‘Resident Evil 4’: An Evolution In Camera Perspective
CapcomMain characters Leon S. Kennedy and Ashley Graham fight off terrifying creatures in Resident Evil 4.
Resident Evil 4 was released by Capcom in 2005, and like its predecessors, the horror video game featured exciting gameplay full of memorable and creepy characters.
The story centers on Leon S. Kennedy, a special agent tasked with rescuing Ashley Graham, the daughter of the U.S. President, from a deranged religious cult in Spain. The main enemies take the form of villagers capable of mutating into horrific creatures.
Although the game’s plot was praised, the main selling point was its unique camera perspective. The entirety of the game takes place from a third-person, over-the-shoulder viewpoint. Although Resident Evil 4 was not the first video game to employ this perspective, it was one of the first to use it for the entirety of the game.
As a 2023 review on IGN explained, “At the time it was a big deal for Resident Evil to switch from the series’ traditional fixed-camera perspectives to a then radical over-the-shoulder viewpoint that brought us uncomfortably close to the gore and put the emphasis on reflexes and precision targeting, and as a result Resident Evil 4 was an action-horror epic without peer.”
