Resident Evil 5

Even in times of an economic shitstorm, it's good to know that people still recognize good video games and will still purchase them. IGN is reporting today that Resident Evil 5 has sold over 1.5 million copies across all platforms after one month. This is a one month sales record for the Resident Evil series.

It's great to see people picking up on this game, for two reasons. First, it gives me more people to play online with, as was evidenced by the long queue of games to join last night when I tried out Versus Mode. Second, it's nice to see video game developers rewarded for taking a chance. Capcom took what is, in my view, a huge leap of faith by eschewing all elements of survival horror for what I call a deliberately paced action setting. In my mind, it paid off in spades, because I still haven't found a game I'd rather play on my 360 (though Rock Band is sneaking back into the mix since I can play tons of Pearl Jam now). This elevates my hope that the next Resident Evil game will play similarly. My only other wish for RE6 (or whatever it may be called) is that we play as the same cast of characters (Chris and Sheva).

Speaking of Versus Mode, I'd recommend it. Yes, there's the whole debate about whether the content was on the disc or not, and like I said before, I really don't care. I downloaded it last night (for a whopping $5.00) and rocked out the rest of the night blowing the shit out of people I didn't know online. I loved it. In fact, I'm going to do more of it tonight.

More on Resident Evil 5

It's official: Resident Evil 5 is the best game I've played on the 360 and is easily in the top 3 games ever. I've spent the last two days with my attention divided between co-oping the campaign with my room mate Kevin over split screen and playing The Mercenaries mode. For starters, when playing the campaing in co-op, you can take everything I said in my first review and multiply that by 4 or 5 or so. There just is not a game that is more fun to play out for any system right now. I mean, Kevin and I are so into this game, so excited by the prostect of playing it, other things in our lives have kind of fallen by the wayside. There is time for eating, sleeping, working, bathing, and Resident Evil. This week has been filled with 5pm to 3am gaming sessions and a decided lack of that sleep thing. It's made for one very sleepy week at work, but I just can't motivate myself to quit once I start playing. 

Our nights have transformed from relaxed, do whatever nights into intense, edge-of-our-seats action, with us shouting things at each other (Behind you! I need ammo! Etc.) and unable to bear even the short loading screens. It's ridiculous. After running through the campaign on co-op, we switched gears and started playing a made called The Mercenaries, which is unlocked after beating the game once on any difficulty. This mode is amazingly addicting, hard as hell, and really intense. I haven't had this much fun playing a video game in... well, I'm not sure if I've ever had this much fun in front of a gaming console. 

I would also like to go out on a limb here and say that Chris Redfield is one of the more interesting and well-developed characters in modern video gaming. Sheva's awesome too, but Chris is obviously the central character here, and Capcom does a great job of making him one that I care about. It's been too long in a non-RPG video game where I gave a damn about the main characters, and RE5 fills that void plus some. Kudos to Capcom for putting the time into this storyline to make it rock.

I've said a TON about this game in the past week or so, so let me sum everything up right here in one sentence: This game defines what video games should be. 

As such, I have updated the previous review with a more accurate score. Score: 10.0/10.0.

So, I was browsing the Amazon reviews, and I found some particularly entertaining ones, which I've pasted here for my own personal amusement. Check them out.

5 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

 HYPED UP TRASH, March 13, 2009

By

razrodude

Fun: 

The demo was all I needed to play to determine that this game is garbage. From the slow, sluggish controls and elephant-like movement of the characters to the hilarious "starvin' marvin'" chainsaw guy, this game must be some kind of joke. Resident evil 4 was one of my top 3 favorite games of all time, as well as a huge success worldwide. 
It's obvious that they were just trying to re-create resident evil 4, only in Africa this time instead of Europe, and with ethnic characters to try and reach out to the areas of the market that they may have missed with RE4. The result is a glitch-ridden disaster that is as boring as it is difficult to control. It's about as entertaining as wathcing one of those ads for the christian children's fund.

Do I even need to say anything about this one? Pathetic, yet remarkably funny for it's complete ignorant-but-trying-to-sound-smart tone.

I'm pretty sure this next one is meant as a sarcastic insult against those like the above reviewer who don't actually play the game before reviewing it, but it is kind of funny, if poorly written.

8 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

 Can't tell a game by its cover, March 13, 2009

By	Steve Ptasznik "GowithGod" (Costa Mesa, Ca) - See all my reviews

Fun: 

Why not take it a step further from reviewing games having only just playing them for a couple hours. Let's rate a game by its cover. First off, on the cover, Chris and Sheva should be switching places so we can see Sheva's cleavage. But looking at the back cover, under the Mature rating, it does not include sexuality. So that would make sense that Chris is in the forefront. Now I must say, and I'm no, what do you call it, fanboy(I think you have to be under 12 with pimples to be a fanboy), the cover for the PS3 looks much better than the Xbox 360. Oh wait, my bad, I have not opened the game and the wrapping makes the cover look all shiny and bright. Ok, I take that back, it looks the same as the 360. Sticking with the visuals. On the back cover it reads "Intense visuals so real, you won't be able to forget them." Since I don't have to face fear alone, why would I want to remember them. That is a big thumbs down for me, I give the graphics a one star. Now I hear a lot of complaints about the control, especially with those who played the demo. Now I have not even played the demo, let alone, unwrapped RE5, but the game feels pretty good in my hand, I'm able to flip it over and back over again with no problem. However, the game slipped from my hands and fell when my hands got a little sweaty. Again, like the graphis, I have to contribute that to the plastic wrapping. I give the controls a 4 stars. The fun factor gets a 1 star as the excitement of my purchase has worn off after reading the back cover twice now. I don't know about you, but are you aware that this game has blood and gore, intense violence, and strong language? As far as bringing down the rating, Don't worry, after the hundreds of ratings, mine will not matter. I'll update my rating after I have played the game for one hour. I'll then provide another review once I finish the game. As for those on the fence on which system to buy it on, I would wait for it to come out on the WIIIII!!! I have an insider scoop from a fanboy that it is coming out on the Wii on 4/1/09 and will also have Sheva wearing a G-sting. Now don't be hating on me 360 fanboys as according to the Mature rating, you must be 17+ to play this game.

Amusing, but really stupid. 

Finally, a review I actually had to respond to.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

 Tell me it isn't true!, March 17, 2009

By	James Ellender "What Does This Say?" (Colorado) - See all my reviews

Fun: 

Resident Evil 5 had to be my most anticipated video game relase in a very long time. Too bad I was greatly disapointed with it... 
This isn't to say that the game is absolutely horrible, it just doesn't live up to the expectations I, and many others had. 

My biggest problem with the game is the actual gameplay. Resident Evil 4's gameplay, while far from perfect, was forgiveable because it was a HUGE improvement over all the previous entries in the series (and yes, I have played them ALL). Resident Evil 5's? Not so much. In fact, if memory serves me right, the controls are exactly the same. The inability to move while shooting or using your knife is completely ridiculous and unnecessary. And would it have absolutely killed the development team to put a little more ammo in the game? These things DO NOT make for a more fun, intense, scary game, they make for an incredibly frustrating and unenjoyable one! And speaking of scary, aren't Resident Evil games supposed to be at least a little bit scary? Because this one is not. 

How about the co-op gameplay? Well, I wish I could tell you how it is, but contrary to popular belief some people still enjoy a deep, solid, single player experience in a game! I am one of those people. I don't really have a friend who is into gaming, and I don't care to play with a stranger over Xbox-Live. I can't help but feel Capcom left people like me in the dust. Sure, you can still play the game with an AI Sheva, but this hinders the experience even further. She goes through ammo WAAAY too fast, which is a huge problem due to the incredible lack of it, and she does the same with health items. I can respect what Capcom was trying to do, but I wish they would have had a single player option to play as either Chris or Sheva without the other one. 

The game does have it's strong points as well. The story and sound are very good, and the graphics are outstanding. Most of the "zombies" seem like they were just recycled from RE4, but the bosses are very inventive and cool. Although I haven't beat the game yet, I have heard that there are plenty of unlockable items and game modes to keep playing the game long after you beat it. I know I shared my personal view as a single player on the co-op gameplay, but I suspect that the game would be a lot of fun for those who DO have someone to play it with. 

After saying all of that, I would be lying if I said I didn't regret paying $59.99 to buy this game. It is a good enough game to warrant a rent, or maybe a buy later when you can get it used for a lot less money, but I don't think it is worth sixty bucks. I plan on finishing the game quickly, and selling it used right after so I can get as much of my money back as I can. There is still some fun to be had, but after all the time they spent developing this game I expected much more.

Let's start at the top. This reviewer is incapable of aligning his expectations to what was actually delivered. A game, particularly a sequel in a long running and popular franchise, is always going to have fans with lofty expectations. Chances are high that the game will not meet everybody's, and that's usually not the fault of the game, but rather the people who set their expectations too high. RE5 exceeded my expectations, and I thought those were pretty lofty as they were.

The default controls in RE5 are not the same as those in RE4, though you can change them to be. And we return to that whole point of not being able to move while shooting/knifing. I get it that it's a very subjective thing, but it certainly doesn't break the game.

Putting more ammo in the game would be silly. There's already more than enough ammo to make it through the game on even the hardest difficulty, so I fail to see a reason to add more. True, there is definitely a shortage of magnum ammo, but the guns that use those bullets are absurdly strong, so limited ammo is a must to maintain game balance.

Resident Evil 5 is a blast in single player. I gave it a freaking 9.9 just on the single player alone. I never had problems keeping both Sheva and myself well-stocked with ammo and herbs. 

Yes, the game's story is very, very good, and the graphics... well, "outstanding" just doesn't do them justice. The game would've been wrth $80.

RE5's Scandalous Multiplayer Content Debacle

OK, so one day after reviewing what is quickly becoming my favorite game on the 360, I catch wind of people getting uppity about Capcom's plan to release more multiplayer content for Resident Evil 5 and (gasp) charge for it. 

STOP THE PRESSES!

Kotaku announced the upcoming patch last Thursday, then apparently the forums went nuts. Capcom responded to the backlash, then responded a second time by calling the accusations "BS". No joke.

Now there's downloadable content readily available for purchase for countless games on both the 360 and the PS3, so what makes this different? This patch doesn't add new characters or vehicles, it just "unlocks" a new multiplayer mode. This has led people to believe that the content is on the disc, it's just not accessible without paying for it.

Normally speaking, I'd side with the consumers here, because it always seems companies are out to gouge people, but I really just don't get this. It really doesn't matter whether the content is on the disc or not. Let's look at it like this:

• It only costs $5.00. Even I can afford that, and I live on a tight budget.
• There's literally TONS of content on the disc. Nobody was saying "There needs to be more content" before this was announced.
• This is NO DIFFERENT than any other piece of downloadable content out there. Nobody complained when Bungie released map packs for Halo 3 that you had to pay for. 

One of the other major complaints from people is that the release of this PDLC (paid downloadable content) is too soon after the release of the game. I'd like to shoo this answer away. It would seem that there is no winning here for game companies. If they release it too soon, then people say they should've just included it in the game. If they release it too late, people say they're not living up to the expectation for downloadable content (see: Mass Effect). This is early, so what? I'd rather have the content sooner than later, so once again, I fail to see an issue here.

The simple fact of the matter here is that if you don't want to pay for the content, don't buy it. 

On a tangent, I would like to say that it looks really bad to respond to feedback as was done by Capcom's VP of Business Development, Christian Svensson (second response link above), who said 

"I'm sorry guys, but this is the part where I have to call 'BS'. RE5 is well worth every penny of $60. A huge game, with tons of replay value, loads of unlockables, new weapons, co-op, mercenaries mode, etc. If any game warrants its price point, it's RE5.

"Prior to the announcement of the Versus mode, no one complained they weren't getting their money's worth with the initial release because it packs TONS of value because it is an amazing game. So if people were already satisfied with what the package had, when we offer MORE, why is it people feel they've been somehow cheated? If you don't find value in our secondary offerings, the choice is simple, don't purchase it. If you do find it valuable (and we hope you do) please do buy it and enjoy it.

"Secondly, whenever we do PDLC, that content exists with its own budgets, it's own profit and loss analysis with its own forecasts. If it didn't, that extra content wouldn't have been put into production, because it did not fit within the production budget of the base product.

"The content that is shipping in the full game exists within its own budget. The content shipping afterward (regardless of how close to release it is... because the goal IS to have it release relatively closely to the base product's release) exists within its own budget. 

"To try and have it release in a timeframe that is relatively close to the initial release, development starts well before the base product is on the shelves. There's no other way to keep it within 3 to 6 weeks of the initial release (which is the goal).

"And again, for those people looking at this anew, the DLC in question is not an unlock on the disc."

Calling your customers' feedback "BS" is not the way to develop or maintain a healthy customer/corporation relationship. Period.

That being said, I agree with him in the principle of his argument. The heat being generated by fans is FAR in excess of what this announcement deserves. It is ridiculous.

Resident Evil 5 is a great game (attested to by the 400 million units shipped, 4 million+ downloads of the demo, and the fact that RE5 had the biggest launch day of any previous RE game, including the much-vaunted RE4) with a ton of content already included. It's more than most games offer for the same price tag. People need to be happy with what they are given and stop bitching about little things like this.

Resident Evil 5 - The Review

It's been one of my most anticipated games in a really long time. It all started when the demo for Resident Evil 5 was released, and I played through it... then played it again... and again... and so on for the course of about 2 months. It was so different from the Resident Evils of previous generations, but it was different in all the right ways. It's fun, it's gorgeous, it's viscerally intense like few games that I've played recently, and did I mention how fun it is?

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

Resident Evil 5

Capcom's got a semi-new viral marketing site up right now for Resident Evil 5. Pretty much the idea is that each time the site gets 100,000 unique visitors, a new movie will be added. There's currently one unlocked, with what looks to be a potential of 5 more, or a total of 6. I'm very much looking forward to playing this game, so the movies are definitely cool. 

Check it out, and help support the community by visiting the site. Click here.