Review: Resident Evil 5 (2nd Opinion)

Resident Evil 4.5? I think not

When one thinks of the Resident Evil franchise, an assortment of media comes to mind, whether that be the action packed Milla Jovovich films, the catchphrase chanting Las Plagas of RE4, or the original Playstation survival horror games notorious for scarce ammo, cheap thrills, challenging puzzles, and of course, zombies. Some might be disappointed at first to know that none of the above are present in the latest iteration of the series; but trust me, you won’t miss it.

Resident Evil 5 puts the player (or players) into the shoes of Chris Redfield and series newcomer Sheva Alomar. Without divulging too much of the plot, Chris finds himself in Africa ten years after the Raccoon City “incident”, looking for answers. His search brings him to the fictional town of Kijuju, where he is about to face the mother of all “incidents.”

The gameplay mechanics are very similar to those of the fourth game, with some minor tweaks to excellent melee combat. Things like picking up items and inventory screen have been streamlined to keep you in the action, and it adds intensity to the experience. Because this game is less focused on scaring you, it works double time to get your veins pumping with frantic, twitchy goodness.

I feel like I have to comment on the fact that Chris still has to stand still to aim and use his weapons, since this has been a topic of much debate. Though this game is much more heavy on the action, it is still a Resident Evil game. Since there are no typewriters, zombies, mansions, or terrible voice acting to remind us of that fact, I am thankful there is at least one mechanic keeping this franchise tied to its roots.

Ammo is another tricky situation. Yes there is a lot more ammo lying around, but conversely, there are more enemies around, so you pretty much find yourself in the same boat as the last games in terms of being strapped for ammo. When you take into account the extremely limited amount of inventory space you realize the problem isn’t that there is not enough ammo, surprisingly you realize there are too many herbs!

Countless times I found myself handing over all my handgun ammo to my partner just so I could pick up another green herb, despite the fact that 4 of my inventory slots already had red/green combinations. It is this item management that almost replaces puzzles in the game.

My only other complaint in regards to ammo is that when Chris and Sheva give each other supplies, they cannot choose how many of that supply to hand over. Let’s say I have 25 handgun bullets in my inventory and my partner has none. I can either give her all my ammo, or leave her to fend for herself. There is no middle ground in this respect.

Another point of controversy has been claims that this game is racist. After the first hour of play, you seriously doubt it. After beating the game, you realize that argument is preposterous. There is nothing in this game to lead me to believe race has anything to do with the story. In fact to compensate for these concerns, Capcom inserted a few Majini’s that were not of African decent, but because such a decision was made so late in development they only added one or two models of these and scattered them all over the first half of the game. It is obvious when they appear because they all look strikingly similar to Freddie Mercury.

Resident Evil 5 plays like almost two games, the first half a survival horror in the small towns of Africa, the second half like a third person shooter in high tech facilities. They are both equally fun, though if you are like me and want to upgrade the less powerful weapons which set you up for an über second play-through, the last main chapter of the game can be quite difficult. Frequent save points, and a partner who is a real person can help substantially at this point.

In closing, many claim this game to not have enough changes to be a full fledged sequel, hailing it "Resident Evil 4.5." I have only one thing to say to you: you’re wrong. RE5 is decidedly better than its predecessor, which in my opinion, says a lot.

Wanna see what chili_dog had to say about the game? Read his review over here