Resident Evil 5

    The first thing that possibly went through the minds of gamers who were blown away by RE4 and couldn't wait for the sequel, was "how could it be better than RE4?". And while the task of following up on a masterpiece such as Resident Evil 4 is daunting in appearance, Resident Evil 5 manages to be an ultimately satisfying experience that succeeds as a sequel to its revolutionary predecessor.

 

     Gameplay:

The gameplay of RE5 will right out feel familiar to many gamers as mostly the same as RE4's over the shoulder\third person perspective control style. Much of the game is similar in this matter to Resident Evil 4, which shows that RE5 is developed in a "play it safe' style by retaining much of what made RE4 an excellent game. A few additions to the gameplay include a in-game inventory which you can bring up any time with the Y button. This allows for total immersion in the game, which adds to the tension while fighting hordes of enemies at times. The size of the inventory can be a subjective factor to the game however, seeing as the size of your inventory remains the same throughout the game, and the inventory itself is not very big, so it leads to plan carefully with how much\what you pack with you. This can be annoying at times, but again, it does add a sense of "surviving with what you have" etc. Now the most noticeable change in the gameplay is easily the addition of a partner system in the form of Chris Redfield working with fellow BSAA member Sheva Alomar.

The partner system helps and hinders the gameplay. Sheva can be an invaluable help to you in combat when there are overwhelming odds and you need health, for she will automatically heal you if she can when your health is starting to dip too low. She is not a slouch in battle either, so having someone to kick some ass with you is a neat plus to the game. But there are times where Sheva tends to use up her ammo quick and becomes defenseless, so when she becomes a liability it can be very frustrating. This thankfully is not a frequent occurance, so having a partner is mostly a good thing. The absolute best part of the partner system has to be the ability to play cooperatively online, which makes the main story even more entertaining to go through with a friend or anyone else in the world. The storyline is also very replayable, clocking in at about 10 hours of gameplay for one run through the game. Don't worry, it may be a fairly short game, but it is packed with enough excitement to make up for it. There are more than enough moments where you will be pit against insane amounts of Majini (the "not-zombies" you fight in this game) and these shining moments are where the fear and action are at their height, short of Boss battles of course. The scary atmosphere is not as appearent any more as it was before, but it makes up for it with incredibly entertaining survival\action elements. And *SPOILER* having Wesker- The superhuman ultimate evil himself as a final boss is pretty damn awesome too.
GAMEPLAY: A-

Graphics:

Without a doubt, Resident Evil 5 looks amazing. A strong suit in this game is its brilliant lighting in certain environments. The actual premise of the game does not really make for a "chilling" game by any means, but identity crisis aside the enemies and locations look absolutely excellent. Right in the opening cutscene, the African savanna looks remarkably real, almost in a movie sense. The cutscenes really bring out the power of the 360 in rendering fine detail and visuals, and it has to be seen to believe. Really, this looks that good.

GRAPHICS: A+


Final thoughts:

 Resident Evil 5 looks awesome, plays great like RE4 before it, and has a few great additions to keep you playing after beating it once or even a few times. It succeeds overall as a sequel to one of the greatest games of its time.


FINAL VERDICT: 4\12 Stars out of 5

A



Review by Verdugo.