Resident Evil 5 Continues Strong Series

By Student Media Copy Editor Keith Wick

Resident Evil 5, Capcom’s newest release in the “survival horror” series, bundles intense action with horrific monsters and addicting cooperative game play to make for an extremely entertaining and challenging experience.

Immediately, players will notice the gorgeously rendered cinematics and character models, which, when combined with the tension-building soundtrack, make this game extremely aesthetically pleasing.

Controlling the main characters Chris and Sheva can be a bit jarring for players new to the series. The game employs a stop-and-aim control scheme that moves the camera over the shoulder of the character, which ruins peripheral vision if you’re surrounded by enemies.

This creates a feeling of claustrophobia when aiming, and can often make the player feel helpless in the heat of battle. Swapping between weapons is done by pressing directions on the D-pad, and the two players can swap items in the inventory with each other, as well as stockpile items in an inventory that can only be accessed between chapters.

Aside from controls, the RE genre has slowly shifted away from the creepy thrills and jumpy sudden scares of the past and into the intense grotesque pulse-pounding thrills the more mainstream audience demands today.

Having a competent partner around also helps calm the nerves and removes the feeling of isolation that made previous RE games so unnerving. Sheva is skilled, incredibly strong-willed and perceptive. Especially in the hands of a skilled partner, your teammate is your biggest asset. The game won’t let you forget it either.

Leaving your partner to fend for him/herself is a death sentence, and unfortunately, playing with an AI partner is a death sentence for your inventory. Bots have no concept of ammo conservation, and use healing items even when they’re not necessary. They have two settings: exceptionally wasteful (“Attack”) and moronically unresponsive (“Cover”).

There is not a happy medium. Cooperative play can either be online or split-screen with one system, and the potential for strategy and item conservation is well worth the investment in a friend, rather than suffering the stunted AI partner.

The cut scenes rife with button presses that permeated RE4 are back for another round, but they are much less invasive in this iteration. Conditioned to the endless button mashing and frustrating deaths from the fourth installment, I was expecting a random button combination at every turn. Only a few cut scenes actually employ them, which (thankfully) means being forced to re-watch cut scenes after missing a button is less common.

The cooperative game play works in much the same way: you can save your partner from a monster’s grasp or heal them with a quick press of a button, and several moments in the game require a similar coordinated button press to allow the slight and lithe Sheva to leap up to places Chris cannot go. Moreover, shooting enemies in vulnerable areas or the legs often allows a follow-up attack, which can be achieved with a simple, timed button press.

The sheer amount of unlockable content encourages multiple plays. Money and treasures earned by playing the game can be used to buy new weapons, upgrades and ammunition in between each chapter. Fully upgrading weapons allows you to purchase unlimited ammo versions of the weapons with bonus points earned by beating levels.

Beating the game once also allows you to choose Sheva as the primary character in online or offline play and unlocks “Mercenaries” mode. In this mini-game, players kill as many zombies as possible while fighting the clock to stack up points. Achieving certain scores unlock additional characters with various preset weapons and items.

RE 5 is definitely a departure from the original concept, but it retains the cheesy lines and epic adventure that defined the series. It continues the story sufficiently, even in the absence of the enigmatic Umbrella Corp. Aside from a slightly flawed control scheme and some ridiculous AI, the game is a fluid and enjoyable experience, especially with a friend.

Check out Keith's blog on Blogger or on the Special Interest blog section of Connect2Mason for more gaming news.