Resident Evil 5

The Good

Because I have to name what I liked best about this game, here goes: Resident Evil 5 boasts wonderful graphics. Probably, Resident Evil 5 has the best graphical rendition of any Resident Evil game thus far.

Moving more on to the story aspect of things, you get to see Chris and Wesker in the same game again, although the plot does downplay their history quite a bit. This to me was very disappointing, as it had been hyped up for years that the pair would meet once more. Of course, the series never did revolve around them entirely, but their rivalry was what boosted the popularity of the saga, which would have remained nothing more than a B-movie homage, and nothing more, had it not been for their feud.

The new girl, called Sheva, has made for curious and refreshing co-op gameplay, which to me, was probably highly recommended from the get go anyway, as the AI of the computer controlled sidekick is virtually non-existant. But I don't get why you can make them fight each other in an irrelevant downloadable game. That just does not qualify as Resident Evil to me, and just shows that Capcom just want more money, as if they did not make more than enough of it.

The Bad

For starters, this game was advertised like heck until it was finally served up on a copper platter. For years, people wondered what exciting possibilities this game would bring. Let me be the first to tell you, you get none of that. What you do get is frustrating combat, generic characters, pure garbage AI from your survival buddy, and mutants that are more or less like cousins to the enemies from Resident Evil 4. That game, by all accounts was a) longer than this, and b) was much more interesting.

I've been a fan of the Resident Evil franchise for years, and if you truly appreciated the old games like I do, you'll be very let down by this sequel, which is a Resident Evil sequel in name only. This game really made me lose it, and I was left angry and bored out of my mind.

What made the Resident Evil games exciting was the scary atmosphere, isolated feel and the lack of ammo. Here, you get creatures that are more of a nuisance than anything. You never really run out of ammo, and when you do, it can be annoying.

All in all, Resident Evil was about exploring creepy environments. Here, the path you take is very linear. You still need to find keys n' stuff, but much of it is very linear, so there's no challenge. I only counted one puzzle involving rotating mirrors and beams. The rest was mind numbing shoot outs with villagers, crocs, insects and giant trolls. Absolutely boring. I don't think I'll be remaining a fan any longer.

The Bottom Line
Rent it first. The game is perfect if you love action shooters, but horror fans take note. This is no horror game!