Although this should surprise no one, Spong is reporting that Capcom's version of RE4 for the
PS2 will suffer significant graphical setbacks. What's that? You want actual numbers, you say? Well, sources have
reported that Leon's polygon count will be sliced in half, from 10,000 polygons to a "mere" 5,000, while each villager
featured in the game will consist of around 4,000 polygons. But Resident Evil fans/PS2 owners need not fear,
for Capcom is assuring us that the PS2's enhanced texturing capabilities will help to make up for the loss in
detail.
However, that's only half the graphical battle. When remarking its visual finesse, most reviewers revered RE4's smooth framerate just as much as they adored its devotion to detail. Whilst perusing the Spong article, it is reavealed that:
"Up to ten villagers and 'associated components' can appear on screen in the PS2 re-work without causing the game to drop frames."
To which my response is, "only ten?" Of course, Spong couldn't be bothered to elaborate on what "associated components" meant, but let's assume the worst case scenario. If you're confronted by a horde of villagers, all simeoultaneously hurling pitchforks and hand axes at you, Ashley lurking in the background, and the fiery particle-enhanced plume of smoke from your rocket launcher still disspating, does that count as ten?
Of course, let's not forget the other half of the appeal of this game, which is the outstanding gameplay itself. Let's also not forget that this title was designed to be played with the Gamecube controller long before the idea of a PS2 port ever came up. Will the PS2's controller be able to adapt? Or will Sony just force them to adapt?
