Resident Evil 4 (Cube)

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These guys weren't in the demo we played, luckily for us.

Our uncertainty however, proves unfounded. Bob, weave and lunge as they might, our now-attuned targeting proves too much for the rampaging psychos - what Capcom company hype is calling "the infected". We progress through the opening where the parked car once lay, stopping to off another "infected" in a small toll-booth, shooting some wooden crates after it to reveal handgun ammo in one, and a herb in the other. Realizing our failure to do so by now, we then press Y, bringing up the item screen which, while eschewing item block based carrying capacity of previous Resi's, still holds a visual familiarity that's hard to shake. We inspect the herb - a yellow one we are told increases healing effects when mixed with a green herb - and reload our gun, before continuing on our way through the autumn-green shrubbery.

And this we do, scouting the horizon without a trace of pop-up for villagers, picking them off before they get too close. We avoid sneakily placed explosively charged tripwires with the help of a fellow show attendee's handy commentary, collect more ammo and herbs, and soon find ourselves on the outskirts of the village, ever closer to the flashing beacon on our map. A cut-scene whirrs into effect, Leon pulls out binoculars, and we zoom in and out using the C-stick. Disturbingly, we see one of Leon's two chauffeurs from the opening movie. That wouldn't be so bad, except he's nailed to a wooden post. Chickens wander the area - a small village, replete with more rickety wooden buildings and a watchtower - as do several equally disturbed dungaree-wearing hillbillies. So we do the only thing anyone would do, given the situation; we walk forward and shoot at the nearest live poultry. Murder our driver would they? Bastards. That'll teach 'em.

We do however underestimate the sheer number of the villagers. They just keep coming

We do however underestimate the sheer number of the villagers. They just keep coming. And they seem really mad now - they must have really been attached to that chicken. Skirting the village perimeter, we make for the watchtower, a suitable place, we feel, to pick off a few of the unsuspecting heathens. That is, until we once again are reminded of the improved AI of Resi's new grunts; a grenade, or Molotov cocktail (we can't be sure which) exploding against the tower roof. We retreat down the ladder, hurriedly checking our map and looking around in weapon mode, only to realise our destination to be the very gates blocked by three freakishly large, imposingly hairy individuals. Out of ammo, spooked, and not a little scared, we make for the nearest building.

We regret it the minute we enter the room. Not that there's anything in there, but as another cut-scene shows Leon closing the door, and the house being surrounded, we realise our stupidity. Like the archetypal horror movie victim, we're trapped by our own actions. Unlike the victims of all-but one horror movie, however, we now see a brutish guy with a bag on his head - eye slits revealing crazed wide pearls of dread-inspiring evil - touting a loudly buzzing chainsaw. Leather face this is not - at least he was purely non-interactive. Fitting the clichè to a tee, we run upstairs, grabbing the niftily placed shotgun from its wall mount, and extra handgun ammo. Walking over to the window, we push over the ladder, felling its climbing villagers with the use of the A button, and turn to defend ourselves atop the stairs, from the impending invasion.

Possibly with the words of Lord of The Rings' Theoden ringing through our minds - "if this is to be our end, we will make such an end, as to be worthy of remembrance" - we advance on the marauding hordes. One, two, three going down at the barrel of our new twelve gauge toy, exploding in a fashion that makes the few people behind us utter various impressed "ooh's" and "ahh's". We're quite sure we also hear one "woah!" though maybe that was us.

When aiming the camera moves to an over the shoulder position.

All is going to plan, until the inevitable - but in the heat of battle, overlooked - reload animation kicks in, that is, and we find ourselves surrounded. How could that be? Damned villagers must have put the ladder back up outside and entered from the window. It's a logical conclusion, but one that we fail to see proof of, as we get over ran by the vile infected. You Are Dead, says the screen. "Time's up", says the Capcom representative, "I'm taking this away to be locked up now". There's still an hour of the show to go, but the single Resi demo - the best, arguably only, reason to attend ECTS this year - is obviously high security. Looks like we got the last play of the day.

And with it, we have learned much - "never shoot a Spaniard's chicken" is just the cusp. Art direction of this new Resident Evil has proved as cinematic as ever, and integrated more fluidly than ever before, into a title that now boasts true credentials into the Action field of its genre title. Yet most importantly of all, it feels like Resi - handling with more flair and finesse, but true to its name. That it will impress with its visuals is a foregone conclusion, but Resident Evil 4 has all the hallmarks of a defining title of this console generation in ways other than mere aesthetic value. Panic, fear and dread are all imbued to the player with progression. Anger at the control scheme has thankfully, finally, been eliminated, a true subversion of the form, and evolution of it. Any game containing scenes of explicit violence and gore - as the loading screen of the series has always so proudly stated - has never been so deserving of the hype. Gaming has changed in a decade, and finally the world of Survival Horror has with it. No zombies, no Umbrella, no Dual shock controller, but very, very much so; Resident Evil.

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