“You’re merely postponing the inevitable!”
Capcom are back with another instalment in the Resident Evil series, promising that this action-packed game is the best yet in the series. This is the first Resident Evil game to come to the Xbox 360 and makes a great first impression to people who haven’t played it yet. It’s primarily an action game but also contains a lot of elements of the shoot-’em-up genre.
Resident Evil 5 takes place in 2009, 11 years after the events of the first Resident Evil. Chris Redfield is now an agent for an organisation called Bio-terrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA), and is sent to Africa to investigate a parasite that may start infecting the people in a town called Kijuju. Chris joins up with a woman called Sheva Alamor who is also hunting down the man who made this parasite. They witness a man turn into a Majini (your basic possessed/mutant/enemy over the course of the game) and before long people are being infected across the nation. You travel through the town finding remnants of fellow squads and experiencing ambushes by Majini – after all, they still are human remnants. Chris’ main objective/reason for joining this operation was to find out if Jill was still alive, and whilst on this mission Sheva was looking for her friend Josh.
In Resident Evil 5 the gameplay is very enjoyable, whether you’re blowing the heads off waves of Majini or beating them into submission, but there is one thing that does take some getting used to. The controller layout is very easy to understand and doesn’t take that long to master but what is the hard part is the shooting. You cannot just fire at will – you have to aim and then fire. but whilst you are aiming you cannot move so you are stuck there with enemies approaching whilst trying to get your gun sighted correctly. This can take a while to get the hang of – you may find yourself thinking you’re shooting a boss and it turns out you’ve been aiming at a barrel next to him all along. This can make the game very frustrating until you grasp the shooting style. After you get the hang of it I found there is nothing more fun than blowing the heads of your enemy and giving them payback for the times they hit you. There are 4 difficulty levels in this game: Amateur, Normal, Veteran and Professional. As in most games, Professional Mode can only be unlocked by completing the game on Veteran difficulty but it is vastly more challenging then Veteran.
Resident Evil 5’s graphics are very well done, Capcom have really done a good job when creating the game. When you look at the character you choose (either Chris or Sheva) the level of detail is quite impressive. Great care has also been taken with the enemies, especially those that mutate after you kill them. The way that is animated adds a really nice effect to the game and makes you pause in admiration. The bosses have also have some subtle touches done to make them stand out from the crowd – especially with the first axe boss.
Man… this axe is heavy.
The environment they get you to run around and play in is very nice to look at and they took the time to even add the small parts that you might not normally notice. They really went in depth with this I believe and their attention to detail especially the lighting in some areas makes it a lot more interesting and gives it a spooky vibe whilst playing.
The weapons in the game are nicely done – a personal favourite of mine is the rocket launcher. Even though you never get too close up a look a it they still put some very nice detail into the weapons, even the boss weapons like the chainsaw and axe. The sounds seem very realistic which makes everything overall more appealing. Capcom have added the right effects in the right spots and the general feel is nice even when there is nothing major happening. The games music was composed by lead designer Kota Suzuki, including 15 minutes of orchestral music, and the voice acting has been done pretty well – all the characters fit nicely with a great personal appeal. There are some very nice features in this game. One part is the co-op mode, which takes the game to a more enjoyable level being able to play with another friend . The Co-op can be done via Xbox live or split screen, so is great for playing with friends whilst you’re in the same room or just with people you meet over Xbox Live.
Resident Evil 5 has a number of downloadable content available to buy, including “Desperate Escape”, “Lost in Nightmares”, 2 Costume Packs and “Versus Mode”. Versus mode is very fun to play with friends and is a personal favourite amongst them all. All of this content (excluding Versus Mode) can be purchased in a pack called “The Untold Stories Bundle” for 960 Microsoft Points, or it comes included with the “Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition” of the game (this including the Versus Mode as well this time). The replayability in this game is quite deep, especially if you unlock professional mode (or you invest in the downloadable content) which is the hardest difficulty and adds a new level of fun to the game. Replaying the campaign in co-op is also a lot of fun and makes the game more enjoyable especially because if someone hasn’t played it before it could startle them when things just jump out and they will be getting used to the controls.
Overall this is a really well developed, very fun game to play. For those who enjoy the action genre and like a challenge in learning the shooting system they have in this game it can offer a wealth of gametime and immersion. If anything, don’t play this game during the day or at least make sure it’s dark when you’re playing as that will add to the experience immensely. The DLC is worth getting, especially “Versus Mode” which is very enjoyable to play against other people. This is definitely a good buy for people who like action genre game and I’d strongly recommend at least looking into it – you’ll be hooked.
RESIDENT EVIL 5 – GAME DETAIL PAGE
* Review originally posted by David Rowe (Plain old Trev)
