Ubercuber's Profile

Having played hours and hours of Resident Evil 5 over the last week or so – having finished the game twice and unlocked all levels in Mercenaries mode – I feel Im in a position now where I can give you a fairly accurate review of Capcoms latest addition to the survival horror franchise that many of us grew up with.

Now – if any of you have played Resident Evil 5 – you’ll notice what can be perceived as an error in that last paragraph. And its probably the first ‘problem’ with this game – and one that has polarised gamers over the world. That is – Resident Evil 5 can't really be put under the ‘survival horror’ genre. Gone is the sense of needing to keep that last bullet just in case…gone is the feeling that you should plan ahead as to when to use what weapon. No, in RE 5 – you’ll have plenty of ammo, and if you ever need a specific weapon for a section, it will be around the area for you to pick up regardless. And the game is in no way scary - which is a mighty shame.

The comparisons in the later stages to Gears of War are fair. While the first few stages through the African slums during the day are unique and really enjoyable – the later stages become 1 man army scenarios where you enter a room…the game saves…the room fills with enemies…you go ‘Rambo’ on them…and search around for ammo/treasure. Rinse and Repeat.

The graphics are sublime – and probably the best of this gen to date (which to be fair seems to change with each new release). But again – the first 3 stages are fantastic, whereas the later stages become the grey/brown industrial look we’ve all sadly become accustomed too.

The music is fine – to be honest I didn’t really notice it, which is generally a good thing.

Gameplay – this is where it gets interesting. Having played it both single player and co-op I can say with complete honesty, if you’re playing this single player, then you’re playing this wrong. It was built from the ground up to be played with a friend. And I love that. Single player is do-able. I finished the latter stages that way. But it would have been quicker an less frustrating if I was playing with a human and not code. The much talked about companion, Sheva, is either really helpful or annoyingly useless depending on…well Im not sure. It just seems her input to the game varies widly. She can be a dead eye with a gun or run through ammo like its going out of fashion.

The controls have not changed since RE4. Im yet to decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Sure, its playable, but how much easier would it have been with ‘normal’ controls….maybe even a dodge roll? Some say doing away with the control scheme is denying the roots of the franchise – Im of the opinion that it’s a natural progression to make. Hopefully RE6 finds a happy middle ground.

The story is standard RE fare. Giant corporations are doing blah blah blah Zombies. There are a couple of ‘twists’ along the way – which if you actually find them surprising…you may need to get out more.

Overall I enjoyed my time playing RE5. It just feels like the game starts with a bang and fizzles out the further into the experience you go. Playing Mercenaries mode will give this game legs beyond the collect-a-thon of single player and the upcoming (paid!) DLC multiplayer will no doubt be fun for a couple of weeks.

Rent or Buy? Id say rent (especially with the game selling for an insane price). If you can do a weekly rental – then that’s perfect.