The heading is, perhaps, the perfect way to sum up the latest entrant in the survival horror genre. Resident Evil 5 is heavily imbued with the genetic coding of its predecessor which starred Leon and story is fused with the prime antagonist being Albert Wesker from the infamous mansion, which sourced the beginning of the infamous T-virus.
Chris Redfield, arrives at the dusty town of Kikuju, as a part of the BSAA (funded by Tricell Corp) trying to stop a mysterious virus that has been plaguing the inhabitants of the area. On his arrival, he is greeted by his partner called Sheva Alomar, who tries to take him across the shanty town to give him a feel of the area. Soon enough their nice little journey is interrupted by swarms of villagers infected with the modified version of the Lasplagas virus. Their hunt begins in search of Irving who is assumed to be primarily responsible for the mass infection that has caused most of the villagers to be turned into hypnotic super mutants (I try hard to refrain the word zombies since there are none in the game) and continues with the hunt for a mysterious hooded woman and her benefactors, who seem to be enjoying the turn of events.
The first glance of Resident Evil 5 shows of the powers of this generation’s technology, as Chris steps off into the village, the sweltering sun makes ones eyes churn and throat parched, the dusty winds that plague the town give off an eerie sense of the wild west which contains a sense of adventure and mystery around the corner. The visuals are the high point of the entire game. Resident Evil 5 contains the best lighting effects and shadows in the entire generation. The character models have also been rendered quite exquisitely. The human infected models come with numerous variations, the initial horde have deep gashes on the chests, as arenas progress their heads pop open into a dead tentacle like creature or a rather ugly bat that pushes out of their body. They are further modified into soldiers with guns grenades and the works. There is a significant number of boss fights in the game, these horrifying creatures come in a variety of shapes and sizes which put any mutated monster from Gears of War to utter shame. They are big, bad and sustained with pure evil flowing through their veins, once glance at them and your screen shakes off with utter disgust.
Level design is a rather intricately mapped out, Resident Evil 5 places players in a healthy mix of organic and inorganic environments, for the most part they are balanced out rather well, just when your eyes seems to be grown tired of the vast dwindling landscape, the game instantly switches to an indoor environment which is dark and murky. The design has been incorporated in a such a way that you get to see vertical as well as horizontal empowerment of enemies across the screen, and the trumpets begin to hoot when you encounter a mini boss battle or a stronger enemy at the end of it. Resident Evil was once famous for its pieces of puzzles, however this iteration has been overhauled to give it a more of a shooter treatment reducing puzzle sequences to a few drags and button presses here and there.
The weapons in Resident Evil 5 can be upgraded as and when the player has a significant sum of money collected from all across the place, the shotgun which perhaps becomes a user’s favorite item during the course of events can be upgraded to a healthy extent and blasts magnificently through the skin and tissue of the deadly swarm that refuses to stop. Aiming and shooting however has been retained to a mere pause and shoot mechanism which is perhaps the biggest drawback of the game, as much as reviews defend it holding back the memories of Resident Evil 4, it just does not work in a generation which has seen Gears of War and Dead Space to rummage through. This particular feature is annoying and retarded to the extent that the machete strapped to Chris’s back can also be used when he stands still, ruining moments that could have been otherwise significantly more thrilling.
The pause, aim shoot mechanism works rather well with the horrible artificial intelligence you encounter in the game, although they are super mutants , they act exactly like lame brained zombies, they are slow to react to any move the player makes and are willing to be dominated by the player during combat. The Mini-Boss fights sometimes pose a bit of a challenge, specially the ones which involve the masked chainsaw maniac, but the overall structure of enemy intelligence feels rather low and wasted.
Friendly A.I. in the form of Shev Almour is both a boon and a bane, she is intelligent enough to defend herself and helps Chris out whenever he is in need, however when the flow of enemies increases at a rapid pace, She needs attention for her death means game over for both players. Certain positions across Resident Evil 5 come littered with instances which require one player to forge forward whilst the other defends him/her, these sequences sometimes may prove a pain at higher difficulty modes when both ammunition and health are in sparse amounts. The two player co-op mode which has been one of features Capcom wanted to implement since Resident Evil 1 and 2 works rather naturally and adds a dimension of replayability. The unlockables includes different costumes for both players.
Resident Evil 5 does have its fair share of drawbacks, the entire game looks from this generation but feels like a generic shooter sans any form of horror. The notion of fright has been revamped in the form of the savage horde hunting for your blood, which feels a bit incomplete. Tension of what lies around the corner is forgotten in midst of either a cowering presence a giant insect or the horde. Even the horde feel less intimidating especially after going through a game like Left 4 Dead. Shock and awe moments in the narrative are few in number since players get the entire course of the plot which is rather predictable after the first chapter. This coupled with the archaic shooting model makes this game dwell in the past rather than looking at the future.
The Final Word: Resident Evil 5 tries and brings forward a new generation in survival horror gameplay, it succeeds in certain aspects but falters in others to give players a half baked experience. In an era which has already seen the detailed horror logs of Dead Space which wonderfully blends all the mechanics that were once invented by the Resident Evil series, RE5 feels rather incomplete and inconsistent in that regard to take the plunge forward as a leader and is relegated to the status of a follower instead.
Graphics: 10/10.
Sound: 8/10.
Gameplay: 6/10.
Budget Pocket: 7/10.
Overall (Not on an average): 7.5/10.
- By Neelesh Mukherjee