Resident Evil 5 Review

Resident Evil 5 Review | May 21, 2013
Xbox. Windows, PlayStation

In Resident Evil 5 you play as either Chris Redfield or a new person added to the Resident Evil world Sheva Alomar. In this 3rd person shooter with the co-op optional gameplay has you traveling through Africa tracking down reports of bio-organic weapons (BOW's) being used and also to apprehend a man called Ricardo Irving who is reportedly trying to sell BOW’s. Your first question is why does Chris have a new partner and what happen to Jill Valentine? Now that Chris is no longer part of STARS he has joined Bio terrorism Security Assessment Alliance or the BSAA. This group handles worldwide outbreaks of BOW’s and is also still cleaning up the problems that the Umbrella Corporation created now that the company has been dissolved.

This game starts off after Resident Evil 4 and the parasite that Leon described in his report seems to have found their way to Africa. This means that there is no zombies per-say since your foes have weapons, they talk and dodge your attacks. The Majini parasites are organized, smart and making combat always challenging. Resident Evil is known for having several different locations to explore, each place is different and introduces new foes, different weapons and boss battles some bigger than others, Resident Evil 5 takes this to extreme and offers lots of new foes, bosses and places. The gameplay makes changes often. You are not just walking into a place shooting bad guys and then leaving. There are times where you have to hold a position while trying to solve a puzzle, cover your partner and trick foes into walking in to a trap. The changes are smooth and does not feel forced It is just good enjoyable level design.

Resident Evil 5 does have two problems that are mostly connected. The most important is that you can’t shoot and move at the same time and it is really bad. Every good 3rd person shooter in the Xbox360/PS3 era has fixed this problem. Gears of War, Dead Space even the first Mass Effect made it so you can aim and walk around a corner. The problem gets worse when your partner is the AI instead of another player. The computer has a really bad habit of placing Chris or Sheva (whoever you are not playing) either right in front of you so you can’t see or right in your line of sight blocking your target. It happens a lot throughout the game and it seems they are trying to force co-op on you by making the AI stupid. There are extras like the Mercenaries mode but it feels like pointless filler. You are better off playing a different game or replaying the story mode.

Mostly good things but it does fall short of what to we expected because of how great Resident Evil 4 is. The CGI looks about as good as it can get. The Resident Evil series has been very on top of computer graphics since the first game. You also get to keep weapon upgrades in a New Game+ mode. So if you play on easy mode and then restart in normal mode, you get to start with stronger weapons and armor. There is lots of replay and about 20 to 25 hours of gameplay your first time through but not being able to move and shoot at the same time and a dumb AI holds the game back. Keep your price under $40.

8.5 out of 10
Great Game

8.5 out of 10
Great Game

Rated
M for Mature

Rated
PEGI 18