Resident Evil 4 is a survival horror third-person shooter game developed by Capcom Production Studio 4 and published by Capcom. It was originally released for the GameCube in 2005. Players control U.S. government special agent Leon S. Kennedy, who is sent on a mission to rescue the U.S. president's daughter Ashley Graham, who has been kidnapped by a cult. In a rural part of Europe, Leon fights hordes of villagers infected by a mind-controlling parasite, and reunites with the spy Ada Wong.
Development began for PlayStation 2 in 1999. Four proposed versions were discarded; the first attempt was directed by Hideki Kamiya after producer Shinji Mikami. In a departure from the fixed camera angles and slower survival horror gameplay of previous Resident Evil games, the team focused on developing more dynamic shooting action.
Resident Evil 4 was announced as a GameCube exclusive as part of the Capcom Five, but was ported to numerous formats, becoming a cross-platform hit, selling over 11.1 million copies across all platforms. It garnered universal acclaim for its story, gameplay, graphics, voice acting, and characters, and is often named one of the best video games ever made, winning multiple Game of the Year awards in 2005. It influenced the evolution of the survival horror and third-person genres, popularizing the "over-the-shoulder" third-person view. A sequel, Resident Evil 5, was released in 2009.
Plot[]
In 2004, U.S. government agent Leon Kennedy (Paul Mercier) is on a mission to rescue Ashley Graham (Carolyn Lawrence), the U.S. President's daughter, who has been abducted by a mysterious cult. He travels to an unnamed rural village in Spain, where he encounters a group of hostile villagers who pledge their lives to Los Iluminados, the cult that kidnapped Ashley. The villagers were once simple farmers until becoming infected by a mind-controlling parasite known as Las Plagas.
While in the village, Leon is captured by its chief, Bitores Mendez, and injected with Las Plagas. He finds himself held captive with Luis Sera (Rino Romano), a former Los Iluminados researcher. The two work together to escape, but soon go their separate ways. Leon finds out Ashley is being held in a church and rescues her. They both escape from the church after Osmund Saddler (Michael Gough), leader of Los Iluminados, reveals his plan to use the plaga they injected into Ashley to manipulate her into injecting the president of the United States with a "sample" once she returns home, allowing Saddler to begin his conquest of the world.
After killing Mendez, Leon and Ashley try to take refuge in a castle but are attacked by more Iluminados under the command of Ramon Salazar (Rene Mujica), another of Saddler's henchmen who owns the castle, and the two become separated by Salazar's traps. Meanwhile, Luis searches for pills that will slow Leon and Ashley's infection, as well as a sample of Las Plagas. He brings the two items to Leon but is killed by Saddler, who takes the sample, while the pills to suppress the infection remain in Leon's hands. While in the castle, Leon briefly encounters Ada Wong (Sally Cahill), a woman from his past who supports him during his mission. He battles his way through the castle before killing Salazar.
Afterward, Leon travels to a nearby island research facility, where he continues the search for Ashley. He discovers that one of his former training comrades, Jack Krauser (Jim Ward), who was believed to have been killed in a helicopter crash two years prior, is responsible for her kidnapping. Ada and Krauser are working with Albert Wesker (Richard Waugh), for whom both intend to secure a Plagas sample. Suspicious of the mercenary's intentions, Saddler orders Krauser to kill Leon, believing that no matter which one dies, he will benefit. After Krauser's demise, Leon rescues Ashley, and they remove the Plagas from their bodies using a specialized radiotherapeutic device. Leon confronts Saddler, and with Ada's help, manages to kill him. However, Ada takes the sample from Leon at gunpoint before escaping in a helicopter, leaving Leon and Ashley to escape via her jet-ski as the island explodes.