totally disagree on RE4 being the best RE so far.
why? hmmm lets see , the only things that RE4 takes from the previous RE games are that you play a RE2 character , Leon , Ada on the separate ways mission , and wesker , hank and stuff on mercenaries. O h right , and Umbrella is mentioned , whoopie....

Its a good game , but it fails , completely , mainly because it has little or nothing to do with the T/G-virus anymore. Just some parasites that were awakened.

All and all its my opinion that RE2 was the best RE so far. It took what RE1 had and evolved it into being a somewhat outdoor'ish survival horror (albeit only for some parts of the game) rather than you being stuck inside a mansion (even though you got to go to the garden and stuff , but that hardly counts as a breath of fresh air from a mansion. ) Also RE2 introduced a smoother combat system , meaning you could shoot a zombie and he would sometimes stagger backwards which gave you time to back away and let him have some more of it , instead of the old "forklift" system (turning your toon ALL the way around to run and hope you dont get bitten due to the closeness the zombie was to you.)

RE4 is a Gaiden story (Gaiden meaning "side story" in japanese in case you were squinting at it) , i consider it the same as SH4 for example....total let downs in that aspect (maybe its because of the "4" part?? who knows...) Sure , they introduced dodges , fatalities and stuff like that , but i would've put all that off for some REAL umbrella / T-Virus plot in my opinion.

And btw , i hate Leon.

4 had far from the best story. I feel it's generally a very flat story, boring, dull. "Omg, save the damsel" esque, little to do with Umbrella or the series. It was a side story and had barely any connections to the series, and the only people who generally like it are people who play RE games simply for gameplay and not the RE universe, or people who are new to the franchise.

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When I awaken, I will be the Queen.. And the "T-Veronica" virus will be unleashed upon the entire world. Every last creature on earth will exist to serve me. At that time, the world will achieve the perfect ecosystem, just like an anthill, but on a much grander scale.

The Ant Queen,
Alexia Ashford

I agree re4!