Resident Evil 5 (Xbox 360)

[aruljothi]

Release Date: 03/15/2009
ESRB Rating: Mature
Genre: Action
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom

Poor Resident Evil 5. When Shinji Mikami rebooted the Resident Evil series with the landmark survival-horror game, Resident Evil 4, he set the bar unreasonably high for any subsequent sequels. Arriving in gorgeous form on the underdog GameCube, RE4 introduced vastly-improved controls, a truly unsettling new type of zombie-like enemy, and a massive adventure that all but put to rest any complaints about the series' typical game length. It featured RE2 co-protagonist Leon Kennedy -- mostly alone and mostly in the dark -- and was, for the most part, an excellent, chilling, frightful action game. RE5, on the other hand, is less of a survival-horror game and more of a survival-action game in which you are never alone, and rarely in the dark.

This completely saps the horror out of RE5. It is very nice to have an A.I. partner like Sheva around watching your back, and it's a worthwhile spin on the classic RE formula. But her presence adds a layer of comfort that extinguishes the creepy, unnerving experience that running through the game solo would have created. The much-vaunted "fear in broad daylight" concept, while briefly unique, is overrated, too, as the feeling of being completely exposed out in the light of day soon gives way to the usual RE brand of action which forces you to stick and move, stand and shoot. The difference here is that in past RE games shadow was never used as an advantage -- the series has never been a Metal Gear-style stealth game -- and so, suddenly being thrown in the heat of the desert sun is no fundamentally different than creeping around in the darkness. It's mostly a gimmick. Seeing your highly-detailed enemies lunging after you is pulse quickening for sure, but once you get over the novelty of it, your survival instincts kick in and it's the same old Resident Evil all over again, except this time with the lights turned on.



Once past the first couple of levels, which are the brightest in the game, the rhythm of the game becomes predictable: enter new, seemingly empty area, reach a predetermined trigger point, and watch as enemies pour out of the woodwork. The enemies vary in appearance and attack style (some wear helmets, others berets, while using electric batons, sniper rifles, throw spears, and other assorted armaments, etc.), and are tough enough to be more than mere gun fodder -- but they're hardly geniuses either. Enemy A.I. can be pretty inconsistent. They appear intelligent and independent in certain portions of the game (usually near cover points, as they occasionally take cover and trade gunfire in attack patterns that mimic "live" competition), but in adjacent areas the very same types of enemies will ignore the sound of your rifle shots as you methodically pick off every remaining bad guy in the area before advancing. The inconsistency is maddening, but it's still satisfying to bust open heads. In regards to staying out of enemy fire, the cover points only appear in very specific areas (usually in warehouses or places with lots of large storage crates). So while this may add Gears of War-style elements, it's not integral to the overall game experience -- merely a dash of variety. The brunt of the action finds you pumping zombie-like goons full of buckshot. RE5 spices things up -- for better or for worse -- with on-rails chaingun sections, the previously-mentioned showdowns using cover mechanics, and the oft-dreaded quicktime event. What makes these individual, gimmicky segments -- ripped straight out of the Kitchen Sink Approach to Game Design -- rise above their rather mundane origins is their glossy, polished implementation.

Each chapter of RE5 is almost like a mini-arcade game, in which you must either clear your way from point A to point B, blasting zombie-like monsters all the way, or figure out the stage's "puzzle" while under extreme duress. One example is a later level where two nearly indestructible gatling-gun-toting behemoths stalk you in a fiery warehouse, while lesser minions rush you from every angle. The behemoths won't go down using conventional means, so you have to figure out the trick to killing them, which isn't easy when you're running for your life. Sometimes the solution involves environmental objects (explosive canisters, or special one-time-use weapons), and other times the key is something so painfully obvious that you'll kick yourself for looking for a more clever solution. None of the levels are so long that -- should you die -- you'll dread replaying an entire level. And if you do die, the checkpoints are scattered around generously enough to ensure you'll respawn somewhere relatively close to where your progress last stopped.

[pradeep prem]

this film should be amazing
that has now game i has thriller to see to dead people want to kill