In order to approach the game correctly, you need to ignore the marketing pitch. The game is being sold as a horror game, "Fear you can't forget" and all that. But this is not, in any way, scary. It's more of a deliberately paced action game. So for the survival horror aficionados, you may want to look to something more horror-ific like Dead Space.
That being said, the game shines in a truly astonishing number of ways. The graphics are drop dead gorgeous. I haven't seen anything this good on any system thus far in the generation. The details are rich and vibrant. The fictional African world is immersing and, well, vibrant. Amidst the chaos that is the battle, I can't help but stop and stare in the kind of slack-jawed admiration that I haven't felt in a game since playing Halo: Combat Evolved. The character models, particularly for Chris, Sheva, and Albert are phenomenally detailed. Even when the camera is really close, I don't notice pixels as I would in most games, but I notice the attention to detail that the creators doted on their characters. Skin, possibly for the first time in gaming history, looks like skin. I know, I know, that's a bold claim, but it's true. It doesn't look plastic-y or rubbery. The clothing and guns are equally detailed. If the camera cuts close enough, you can even see the patterns of the weave in the shirts.
There are cinematics peppered throughout the game. They are beautiful. There are times that I forget that I'm playing a video game and think I'm watching a movie instead. Not only are the graphics gorgeous, but the crew at Capcom obviously went through a lot of pains to make the lip-syncing and facial expressions look realistic, and it really pays off. Staying on topic with characters, the voice actors, for the most part, are very good. Of note, the actors who voice Chris and Sheva are particularly talented, though the gentleman who voices Albert bears mentioning as well.
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These little details further my favorite parts of any game, the story and character development. All this attention to detail that I've noted goes very far in pushing the storyline from just "meh" into "WOW!" Of particular note are the characters and the way they are developed. They are developed slowly, over the whole course of the story arc, and it's nothing short of delightful to watch these characters reveal themselves.
This is not an RPG, yet the story is told and the characters are developed so well that it feels like one sometimes. When I sit in front of the TV holding the controller in my hands, I'm not really there - I'm right there with Chris and Sheva living in this fictitious world, blasting the hell out of zombies, and fighting to get sweet revenge. Without giving away too much, when I did get to dole out the vengeance, I felt righteous, I felt justified - it was utterly sweet.
For those of you who've played the previous 10 (or so) RE games, you know that Chris Redfield has been in several of them. I have not played most of these games. In all honesty, the survival horror versions of yesteryear don't really appeal to me. I tried to like them, numerous times even, but it just never really worked out. Back on topic, I have no previous connection to any of these characters, yet through the 24ish hours of game presented in RE5, I feel like I've been "in the fold" through a lot more. Such is the power of good storytelling. These characters feel like real people as much as they look the part.
So, storyline out of the way, how's the gameplay? Simple answer: Wonderful. From my admittedly limited experience with past Resident Evil games, this is WAY outside the box (though I hear RE4 was close to this in terms of gameplay). Like I said at the beginning, this is a deliberately paced action game. It's got it's moments for run and gun (though not at the same time) gameplay put together with interesting, if not too difficult, puzzle sequences. While the pacing isn't as fast as something like Halo 3, it's certainly not as slow as the pacing in the survival horror RE games. The action is the very definition of intensity at every turn, but it's the boss fights that really elevate the intensity to the highest levels. Most of the boss fights take the intensity present in the rest of the game and jack it up another 28 notches or so.
The gameplay really focuses on the cooperative aspect. Each character, Chris and Sheva, can be controlled by a player through system link, split screen, or over Live (or PSN for you Sony fanboys). Capcom makes good (though too infrequent) use of this mechanic in various parts of the game. Puzzles and secrets are unlocked through sometimes clever use to "tag team" moves which allow one person to go forward to press a button or throw a lever or collect an item from a chest, while the other person will generally hang back and help take out enemies. I understand the decision to make these segments short (it is supposed to be a cooperative game after all), but in the portions where you are fighting by yourself, the intensity is even higher than it is normally. I think the game would've benefited from even a couple of levels where the paths were split and each person went through a specific portion of the level to meet up again later. Other than that, the co-op is smooth and the game is far better when playing with a friend - especially over Live so I can have my entire screen to ogle all the beautiful detail.
Playing through the game in single player, though not quite as fun as co-op, is still a blast. It's a much less political thing (there's no "I want that gun!" because you just take whatever you want), and the AI is usually really smart. There have been some times when computer controlled Sheva stood in front of a rocket in a gruesome display of masochism, but those moments are thankfully few and far between. All told, the AI engine is really quite good.
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| Given that this is an action game, I was expecting to get bored with the combat mechanics after a while, but that is most certainly not the case. They keep the gameplay interesting by varying the things that you have to do - I have read some reviews that call the variety in gameplay the downfall of the game and firmly beleive these reviewers have their heads planted firmly in their nether regions. In some parts, only one person can wield a weapon while the other carries a flashlight. Another such scenario has one character trapped in a cage while the other works to find a way to get that character out. There are several vehicle portions where characters man the turrets or one character drives while the other shoots. The Hummer chase through the desert is particularly awesome. Boss fights often involve one character doing one thing while the other character does another. For example, one fight requires one character to lure the boss into a furnace while the other one stands ready to throw the switch. Though I have to say, there's really not a boss fight that you can win just by shooting the boss randomly; there's lots of strategy involved always. |
Additionally, the game has numerous God of War style timed button moments. These are tastefully done and aren't numerous enough to be annoying (unlike the aforementioned God of War). I personally love these moments in this game (especially when they're used as storytelling mechanics), even though I'm not usually a fan of them in most games.
Control-wise, the game took some getting used to for me. I experimented with the various controller schemes (there are 4), but I found the default one most to my liking. Now that I'm used to the controls, they are second nature.
Going back to the intensity thing for a moment, Capcom, citing increased intensity as the reason, made two choices in particular that are bothering people. First, as I alluded to earlier, you cannot move while wielding a knife or aiming your gun. This is a holdover from the previous iterations of RE, coming from the survival horror aspect of the game. While I will always prefer the ability to literally run and gun, I can't really complain too much about this decision. As I've said, this is a deliberately paced game. Not only does the inability to move help control that pacing, it really does add to the intensity. Second, people seem to dislike the inventory system a lot. The inventory system is simple, each character has 9 slots of inventory that can be used for weapons, health, ammo, or grenades. If the characters are in close proximity, they can trade items on the fly. Everything you do in the inventory screen takes place real time, which means that the enemies are still attacking you. I personally love this about the game. The limited space requires you to plan ahead, and the real time nature of the inventory screen requires you to think fast if your planning fails. This is a great feature of the game and does a lot to ramp up the intensity in those moments where you planned incorrectly and need to make changes. The only thing I hoped for after playing the demo was a shortcut key for giving and taking items from your team mate. The ability to do that very quickly is often necessary, and I think that would be a nice balance between the real time system and a non real time inventory system that people seem to want.
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| In my Dead Space review I noted that with a game like Dead Space out, Resident Evil 5 had some big shoes to fill. Those shoes happen to be far too small for Resident Evil, because it is that good. This game stands poised to knock Mass Effect straight off the "Best game on the 360" podium it has occupied since its release a little over a year ago. It's certainly the best use of $60 since Mass Effect, and like I said, maybe even better than Mass Effect. I'll get back to you after I've had time to play more thoroughly. |
In the mean time, Score: 10.0/10.0
EDIT: After having played through the game again and having spent much time in The Mercenaries mode, I have decided that gaming just doesn't get much better than this. The score has been changed to reflect that.
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