Resident Evil 5 Review

8.5 out of 10

The "Resident Evil" franchise has been hailed as the inaugural title in the survival horror franchise with the release of the original "Resident Evil" on the Sony Playstation in 1996.

13 years later, the series takes the genre in a new, not as scary, but incredibly fun direction in "Resident Evil 5" for the Xbox 360 and PS3.

RE5 returns to the story of Chris Redfield a Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance (B.S.A.A.) agent 10 years after the Raccoon City incident from the original "Resident Evil." This time, Chris is sent to Africa to investigate potential biochemical arms deal in the remote city of Kljuju. There, Chris meets African B.S.A.A. agent Sheva Alomar and the two reluctantly team-up in the investigation of the potential threat. What results is an experience filled great gameplay, beautifully crafted visuals, familiar characters, and a new way of playing: teamwork.

Fans of 2005 release of "Resident Evil 4" will feel right at home as the same gameplay and basic control scheme returns. The quasi-first to -third person gameplay from RE4 finds its way into RE5 and hasn't lost any of its charm.

The controls are intentionally clunky and frustrating at times - yielding a slight learning curve - to created added suspense when the player is faced with a limited viewpoint and a series of equipment commands while a hoard of biochemically altered zombies attack from all sides.

However, this time around you're not alone.

The new buddy system allows Shiva to tag along with you every step of the way. You can control her actions via quick commands such as "cover" or "attack" and often the two-person system is utilized in several high-tension and puzzle sequences.

RE5's new gameplay scheme reaches its peak when that same two-player cooperative play is taken online. Playing through the game's campaign modes, players can either allow other players to join their campaign at any time or aid a friend in their campaign. The best part is that players bring with them all of their items they have collected throughout the game.

If you are a newcomer to the campaign, a friend can join-in and bring with them all of the items they've collected after completing the game themselves. That certainly makes some of the game's more challenging sequences easier to complete with an experienced player on-hand.

Nevertheless, this also leads to some potential issues when RE5 veterans join a newcomer's game and push them along the chapter without allowing the newcomer to explore the game's environments. To make matters worse, players tend be annoying on headsets and often impatient with newcomers. Commands are also present when playing online, so some gamers may receive a constant barrage of "hey" and "come on" commands from impatient veterans.

By simply having another person with you throughout the game makes RE5 less of a survival horror game and more of a survival third-person shooter. Yes, there are a few frightening moments, but having a friend there with you provides enough comfort to make this a title focused more on cooperative gameplay and less on sending chills down your spine.

The visuals of RE5 are incredible. Environments are brilliantly vivid and character models have a surprising level of detail with no glitches. This is perhaps one of the best looking games of the current console generation. I just wish the game's cinematic scenes were built in real time rather than noticeable, pre-rendered video files. Also, those sequence usually offer poor sound at a lower volume than the rest of the game.

The game feels a little short in length even though there are a few additional gameplay options and a lot of unlockable content. However, in order to attain added goodies it would take a lengthy and repetitive trip through the game that a lot of gamers will pass on.

Overall, "Resident Evil 5" is a solid addition to the "Resident Evil" franchise with a few cameo appearances from series characters and a story that is just about par for the course - no more. Nevertheless, two-player cooperative gameplay is a satisfying and refreshing addition to the series when you're playing with a civilized individual.