Resident Evil 4
LUCAS (15) – So I’m 15 as of last week and I wanted to get Resident Evil 4 Wii edition I tried to get it last year for my 14th birthday. I used whattheyplay.com and even showed my mom videos of it on youtube and she was fine with it until we got to the store I almost got it when the store clerk said it was the most bloodiest goriest game on the Wii and i know that’s not true (which i don’t understand why they would do that it just kills sales even the other store member came in to back him up the wierd part was we were talking about it before my mom came in about how fun and great it was) If you remember Manhunt 2 that was the goriest game for Wii i just want this game. whattheyplay.com even recommended it for me so i need to know is it fine to let me play this or what. its a really fun game and i want to play it and i have waited 3 years to get it so I need your help.
Hey Lucas’ Mom, if everything your son says above is true, then let your son get Resident Evil 4.
The store clerk probably meant well and maybe even was told to say that (I think he overdid it, a gentle warning or pointing out the rating would suffice in these cases) and technically he IS right. Resident Evil 4 IS ONE OF THE goriest games on the Wii, but the Wii isn’t exactly known for gory games. (Your son is right that Manhunt 2 is much, much worse – it has you play a psycho killer who kills psycho killers – but in Resident Evil you play a secret agent trying to rescue the president’s daughter from an evil cult that uses horrible creatures to possess people.)
Here’s the thing. If you’ve seen it in action on YouTube, then you’ve seen how gory it is. The game isn’t offensive in any other way, it’s a terrific horror story, and it is much less scary/gory than most horror movies. My point is: if what WhatTheyPlay had to say and the YouTube had to show, and that didn’t bother you, then this game isn’t going to be a problem.
Especially at 15.
Now if your son is exaggerating and you, for example, forbid horror movies or any kind of gore or monsters in your house, then this is one to avoid. But if that isn’t the case, let the kid have his Resident Evil. It’s a terrific game in almost every way.
One piece of advice, have him use headphones or keep the volume down especially when he gets to the levels featuring the cultists. The way they chant is super-eerie. I also applaud your son’s initiative. He’s shown you everything he should have to convince you and coming to me was a good idea too.
Also, Happy Birthday as of last week Lucas.
PS: Resident Evil 5 is the same deal. Some people find the idea of killing African zombie-monsters more offensive than killing American or Spanish ones because African zombie-monsters are black. What they see as racism, I see as using an interesting locale. Resident Evil 5 is also not as good as 4, but 4 is a very high water mark.
This is probably the goriest thing that can happen in the game. It’s pretty scary, but also brief.
April 24th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
The title of “most bloodiest goriest game on the Wii” would probably go to Mad World.
Basically, Resident Evil 4 is pretty gory but also not at all serious. The game is basically like an interactive B-movie, complete with abysmal writing.
Regarding Resident Evil 5, while killing black zombies isn’t racist (as the game is SET IN AFRICA), RE5 does contain some cringe-worthy racial stereotyping (remember the tribe level?)
April 24th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
The Tribe Level in RE5 is done in such a reverent, respectful way that it’s almost ANTI-racism. People like that DO exist in some very remote parts of Africa, and when you’re in that part of the game, the dialogue is full of cringe inducing lines that say things like “Who would do this to these wonderful, innocent people?” I spent most of that level wondering why people so backward were dropping machine gun ammo, but that’s just me.
April 24th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
I was pretty cringey about the Tribe level too – to those who don’t know, there’s a portion of the game where you go into the bush and find primitive tribes of infected warriors – I got less offended when I saw an episode of “No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain” where he visited a remote tribe that was a lot like the game. Complete with the motor boat access and reeds. And the racism in the writing is more due to Japan and it’s difficult relationship with stereotyping and the generally poor writing and translating the series is famous for. The Spanish locale and language worked 100% in RE4’s favor though, gotta admit that.
Mad World is pretty bad, but the stylizing makes the gore less-bad to me. It’s basically a giant black white (and red all over) cartoon game show thing.
Manhunt has gore *and* subject matter working against it.
April 24th, 2010 at 5:37 pm
I always thought the racism controversy about shooting black people in RE5 was ridiculous. Doesn’t RE4 take place in a Spanish village? So it must be racist, the game glorifies shooting Spaniards, right? How absurd. I wouldn’t know about stereotyping though, I only played it once or twice at a friend’s.
I do agree that, based on straight gore, MadWorld takes the title for the Wii, but Manhunt is on the whole more offensive.
April 26th, 2010 at 2:27 pm
First off, I love Resident Evil and even more specifically RE4 and 5. I have a Los Illuminados tattoo on my left peck and the Umbrella symbol on my right.
What I find interesting about Resident Evil (as a whole) is that when you compare then to now then was very mild but still had the warning at the beginning of the game, “Warning: This game contains scenes of explicit blood and gore.” You remember. Yet it seems now they are a little more explicit. As an expecting dad I have thought long about games and my son when he is old enough. I think that jumping right into a game like RE4 might be rough (not so much for a 15 year old, but perhaps 13 or younger) and I think as a gamer and a dad that games shouldn’t just be about gameplay and fun but it is the stories and the developing of characters that is important to impress upon children. We all have our memorable stories as children and characters we loved, and while most kids we playing make believe with hobbits, dragons, Nancy Drew, or whoever I was doing the same thing but with Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, or Link and princess Zelda. I would encourage this boy to actually try finding a PS1 and playing the series through. To bring this point around to the topic, I also think doing this would lessen the blow of the violence in the game. No, it isn’t GTAIV but seeing Leon clawed in the face, lifted up slowly and then stabbed in the stomach still made me, as an adult, yell, “Oh Snap!!”. But having seen the transition from counting the pixels in the blood and seeing it pour out was easier on me in the long run. Personally I plan to have my son play all his games this way. He needs to experience the story telling and connection to characters as much as the gameplay.
Anyway, I say let him have it, it;s a good game and it certainly isn’t as bad as other games on the Wii.
April 28th, 2010 at 10:30 am
You have Los Illuminados tattooed on one arm and the Umbrella logo on the other? That’s awesome! How often would you say people recognize it? How many think Los Illuminados is a gang thing? I’d definitely say something if you walked by.
Oh, your mileage may vary but I’ve found it almost impossible to get my kids into things I was into as a kid – except maybe Star Wars. They find their own obsessions so I recommend not forcing it, but also trying to get into whatever’s neat in his lifetime. Maggie is all about The Sims now and Henry is a Mario freak (I thank Nintendo for New Super Bros Wii and Mario Galaxy pretty much every weekend – oh and Kart and Party).
I have no tats, but if I did I’d go for Ms. Pac Man or Blinky (the red ghost). Short on story sure, but no other game has provided me more joy than Ms. Pac Man. Ok, maybe Tetris. And Civilization 2, but those would make for lame tattoos.
AND did you hear that Capcom is going back and plans to release a new Resident Evil in the old 3rd person style? I think that’s a bad idea but story-wise 5 is weak compared to 4.
April 28th, 2010 at 7:56 pm
Would someone who has seen all the TV-14 edit Resident Evil movies, Saving Private Rhyan, and has the right to play any rated Teen game on the planet be mature enough for this? I know that how I just wrote this sounds snotty and immature however it’s come to a boiling point. After more than three years of waiting for this one game I still can not buy it according to my parents. I understand that one i’m more mature that i was when i was ten and first wanted this (yes i am 13 now) and probably was too young for this back then and i also understand that i am not as mature as i’ll be in the future at this age. I just don’t understand why if this has an m on the box i can’t get it. I can honestly say that if Grand Theft Auto had a T on it the whole time my parents would be fine with me getting it. They’ve told me that i can get this if i show patience and expand what i play and hang with friends more ( i used to just play video games) i could get this. I haven’t asked yet but it’s been 9 months i havent bought a shooter in a year (excluding Uncharted 2) and whenever i gt the chance between home work and extra cirricular have gone to a friends to hang out limiting myself to about 2 hours spent on video games in a school week 4 tops in an entire week. So would you say based on all of these factors i am “mature enough” for this one game?
February 1st, 2011 at 11:49 pm
I played RE4 on the GameCube with my Dad when I was about 9. No prob for me. Don’t know what your mom is fussing about.