Review: Resident Evil 5

Why so quickly after my first impressions post? Well, I had the weekend to myself and all I did was play Resident Evil 5. There are some good things about the game and some bad things about the game. The game itself is under much criticism from all directions, apparently. The obvious one is the racism issue but then you also have people saying that the controls need to evolve and the issue that Resident Evil seems to be straying from it’s scary, puzzle-solving roots into more of an action-paced game.

So while many people review it as a great game, it still has a tendency to bog down opinions just because everyone has a gripe about the game – and it always revolves around those three topics. Still, it’s nice to see a big-name game getting criticism – because you don’t see that with Killzone 2, which definitely doesn’t have its flaws pointed out.

And again, maybe it’s because I’m recovering from that terrible game, but Resident Evil 5, in my opinion is a step in the right direction with the series and is still a blast to play.

Having played through the game, I definitely see where the racism comments stem from … but it still doesn’t change my opinion that the game isn’t racist. Sure, some chapters in the game show our friendly zombies in ancient tribal attire with spears and such, but I personally think it seems to be a publicity stunt by those who love to scream out “racism” when it may garner some publicity. Seth Schiesel says it best:

So Resident Evil 5 exposes the perhaps uncomfortable truth that blacks and Arabs can become zombies too, just like anyone else. Blacks and Arabs do not have a secret anti-zombie gene. And just like all the thousands of white, Asian and Hispanic zombies that have been dispatched in innumerable other games before them, the African zombies must also be destroyed, or at least neutralized. (Source)

What this may unintentionally point out is that the slaughter of white zombies from Resident Evil 1, 2, 3, 4 and numerous spinoffs is perfectly okay – but now that there are black zombies being shot … it’s a problem.

All that aside, I cleared the game over the weekend. And while this may seem like a re-occuring thing with me … I had all weekend, which means that including backtracking to get new items, stock up on items and get money for upgrades … I probably played about 20 hours of the game. The levels themselves are quite lengthy, and with six chapters, each with three subchapters, gives off the look that the game will take awhile to clear. Had I not had the weekend all to myself – this would have probably taken me a week to clear.

And as stated before, many times you will find yourself going back to get all of the BSAA Emblems (which provide unlockables), stocking up on items and getting money to upgrade your weapons provide a nice offline replayability. Throw in the fact that you get a new play mode after clearing it and a shady online multiplayer – the game has a lot to offer that will help it last long. I will get to the shady online multiplayer later on.

I found the overall presentation of the game to be done very well. The camera in cutscenes were done well and the detail to the main characters were excellent. Sheva has definitely taken the number one spot on the “hottest video game girl” list and Chris is sure to woo some video game lady nerds … although his facial coloring can come off as sickly pale for some reason. And during cutscenes, the music, shaky camera helps build up the intensity. The voice acting at some points were pretty stupid, but for the most part I also think those were done very well. Emotions were pretty spot on … especially when Chris stabs the main bad guy while saying in a very “I’m-tired-of-this” attitude: “I’m getting really tired of your bullshit.” Considering language, no F-bombs were dropped, which I prefer. I’m fine with the occassional F bomb here and there, but it seems like that needs to be said in every sentence with these more serious games – GTA4, Killzone 2.

The controls were something I had an issue with in the demo … but after getting used to it – I actually really like it. You have a quick turnaround, and your quick button mapping to your inventory from your control pad gives a quick and easy way to switch your weapons. It still sticks the same Resident Evil theme, which makes you stand still when shooting … but if you can get past that you’ll find that the controls aren’t as bad as people are making it out to be. You’re not going to please everyone with controls but I think that if they had planned to make it a bit more user friendly while keeping it in the same style of the Resident Evil series, they did well.

A complaint that the Resident Evil control scheme doesn’t work in a “shooter-style” game isn’t legit because I have no problem fighting enemies. If they get close … do what you would do if it were a real life situation, get away from the threat if they don’t have guns and then pick them off from afar. Once the zombies come with guns, then you get the option to duck for cover …

Loading times, like I said in my first impressions, are practically nonexistent. You have your initial load when you start the game, but thanks to the rather hefty 5GB install, loading times are quick and stay quick throughout the game. I’ve actually gotten spoiled so that if I’m waiting for more than 4 or 5 seconds … I get impatient.

The sound is nothing to write home about – you have the same music playing when you’re in a fight and otherwise, it’s not noticeable. I don’t know why sound seems to have taken a backseat in these later games, but that may be because now that games are much more interactive, the sound takes a backseat as you are defending yourself from enemies coming in all areas, making sure your gun is loaded and wanting to take out the guy to poses the biggest threat. A lot of things are happening, so the last thing you’re doing is listening for a catchy tune. Sound effects are done well … guns sound like guns, but it’s a real gratifying feeling when you blow a zombie’s head off and hear the splatter.

At the same time, you have to be careful later on in the game … as going for headshots can cause the zombies to morph into a more difficult character as the parasite that’s in them reacts. It makes you wonder if you should even try doing it because sometimes it’ll kill them, other times it’ll spawn another enemy to take care of.

The game seems like a very easy game at first … being able to easily clear chapters even in Veteran mode … but it gradually gets tougher as enemies start to have shields to defend them. Then you’re forced to shoot them in one of their limbs, and then shoot them when their guard is down. It’s not so much that they’re tougher, but you have to switch tactics to take care of them. Near the end of the game, the difficulty gets a little ridiculous. I remember having to fight two giant spider-bugs that have to be shot in a variety of places in different sequences, but if they get too close to you and grab you – you die … no chance of healing or saving … you’re dead. Pitting two of them against you puts you at a big disadvantage because if you don’t hit them in the right spot in the short amount of time, they’ll recover. Or when you’re fighting two machine gun-wielding enemies who have to be shot tons of times (they’re equivalent to mini-boss fights) in the head while you have regular enemies spawning and attacking you means you’ll have to do a lot of running and gunning down as you go along. It’s gets confusing and rather frustrating to turn a corner and get attacked by an enemy that wasn’t there before.

Despite those few events … the game is neither too tough or too easy. It’s always in the middleground – even on veteran. Boss battles are a different story. The enemies can be massive, tentacly or just a pain in the ass. And without much direction, you’re left in a bind, not knowing what to do to hurt them. Many of the battles don’t offer an unlimited supply of ammo to recover, so you’re stuck with figuring something out pretty quickly. No health meter also makes you wonder if you’re even doing the right thing. Luckily, they do offer some points of reference to attack … which are usually whitish bulbs or areas that platter out pukish-goo when you hit it. But many enemies have to get temporarily dazed before their weak spots are exposed.

The final boss, again, wasn’t too tough and wasn’t too simple. And I think that’s the best way to do it. Their attacks need to be very powerful, but the odds shouldn’t be stacked against you to the point where your winning is based off of luck, and not skill. And after clearing the game, it’s very rewarding to know that it’s finally over – and that you have new modes to play … but you’re also treated to a very terrible ending that lasts not even a minute or two before the credits roll. A terrible way to end a rather fun and enjoyable single-player campaign.

After I finished the single-player mode, I decided to try online. See, I wanted to play through it first one single-player to get used to everything so I wasn’t a hindrance on multiplayer. The experience is really fun – despite the fact that my headset doesn’t want to work … or the fact that nobody else has a headset … which is almost essential since the game offers no text communication. When you have two people who have an understanding of teamwork and help each other out, share ammo and such, it can be real fun. For example, a game I played last night we both had an understanding that I used a Semi-Automatic Machine Gun and a Sniper Rifle and that he used the Handgun and Shotgun. So he never took Sniper or Machine gun ammo and I never took handgun or shotgun ammo. So, when the two people work fairly with each other … it’s really makes the game enjoyable and at the same time you’re always on the lookout to make sure your partner doesn’t die. What they said was true: When you do online co-op, you’re have two health bars to look out for … not one. But then, when you get the people who try to grab everything for themselves, it’s nowhere near as enjoyable. There’s no I in team, afterall.

On that note, the AI for Sheva wasn’t all that terrible … although she is a bullet waster. Give her any weapon and she’ll unload bullets at a slow, but steady rate. Even when it’s slow, after beating a tough monster, you’ll she she has no ammo left most of the time. She’s also relatively quick to heal you even if you’re at half-health but it’s better than a stupid AI who will just let you die. Other reviews comment on how she’s rather “dumb” with avoiding fatal attacks … but I haven’t encountered them as much as they seem to have. She’s died a few times, but that’s mostly because she gets trapped between enemies … a move that’s happened to me as well.

Back to multiplayer – connecting to someone is something they can improve on. When connecting, I found that 90% of the time I try to connect I keep waiting on a response from the other player. To my knowledge, it was supposed to be a jump-in-and-out-at-your-own-pace kinda’ thing, so I’m not sure why I’d wait a few minutes to jump in … especially when the times I do get in, I immediately jump in. I also still have to figure out how to find the games which have someone with a headset … haven’t been able to figure that out, either. Keep in mind, I rented the game so these may be explained in the instruction manual.

So before I finish the review, I think the last thing I need to address is the shadyness of the online multiplayer that’s going to come out. Capcom has done something like this with alternate costumes in Street Fighter 4, which if you don’t remember were released as DLC the day the game came out … and it cost $5. Capcom is under some justified criticism that this should have been part of the original game … and I 100% agree. Whether or not it is something that will be used … the fact that this is coming out a week or so after the game came out makes me think that this is already included on the disc … 100% done and ready … but by downloading the Online Multiplayer for $5, it’s just basically a key that will unlock it so that it’s playable. Why do I think this? Because it’s awfully quick to say, “Hey! We’re going to include multiplayer!” when the game came out practically a week ago and that it’ll be ready within another week. It’s a easy way for Capcom to nickel and dime their customers to get even more money. It also doesn’t help when other companies have been caught doing this kind of thing. It was revealed that he latest Tomb Raider game was guilty of having levels that were omitted for DLC that were actually planned on being on the disc … but Eidos or whoever owns the Tomb Raider franchise decided to omit those levels for future DLC to make some extra money. But that argument will be saved for a future post.

I’ll also be interested to see how it works because if you have to stop and shoot … that’ll make it awkward when you’re face-to-face with someone.

Overall though, Resident Evil 5 was a great game. I really liked it. And I don’t think that it’s coming off of the suckiness that Killzone 2 was because I still find the game really fun to play after having put 20+ hours into it. I’m not sure if I’ll buy it at $65 (with tax) or $70 (with tax and the multiplayer downloadable content) just because I did already clear the game. But, had I not cleared the game this would have been a game that I probably would have purchased.

And on that note, let’s wrap up the review.

Graphics (10 pts.)
Some of the better graphics in terms of cutscenes that I’ve seen. The details or Chris and Sheva are done very well … zombie enemies seem a little too bit overdone. Regardless, it’s one of the prettier games on the PlayStation 3. 9/10.

Music & Sound Effects (10 pts.)
Music is very absent in this game to me. The music that I heard while in a battle was rather repetitive, quiet and not unnerving. In the previous games, when something may or may not happen, music would reflect it which got us anxious. That’s not in there and nothing else really stands out. 4/10.

Gameplay & Controls (25 pts.)
The camera sticks to the over-the-shoulder view for most of the game. No clipping issues are seen and the camera never gets a bit funky. During hectic cutscenes, the camera acts hectic. Controls have always been an issue with the Resident Evil series and this game is no different. Although I got used to the controls quickly I can see where it can still be frustrating. The game’s difficulty seems relatively low. Even on veteran, I find that I can quickly take care of enemies. Not sure about boss fights and the “react or die” scenes become harder making it hard to get a decent score on Veteran. But, taken all this into consideration, I still get either an A or S rating on a normal level. So either the game is generous with ratings or the game is a bit too easy. But when you get to the bottom of it all – the game is actually pretty fun and continues to be fun even after you clear the game. 20/25.

Story and Presentation (20 pts.)
The entire story flows quite nicely. Cutscenes interact with real-time and vice versa without a hitch. Action cutscenes are great and include flashbacks to the first game – no mention of a Jill sandwich though. The story itself gets complicated after awhile as you learn about different viruses that were probably used in older games. It could have been explained better, but it wasn’t. It does, however, give us the impression that the story is over and has come to an end. Despite all of that though, the ending was terrible and the voice acting at some points were overdone. 15/20.

Fun Factor (25 pts.)
The game is fun … I had a blast from the beginning to the end. While you are pitted against a survival mode level against tons of zombies and an executioner right off the bat - which sucks when adapting to controls – once you get past that, it’s a pretty fun experience. So fun, that I decided that I will buy the game despite originally deciding to wait until later. Mercenary mode is pretty fun as well – no puzzles or anything to solve, just kill a infinite amount of zombies coming after you. 23/25

Replayability (10 pts.)
The game offers a lot with singleplayer replayability – from upgrading your weapons to the best you can to collecting BSAA tokens to unlock stuff. Throw in the fact that you can do it online with a friend makes it even better. Mercenary mode adds a bit of replayability and the shady multiplayer will extend it even more. But, once you tire of online co-op and have upgraded and collected everything … the game is pretty much done. 9/10.

Total Score is 80 pts., giving this game 4/5 Invaders