I do NOT condone racism, hate crimes, and anything of similar nature; It makes me sick to know that there are people who hate other due to their race, gender, creed, sexuality, or anything else that makes us different from one another. If you believe that RE5 supports these kinds of actions, you, ma'am/sir/thing, are wrong and need to stop right here and now. No one complained about a blonde haired, blue eyed American shooting Spanish people, I'm sorry, zombies, in Resident Evil 4, did you? No. The whole controversy surrounding RE5 is nothing more than a chance to play the race card in an attempt to reap crops from dried, barren grounds.
Now with that out the way....
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Thanks to my brother, this beauty landed in my hands the day after it came out and even got all the little goodies that came with the collector's edition. (He knows I love little extras like art books, soundtracks, and "making of" videos) Took me less than 7 hours to beat it the first time and gods, I was a wuss: Creeping every step, spazzing when those damn dogs came around. Oh yeah, love it. Creepy factor through the roof makes this gamer happy.
RE5 is the latest of the RE series (Biohazard in Japan) and the last of this story line. In it, you play as Chris Redfield who is set to Africa to deal with a rash of B.O.W (Bio-Organic Weapon) reports and other nasties. There, he is quickly paired up with Sheva Alomar and together, they start their investigation in the small town they're in. Things heat up quickly when they find out that the town had been infected and the killing starts.
There is so much yum in this game to the point where the downpoints are nothing more than a cavity to the sweetness that is this game. Let's start with the graphic: The world is fleshed out with such detail that you sometimes catch yourself stopping and admiring what's around (Just don't do this while there's a horde of zombies after you). From the ripples in the water to the spit that flies from the zombies to the shack that you just blew up, it's all so well crafted that I recommend going through the game at a slower pace later on to actually see everything.
The voice acting is nearly flawless. Save for a few corny lines or a statement that illicit the words, "Thank you for that observation, Captain Obvious..." from me, Capcom did a great job picking the voice actors for RE5. (You can read more about who's who at the IMDb). Couple that with great model design and motion caption for both the body and face, the characters are vivid and have depth to them.
There are a few old friends who come back and say "Hi!" from previous RE games, including this beauty right here. That's right, that's the RE2 B.O.W
codename "Licker" and he's coming back for seconds in RE5 but in a much more gruesome, loveable way. Not to mention the fat hispanic chainsaw dude from RE4 who went down with a few shows? Oh, he's got a cousin in here who just loves to eat lead and smile while you're pulling that trigger. Not to spoil anything big, but you ever see a scene in a movie or a game from another movie or game and you get the chills because your brain goes, "Holy hell! It's happening again!"? Oh yeah, you'll get that feeling at least once.Also, along side with the monsters chasing you is the soundtrack. Ah, that spine tapping music, but get this! The music only starts when there are nasties around. Nice warning, huh? "Oh la la la, I'm skipping through the woods, on my way to Grandmother's -" *creepy music kicks in* "Um... I'm just going to skip a little bit faster..." The music doesn't stop until everything is dead in the nearby area which can rattle you just a bit because depending on how far that last baddie is from you in that area, the music will be really, really low.
The camera is that wonderful 3rd person, over the shoulder view from RE4, and depending on who you play, either Chris or Sheva, you get two kinds of perspective. Since Sheva is left-handed, if you're used to playing as Chris, your aim will probably suck as her and vise versa. (I personally learned this the hard way on Mercenaries Mode.)
The controls have different settings and depending on how you like to play, there should be a setting that you like. I, myself, used the default (Type A) which is identical to RE4's default controls while my friend plays with one of the settings where it allows you to strafe. This is best for him since he plays a lot of first person shooters (FPS) and it keeps that same feeling while he blows the head off of a zombie or two.
The one complaint most people have with RE5 is that it's not really a Survival-Horror game anymore. I blink a few times before I go and pull this little tidbit from Wiki:
Survival horror is a video game genre inspired by horror films in which the player's primary objective is to survive and/or escape a threat typical of horror fiction, usually zombies or supernatural beings of some sort. The genre makes liberal use of both Western and Japanese horror film elements. The term "survival horror" was first used for the original Japanese release of Resident Evil (1996), although several earlier games, namely Sweet Home and Alone in the Dark, pioneered most of the conventions commonly associated with this genre. The term has since been used to describe games of a similar nature, including some that were released before Resident Evil. Although the genre is largely defined by the conventions of horror fiction, survival horror games involve gameplay that emphasizes vulnerability and a lack of preparation.Huh... Well, would you look at that. Now let's go down the list:
- Are we trying to survive and/or escape some kind of threat? Yup.
- Is that threat a zombie or supernatural being of some sort? Double yup.
- Are we vulnerable in this game, ie: No god mode? Triple yup.
Overall, this game was well worth the wait and all the hype that followed it. Not only did it meet and exceed my expectations from an RE game, it beat what I expected from a game period. If you can, snag the Special Edition for the little extras. If not... Well, go get the game and play! What are you waiting for?
Let's do the run down:
Grade: A-
Pros: Nearly flawless everything: Voice acting, graphics, story, everything!
Cons: Um.... Zombies?
Overkill Much?: As of today, I have shot the rocket launcher 317 times. I have killed 362 enemies.
