Morir es vivir...Morir es vivir...

Over the course of the last few months I have become unhealthily obsessed with Resident Evil 4. I never thought I'd be in to those survival-horror games because they make me edgy and I end up getting frustrated and throwing controllers. Then I need to call an attack on the Pit just to calm down.

Pythona recently lent Destro her Gamecube and so the virus has been released all over again. Rocking the mercenaries minigame, which I hated at first but have learned to enjoy. The trick to making good games these days is smooth play and crisp graphics and sound, but most importantly, the intangible quality of "replay value". Once beating the game, what reason does the player have to pick it up again?

Baldur's Gate II absolutely mastered this quality. I got that game for Christmas my freshman year, and you can ask pretty much any roommate I had throughout college and they can confirm that I played it pretty much all the time. Now I am considering plunking down the $115 and getting a used 'Cube and the game because the replay value is that damn good. I've beaten it twice already and romped around the mini-games. I'd still do it.

The weapons are extremely detailed, customizable, and (at least on Gamecube) real enough to give me that feeling I had when I was five and was able to pick up a stick off the ground and convince myself I was holding a combat shotgun, like, seriously. I would tell people to f*ck off before I seriously lost my temper and started shooting.

The ambience is brilliant. Well-rendered fog and stock-horror-film sound effects, plus extremely tense music. It's creepy and exciting without going over the top. There's a pile of cool shit to be unlocked. Adjustable difficulty levels. Ada Wong gets her own mini-game. Talking bottle caps. The f*cking Dirt Merchant!!! Jesus. Destro is so going as the Dirt Merchant for Halloween.