Resident Evil 5 Review

My professor asked the class what we did over spring break. When the question came to me specifically, I answered “I went to Africa.”

“Really?” She asked. “Where’d you go?”

“A little out of the way country. You probably wouldn’t know it’s name. Fun, though, I gotta tell you, they really don’t lay out the red carpet for us Americans.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, they were rather hostile. Probably wouldn’t have survived the trip if I didn’t have my friend there with me. She grew up here and has since moved back, so I had a contact.”

“Wow, sounds like you had quite an interesting spring break.”

“You could say that.”

I just made that all up, to be completely honest. But that would have been an awesome exchange, wouldn’t it have been? For those of you have no idea what I’m talking about, you probably don’t know what Resident Evil 5 is, or don’t know anything about it. So when the review is done, go back and read the last section again. Even then though, only people who know Resident Evil 5′s story will fully get it.

Resident Evil 5, here after referred to as RE5, is a continuation of a survival-horror series. However, like Resident Evil 4, RE5  is moving away from that genre into a heated action game. Gone are the days of rookie cops stuck in a city that has suddenly been infested with zombies. In RE5, you play as a frickin’ body builder. Seriously, look at this guy:

Do those muscles look like they’re about to fall victim to a rogue zombie? No. Chris Redfield, the ripped protagonist, is part of an international anti-terrorist group called the BSAA. Their purpose? To make biological weapons go away, usually with rocket launchers, flamethrowers, and satellite laser beams. This time, Chris is sent to a fictional country in Africa called Kijuju to deal with rumors of something called Uroboros. And, of course, considering this is a game that courts the male market, he has a sexy sidekick named Sheva Alomar. What’s more, she’s black. You really don’t see many black women in today’s gaming world,  whether you want to call that racist or not is another discussion, but to see one in such a prominent role is a welcome difference. I know I don’t speak for many, if any, of my fellow males, but I’m getting rather tired of busty, white blondes.

Sheva Alomar

As far as her role in the story, she’s part of BSAA’s African branch and is dispatched along with Chris to find out what’s going on with that Uroboros thing. The story takes off from there, and eventually ends along with, what I personally believe, the main story of the entire Resident Evil franchise up to this point. It’s somewhat bittersweet at the end, but definitely worth the journey. From the amazing opening cinematic to the final battle with an old antagonist, the game has an engaging story, especially if you’re a big Resident Evil fan.

As far as the game’s content, the first feature you should expect is it’s co-op gameplay. If you’re playing by yourself, you play as Chris with the AI controlling Sheva. You share ammunition, healing items, weapons, everything. Considering each character can only hold nine items at a time, strategizing with your AI partner becomes critical. The AI is amazingly capable, and only shows its weakness in the extreme difficulties. Truly, this was the largest surprise of the game for me. I expected it to be passable at best, game-breaking at worst. It clearly exceeded my expectations. And, of course, if you have a friend, next to your or on the other side of the world, you can hook up with them and play together. The internet play is a definite strong point in RE5.

The other big content feature that I’m absolutely loving about the new Resident Evil games is the depth of the game. There’s a wide variety of guns available, almost all upgradable, that really add to the fun of RE5. In addition, the game has loads upon loads of unlockable content. Weapons, video filters, figurines, costumes, modes… Certainly, RE5 is one of, if not the, deepest action games out there. The lasting appeal kept me playing for over seven hours a day until I finished everything I could do.

As far as the actual gameplay, expect big explosions, big guns, big creatures, and absolutely no scares.

Okay, maybe I am exaggerating a little. But make no mistake: this game is an action game with horror elements. Similar to Gears of War, it makes clear its main focus is to blow stuff up and kill things, but also tries to creep you out at some points. How successful this is or not is largely up to the sensitivity of the player. I never felt scared, I’ll tell you that.

Anyway, the gameplay is great fun. I’ll show you a picture so I don’t have to explain everything to you. What am I, a writer?

The over-the-shoulder perspective remains from its predecessor, as does its “stop-to-shoot” mechanic, which is self-explanatory. In order to shoot, you have to stop moving. It no doubt feels archaic, like a monument to its horror-filled past, but ultimately, it works. The game still is not quite Gears of War, it’s still not quite a speedy shooter, and the controls remind you of that. Therefore, I can’t knock it too much, as it’s not broken. But it definitely should be looked at in the next inevitable go-around.

The graphics and presentation are more than sufficient. Assuming the screenshots given isn’t enough for you, here’s a trailer to get your senses about it:

RE5 is definitely all it’s hyped up to be. The whole package. Everything you could want in an action game. The only thing that prevents this from getting 100% is the odd controls. But, like I said, that doesn’t matter much. Do yourself a favor and buy this.

FINAL GRADE: A