Resident Evil 5

Four years ago Leon Kennedy burst onto our screens in what would come to define the survival horror genre. Resident Evil 4 blended classic Resi frights and puzzles with modern day action orientated controls. The result was possibly the best entry in Capcom’s illustrious series.

 Now, after years of anticipation fraught with speculation, the sequel to the critically acclaimed game has arrived. Resident Evil 5 once again puts players in the shoes of Chris Redfield, except this time they’ll find the experience incredibly different from his first outing. Those who remember the roots of the series in the original Resident Evil will find Capcom’s latest entry to be an entirely different game, gone is the eerie tension, gone are the challenging puzzles, and gone is its claim to the survival horror genre.

 Instead RE5 puts emphasis on blow-out action scene after action scene. Very rarely did I feel the quiet building of fear that the original Resident Evils, and even 4, gave me. Though it may not be a complaint for many gamers, fans of the series will be left wanting in what made it great. I’m not a huge horror fan, my love of horror movies died off after they degenerated into ‘torture porn’, but Resident Evil has always been one of my favorite series due in a large part to the terror that it creates. In previous REs you felt vulnerable to everything; the sight of a single enemy on screen would send you into slight panic. With macho-man Chris Redfield, a second character and the abundant amounts of ammo lying around this feeling completely disappears.

However, there came a point where I stopped thinking of RE5 as a departure from the series and started treating it as its own entity. With this realisation came a far greater enjoyment of the experience, because at its core RE5 is a solid, enjoyable action romp through beautiful environments against hordes of enemies. While this mindset may not appeal to long time fans, Resident Evil 5 is still a fantastic game that gave me endless entertainment.

The return to Chris’ story brings an entirely new setting, one which has garnered a lot of abuse. The move to Africa was a perfect fit for the series and the new environments offer beautiful vistas, particularly when appearing from dark areas into the sun, but it soon gives way to the familiar RE fare. This, in truth, isn’t a terrible thing, since this game needs as much help being scary as possible, though the African setting combined with fantastic visuals and high production values makes for something excitingly different.

With the same controls come the same complaints but what made the shooting sequences in RE4 fun is carried over into 5 and keeps the gameplay tight. The same ‘tank’ controls remain, but they help elevate the feeling of claustrophobia. RE4’s context sensitive melee attacks return more visceral than ever, creating some really satisfying moments when a move is pulled off to perfection.

The only real complaint I can level at the mechanics themselves is that they borrow too heavily from RE4. This becomes especially true when you realise that RE5 is not a horror game, these controls no longer work within the context. However, the scheme feels good to me as it is, no matter how similar to its predecessor. So if you enjoyed RE4 have no hesitations in diving into this.

Expanding on the gameplay is Capcom’s biggest addition to the series; Sheva, and with her the opportunity for co-op. Unfortunately, AI Sheva felt clunky and unhelpful, she fires heedlessly into enemies without thinking of ammo conservation whilst wasting precious herbs. Luckily her saving grace comes in local or online co-op. Co-op may wipe out all forms of horror but the sheer fun of taking down an axe wielding Majini with a friend is priceless.

  Thankfully co-op is certainly integrated perfectly, making use of split-paths, tandem moves and inventory sharing that gave me and my human Sheva a sense of satisfaction when planning how to manage our items before and after skirmishes. This sort of management makes communication essential between the two players, and drives a proper feeling of co-operation instead of the faux co-op that many of today’s shooters generate. If one player dies there is a period of time in which the partner can revive them, heightening the dependancy on each-other.

In terms of your new prey, the Majini have advanced beyond Leon’s friends the Ganados. Their intensity and willingness to use guns makes them a formidable foe though they still run up to within a metre of you and then drop to a slow walk, making them easy targets for a shot to the face. These changes remove the Majini from any kind of similarity to zombies but they retain the sublime explosions of gore that offers such sweet satisfaction.

It seems strange that although the main story driven section of RE5 lacks the intense “I’m going to die” feeling that goes hand in hand with Resident Evil, a returning feature has it in spades. ‘Mercenaries’ mode is by far the best thing out of the whole package for on-the-edge-of-your-seats fear of death. The appeal of Mercenaries is instantly apparent when you start up your first round. Once it’s done you just can’t resist another.

Capcom haven’t just remade RE4, yes there are a lot of similarities but what differences are there show. Whether or not they improve the game is another matter. Whilst a clone of one of the greatest games of the last generation doesn’t guarantee a placement amongst those same special ranks, Resident Evil 5 does enough to set the standard for 3rd Person Shooters this year. The gameplay is still strong, the visuals are phenomenal, and the experience contains the amazing core of what RE4 was. Despite the lack of terrifying chills, Chris and Sheva’s adventure holds it’s own amidst the ranks of the Resident Evil line-up.