Resident Evil 4,[a] known in Japan as Biohazard 4,[b] is a survival horror game developed and published by Capcom. The sixth major installment in the Resident Evil series, 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, whom has been kidnapped by a cult. In rural Spain, Leon fights hordes of villagers infected by a mind-controlling parasite, and reunites with the spy Ada Wong.
Development began for PlayStation 2 as early as 1999. Resident Evil 4 underwent a long development during which four proposed versions were discarded; the first attempt was directed by Hideki Kamiya after producer Shinji Mikami. The game was announced as a GameCube exclusive as part of the Capcom Five, but a PlayStation 2 version was announced before it was released. Resident Evil 4was ported to Windows, Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch and in downsized versions for iOS, Zeebo, and Android.
Resident Evil 4 garnered critical acclaim, with praise for its narrative, gameplay, voice acting, and characters. It received multiple Game of the Year awards for 2005 and was seen as a successful cross-platform hit that influenced the evolution of the survival horror and third-person shooter genres. It pioneered the “over the shoulder” third-person view perspective in video games. It is widely considered to be one of the best video games of all time. A sequel, Resident Evil 5, was released in 2009.
