe. This
freaky, crazy-eyed man makes for the game's first encounter;
I was caught off-guard when the cinema ended and he took a
cut in the face. This brought to my attention one very
pleasant fact: Leon now has a proper health meter! Gone are
the days of vague color readouts leading to uncertain health
status. After a few more encounters and a lot more jogging I
finally came upon a huge metal door. This, and only this,
lead to a loading screen, which soon resolved into a town
square. Great, crazy bastard central. The people, which now
included women, seemed to be going about their business
normally ... until they detected Leon. One lady dropped her
cargo and ran for a sickle -- that's when I knew this scene
was turning bad.
In any case, Resident Evil 4 is looking like an
extremely worthy sequel for the series that made
survival-horror a household name. It's not coming out until
early 2005, but that's fine with me. I want Capcom to polish
it till it shines.
