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Resident Evil 5 is the next instalment in the
hugely successful Resident Evil series, and also, perhaps
more importantly, the sequel to 2005’s GameCube masterpiece
Resident Evil 4 – the highest rated game ever to appear in
Electronic Theatre’s
In-depth Review Archives.
Much in the way of news snippets and rumours have been
flowing through the grapevine since the title’s original
announcement some two years ago, but nothing has been as concrete as
what is available at E3 2008 – playable code.
Expecting to find a Current-Generation
Resident Evil
4, we were proved right. The Control System, movement and aiming
speeds, and Camera have been lifted directly from Resident Evil 4
– although the ability to aim using the Right Analogue Stick is
promised at a later date. The big change, however, comes in the form
of Co-Operative play.
Two players may play through the title side-by-side.
Should you be short of friends, an Artificial Intelligence partner
will fill the gap, as was the case with the version playable. The B
Button acts as a context-sensitive command for you partner, who,
when pressed, can perform actions ranging from giving you a boost
over a wall to re-supplying your ammo. Players can also swap items –
in a feature that seems to have been borrowed wholesale form the
PlayStation2’s online Resident Evil title that never actually
was playable online in Europe til it’s second outing, Resident
Evil: Outbreak – between the two characters, and at present it
seems that there are nine slots available for doing so.
Close-quarter-combat has also received a small amount of
a spit-shine thanks to the Co-Operative gameplay element. Updating
Leon Kennedy’s abilities to kick, stomp and knife foes, the
two-players can now execute context-sensitive Team Attacks when one
partner is low on health.
The enemy Artificial Intelligence doesn’t seem to have
advanced too much since Resident Evil 4, but still act as
some of the most
 believable enemies on the Current-Generation.
Attacking in packs and often unsure of themselves when alone,
ducking and weaving through bullet-fire and attempting to flank you
at every opportunity, one mistake can quickly turn-the-tide.
Predominate foes – such as Baghead, the chainsaw-wielding maniac in
Resident Evil 4 – return, with reanimated attributes, and
destructible environments – although somewhat limited – finally find
a home in the series.
The title looks fantastic, with flame effects that
easily parallel
Alone in the Dark and
Call of Duty: World
at War – two titles in which the flame is a dominating principle
– and some of the most lifelike dead people you’re likely to have
seen in a videogame, Resident Evil 5 is one of the tastiest
looking games on the show floor. March 2009 can’t come soon enough. |
