950th played so far
Genre: Survival Horror/Shoot ‘Em Up
Platform: Xbox 360/Playstation 3/PC
Year of Release: 2009
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
As I’m preparing to play this – probably the last ‘normal’ landmark game before they’re all significant milestones – it’s the last game on the list of the influential Resident Evil survival horror franchise. Not just that, it’s November 1st, the day after Halloween, and it’s a grim and rainy day. Everything is aligning to finish the series and finish this set of fifty games with a big title.
Our Thoughts
Resident Evil 5 starts with the original Resident Evil‘s protagonist Chris Redfield who is, by now, an elite agent dealing with all sorts of conflicts around the world. It feels like he’s there as a somewhat omnipotent protagonist, flown into the worst situations to deal with what comes up. It feels far away from the rookie police officer of the first games and it means the situations he comes in feel less believable. What doesn’t help is that the tone of the game has shifted since those early iterations, with this game being set in a more modern world with a grittiness that I don’t feel was quite there in earlier games, and it feels a bit too realistic for the series as it was before.
Then again, while playing I didn’t quite get that the attitude applied or was valid – probably down to my own skill. The game still feels fairly hard at times and the push on limited ammo is something you really feel – especially early in the game. It’s justified for the setting, but even with how this was I failed several times. It feels like a bit too often it comes down to big shoot outs where you have to find your right place, rather than focusing on individual enemies and dealing with those. It’s an odd departure from how a lot of games approach it, but I guess it makes sense in context – it’s just not really what I’m looking for form the series.
There’s a lot of other stuff this game tries to do. You are joined by a second character through the game. They could be your coop partner, but even when you’re playing on your own they’re pretty effective in getting you through the game. They are pretty independent and you mostly deal with them by swapping items and helping each other out, but you can point them at things to have them do it for you. The levels are also set up to be replayed. Your inventory carries over between them as well as between other levels, but it also seems like you could grind out levels to get everything you need. I don’t know if it’s required, but I didn’t see obvious places for some other collectibles to be hidden, so there might be a reason to come back for it.
Final Thoughts
I’ll be honest – the biggest hint I felt I got that this was a Resident Evil games was when you investigated things – the way it popped up felt specific to the series. Beyond that, while there is a lot of overlap, it does feel like this became more focused on action rather than having the adventure elements. Then again, at least the tank controls were dropped, so there’s something that improves the series, rather than mostly deviating from it.