Resident Evil 5 | Xbox 360 | Survival horror | March 13th, 2009

Going back four games and 13 years of development, Resident Evil has been spinning around the industry for a long time now. The Resident Evil series itself has been through a few generations bringing with it new gameplay elements and story elements. Resident Evil 4 started a new gameplay idea and Resident Evil 5 continues that with additions of its own. It’s quite an achievement what Capcom has done with this series and how it still continues to hold its ground with gamers around the world. Resident Evil 5 brings about new issues and confronts new gameplay fronts, so how does it all stack up?

Let’s face it; the gaming community can never get enough of mindless zombies filling up the screen left and right. Capcom’s choice of location certainly put a crunch on some people’s heads, but you can’t be that superficial and ignore the game itself because of that. Moving past that, we’re here to talk about the game and how it manages to be a pretty intricate addition to the series. Resident Evil 4 marked a brilliant change to the series gameplay wise that RE5 manages to keep up with.  Resident Evil 4 took you through the dense forests and villages of Spain playing as Leon to find the President’s daughter. However, Resident Evil 5 barely relates to that plot and instead focuses more on the return of the virus.

This time, Chris Redfield is taking a trip to Kjuju in West Africa on a mission after hearing reports of the same virus that you encountered in Spain is breaking out here in Africa. It’s a matter of terrorism and biological weaponry at work. You partner up with Sheva Alomar during this co-op focused experience. While Resident Evil 4 only had you partner up from time to time, RE5 allows for “jump-in, jump out” co-op play whether locally or online throughout the entire game. This makes for a great experience that helps complete the game faster and makes you appreciate the help of others.

 

Before you start each game, you can customize and upgrade your weapon selections based on your equipment slots. Now, this both baffles and makes sense in two ways. One, it’s nice that you are able to keep track of your equipment in real time and not have to mess around with menu systems to get there. However, the downside of this is practically everything needs a slot in order for you to use it. Body armor, grenades, ammo and the guns themselves all need a slot to hide in for future use. It makes things cumbersome as you get deeper into the game. You can pick up these accessories from dead enemies and broken barrels and crates across each level. The strategy of it all is how you manage your equipment between the two of you.

Sticking with the equipment slots for a minute, while you may not have enough room for everything you need to hold onto, this is where your partner Sheva comes in. If you’re playing co-op you can easily work out with your partner what the two of you will need during each level and swap as needed. However, with the AI partner, things get a little confusing and annoying especially after the partner starts screaming for the hundredth time for you to throw over some ammo because you’re trying to keep her available for health or another reason.

There is plenty of weaponry to be had in the game from variety types of sniper rifles, machine guns, rocket launchers, stun poles and mines. Unfortunately it seems as if the more exciting weapons were saved for the boss fights. It of course would’ve been nice if you could’ve kept those afterwards. If you’re playing by yourself, you’ll spend a lot of time organizing your slots to keep ammo handy between you and your partner. This is a result of the AI lacking the intelligence to hold onto your equipment for very long. If  playing by yourself, then you had better hope that Sheva is in the right position of the field to help you, otherwise you could find yourself in a hole quickly.

 

 

For third-person shooters, the over the shoulder camera view had been a new mechanic in the previous generation and has been incorporated in many recent releases. Resident Evil 5 uses the same mechanic only not allowing you to shoot and move at the same time. This does put a bit of limitation on the gameplay and forces you to think a bit more than you normally would. There is a cover system though it mostly boils down to quick button pressing in certain areas which makes one wonder why wasn’t it all put together at once in the first place. Still though Resident Evil 5 does manage to keep one busy whether you’re playing alone or with a friend. Each level is fairly spaced out and has pretty well balanced checkpoints here and there.

The enemy AI can be pretty predictable after playing more then a few matches and you’ll find yourself easily getting through the game in about a dozen hours.  Co-op with a friend and you’ll breeze through the game no problem. The game is pretty well rounded and doesn’t seem to skip a beat much during gameplay. There are a few changes in the action with vehicles and torrents for boss fights so you’re not on your feet every minute. The cut scenes offer a bit of cinematic interaction during each level. While you would expect to take a step back to view these scenes, you’ll be playing right along in them. This is an interesting turn of events because it keeps you on your feet and makes sure you’re paying attention to the game. The signals are small but noticeable.

It started with Resident Evil 4 and 5 is no different. The presentation is top notch and Capcom manages to create a world that is not only believable but realistic. Textures and environments are all well represented and everything folds together in one piece. There are no lag issues with co-op online, so there isn’t much to worry about suffering behind your partner. All the characters have their own unique style and are animated with a grace that makes you believe you’re watching an animated film. The stunt sequences for example are all performed through the in-game engine though provide for a nice break in between your zombie massacre. The camera angles are interesting and keep the action moving. Overall, everything Capcom has done to keep true to the state of Africa is all there and you’ll be looking back at the game 5 years from now saying it still holds up.

 

The voice acting can be a bit too B-movie like, but that isn’t meaning to say that it’s a bad thing. Certain characters manage to keep the flow going while others are about as stale as the script their reading. The plot line can be all over the place, especially if you’re new to the series and don’t know much about the deeper story. However, what’s on the surface might be something that most will be able to follow. Every nook and cranny in the game is space out in realistic sound effects that you would expect from a game of this caliber. The music deserves most of the credit for creating an atmosphere that keeps you on your heels

Resident Evil 5 prides itself on co-op. It would be quite difficult to complete the game single-handedly, so it’s highly recommended going the co-op route. If you do, you’ll only be hurting yourself in the long run. It would’ve been nice had Capcom made your AI partner a bit easier to handle, but your left with practically nothing if you plan on going the game solo. In order to keep up with your equipment managing you’ll need to find yourself a friend. It’s an even better experience if you’re playing with someone who’s already completed the game because then you’ll be able to reap the benefits of not having a difficult time unlocking all the various achievements and trophies.

 

Another plus to the game is its management system. While, it’s unfortunate that every single item must take up a spot, it’s quite intuitive to manage items back and forth between either characters. You can easily combine items and with gold lying around everywhere you won’t have to worry about losing anything during the fight

Resident Evil 5 is a benchmark for the series and it certainly ties everything together plot wise and answers certain questions about the various plots. Although it opens new questions as you near the end the game, it’s quite a treat to see the end credits of it all. While it’s a short adventure, one can hope that Capcom has something up their sleeves for the next game in the series and this is where the next game can really go anywhere at this point. Resident Evil 5 is and always will be a B-movie action game from start to finish, there’s no denying that. If you’re looking for a co-op adventure with a friend, don’t be afraid to give Resident Evil 5 a try, even if you don’t know the overall plot, the one on the surface is just enough to satisfy anyone.