Resident Evil 5
I’ve pretty much lost interest in most games these days. So really the only thing to attract to me to a video game now is something a little different or perhaps nostalgia. Luckily RE5 has both, by which I mean it has competent multiplayer (Which seems to be somewhat rare in this era dominated by online gameplay) and it’s one of my all time favorite game franchises. So since Paul and I beat it today I thought I’d reflect a little on my experience.
I find it’s a shame that the series has strayed so far from it’s original zombie premise though I suppose it’s kept the series relatively fresh. Traveling to Africa this time round, Chris Redfield and his sidekick Sheva Alomar or something are pit against bloodthirsty infected Africans and a slew of slimy behemoths including giant bats and this messed up whale thing. I was surprised to find that I enjoy the enemies increased levels of intelligence in this installment. With guys sniping at you and rockets blazing all around this is probably the most action packed resident evil yet.
The gameplay is fairly smooth and simple (yet we did have some initial trouble correctly saving our co-op game without losing items) and the co-op gels perfectly when playing with a pal. I’ve heard some guys say that the co-op makes the game less tense but I strongly disagree. In RE5 there’s more tight situations than you can shake a stick at. The exotic locations here look fantastic as well and the claustrophobic atmosphere is always a nice touch.
So though it’s loads of fun, RE5 isn’t perfect. The series has always been cheesy and this one is no exception. The main villain’s motivations are ridiculous and all the flashbacks and narration are cliche to the max. Another thing that pissed me off in the last RE and this one is the addition of a troll boss. C’mon a troll? What is this Lord of the Rings? Those have never made any sense to me in this series. Let’s see… Oh yes, can you believe you fight a battle in an active volcano? That’s physically impossible. RE has never strived be realistic in anyway but this series has gone a little too far in some areas if you ask me. Fortunately these are minor complaints that I’d already anticipated.
There’s a lot for me to try and take in here right now, but for the most part it’s a very entertaining addition to the RE series. I’d probably say I like it better than it’s predecessor and I really hope they keep this co-op feature for future installments, you just don’t see enough solid multiplayer games anymore.