A couple of weeks ago, we got the opportunity to visit Milestone and spend some quality time with the latest entry in Capcom’s survival horror series - Resident Evil. The build we played was the same one that was presented at this year’s Tokyo Game Show. The demo featured two short levels and also gave us the first glimpse into the newly introduced co-op mode.
As you may know, one of the biggest changes in Resident Evil 5 is the inclusion of co-op. For the first time in the Resident Evil series (Outbreak doesn’t count), you can play through the campaign co-operatively. The second character introduced is Sheva. The campaign can be played either online, split-screen or via system link. In case you don’t have anyone to play with, the game will take control of the second character. The friendly AI that controls Sheva does a wonderful job; she’ll constantly heal you, provide you with different items (ammo included) and most importantly, she can hold her own when surrounded by enemies.
Sunlight is not something that you would normally associate with a Resident Evil game, or any horror game for that matter. But Resident Evil 5 changes all that. Both the levels we played took place in an unnamed African nation in broad daylight. According to the producers, sunlight will play a big role in the game, although we didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary in the levels we played.
The first level took place in a shanty town where Chris and his female partner are trapped inside a hut surrounded by infected villagers. Things got more intense when a mini boss brandishing a giant axe appeared. It’s an excellent open-ended level, where your only objective is to survive till a rescue chopper arrives. The second level was much more linear in terms of design. It also shows off how well the co-op elements are implemented into the gameplay. You will run into sections where you and your partner will have to split up in order to complete an objective. This could be anything from opening a door to solving a puzzle. The level comes to its climax when you run into another mini boss, a chainsaw wielding maniac capable of taking you down with one hit.
One thing that hasn’t changed though is how Resident Evil 5 plays. It feels exactly like Resident Evil 4 and I really, really mean it. The ‘over the shoulder’ camera has been tweaked and bit and your character moves a bit quicker than before, helping the game achieve a much more action-oriented approach.
To make the game more accessible to new players, the developers have also introduced a new control scheme, dubbed the ‘shooter controls’. The new controls don’t really work in reality because it’s nothing more than a remapping of the old controls into current shooter standards ie: L1 to aim, R1 to shoot. A little birdie, however, did tell us that the controls will be further tweaked (read dumbed down) in the forthcoming builds.
This time around, Chris also has a range of new melee moves. Sadly, like Resident Evil 4, these attacks are once again context sensitive and the attack icon will only appear when it wants to. A dedicated button sure would have helped. There is also a new inventory screen which simply breaks the flow of the game.
As expected, Capcom’s proprietary Framework engine churns out some gorgeous visuals. Chris’ model in particular is superb with excellent attention to detail. Sadly, the frame rate in this particular build wasn’t up to the mark. The level also suffered from a few V-sync (screen tearing) issues. Although we only got to play the PS3 version, both versions are expected to look nearly identical when released.
It’ll be very interesting to see how Resident Evil purists react to some of the changes to the new game. While it doesn’t reinvent the series like its predecessor, Capcom have to be very careful not to alienate its core fans in order to attract new ones. But from the time we spent with the game, Resident Evil 5 is shaping up to be another excellent entry into this long running series. Resident Evil 5 is set for release on PS3 and Xbox 360 on Friday the 13th, March 2009.
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i honestly don’t understand why is there so much winning about controls????? RE series has always implemented such kind of controls and they worked fine beside we want a survival horror and not a shooter!
We’ve already heard of those details already>:@!
Anyway I think Capcom should make a cameo or something, like a guest character for one of the consoles. Soul Calibur series for an example had guest character for a specific console, it would be cool to have some sort of an Easter egg or cameo for one of the consoles.
But seriously though Capcom REALLY need to change the name from Resident Evil 5 to Citizen Holy 5. (Holy is the opposite side of Evil right?). Because they have completely changed the whole gameplay concept and doesn’t feel scary anymore!
Latest news is Capcom will remove the ink ribbon. For goodness sake! I mean in the old series the ink ribbon do had scary situation to the feeling of the game (to me of course). Because you have a limited ribbon, you have to survive and conserve the ribbons. I mean I’ll be wondering what enemy is behind that door, let me save first. After saving and killing that boss monster, then a horde of zombies just run towards you and you have little health left. These kind of situation adds frightful to the game. Instead I could just kill the boss first and then save and battle those horde zombies later.
I highly doubt Citizen Holy 5 won’t be scary, it plays EXACTLY like Citizen Holy 4, thus CH4 wasn’t even scary!
What’s with the inventory menu? Yes I do admit that do add a scare to the game and panic. Because when the boss is chasing you, you’ll have to run and hide so that you can check your inventory menu and use an item. I still think the inventory menu is slow. In fact the game move so slow.
RE5 looks like shite!! I wont be buying it till its £15.99
[...] online, en pantalla partida y conectando dos consolas, una fórmula cada vez mas en desuso. Algunos afortunados que han probado la demo del pasado Tokyo Game Show 2008, en caso de que este personaje no sea controlado por nadia, la IA [...]
If we talk about ps3 verion of a game it’s normal to have graphical and framerate issues, ps3 has been proven a week machine, it just can’t handle the modern games. Maybe it is a good Blu Ray player but it is not suitable for games, this is a fact and it has been proven numerous times.
[...] GamingIndians (swoją drogą, pierwszy raz spotykam się z tą nazwą) miał okazję przetestować przedpremierowo Resident Evil 5. Najciekawsza informacja tej zapowiedzi dotyczy jakości grafiki na [...]
damn ! I envy you guys, envy you sooooo much for getting to play this :@ Must buy day 1 …. woooooohoooooooo !
[...] have that long lasting appeal but I’m not here to review. Anyway, the guys over at Gaming Indians had a chance to go hands on with Resident Evil 5 and according to them the game looks alike on both [...]
gta 4 gonna be Rs 499
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[...] …Resident Evil 5 will officially feature co-op play for the campaign mode of the game? This is the first time (other than outbreak) where you can play the legendary game co-op. Full story: Gaming Indians [...]
hi hi
I LIKE YOUR GAME ALOT DUDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
this game is not scary like the others but it has great graphics and its really exciting to play
I don’t know what you guys are complaining about i loved the game so shut your mouths and play the game or just leave it alone so that we who enjoy the game can play
So Cool To bad i don t have the X-box 360 Wah Wah but i got the Wii + X-box + Playstation 1 and 2 At least I have somthing right I am gonna still have a good time with what i got. But I still Wish i had the X-box 360 or Playstation 3 so i Can Play Resident Evil 5 But For the wii i have Resident evil 4 and For
Playstation 2 I Have Resident evil file 2 . Some People Think its bad some think its good and some of my friends think its funny Because you can use to hit the zombies with bottles,concret,woodsticks,bats, and if your lucky you might be able to shoot them with a bow an arrow so its cool i play it everyday !!
What Kind Of Resident evil Games do you have ? to however made this is best game
right stop whinning and play the game if you don’t like it don’t play it RE fans know what the controls are like this one is better the the other RE’s in the seris you can turn faster than ever and the upgrading the weapons is sweet upgraded the sig handgun to max and beat the game it kills in 2 shoots any where 1 shoot to the head