“Oh God, it’s Resident Evil 4 again.” While some might cry foul at the alleged lack of another 4-sized evolutionary leap, that statement is perfectly in line with my tastes. I loved Resident Evil 4, and if Capcom wants to take the Grand Theft Auto 4-route of reissuing a proven formula on next generation hardware, I’m all on board. Critics will cast it aside as last gen gameplay with a shiny new skin and, while that is valid on some level, the fact that it is all functional, streamlined, and perfectly competent still makes for an engaging experience.
Oh, and it’s all co-op this time around. Sheva was AI controlled when I last spent time with RE5, but this time around Greg and I got to play together. Standard co-op prerequisites, such as sharing items, healing each other, or using team work to open doors applied, but having another human also came in handy for zomb-uh, I mean, “Infected” management. For example, at one point there was a big guy with a massive axe walking around whom, of course, was trying to kill us. When I played that level by myself at E3, I had to avoid both him and the infected while I tried to pop off a few shots and take him down. This time around we used Greg as bait, whom led the axe guy right next to some exploding barrels, which I shot with lightning precision as soon as he passed by. Sure, this could have been done with moderate success playing by yourself, but it was much easier, and much more fulfilling, to complete the task under the blanket of co-op.
The African (or whatever) outback sequence was old hat, but this time around we were treated to a few newer levels. First up was some sort of boat/escape sequence. The mechanics of this were fairly standard in the realm of action/adventure games (pick off guys, throw some switches, rinse, and repeat), but the stop-and-pop formula that Resident Evil exploits so well fit just fine into the classic framework. At one point we were pitted against some turret-like machine gunners who completely obliterated us, but we were confident that we could have probably found a way around them if we weren’t idiots. The muted color pallet, consisting mostly of darker blues and overcast skies, was also a nice change from the sultry savannah of earlier levels.
The second new level we played involved another classic mechanic; a timer appeared on screen and we had to reach an escape point before it ran out. This involved fleeing rather than fighting, and, despite a few hang-ups with some proximity based explosive tripwires, we beat the timer and made it to the end fairly easily.
In the end, everything you’ve read or heard about Resident Evil 5 is probably true. It is, in a sense, “Resident Evil 4 with co-op.” If you have lofty expectations and want a genre-moving epic on par with 4, you’re in the wrong place, but if you loved 4 to death (as many did) then 5 should be right up your alley. Capcom is also touting a significant amount of downloadable content, along with some more hidden goodies, so it’s definitely wise to expect a pretty extensive experience when Resident Evil 5 finally rolls out this March.
