Resident Evil 5

"Bioterrorism, African style"

Resident Evil 5 may have been my most anticipated game of all time. Its predecessor, RE4, was arguably one of the best games I ever played. I went through it start to finish over 5 times, and put close to 100 hours into it, and its various minigames and unlockables. It redefined the series, and gave action games a breath of fresh air.

RE5 was announced, and I began to follow its development. Over the course of its development, I started to get a little bit less interested. The focus on multiplayer Co-Op and the streamlined game play made me a bit nervous. RE4 was a refreshingly long action game with one awesome action sequence after the other, and I knew that RE5 was going to be good, but the way it was being pushed at us for Co-Op was a bit of a turn off. The Single player aspect, something that seems to be a dying trend for videogames these days, was also looking a bit pale. Sure, I had friends on LIVE that were going to play this game with me, but I've always enjoyed the RE series for that sense of being alone, and surviving through horrors with just yourself, and a trusty sidearm.

After it was released, the first thing me and a friend did was start Co-Op on Veteran difficulty. Needless to say, the game blew our minds. It was an intense action game from start to finish, and many moments put us on the edge of our seat. While RE5 may not be the same as the older games in the series, it has a special quality to it that stands out as one of the best multiplayer offerings of this generation, however, that doesn't mean RE5 is the best Resident Evil game, far from it.

Without going into too much detail about the story, I'll just say that this is the final chapter in the "main" story arc of the series. In it, returns RE star Chris Redfield (from RE1, and RE: Code Veronica) to seek out a biological weapons dealer in Africa. His past involvement with the Umbrella outbreaks led him to join up with the BSAA, a special forces unit that tracks down Biological weapons throughout the globe, mainly Umbrella related. While his main mission is to apprehend a dealer named Irving, his real goal is a mystery further revealed while playing. Chris meets his new partner, Sheva Alomar upon arriving at his destination, and they are thrust into a chaotic situation right from the get-go, leaving little time to get acquainted with his new partner, Chris sets out on his mission.

I'll just say that most RE fans of the main story will be happy about the overall conclusion and narrative. It retains much of the cheesy dialogue and killer cut scenes of the past games, while adding its own style and flair. The setting of this whole ordeal, a fictional location in Africa, is actually very appealing and fresh, however the game doesn't utilize its setting very well after the half-way point, and triggers into areas that are a bit un-original and many gamers will get that "been here, done that" feeling. Some stages, to me, were a bit too much like RE4. Nevertheless, the game as a whole is non-stop action.

The game play is highly reminiscent of RE4. The shooting, moving and interactive cut scenes are all back, and better than ever. RE5 is literally the RE4 engine on steroids (no Chris jokes intended). Aiming is done over the shoulder, allowing for targeting specific parts on an enemy, and you will frequently do this in just about every situation, and on many enemies its required. The controversial "stop and shoot" game play from every single main RE game has returned. While vets of the series will not scoff at this control scheme, I can see why many new comers may be a bit miffed. The controls are limiting, there is no denying this fact. I've been playing Resident Evil for years and it always has been. This game takes it up a notch however. The new aggressive, faster enemies, the number of enemies attacking you, and the real-time inventory management all add to some frustration at times. Instead of past games where you could go into your inventory, combine ammo, use health etc, this game requires that you either have a weapon or item on quick select (via the Up, Down, Left or Right on the Dpad) or risk going into your inventory while enemies are coming at you, to select an item, equip or use. It all takes a bit of time to do this, and if you are not prepared, get ready to face allot of punishment.

The main difference overall is the implementation of a partner, Sheva. Whether you play this alone (having the AI control her) or play with a friend, the partner system is both neat and frustrating. Playing this game alone is mainly where the frustration will rear its ugly head. Sheva's AI is clearly not up to the task at utilizing her ammo effectively, and she at times has a hard time escaping enemy attacks. There is baby-sitting to do, and many gamers will dislike this game if they have no access to LIVE and a friend.

Sheva will use ammo like its going out of style. She has two main tactics, attack or cover. In cover, she will usually attack enemies that get in range of you, and mainly only use a pistol or whatever has the most ammo. In attack, she goes all out, and usually breaks away from you. Knowing which setting to use is key in Single play, as she tends to not do what you'd want her to do unless you specify it. Want her to actually snipe those guys on the ledge? Either do it yourself, or give her a rifle, set her to attack and hope she doesn't act stupid and go off on a suicidal killing frenzy. One thing I'll say is I've never seen her try to do stupid things like attack an enemy far away with a pistol or use a grenade when I'm near an enemy. She will help you if you get grappled as long as she is near you, and she will heal you effectively. Give her an SMG and put her to attack however, and she will dump 60 rounds into everything around her and run out in minutes time. She is a great shot with a sniper rifle though, and may be the best weapon to give her. She rarely misses a shot.

Now playing with a friend turns this game into a completely new experience. You now have two people that think alike, and can talk and plan. You won't need to baby-sit each other, and you can co-ordinate attacks and ammo usage. You can also both search for treasures and items. Overall, the game goes from being mildly frustrating to very fun.

Each area of the game is just one gigantic action sequence after the other, and its all about surviving the horde of enemies or situations thrown at you. For instance, me and my Co-Op partner would tend to backtrack to a safe area and let the enemies come to us in a chokepoint if we had the opportunity. We would search high and low for treasures or hidden items before moving on, and we took our time. The beauty of this game is that each time you play you may do something a bit different, or you may have different means to do so.

This game allows for chapter selection, and each instance of the game (whether you play Co-Op or single player) is auto saved. That means whatever you find or use on one file is used in every game of RE5 you play. I played as Sheva in our game. I tended to use the Sniper Rifle and SMG at times, while he used the Shotgun. After we save and quit, any weapons I have on me stay on Sheva, and I can transfer then to the main inventory, and use them in Single Player (even give them to Chris) or play with someone else entirely and have all those weapons, treasures and gold built up. Its a neat system, but purists will feel cheapened that, essentially, you can never start this game fresh. While you can put all those upgraded weapons into your stash and never use them, the big incentive to this game is the fact that you can go back and play any chapter you want, at any time. You can build up a bit of ammo and money this way to upgrade, or you can go back and search for things you missed. This game is less about challenge, and more about replay value, especially since almost every weapon in the game, once fully upgraded has an unlockable Infinite Ammo special that you can use.

Infinite Ammo is just one of the many unlockable specials in this game. This game is very much about replay, and that is mainly the reason for chapter select and your overall "grade". Much like another Capcom action series, Devil May Cry, each chapter in RE5 awards you with a rank at the end. Time to complete, times died, enemies killed and accuracy all factor into a ranking system from D to S, being the best and highest. Each rank gives you points, which are tokens used to unlock bonuses like the previously mentioned infinite ammo, among other things such as figurines, new costumes and other goodies. Perfectionists will love it, but people that aren't interested don't have to mess around with this system. Overall it adds tons of hours into this title.

RE5 is a pretty short affair, taking a couple semi-competent players about 10 hours to beat. For instance, it took me and my friend 10:21 minutes on veteran, however our overall playtime is well into 20 hours. This short length may turn off people, but it is a pretty standard length for an action game. Disappointingly shorter than RE4, RE5 makes up for it with plenty of memorable encounters and areas, mostly in the earlier chapters.

Earlier in the review I mentioned that the story doesn't utilize its setting very well. Early on, RE5 looks amazing. It really feels like you are in some African village. Its detailed, the blazing sun beats down onto the sand, and the locals look very detailed and life-like, and menacing of course. There are caves, a Savannah area, and a very memorable wetlands area complete with killer crocodiles. However, after these sections, the game becomes a bit mundane area wise. You see industrial rigs, labs, boring corridors and the like. Its much like the last half of RE4, which most people didn't enjoy as much as the earlier sections, including me. I would of liked to see more of its native African setting. Overall though, RE5 is truly remarkable, especially in the looks department. The graphics are outstanding on an HD TV, and is one of the best features of this new entry. It is, without a doubt, one of the best looking video games I've ever seen. The lighting is a sight to behold, and its crisp textures and models are sure to impress even non gamers with its realistic approach.

I've mostly glowed about the game in this review, but I'll get to the things that I didn't really like. First, if you stack this game up to the series as a whole, it is not what Resident Evil is about. Sure, I lived with the fact that Zombies were gone; they weren't present in RE4 either, but what RE4 did was redefine the series. RE5 sometimes feels like RE4 but with an extremely shiny coat of paint. It retains much of the past faults of the series, namely the "tank" controls and bare bones (if not just a bit enjoyably cheesy) story. Puzzles were almost non-existent in RE4, but they are almost laughably void in RE5, with maybe one puzzle that is almost not even a puzzle at all. Remember the good days when we played RE2 and were piecing together clues and doing silly statue pushing? I miss that, and while RE5 has been revamped to be more about action, it lost a bit of its soul. There is not one moment in RE5 that is scary. The past RE games have at least a sentiment of horror. There were shock moments and some creepy atmosphere. RE on Gamecube still has to this day one of the most memorable and chilling scenes and ambient music in the series. Sadly, RE5 has none of that.

The last couple chapters in the game also turn into a completely different affair. I won't spoil it for new players, but there are elements that are used (to not such a great degree) that could have been easily done away with and been the better for it. I didn't enjoy these handful of sections, and I'm sure allot of hardcore RE fans won't either. Fans of Gears of War however will enjoy these far more, but the limiting controls make it more frustrating than useful.

Resident Evil has always had over the top, gruesome bosses as well, and Resident Evil 5 has those in strides, however, they aren't as enjoyable to fight or memorable as RE4, not in the least. The advent of Co-Op makes bosses slightly exciting but none of them are truly challenging or as epic in scope. Some are actually a bit too similar in looks and dispatch methods. While they all have a great cinematic flair and tension, I never truly felt like I was fighting for my life, a bit disappointing.

RE5 is a great game even despite the bad points, a stellar game really. A showpiece title for your collection, it will awe non-gamers with its outrageous graphics and cut scenes, and fans of RE4 will very much enjoy the reskinned engine. Hardcore fans of the series with an open mind will enjoy much of it, but dislike a handful of design decisions and not be wrong in doing so.

As a Co-Op game, RE5 excels, as a Single player affair, like the past RE games; its lack of horror and puzzle solving don't live up to the series. This is either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on what camp you belong in. My overall gripe is not being able to play alone and not have to baby-sit an AI character that just doesn't seem to work very well. My general feelings on the game however are that its a must play either way, but do so with the option of Co-Op, preferably over LIVE, you'll thank me for it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/20/09

Game Release: Resident Evil 5 (US, 03/13/09)