Resident Evil … one of the best – if not THE – survival horror game to play. In almost all games, it’s scared the crap out of me … mainly because animals would crash through windows and I could never get passed it. You’d figure after awhile I’d remember that where there are one-sided mirrors or just boarded-up windows there is most likely an animal that will crash through to kill you.
Resident Evil 5 kind of follows Resident Evil 4 as a separation from the first three games and the 200 spinoffs. Resident Evil 4 strayed away from the “city-invaded-by-zombies” genre and went more to a “desolate-village-in-the-middle-of-nowhere” genre. Resident Evil 5 takes you to what seems like Africa or South America and now hosts a over-the-shoulder camera as well as a big involvement of cooperation.
I haven’t been into a Resident Evil game since the first one … but did Resident Evil 5 possibly bring me back into the series? Well, quite possibly.
I’ve found out that I’m a huge fan of online multiplayer – I played Unreal Tournament, Counterstrike, World of Warcraft, Everquest, Final Fantasy XI, a few other MMORPGs, Resistance, Rock Band, Guitar Hero. I find something really neat that I am no longer tied to a physical friend having to come over to play – now I can just hop online and play with friends who have moved away or just some random person.
I guess this is why I really like the concept that was introduced in Resident Evil 5. You always have a companion with you that is probably meant to be played by another physical person. Sure, the computer can do it, but it makes it much more interesting when it’s played by another person. A downside to this is that the demo had no in-game message system, so if you’re doing it online the only way to talk to your ally is to have a headset.
It also makes me more apprehensive because not only am I trying to keep myself alive, I’m also trying to keep my ally alive. One of us dies and we both fail. I also like the idea that you can trade weapons, items, health and you can even heal your ally without giving them the item.
The controls are rough – but that’s kind of been a staple of the Resident Evil series … they’ve always kind of been a pain … and they still are. Despite the fact that you can do a 180ยบ turn, you still can’t easily rotate left or right without stopping in your tracks. It seems rather sluggish. The button configurations are weird too … they have combinations that just don’t really make sense. But they’re not terrible and you get used to them after awhile. Unfortunately, it seems like if you don’t play for awhile you have to get used to the controls all over again.
The graphics are pretty – but that can’t be shocking to hear. This being one of Capcom’s big sellers, of course they’re going to invest a lot of time into it and the theme seems very gritty.
The enemies are red-eyed “zombies” who now have the ability to throw weapons at you. And when you get hit with a weapon, the game does a good job of making you feel the impact – especially when you’re smacked by a giant axe. Every time I got hit with a weapon, I verbally reacted. What I don’t understand, though, is that when you knock an enemy down and stomp on them, (an option when they’re on the ground and not dead) that doesn’t kill them. I’m sure people can remember in the first Resident Evil that you knocked your enemy down, then stomped on their head to kill them. The main character doesn’t seem to do that very well … but your “sidekick lady” impales them so she makes sure that the enemy is down.
The levels offered in the demo were actually pretty different … they were in the same setting but one followed a linear path while the other felt like an all-versus-one type of match where you eventually become surrounded in a building by the enemies including a huge axe-weilding executioner. It was nice because it was the same style, just executed (pardon the pun) in a different way.
In my opinion, the demo did a good job of what it’s supposed to do – give just a little bit and leave the player wanting more. When I first played the demo I told myself I’d buy the game. I’ve decided that I’ll rent it first only because Resident Evil games, for the most part, aren’t my thing. But I like what they did with the fifth installment and will definitely give it a shot.
