Resident Evil 5

The first Resident Evil games simultaneously invented the survival horror genre and frustrated players (deliberately, as it added tension) with poor controls. Their forced camera angles enabled the poor systems of the day to deliver compelling visuals, as well as cleverly crafted shots that only added to the cinematic tension and terrifying narrative.

The excellent Resident Evil 4 (Gamecube, then later PS2) threw out this design and opted for a far more traditional camera and control set that shifted the odds back in the gamer’s favour. That didn’t make it easy, however, with sheer volumes of super clever, nasty bad guys eagerly anticipating our newly-agile avatar’s every step.

But that was 2005 – there are new consoles now and a new generation of gamers are just itching to get their Umbrellas out so that they might step into the zombie’s reign…

Currently scheduled for release some time before the end of March 2009, Resident Evil is set somewhere in Africa – a marked departure from its usual urban American setting. A shame, not least of which because blowing away zombied Americans was a blast, as it’s this very feature that is likely to get the game the most attention outside of more learned press outlets: you see, for the first time, the people you’ll be dispatching this time around have a rather darker hue to their skin than ever before in a Resident Evil game. Apparently, in this Politically Correct world, that makes it racist. Expect your parents to point this out to you when it comes up on their breakfast TV show at some point near the game’s release. Feel free to ask them why shooting only white people isn’t racist – just don’t tell them I suggested the question…

In More Important Feature Land, where NZGamer prefers to spend its time, rumours abound of a first ever mode for the series: co-op. Whether online or off, confirmed or just a fanboy’s whisper on distant forums, the very thought of going toe-to-toe with legions of zombified bad guys is making us water at the mouth. Here’s hoping that it’s either true or will be made to be true before the game comes out – the very thought of whispering to your buddy over your headset in case the zombies outside the door should hear you… let’s just say there’s a certain amount of extreme excitement coursing through our veins and leave it at that!

Players will take control of Chris Redfield, in a story that takes place ten years after the original game. A string of volcanoes in Africa (the specific country either unknown at this time or just not stated) are showing significant signs of activity – activity which could see the spread of a previously dormant virus, which causes zombie-like behaviour of infected individuals.

Gameplay looks to continue the entirely 3D / third person camera viewpoint established in Resident Evil 4, with players once again tasked with clever use of their environment and whatever sparse weaponry they should find therein.

The game is currently targeted for release on both PS3 and 360, however the sheer importance of this release ensures that rumours of platform exclusivity (typically, to Microsoft’s platform are said rumours attached) frequently flit around the various internet fanboy camps, where they are flung around as weapons in the eternally waged war of whose game-playing box is better than some other game-playing box. With arguments based around such nonsense, what’s next? Global war based on whose invisible friend is best?

Add Resident Evil 5 to your wishlist to stay informed – we’ll be keeping a close eye on this one and will let you know if there are any developments. Otherwise, stay tuned for an updated preview closer to release, news on the release date when it firms up and, of course, the epic review itself!