Topic: Resident Evil 4

[s0lidmetal]

Steve,

In your review of Resident Evil 4 you mentioned that the cut-scenes would sometimes have action in them requiring you to stay alert or something dangerous could happen to you.  You said this was the first time this has been done in gaming but doesn't Dino Crisis on the PS1 have the same thing?

Other than that your review was impressive and I never realized that the gamecube had some of the best games available on it, and after listening to your podcast it made me want to go out and get a gamecube and a few games.  If only I could afford it  .

[Gaming Steve]

Yeah, I just answered this one in a different post. Here it is real quick:

Ah yes, you are correct. However, I would say that the difference between Sheumue and RE4 is that Sheumue treated the interactive cutscenes the same way Dragon's Lair did. Where it was a scripted sequence in which you had to press buttons at a certain time in order to advance.

RE4 does it a bit differently and I think it makes a huge difference. First of all, the buttons you need to press during the action are random, so you can't memorize the pattern 100%. Second, the interaction is much less (perhaps just one area of interaction in an entire scene, perhaps zero) and often it's several minutes into the cutscene. Since you are never 100% sure when you can relax this helps to add a good amount of tension into the game. Third, unlike Sheumue where if you make a mistake with a button push you trip over some boxes in RE4 you make a mistake and you can get your head cut off. Again, that helps in adding to the tension within the game.

So I do agree that you are correct that other games have done this in the past. What I should have pointed out was that RE4 has perfected this interaction so that it’s seamlessly integrated into the gameplay without being cheezy.

[Scipion]

That scene where you do get your head chopped off was oen of the most horifing things i've ever had happen to a character when I pressed the wrong button.

[ZeldaGamerMonthly]

Which scene where you get your head chopped off? <_<

There's Dr. Salvador and the Bella Sisters... that's all I can think of.

And then the Novistador's acid death.

[Gaming Steve]

Which scene where you get your head chopped off? <_<

There's Dr. Salvador and the Bella Sisters... that's all I can think of.

And then the Novistador's acid death.

Actually that's the chainsaw guys who do that (and the Bella Sisters). When I said "get your head cut off" I actually meant to say "die a horrible death", but getting your head chopped off is so much more visual.

[Scipion]

I must have gotten the chainsaw guys and the scene where you are tired with the spanish dude together confused, my bad.

[Gaming Steve]

I must have gotten the chainsaw guys and the scene where you are tired with the spanish dude together confused, my bad.

I was talking about that one as well ... but I forget what happens to you if you don't press the button in time on that scene. Do you lose your head if you mess up?