Gaming Cookies For You: The New Kid On The Block
Systems: PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
ESRB Rating: M (for Mature)
Inviting fans of zombie slaying, gun battles, and creepy monsters back to the atmosphere of tense action and heart stopping moments, video game company Capcom’s newest title Resident Evil 5 offers both excitement and frustration. The newest title in the franchise does not fail to awe gamers but also brings hitches that could wear game play down.
Set in the hot plains of Africa, Resident Evil 5 setting takes places after the events of Resident Evil 4. This time focusing on main protagonist Chris Redfield, Redfield’s character sadly feels less developed and acted out by voice actor Roger Craig Smith than previous character Leon Scott Kennedy. With limited time for newcomers to the Resident Evil series to become acquainted with the character they are controlling, having no exposure or familiarity with the back story of previous installments can be confusing. However, siding as Redfield’s partner through the game, Sheva Alomar, played by Karen Dyer, offers fresh incentive and relief from Redfield’s half developed character.
Story writer Haruo Murata seems to spend most of his time tying up loose ends from previous games rather than focusing on the current one within Resident Evil 5. Presenting players with the setting of Africa’s vast safari plains, Murata does a wonderful job giving the sense of loneliness and isolation as gamers blast their way through village after village of zombies, mutants, and genetically altered animals. While the sense of intensity and heart stopping moments are there, the scenes sadly do not cause the same blood curdling screams that previous Reisdent Evil titles have invoked.
Tying this in to the game play, players are sadly going to face a very familiar feel to the story plot. With the ability to freely aim at whatever zombie is coming your way, players are forced to control Redfield at a stand still while in firing mode. Playing on a one player mode, while serving players with a stunning presentation of massively detailed surroundings, proves to be more complicated and frustrating than straight foreword and helpful. No more do players have the ability of seeking safe haven storage rooms, but have to change, heal, and alter weapons during live action sequences in the game time.
With the AI of Sheva proving to be more annoying and cumbersome than helpful, obtaining new items for weapons proves frustrating as balancing the item logging between two characters. Now forced to carry all the items with you, switching the items back and forth can prove to be hazardous to your health as enemies sneaking up on you are very likely. However, as this prove to be a hitch in the overall experience, two player co-op mode simplifies the game play enough to allow the gamers to enjoy the third person shooter experience Resident Evil is known for.
Now free of the cumbersome hitches of a not-so-intelligent AI, two players can focus entirely on survive the horde of zombies and monsters that plague the African plains. As a vast amount of weapons become available to the players as progress is made throughout the game, variety and interactions between the characters becomes crucial in boss fights, mobbing scenes, and car cashing action sequences. Fighting together with a friend serves to be more entertaining than sitting alone through this survival game.
All in all, Resident Evil 5 brings the action that the series has become famous for and with the involvement of the classic zombies, being quick with your trigger finger has never proved more useful. Capcom is now faced with an open canvass and who knows what future plot twists and frightful moments Resident Evil 6 will bring.
Overall Rating: 8.5 out of 10
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Posted by Jackie Steponaitis
on Mar 16, 2009 Filed under Entertainments.
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