by N1ntendo
Well, here it is. The first “next-gen” Resident Evil (Sorry Umbrella Chronicles). Also the first Resident Evil to hit the 360 thanks to the financial allure of multiplatform titles for Capcom. Resident Evil 5 picks up after Resident Evil 4 but links together the first 3 Resident Evil titles hoping that they can fill in the blanks of their multi-branched,hugely confusing storyline. Thankfully, RE5 has a Library option to let you read what happened to just about every Resident Evil character through every Resident Evil game (yes, even Outbreak).
Graphics. The graphics in RE5 have seen a major resolution upgrade thanks to the power of the Xbox 360. When you watch the cutscenes you would swear it’s not real-time but it is, save for some intros shown at the title screen.
The environment is not governed to camera angles just like Resident Evil 4 and now little touches have been implemented. It could be described as “semi-destructable”. There are decorations like shields, skulls, spiders and more that can be destroyed, as well as some of the decorations yielding you an item of gold or health or even the occasional secret treasure. On the other hand, bullet holes and burn marks appear just about everywhere but are just graphical touches to help enhance the game and serve no purpose. Animation is smooth even though stunted by the “classic” Resident Evil Controls. Ugh. I will get to that now.
Control. You either love it or you hate it. As you can see, there has been some changes and some additions. For the veteran Resident Evil gamer, it is Resident Evil 4 mixed with some Resident Evil Outbreak partner actions. The close combat commands from Resident Evil 4 are back and welcomed as they help to thin out some of the larger enemy gatherings. Yes, you can still kick or punch your enemies out of the way only this time you can combo it for larger damage with a partner. Some gamers wish for free movement in a Resident Evil game, but as for me I am still partial to this “tried and true” scheme.
My only grip would to PLEASE let me move while shooting like I could do in Resident Evil Outbreak. Come on Capcom, what with the downgrade? Overall, not a negative aspect but something that could have used a choice, as we have grown accustomed to the aforementioned controls for about 6 or more titles now.
Sound. You got your Dolby 5.1 as is standard in Xbox 360 games. Enemies spout their gibberish to inform you of their presence and the surround sound helps you identify where they are. The voice acting seems to have improved over the series and it shows. Nothing else to report here as you will have a grand old time hearing the gun shots to the explosions of this action packed game.
Gameplay. Resident Evil 5 feels like your standard survival horror fare only with some major changes. You can now play 2 Player co-op online as a complete game with story, not scenarios like Resident Evil Outbreak did and with voice chat finally too! A versus mode was implemented this April (for a small fee) that attempts to give you that FPS multiplayer experience in a Resident Evil game. Players can now go 1v1 or 2v2 with their friends and other players with or without the enemies lurking around. The other major change is that more than halfway through the game you realize you can wall cover. Hey! Someone got Gears of War/Winback/KillSwitch/most shooters in my Resident Evil 5! Yes, you will have to wall cover to survive on harder difficulties.
However, the enemies seem to have learned more as well. The enemies can now wall cover as well and even BLIND-FIRE! (Yes, they can be smarter than you it seems) as well as climb anything they want. In this iteration they seem more confident as they always know when to pop up to mess up your day. QTE (Quick Time Events) have been beefed up in this game to add more cinematic events and like the boulder in Resident Evil 4, are for the most part a guaranteed instant kill. Some instances it works well (in battle) while other times it seems they put it in there to trip you up (Jeep sequence & having to “duck”). All in all it feels enough like Resident Evil 4 to make you flal in love all over again and play it enough to unlock everything. And the unlockables are assured to keep you busy, as well as the Xbox 360 Achievements as well.
Overall. In the end, you come out with a tried and true formula brought to your next gen console. Resident Evil 5 is a blast to play and is now even more enticing now that voice chat 2 player co-op has been added. If you are a fan of Resident Evil then you will adore playing the latest chapter. If you are not, you will wish that they have taken a gamble and added new elements to the controls and not just given you Resident Evil 4 with a new coat of paint and new characters.
This game has also been released for the Playstation 3 with the same features intact. In this case, the version you prefer comes down to how you like the controller setup. Hey, just like Street Fighter IV! But that’s for another review. Enjoy Dreaming of Majini, folks!
