A worthless add-on that is not even worth $5
Versus mode is an add-on to Resident Evil 5 available on the PlayStation Store for $5. This mode allows up to four players to play against each other in four different modes: slayer, team slayer, survivor, and team survivor. They're all interesting modes since the zombies are still around and you get to kill players. The problem is that the mechanics of the game are not right for this type of game.
First off, this is something that just should have come with the game. It was a very small file which just activated a code in the disc or something like that. It seems Capcom was trying to get more money from the players using this.
Next, the mechanics don't really work well for the type of gameplay. Killing other players is very annoying because you can't run and shoot at the same time. This gameplay mechanic works fine for campaign and mercenary, but it just doesn't work at all here.
The characters are also very unbalanced. There are two or three out of the ten possible character choices that everyone picks because they are the best. Characters that were great in mercenaries fall flat here. Against other players, characters should be well-balanced and be picked because of a player's certain style. Here, it doesn't work like that.
Getting in to a game in versus mode is even more difficult than getting to a mercenaries game or multiplayer campaign. There aren't a ton of people playing it in the first place, and it would be ideal to find players in your own region because there is so much lag otherwise. Not only that, if a game fills when you try to enter, you'll be booted back to the versus mode menu and have to start all over again. What a mess.
Resident Evil 5 versus mode is a very disappointing package. It's not even worth $5. It just should have been unlockable in the game, just like mercenaries. The characters are unbalanced, the amount of effort to get in to a game is ridiculous, and the mechanics just do not work for this game. Versus mode is a real disappointment. Hey, at least it wasn't ridiculously priced.