by: Chris Vavra

May 07, 2009

For the first time, you the chance to play by yourself or with a friend. You’re also able to play co-op online with a complete stranger, which is an interesting experience in of itself, but playing a friend with comparable skill is still the best. On normal difficulty, two gamers can finish the game in about eight hours if they know what they’re doing. Playing by yourself is an enjoyable enough experience, but it feels like Sheva’s just dead weight during the solo trip. You can get by giving her almost nothing most of the time and she won’t be in any immediate danger because the zombies will be after you. There’s also a help function where you can save your partner or your partner will save you if you get yourself into a nasty situation. This includes the ability to revive your partner if they run out of life. Co-op provides a more complete and engaging experience for many of the action scenes you’ll find yourself in. It still doesn’t make up for some of the technical shortcomings, but at least they’re easier to ignore. The ally AI isn’t stupid, but it’s surprisingly passive. Never feels like Sheva does enough out in the field when the action picks up.

The main quest, by and large, works pretty well. The first chapter isn’t particularly memorable, but once we get to chapter 2 things pick up in a hurry. The boss fights are pretty good, but none of them will be regarded as classic. The closest is the boss fight on the boat which has you negotiating between mounted machine guns and grenade launchers while trying to fight a giant squid-like boss. Many of the boss fights throughout are like puzzles. The boss often has a weakness and something in the surrounding environment will help turn the tables and give Chris and Sheva the advantage. None of the puzzles are very difficult, but at least it prevents the fights (there are at least 8) from being repetitive and monotonous. Many of the shootouts are in closed, confined spaces, ramping up the tension with multiple zombies attack from three or four directions.

However, I wanted more puzzles throughout the main quest to balance the action because the puzzles are often what made the older Resident Evil titles so memorable. Mercenaries mode is also available after you complete the game, but that’s just a few extra hours. The name of the game is to blow up your enemies throughout various maps that you’ve already encountered in the main quest (mostly) and accumulate as many points as possible, which isn’t too different from what you’re already doing. There’s no real reason to keep playing after you’ve gathered the achievements. The main quest is worth a few playthroughs—one by yourself and one with a friend—but anything beyond that is probably just for achievements.

Visually, the game is extremely impressive. A lot of attention went to the little minor details in the environment and it creates a very interactive experience. I like how you can blow off parts off of doors and other such objects. It’s the little things that matter. From the zombies to the bosses to the atmosphere to the main characters, RE5 delivers in almost every way. For example, that boss with the squid-like monster at the end of chapter 3 is a delight to look at because the character and object designs are very detailed. When the tentacles come crashing out of the water to attack (as they often do), the tentacle looks very real and may bring a visceral shock to the gamer. Capcom takes advantage of the 360’s power and makes the backgrounds and environments look extremely realistic in their design and structure.

The music is non-descript this time. There are some nice tunes, but they were mostly muted because I was too busy firing off my shotgun or assault rifle at six zombies with crossbows and chainsaws at the time. Voice-over work is better than it has been, but the actors don’t do very well with some of the ham-handed dialogue they’re given in the more dramatic scenes. At least it’s not one howler after another like it was with Resident Evil for the PS-X.

RE6 is inevitable, no doubt about it. Even a disappointing Resident Evil is gonna sell and there will be some clamor for the developers to take a new direction for the eventual sequel. For Capcom’s sake, they need to go back to the basics. Make the sequel about survival horror and turn the tables on the gamer. Force them to use their wits rather than blasting everything in sight. Somewhere along the way, they forgot how to do that and games like Dead Space are picking up where they left off. Time to answer the call.

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Even with all the small problems, it was still a fun, enjoyable experience. Even with all its merits, and there are plenty, Resident Evil 5 is a disappointment.

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