10 Video Games That Broke All The Rules

4. Resident Evil 4

Nothing about Resident Evil 4 should work. The game swapped out pretty much everything identifiable about the series with the exception of its lead character. Gone were the fixed camera angles and tank controls, absent were Gothic mansions and overrun American streets, and the franchise's iconic enemies - the zombies themselves - were now yesterday's news.

The revolutionary sequel didn't only defy the conventions of its own series though, but completely stuck two fingers up to action games in general, opting to do things its own way. A move as simple as shifting the camera to an over-the-shoulder perspective and then zooming in to aim was the gaming equivalent of realising cheesy chips make for the perfect hangover cure for the first. If that analogy hasn't made it clear: it was a big deal that seems totally obvious today.

Throw in a bunch of villains that were as hilarious as they were menacing, and a weird second half that throws you into a haunted house, and every move Resident Evil 4 made should have doomed it, and yet Capcom's sequel ended up being one of the best games ever made.