I was first introduced to the Resident Evil series with Resident Evil: Director’s Cut for the PS1 back in 1997 and instantly became enamored with the Resident Evil universe. The steady diet of RE2, RE3, and RECV kept me satisfied, but after the 2001 PS2 release of RECV, I had no more Resident Evil to play (I never owned a GameCube, so RE Zero was not something I could play). Years went by and then, news of another Resident Evil started appearing. My excitement quickly turned into GameCube envy when RE4 was announced as an exclusive to the console for release in January 2005.

That’s also when I learned about timed exclusives.

When I finally got my hands on the PS2 version later that year, I knew that I was playing something special. I didn’t realize that the game was so innovative at the time. Gone were the semi-clunky controls and fixed cameras of the previous games, replaced with smooth movements and a hitherto unused over-the-shoulder camera angle. The action was more than satisfying and it still managed to terrify.

I was never really good at first person shooters, but RE4 helped with that because it taught me the basics and introduced mechanics in managable difficulty levels. It was a rare game that made me want to play again as soon as I finished it.

Now, here we are 5 years later and the gaming landscape is populated by games influenced by Resident Evil 4’s innovations.

However, there are fans of the classic RE series that aren’t big fans of RE4. They relish in the old controls, environments, and voice acting of the first few games. And that’s quite all right.

I think that there’s room for both fans of the new and classic RE. The upcoming Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition episode “Lost in Nightmares” will hopefully make a good compromise for both types of fans as it features Chris and Jill returning to some very familiar stomping grounds.

So that’s my story on my experience with Resident Evil 4. Now it’s your turn. What was your experience like with RE4? Are you looking forward to Lost in Nightmares?