Resident Evil 4/Gameplay

Main menu
In the main menu, you can choose a new game, load a saved game, or access Options. After beating the game the game the hidden option Extras is unlocked. If you do nothing then previews of the game will start to play.

Start
Select this option to start a new game from the beginning.

Load
Select this option for play the game from a previous save file.

Options
Select this option to adjust controller or display settings. To get to this menu while playing, press.

Retry or Load
This is only available in-game. It allows you to restart from the last checkpoint, load a save game or return to the main menu.

Controller
This allows you to change controller options such as Rumble on/off.

Brightness
This allows you to adjust display brightness.

Sound
This allows you to adjust the sound.

Display
This game is played using over the shoulder perspective, meaning the camera is placed immediately behind your character's head and points at what your character is looking at.

You current status is shown in the lower right corner of the screen. Your health is shown in a circular meter around the outside. You get about 5 units to start and more can be added by obtaining certain items to a limit of 10 units. The meter is color coded, green = good, yellow = danger, red = critical. Note that you won’t be able to move as fast when your health is low. The center of the circle shows the type of ammo you’re using and how many rounds are available. At certain times in the game you will have a companion and a partial circle is added so you can see the health status of both characters. The meter will also warn you if your companion is in danger.

Some commands are only available at certain times and these are shown at the bottom of the screen when they can be used.

Map
Open the map (see the Controls page) to see a map of the current area with points of interest marked. Additional navigation commands are listed at the bottom of screen.

Saving the game
You can save your progress at typewriters located in various locations which are marked on the map. Unlike previous Resident Evil games, you do not need ink ribbons to save.

Inventory
Open the inventory screen (see the Controls page) to view the items you have with you. Weapons and recovery items are stored in your attache case and use up space within it which is limited. Key items and treasure are stored separately. Finally, there is a log book under Files which records information sent to you or which you discover in your travels. This includes playing manuals which cover the basics of the game. Select an item from either the attache case or your treasures to get a menu listing possible things you can so with it. Possibilities include:


 * Examine: Learn what the item is and its properties.


 * Discard: Throw the item away. Rarely a good idea but may be necessary if you're running out of space.


 * Equip: Change your weapon to the selected item; works with guns and grenades. For some reason you can also equip eggs to toss them like grenades, but this doesn't seem to do anything useful.


 * Combine: Mix or join two items to get one item. Using this command you can:
 * Combine different herbs to get mixed herbs with special properties.
 * Add enhancements such as aiming sights and stocks to weapons.
 * Add attachments to treasures to create more valuable ones.
 * The combine command appears with boxes of ammo, but you can't use it to reload a weapon. In certain rare circumstances you can use it to merge two partial boxes into a full box.


 * Remove: The opposite of Combine when applied to weapon enhancements.
 * Use: Use a healing item to restore health or a key to unlock a door.

Drops
Items can be found by killing enemies or in some containers. Dropped items have a aura: Items just waiting to be found and picked up often have a white aura.
 * Blue (money)
 * Red (ammo or grenade)
 * Green (healing item)

Money/Shop
Most enemies, even non-human ones, can drop money and you will occasionally find money hidden. You can also get money by selling treasure or unneeded items. The units are Pesetas, or PTAS for short, which were used in Spain until they converted to Euros in 2002. (The game takes place in 2004 so this isn't entirely consistent, but on the other hand the game never actually says the country is Spain.)

Use money to buy useful things from shops that appear occasionally in the game. Shops are run by a mysterious character known as the Merchant. You first find the Merchant in Chapter 1-2 and at many other times as the game progresses. In addition to buying new items, you can also tune up weapons to improve their performance. Sadly, the Merchant does not sell ammo for your guns, so don't waste your ammo!