I really enjoyed the switch of sorts that RE4 brought to the table. Instead of the usual zombies we are faced with fanatical villagers and well, some of those sequences are downright terrifying. The first time you are faced with battling a bunch of people (and as I am sure you remember this was actually VERY early on in the game) there are so many of them in such a wide area that you are actually not meant to be able to defeat them all. You are supposed to run and jump and knock over ladders and escape through windows.
If i remember correctly a certain amount of time needs to pass and then a bell rings out and everyone just goes away. I thoroughly enjoyed this aspect of the game.
I thought RE4 was fantastic, even though I originally played it on the Gamecube which had a rather uncomfortable controller.
Great game and a great review by you.
RE: Resident evil 4 (Video game) a review of the game.