Review: Resident Evil 5

Background

Resident Evil 5 is the follow-up to the ever-so-popular Resident Evil 4. In this installment, Capcom brings the two protagonists Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar of the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA) to Africa to uncover another controversy involving Umbrella Corporation. The story is well told, including important elements of foreshadowing, recall of previous events from the RE universe and dialogue between the characters.

The Good

As one might expect from any hyped game that has such a strong following, the graphics and sound are superb. The visual effects in the game are very well done, creating suspense in levels taking place in broad daylight or the darkness of night (or the mines). What you might not expect – including myself – is the next thing that I thought was executed very well.

The controls. Yea, I said it. And when I previewed the game, I had a strong distaste for the controls. However, the controls are very appropriate for the game. It may seem ridiculous to have to stop fighting to combine herbs if you need to heal. However, it makes it a little more realistic – if you are in the middle of a real firefight and you have to stop to combine two things (probably not red and green herbs to refill your health bar IRL), it would probably take about the same amount of time as it takes to do so in the game. This isn’t a zombie horde-rush game (though both “zombies” and “hordes” are referenced in the early stages of the game), so the need to run and gun doesn’t exist. Instead, the enemies move slowly for the most part and, for the majority of the game, throw glass bottles and scythes at you. You clearly have the leg up against the enemies for the majority of the game, except for boss battles.

resident-evil-5-3 The bosses are mean. On first play, they are nearly impossible until you learn what you need to do to beat them. However, they can still cause problems for the novice player. My only complaint is that a couple of the bosses seemed out of place – the ogre especially. My bud and I were just out for a Sunday drive when we rolled up on this town and they had a pet ogre – with a loin cloth made out of people. It just didn’t seem like he was part of the story (save for the tentacles that pop out of his shoulders and back), and wasn’t introduced or explained in any way.

Replayability is also very high, if only for the simple fact that taking your upgraded guns back through the entirety of the game to get a higher rating is so much fun. Nothing is more satisfying than beating a boss that once took you 10 minutes to kill in fewer than two. Versus Mode DLC is something that a lot of people complain about, and that it’s going to cost an additional $5. One of the VPs for Capcom justifies it very well, and I have to agree – I definitely got my money’s worth. I’ve beat the game twice now, and am going back through on the different difficulties to unlock other stuff. So far I’ve put between 25 and 30 hours into the game, and think it’s well worth it.

The Bad

One of my biggest beefs in this game is how matchmaking is handled – or isn’t. “Join a session in progress” is not an option with your friends on XBL (or not that I’ve seen thus far). Instead, you can do a quick match and join with anyone, invite someone to your game or be invited to someone else’s. Once you get invited there are about four prompts – three too many – to pass. It doesn’t negatively impact the gameplay experience, but is certainly something that Capcom could have changed a bit.

The loading screen between levels also includes a bit of backstory on the events from previous games. It can be helpful to RE newcomers (like myself), except that the game loads too fast. I know, that’s a strange complaint – the game loads SO FAST that I miss some of the back story. However, you can read it in the library from the main menu.

The Ugly

The bosses, but only cosmetically. The game, otherwise, has no ugly parts about it!

Conclusion

I was extremely hesitant about this game – even to the point where I had to be badgered in to getting it. The demo was fun, but I wasn’t too hot about the controls. I also like a bigger multiplayer experience, even if it’s just the versus mode on Left 4 Dead. I must say, however, that Capcom has nearly perfected the horror survival genre with great balance at both ends of the gun and a fear-inspiring atmosphere. If you are still on the fence about Resident Evil 5, and you’ve given the demo a try, go buy the game. Trade in some old ones and get it at a discount, even. But by all means, go buy this game. Add me on XBL and I’ll even run through it with you!