Resident Evil 4: Difference between revisions

{{quote| '''Saddler:''' [[A God Am I|Don't you think this is a revolutionary way to propagate one's faith?]]<br />

'''Leon:''' [[Lampshade Hanging|Sounds more like an alien invasion if you ask me!]] }}

* [[Always Over the Shoulder]]: The game pioneered the over-the-shoulder perspective now used in nearly all [[Third-Person Shooter]] games.

* [[America Saves the Day]]: [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] by {{spoiler|Saddler. Though played straight when Leon kicks his ass all over the place.}}

** The Mine Thrower. Awesome firepower with a tracking upgrade, but typically not worth the inventory space. This is made worse by the fact that ammo for it tends to be ''[[Too Awesome to Use|even rarer than Magnum ammo]]''. It is also quite easy to kill yourself with it, if you're careless.

*** Ammo does, however, become more common the more an item is used, making Mine Thrower ammo potentially pop up all the time.

** The Large Carp. It's easy to find in the village's well and lake, is practically free and restores life completely...but it's HUGE (you could store six First-Aid Sprays or twelve Golden Eggs in the same space) and doesn't even sell too well (only 2300 Pesetas, slightly more than a hand grenade). Though it's good to catch one and heal up on the go after fighting Del Lago in order to save herbs and sprays.

** The Handgun and Punisher's exclusive upgrades. The Handgun's instant kill head-shot can be more of a hindrance than a help since it can cause Plagas to spawn, and the Punisher's exclusive of piercing up to five enemies is mostly useless, since if you're faced with a group that large, you'll likely be wanting to use something more powerful and with spread such as a Shotgun. They are both also far too weak for the mid to late game, even fully upgraded, which is why the Red9 and Blacktail see more use.

* [[Awesome Yet Practical]]: The Red9. It's basically a [[Cool Guns|red Mauser C96 pistol]] converted to use 9mm rounds. Thanks to the high (for handgun standards) firepower, relatively high firing speed, and the abundant ammo, it chews through [[Mook|Ganados]], [[Everything's Worse With Wolves|Colm]][[Demonic Spiders|illos]], and [[Goddamned Bats|Novistadors]] in no time, and even comes in handy against [[Elite Mooks|Chainsaw Ganados]] and ''even some weaker bosses''. Not only that, it's also the only handgun that can be fitted with a stock, allowing for easier targeting over longer distances. It's considered by many experienced players to be the best handgun-class weapon in the game.

* [[Body Horror]]: It's a ''Resident Evil'' game, so par for the course.

* [[Bonus Boss]]: With good equipment, strategy, and luck, it is actually possible to kill the Verdugo that Salazar sends after you. Thank God for those [[Weaksauce Weakness|nitrogen canisters]].

* [[Boring but Practical]]: The knife and the pistols (Handgun, Punisher, Red9, Blacktail). It might not be impressive to play using those weapons 90% of the time, but it's much more likely to lead you to success than using your flashy weapons all the time. Considering the general lack of ammo for the more impressive weapons, the game basically forces this option during the first playthough.

* [[Boss Arena Recovery]]: Played straight for the whole game, but a particular mention goes to fighting Salazar. There's crates in quite a few places, and going to the bottom level, there are infinitely spawning spider plagas. They randomly drop ammo for whatever weapons you have.

* [[Bottomless Magazines]]: The Chicago Typewriter (though you ''can'' reload it as many times as you wish), the Infinite Launcher, the fully upgraded Handcannon, and the PLR 412.

* [[Brain Food]]: One things the zealots ''do'' say, among other things, is chanting "Cerebros, cerebros, cerebros" ("Brains, brains, brains").

* [[Buxom Is Better]]: "I see the president has equipped his daughter with... [[Crowning Moment of Funny|balli]][[Narm Charm|stics]]."

* [[Cable Car Action Sequence]]

* [[Credits Gag]]: The end of the credits state that the copyright on the game is protected by the RPD and appropriate S.T.A.R.S. members will prosecute you if you break it.

* [[Critical Existence Failure]]: Averted; as you take damage, Leon will start to limp and hold his stomach.

* [[Crossover]]: With [[Haunting Ground (Video Game)|Haunting Ground]]. The dog you save from the bear trap? Hewie. Makes some sense, as the games appear to be in the same part of the world.

* [[Cute As a Bouncing Betty]]: Leon has access to a magnum called the Broken Butterfly, a pistol called Matilda, and a machine gun called the Chicago Typewriter.

* [[Follow the Leader]]: This game was hugely influential on a number of other games that followed it, including ''[[Dead Space (Video Game)|Dead Space]],'' ''[[Gears of War]],'' ''[[Dark Sector]],'' and many others.

* [[Foreign Cuss Word]]: Spanish peasants like calling you any number of foul things.

* [[Gatling Good]]: J.J.

* [[Gender Blender Name]]: To the English-speaking ear, "Luis Sera" sounds like "Louise Sarah." It would explain why Paul Mercier (Leon's voice actor)'s director didn't correct him whenever he said "Lewis" instead.

** Mendez, before his [[One-Winged Angel]] form. When Leon first enters the barn, Mendez practically [[Flash Step|Flash Steps]] across his line of sight, then appears behind him.

** Krauser, in both the main story and ''The Mercenaries'' mode. Unless he's injured in the latter, then he limps and becomes a [[Mighty Glacier]].

* [[Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me]]: Averted: some Ganados carry large wooden shields, but the only thing they're protected from reliably is regular pistol shots: a close-range shotgun blast will shatter them to pieces, sustained fire from a SMG will open holes in them, and the Punisher and all rifles can easily kill as if they weren't there (provided you can guess where the head is behind them).

* [[Made of Explodium]]/[[Every Car Is a Pinto]]: You are required to shoot some trucks. There's an explosion and the truck careens into a hill or wall.

* [[The Napoleon]]: Salazar.

* [[Neck Lift]]: Mendez has a tendency to do this to Leon after suddenly appearing from behind. During the boss battle, if the player isn't [[Press X to Not Die|fast enough to dodge his grip]] in the cutscene, [[Neck Snap|he breaks Leon's neck]].

* [[Nice Hat]]: Salazar's tricorne goes nicely with the rest of his [[Gorgeous Period Dress|Dapper Period Dress]].

** And one of Leon's special costumes gets a nice fedora to go with it (although it's the only costume that doesn't show in cutscenes)

* [[Red Herring]]: Soon after his introduction, Luis mentions how he saw a sample of the T-Virus during his service as a police officer in their department lab in Madrid. The conversation is cut short by an attacking Ganado, and the topic is never brought up again.

** Since it's eventually revealed that {{spoiler|Luis was also a scientist working for Los Illuminados}}, this was his way of letting Leon know that there was more going on than it might otherwise appear. But then he was interrupted.

* [[Refrigerator Ambush]]: Well, it's more of an oven ambush, actually, but it's close enough.

* [[Rescue Sex]]: Subverted when Ashley's offer for Leon to do some "overtime" with her is met with stoic rejection.

* [[Self-Imposed Challenge]]: This game has managed to spawn many different challenges. All grenade runs, no attache case runs (ie. never opening the attache case), no Merchant runs, knife only, handgun only (normally just the original handgun, upgraded, but some people will pick their favorite handgun instead), no deaths, speed runs, etc.

* [[Shoot Out the Lock]]: There are locks on doors throughout the game that you need to destroy to continue. You can use your knife, though, and that will save you some ammo.

* [[Shut UP, Hannibal]]: When Salazar gives Leon one too many smarmy monologues, [[Crowning Moment of Funny|Leon cuts him short with a knife to the hand]].

* [[Sliding Scale of Linearity vs. Openness]]: Though the overall progression through the game is very linear, many areas can be tackled in multiple ways, and exploration is frequently rewarded with items and ammo.

* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: Just ''try'' looking up Ashley's skirt.

{{quote| '''Ashley''': "Oh, you pervert!"}}

* [[Wolverine Claws]]: A variation on the Garrador (it's a longer blade than usual).

* [[Wrestler in All of Us]]: If certain enemies are on their knees, Leon can run up to them and perform a Northern Lights Suplex. [[Your Head Asplode|Quite effective]], and generally prevents Plaga creation, which is ''handy.'' Sadly, Ashley only has this move in the GameCube version.