The 2005 smash hit is back, and every bit as good now as it was back then!

When Resident Evil 4 came out a few years ago for the GameCube (and later the PlayStation 2), it was hailed as one of the best games of the generation, both graphically and in gameplay. The game's radical departure from the classic Resident Evil formula was a controversial but widely praised move. It is no wonder, then, that Capcom turned to RE 4 when looking for a game to port to the Wii. The question is how does one of the best games from two years ago hold up to today's games when ported, with little modification, to a next-gen system?

RE4: Wii Edition is for all practical purposes the exact same game as the GameCube and PlayStation 2 releases. As such, I am not going to delve into the gameplay in too much depth. If you're new to the series, our review of the GameCube version will serve you well. The game may be a couple of years old by now, but it is still a brilliantly crafted game. RE 4 is not, like previous incarnations in the series, a "true" survival horror game.

Rather, it is a unique blend of survival horror and action. Playing as government agent Leon Kennedy, the player is instantly thrown into a small village in Spain with a flimsy pretext, hordes of zombie-like villagers to shoot, and a heck of a creepy atmosphere. As the story progresses, you gain access to more powerful firearms and fight more dangerous baddies, but you are also charged with the care of a girl named Ashley, who is frustratingly useless.

After the GameCube release, Capcom added in a number of extra features for the PlayStation 2 port of the game. These are also available in the Wii version; besides a number of unlockable costumes and weapons, RE4: Wii Edition features an extra post-game mission that lets players take control of Ada Wong, a minor character from the main story. Even without this extra that helps to flesh out in a lot of the unexplained plot points, the game itself is plenty long. In addition to all of the PS2 extras, there is also a short trailer for Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, the upcoming Wii-exclusive Resident Evil game.

The one new thing that RE4: Wii brings to the table is, as one might expect, Wii Remote-specific motion controls. Standard movement is handled by the Nunchuk analog stick, but aiming is now relegated to the Wii Remote: hold down the B button, aim, and fire with A. You cannot move and fire at the same time; when you draw your gun, the analog stick instead allows you to look around; this movement is independent of where you are aiming the Wii Remote.

This takes a little getting used to, since all other shooting games on the Wii thus far incorporate using your aiming cursor to turn, but after a short adjustment period (less than ten minutes), it works very well. Aiming is simple, it works, and the level of pinpoint accuracy you can achieve is simply stunning. Scoring headshots or hitting an oncoming villager square in the knee to impede their movement is a breeze.

Beyond a technical level, the added Wii controls are that much more immersive; with actual lightgun-esque aiming, I was more easily drawn into the game and felt a heightened sense of tension than with a normal GameCube controller. On a technical level, the game is almost exactly the same as it always has been. But with the motion controls added in, it felt like I was playing an entirely new game.