Let’s clarify that this was the general reaction we got from a selection of the forums we frequent. We’re not here to judge or comment on the 360 contingent.

After getting our hands on the game we quickly figured that there are two types of people in this world: those that played Resident Evil 4 and those that didn’t. The ones that didn’t will find Resident Evil 5 clunky and irritating as they ache to sprint around the gloriously realised interpretation of Africa shooting zombies with an overpowered machine gun. The rest of us will find the game archaic but competent.

Within the first few minutes of the game we were amazed. Then we started to move Chris and we struggled. It took us one whole play through of the demo until we felt back to our old selves, back to Leon from Resident Evil 4. Then we were scoring head shot after head shot as the zombies swarmed us.

Resident Evil may not be survival horror anymore but it still retains tension. Adding in a partner in the form of series newcomer Sheva only makes things more tense. No longer do you just have to worry about yourself but now your partner too. Does she have enough ammo? Where is she? Should I help her?

The AI makes her competent enough to not be irritating but it was with two human controlled players we wanted to test out the the new dynamic. So we went online. Sadly the experience was far too laggy to make real comment on. Our partner (who was controlling Chris) was constantly jumping from one side of the room to the other and sometimes a head shot would not even register. We’re not sure whether this was a problem with our partners connection, PSN or the demo being an old build but colour us a little concerned.

The demo packs two levels from the game. Both of which have been levels frequently shown off by Capcom in gameplay trailers. The “Public Assembly” section has your hideout swarmed by the infected while the Shanty Town opts to split Chris and Sheva up a couple of times. It’s a good indication of where the co-op style gameplay will take the game further in.

Graphically the game is amazing with gorgeous textures and animations. The enemies seem a bit clunky but we’ll let them off seeing as they are meant to represent the undead.

Resident Evil 5 may lack something fresh but we’re quietly anticipating Resident Evil 5. We’re also expecting the backlash newcomers to the series are on the verge of delivering. To those people we say: have patience. Resident Evil 4 was one of the best games we’ve ever played and we just can’t see how a HD remix of that same game can’t be good.

Haven't played RE4 in a while so took me a while to adapt, but yeah, it's Resident Evil except it looks way better. What more do you people want!!

Better controls you say?! Not necessary IMO. The game would be stupid if you could just run away whilst gunning the Zombies down wouldn't it?.... Oh wait then it'd be L4D, Hmmm. I'm confused.

Anyway, I enjoyed the demo, and even found a decent player with good conn to play with online, and that was damn good too :)

I'm a third type of person. One who played RE4 on the GameCube and the Wii. I preferred the Wii.

I prefered RE4 on the wii also.

I have to admit I was aching for a Wii remote playing the demo. I mean it's competent when you get used to it but the experience would just be perfect with a Wii Remote.

Dead Space is a different type of game for me but yes, it definitely has better controls. For me Dead Space was about suspense whereas Resident Evil is about white knuckle tension.

I have had this demo on my hard drive since it was released in the US and I still haven't played it...I need to do that.

I dont find the game scary at all, it is more of a shooter now, and not a very good one by todays standards.

Resident Evil 5 may lack something fresh but we’re quietly anticipating Resident Evil 5. We’re also expecting the backlash newcomers to the series are on the verge of delivering. To those people we say: have patience. Resident Evil 4 was one of the best games we’ve ever played and we just can’t see how a HD remix of that same game can’t be good.

The online was smooth as can be when I played, and was so fun.

still havent finished RE4 yet, I hate that kid in the short pants

ITs not fun, or scary

"still havent finished RE4 yet, I hate that kid in the short pants"

I was pretty scared at how bad people were saying the controllers were. I don't know, maybe I'm not enough of a critic, but it took me 10 minutes to get used to it and have no problems at all. Sure, being able to move and shoot would be good, but you don't really HAVE to do it in the game, it works the way it is.

And, while not scary, me and my buddy were pretty tension high running away from the big dude with the axe. I liked the demo, it's a sure buy for me... after Killzone 2 and Street Fighter 4, of course.

I miss the old Resident evil games 1,2, and 3, you know the ones where it was actually scary and had a atmosphere that made you want to play it with someone else next to you, not all this action bullshit.
Now this is a great game and all but it`s not resident evil and neither was 4 imo.

You sound like a pompus jerk.  What the hell, you are the one who is being elitist here.  Just because a game like gears comes a long and changes the third person shooter game, you got to be thinking its an xbox thing?  Saying that controls should not change because they are a staple of some series?  Are you serious?  This game does not control well compared to todays standards. I loved RE4 and thought it was great, but RE5 is not going to move the series or genre forward if its controls are clunky and dont make sense.

• We have analog sticks, why do i need to push a run button!?!?!?! Not a big deal but still an archaic concept.
• I wish i didnt have to bring up my gun and shooting while moving would be nice, even just walking, walking backwards. Makes it seem like the characters are retarded.
• Turning around is so slow, and the back and x button to do the 180 degree turn is not always good, maybe just 90 degrees is enough and that is hard to do.  It was a revoultion in Code Veronica (best RE ever) but today, it is not enough.
• Using a knife still feels like it did when the first RE came out.  It is a last resort but a bad last resort.  It feels really clunky.

"A lot of older franchises would not be around if they thought like you."

I say whatever the fuck I want boy, talkin bout Gears Elitists and shit.  5 years since RE4 came out, they should have had something better than these controls.  I enjoy killing Africans as much as the next person but come on!

I'm so tired of those old RE controls. Before I played the demo I did not think it would be such a huge thing. But just a few minutes in I got so frustrated. Why have they made the controls so stiff. Ok, so you can't move while aiming, fine. But why can't you look around while reloading? Why do you have to turn so slow?

This demo really made me question wether I should buy this game. I loved RE4 but come on, a little progress would have been nice.

Here's a tip, stop with the backhanded jabs against the 360 in your "articles" and acting innocent when you get called on that bullshit.
Takes away from the rest of your writing. See what I did there with the quotations? A dick move isn't it? Well, it's the same thing.

I've already had the whole controls discussion in another thread, so I'll defer to that instead of being redundant.

http://www.giantbomb.com/forums/general-discussion/30/anyone-lose-interest-in-re5/228878/

"Here's a tip, stop with the backhanded jabs against the 360 in your "articles" and acting innocent when you get called on that bullshit.
Takes away from the rest of your writing. See what I did there with the quotations? A dick move isn't it? Well, it's the same thing.

See that? I like that. I know I seem to be giving you alotta shit, but that's cause you seem to have the cognitive ability to bite back with some snap.
You're like the Batman to my Joker. And yes, I know that is speaking very highly of myself. I'd probably be more like one of his henchmen dressed as a juggler. Or a penguin with a rocket strapped to it's back if you really wanna go for silly batman henchmen.
What I was suggesting is that with your obvious Playstation bias in that post, taking potshots against the competition just comes off as petty and undermines the point you were making. Had you used a multi platform title like say Dead Space or Dark Sector, then it wouldn't come off as another spiel about how it's good, but in some way more catered to the superior and sophisticated taste of the Playstation 3 owner. I mean, Dark Sector controls more or less like Gears Of War and Dead Space seems to be the controls taht most people are clamoring for.

I'm at a loss for what it's called in English, but in Norwegian we call it "hersketeknikk" which are ways of subliminally taking control of a conversation or argument by planting seeds of either dissent or doubt in whoever is listening. It's quite diabolical if I do say so myself. And I do sense a smidge of it.

As for the demo itself, I found it a bit disspointing really. But a bad first impression can't sway me from how much I enjoyed RE4. There's a fair share of tinkering with the controls at your disposal, so I assume I'll be able to find something to my liking. It just seems like such a huge step backwards after the amazing controls of RE4 Wii and Dead Space. This was a game I really did have a fair share of expectations for and so far they've dwindled.
But hey, one of the trailers had zombies on dirtbikes. How awesome is that!?

As for my tastes? I'd call them slighlty eclectic. I never bothered making a GOTY list for last year, but off the top of my head I'd list

Audiosurf
Metal Gear Solid 4
Braid
Left 4 Dead
No More Heroes
Space Invaders Extreme
Bully: Scholarship Edition
Dead Space
Rock Band
Castle Crashers
Geometry Wars 2
Wipeout HD
Burnout Paradise
Condemned 2
Fallout 3

as games I thouroughly enjoyed from 2008. Yes, that list is missing GTA4. I was very sick of that game by the end and still think Bully is Rockstar's best release.

That's a pretty tight list actually, wouldn't disagree with anything you put there and totally pumped at the fact you included Space Invaders Extreme. That game was brilliant for what it was.

I didn't realise you were Norwegian by the way but this "hersketeknikk" you speak of actually relates to something I think I (sadly) do in real-life let alone on forums. However in this particular instance it wasn't in fact intentional even if it does come across that way. The Dead Space comparison you suggest is much more suited.

As for chatter about the ACTUAL game -- I think you're right on the money with RE4 Wii. I too sat playing RE5 wishing I could simply point the Wii remote at the screen to aim. In fact, if anything I think Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition is one of the few games where I'd choose a Wii controller EVERY single time to play the game. That game had almost perfect controls (minus the waggling) even if the Remote aiming made the game a little easier.

I think the controls are going to be a downpoint on everyone who plays Resident Evil 5, it really is archaic. But I still think the actual game is going to be excellent. It's more going to be a case of whether people can tolerate the controls enough to either get the hang of them or see the game through. It took me a run through of the demo to get the hang of them but after that I was cool. I do understand the mild "backlash" though.

As bad awkward as those controls are though, I simply couldn't imagine playing the game another way.

Space Invaders Extreme was outstanding. I thought Pacman Championship edition managed to update an old formula, but that game took it to the next level.
Kinda stoked about the console version though, my thumb/wrist kinda cramped out after an intense buttonmashing session on my DS.

As for getting used to the controls. It's not like they're terrible. They just could've been better. Remember, it's only a few years ago since we were playing Turok on our N64s or Tomb Raider on our PS1s. We could've been WAY worse off. As I said, RE5 gets a free pass from me for just how fantastic RE4 was, but my excitement is quite dampened. Thankfully I'll have Killzone 2,  FEAR 2 and Street Fighter 4 to keep me more than busy until then. Hell, I've just sank my teeth into Banjo & Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and have Valkyria Chronicles, Fable 2, Okami for each machine ready from my backlog next.
I gotta find some way to get rid of my friends and my job to get through this.