Overview: Capcom's "Resident Evil" series has been around almost 10 years. When it debuted, it was a welcome jolt to video games — a highly gory horror game that didn't sugarcoat its grim premise: Zombies are trying to kill you. Shoot them and get outta there.

Resident Evil 4 Platform(s): GameCube Company: Capcom Type/Genre: Survival Horror Rating: M (Over 17 -- Blood and gore, violence) *-Reviewed • Official Site • Arcade360 Index

Some hope, however, existed as Capcom began to roll out reworked editions of the "Resident Evil" games for the Nintendo GameCube. The games had lush, recomposed graphics and upgraded sound. They looked fantastic. But the game play was still stale.

But like a great cinematic comeback, Capcom has delivered a stunning new chapter in the series, perhaps the best horror game ever. And nanny-nanny-boo-boo PlayStation2 and Xbox owners: It's only on the GameCube for the better part of this year.

In "Resident Evil 4," Capcom takes the grim feel of the previous games and remixes it with the missing ingredient: fun. "RE4” is challenging, but never too frustrating. It's scary, but beautiful to behold. And it's virtually impossible to put down.

As Leon Kennedy, the rookie from the original "Resident Evil" (and now a special agent more Jack Bauer than James Bond), you navigate creepy villages, decrepit graveyards and one fantastically haunted lake, searching for a president's daughter. The twists and turns in the plot are many, and the creatures you face — shambling possessed villagers yelling in Spanish — and giant ogres right out of the "Lord of the Rings" movies are the most frightening I've seen in any game except maybe "Half-Life 2."

Modes: Single-player only.

Game Play: "RE4" doesn't completely perfect the series' stiff, hard-to-finesse controls. But it does improve upon them a great deal, adding an option for free-looking around environments. Using weapons is much easier with laser-sighted guidance and smooth analog control of aiming. If there's one complaint I have it's that the game's inventory system still feels dated — picking where to put weapons in your attache case (which does grow over time), takes you right out of the game. But another welcome addition — using treasure and money you find to buy new weapons, upgrades and items — more than makes up for it. The game also gets away from the obligatory run/walk/shoot mechanics with some interesting quick-response side games. When you battle a monstrous sea-worm and get knocked off your boat, you have to tap the A button quickly to swim back, or get eaten. When the villagers roll a giant boulder at you, you've gotta get your Indiana Jones on, using the L and R buttons at the right moment to dodge.

"Resident Evil" purists might think this takes you out of the game, but they might have forgotten how monotonous the corridor skulking in games like "Resident Evil 2" really were.

The game's puzzles never feel out of control. The difficulty ramps up steadily, never overwhelming you into giving up. The game offers up enough weaponry and ammo at key moments to keep you going, and the readily accessible save points (no more hunting for precious ribbon to save on the game's scant number of typewriters) are easily found on the map option.

It's hard to overstate how much of a revamp this game is — if the "RE" series lost you somewhere along the way, this is the time to revisit. "RE4" is that good.

Technical Presentation: I'm partial to colorful games like "The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker," but it's hard to argue that "Resident Evil 4" is anything but the best-looking game ever on the Nintendo GameCube. Leon and the creatures he and other playable characters face look photorealistic. Rainfall sheets and moves with the wind realistically. The sound design (available in Dolby Pro Logic II) is horrifying and overwhelming. The game is detail-driven and the environments, many outdoors in misty and murky areas, are top-notch. It's tough work making a game convey such a visually depressing tone, but don't let the near-monochrome color palette in screenshots fool you: it's completely convincing, and the series bereaks another convention by taking the action out of corridors and chamber rooms and out into detailed villages and forests.

Ease of Use: For players of the previous games, "RE4" is an easy pick-up-and-play. For newbies, the game's controls will take some getting used to (it's better than the "Grand Theft Auto" games, but still not as facile as most shooters like "Halo 2"), but the game is considerate in now throwing too much at you at the beginning. Sure, there's action aplenty from the first scene, but it's nothing you can't handle.

Nice Surprise: The biggest surprise here is that such a tour-de-force can only be played on the GameCube — and that it plays so well on the diminutive, oft-dismissed console. I would bet large cash funds that the forthcoming PlayStation2 version won't be so visually appealing. The game pushes the GameCube's limits and even plays in widescreen mode in Progressive Scan mode (nice eye candy for those with HDTVs).

Enraging Quirk: The game does a pretty awful job explaining what all those items you pick up are used for — it took a few chapters for me to realize that all the heirlooms and jewels I was picking up had no other purpose than to cash in for weapons upgrades and other purchases. And here I thought I might they might be vital to open up a door or interact with a character later.

Tip: Combine yellow and green herbs early on to increase your maximum health. Don't throw away any ammo, even if you think you won't use it. You'll expend a lot of it on the boss battles. Explore every nook and cranny for ammo and items; make the treasure map one of your first purchases and use it often.

Bottom Line: "Resident Evil 4" is such an absolute technical and artistic achievement that I wish it had been released a year ago, before many players opted to give up their GameCube systems (or bought an Xbox instead) for lack of a decent library of new games to play. I've spent every night the last two weeks playing it, and the game has a hypnotic pull that never flags. There's no filler material, and the care and attention to the tiniest of considerations make it one of the most rewarding gameplay experiences you'll have. Just as "Shaun of the Dead," the "Dawn of the Dead" remake and "28 Days Later" revived horror films last year, "RE4" arrives, just a little later, to smack down all other pretenders to the horror survival throne. It's the best horror game I've ever played and an outstanding instant classic across all genres.