Product Description

The biohazard threat has not ended! Just when it seemed that the menace of Resident Evil had been destroyed, along comes a new terror to send shivers down player's spines. Chris Redfield, returning Resident Evil hero, has followed the path of the evil literally around the globe. After joining a new organisation, Chris heads to Africa where the latest bioterrorism threat is literally transforming the people and animals of the city into mindless, maddened creatures. Chris must take on the challenge of discovering the truth behind this evil plot. Promising to revolutionise the series by delivering an unbelievable level of detail, realism and control, Resident Evil 5 is certain to bring new fans to the series. New technology developed specifically for the game, as well as incredible changes to both the gameplay and world of Resident Evil will make this a must-have game for gamers across the globe.

• Chris Redfield, protagonist of the original Resident Evil and Resident Evil: Code Veronica, returns
• New environments and a diverse assortment of locations
• New enemies bring new challenges - speed and intelligence make adversaries as dangerous singly as they are in groups
• An arsenal of weapons at the players command to keep the evil at bay, including knives, pistols, machine guns, sniper rifles and more
• Lighting effects provide a new level of suspense in both harsh light and deepest shadow
• True high-definition gaming on multiple game platforms, using an advanced version of Capcom's proprietary game engine, MT Framework, which powered the next-gen, million-plus hit titles Devil May Cry 4, Lost Planet and Dead Rising

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #274 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Capcom
• Released on: 2009-03-13
• Number of discs: 1
• Platform: Xbox 360
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese
• Dimensions: .55" h x 5.32" w x 7.48" l, .26 pounds

Manufacturer's Description
The sequel to one of the most critically acclaimed games of recent years is finally here and the world of survival horror will never be the same again. Chris Redfield and new partner Sheva Alomar must face a new menace in Africa, as they take on an even more bizarre range of monsters and mutants.

Series regular Chris Redfield teams up with new girl Sheva

Not only can enemies use weapons but they can also drive

The new enemies are faster than zombies and cleverer than ganados

Now you've got two people to worry about - yourself and your partner

The first Resident Evil for the new generation of consoles doesn't just improve the quality of the graphics but also the abilities of the enemies. No longer do you face off against slow moving zombies, but instead mutated humans who will anticipate your actions and even set-up barricades to block your exits.

To combat this new menace you not only have a permanent onscreen partner but a wide range of more athletic moves, including dodges and the ability to take cover behind any piece of scenery. The biohazards are evolving yet again - and so is the game itself.

Key Features

• The next chapter: Continuing the story from Resident Evil 4 and movie Resident Evil: Degeneration, this has topped gamers' most wanted lists since it was announced.
• Evolving threat: Hugely varied gameplay as you battle motorbikes in the bush, race along deadly enemy-filled rivers and combat some of gaming's biggest bosses.
• Super model: Stunning graphics push the next generation consoles to their limits, with hordes of enemies onscreen at once and a larger, more interactive game world than before.
• Afraid of the dark: Realistic lighting system will blind you in bright sunlight or leave you dangerously vulnerable in the dark.
• Two's company: For the first time ever in Resident Evil you can play the entire game with a friend, either on or offline. Or have the computer back you up as new character Sheva.

About the Developer: Capcom
One of the oldest and most respected Japanese publisher/developers, Capcom are very secretive about their internal studios. Their names are not made public, but they've been responsible for classics ranging from Street Fighter II to Resident Evil and Mega Man to Devil May Cry.

Review:
Recipient of just about every game of the year award going in 2005, Resident 4 wasn’t just one of the best games of the last generation it was also one of the boldest reinventions of a well established franchise ever seen. The only problem was how Capcom were ever going to top it and since almost nothing has been revealed about the game so far that’s still a difficult question to answer.

Some facts are known about the game though, in that it uses the same basic gameplay and controls as Resident Evil 4, as well as some other elements from the very first Resident Evil. The latter isn’t surprising as a different team are working on this new game, many of whom worked on the very first game from back on the PSone.

The trailer shows a desert, possibly Middle Eastern, setting with what appears to be fast moving zombies in pursuit of what may, or may not, be Chris Redfield. What is known is that temperature will play an important role in the game, with characters having to cool down if they get too sweaty – even getting heatstroke or passing out from overheating. The game will also feature online elements for the first time in a core Resident Evil game, although again their exact nature remains a mystery. In fact the only thing that’s known for certain about the game is that with a track record this good it’s almost certainly going to be worth the wait finding out about.

HARRISON DENT

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Customer Reviews

Hit and Miss Sequel
It has enough postives to be a good game, and worth playing, but also enough negatives to keep it far from being a classic.

If you have played RE4, you will find the gameplay very familiar. The controls (stand still whilst shooting, run away, turn around, repeat) remain pretty much the same. While this doesn't stop it being fun, it does make it feel very dated and clumsy compared to games like Dead Space, which showed that you can have fluid shooting-while-moving controls in a survival horror game.

A lot of the game design feels shamelessy recycled from RE4 - enemies, settings, gas cylinders against a wall to push over and shoot when an ememy is following you etc. etc. , even a lot of the music - you really feel like you're just playing RE4 with upgraded graphics but weaker gameplay and design a lot of the time.

The single worst feature of the game is the inventory system - it is an absolute nightmare - easily the worst inventory system in the RE series - possible the worst in any modern game I can think of - it's bad enough having such a badly designed clumsy inventory system - but to also not allow you to pause the game while you access it, is just a recipe for making you want to throw your controller at the screen - you will frequently die because you are surrounded by enemies & accidentally select the wrong item, or can't pick up some ammo for your empty weapon cos your inventory is full so you have to clumsily pass items to your partner to free up a slot - all using a terrible interface while enemies are still attacking you - I'd estimate that during my 1st playthrough of the game, more than 1/2 of my deaths were caused by the inventory system.
I really can't emphasise strongly enough how much enjoyment the appalling inventory system saps from the game - I can't imagine why they ever released it without fixing that one huge issue.

The addition of a partner throughout the entire game is a mixed blessing - it makes the combat more varied - but it takes away the atmosphere of feeling alone trapped in a scary environment - and her AI is patchy at best.

In RE4, the ememies felt a bit like zombies (even though they weren't technically) - but here the enemies are more human than ever, firing guns at you, riding motorbikes. Apart from the parastites bursting out of them, most of the time you might as well be fighting ordinary humans. Although despite the fact that they can run, jump, drive, use complex machinery - as soon as they get within 10 feet of you, they helpfully return to shambling slowly around so you can shoot them.

One particular annoyance I have - is the guys with chainsaws - there are far more of them in this game than RE4 - but unfortunately, fighting them is really tedious - unlike RE4 where battling a chainsaw guy was quite scary but challenging and enjoyable - here it's just not the same - they seem to be able to take a ridiculous amount of damage before going into "stunned" mode where you can melee them or take time to reload or move to a safe distance, plus the badly designed inventory can make switching to grenades or other weapons mid-fight a nightmare - but worst of all, you might be carefully keeping a safe distance, only for your AI partner to go too close and get decapitated and make you have to do the whole section all over again - in RE4 the sound of a revving chainsaw was the signal of a tense and exciting battle - in RE5 the sound makes your heart sink with a feeling of "Oh god not another one."
Combine that with the lazy level design - eg. in the oil-refinery - turn a switch, and a chainsaw guy appears and attacks - go through the hassle of beating him, try to go through the gate to the next area, and another chainsaw guy appears - beat him, carry on and within a couple of minutes, a 3rd chainsaw guy attacks, this time with the added annoyance of 2 friendly characters in the room who can get killed and force you to redo the section - depressing when the designers were so short of ideas they make you fight the same unenjoyable boss 3 times within a few minutes.

Another major criticism, is simply that the level designs aren't very good - it's just nowhere near as much fun to play as it would have been with more effort put into the level design. This is especially true of the boss-fights - they loook spectactular, but gampeplay-wise they are all long-winded and repetitive - none of them come close to being as much fun as any of the RE4 boss fights.

The online co-op play works well, and the replay value is very much like RE4 - being able to go through it again with upgraded weapons, things to collect - in fact it's probably a lot more fun on the 2nd play through - with upgraded weapons and once you've had time to get used to the inventory system from hell.

There is a distinct feeling that this was developed as a 2-player co-op game, with the single player mode being an extra mode thrown in at the last minute without time to fully playtest and fine-tune it. It's as if they knew the controls and abysmal inventory system would make it impossible to get through so much intense combat on your own, but instead of fixing those issues, they just threw in an AI assistant to give you extra some firepower, but sadly didn't have time to give her very good AI.

I don't think anybody could call this a terrible game - people giving it 1 star on here are being over the top (probably out of anger - an emotion that you will experience often playing this game - so I can understand how they feel) - but it is a real anti-climax after the brilliant RE4 - such weak level and boss-fight design, no real attempt to improve the game-engine and controls beyond improved graphics, sub-standard AI for a partner who accompanies you throughout the entire game, and then having what stands out as maybe the worst inventory system of the last decade of gaming, and then taking the inexplicable decision to make you battle against the inventory system in real-time while enemies still attack you.

If someone had never played RE4 (especially the Wii version with it's enhanced controls) and RE5 - I think I'd have to recommend RE4 to them as the vastly better single player game - that's not nostalgia talking, I've been playing through both games simultaneously to compare them.

If they are going to do a RE6, I hope they have a total re-think - this game is really pushing the boundaries of how far they can get away with it using unnecessarily dated contols & recycling old ideas - plus just too much lazy and downright bad design.

Capcom have already announced that the 2 producers who were brought in to create this game, have been dropped and won't be working any possible sequel - it's easy to understand that decision.

A Review of the Game (Not the Demo)
The amount of people who review a game based purely on the demo is quite frankly shocking. A good (or bad) demo is no guarantee as to the quality of the finished game. Essentially you are reviewing a game you have never played and therefore giving a misleading star rating for those who might think of buying it. Amazon - really can you not lock the review section of a game until release day?

Now then on with the review.

I picked up my copy of RE5 along with a red 360 elite the day before release day and after playing extensively both on my own and in co-op over Xbox live I can say that I have some mixed feelings about this game. Firstly as an addition to the RE series it is more than worthy. Many people I speak to think RE4 to be the best of the series, I think this is better. However I am of the nostalgic old school who want to see more of the RE1 or RE2 style of game, with more of the survival horror and less of the action style (and yes with proper, slow walking zombies!).

Graphically the game looks amazing. In my opinion the only other games that look this good (playing in full HD 1080p) are COD4, GOW2 and Fifa 09. I would go as far as to say it may be the best game I've ever seen on the 360 in terms of graphics. Gameplay is also fantastic. It is pretty much the same as RE4 so if you liked the way that played, you'll like this. My only complaints with the similarity's to RE4 are when killing a 'zombie' they drop various items from ammo to money. This really takes away from the classic survival horror RE format. Another is when passing between chapters in the game you can buy items, sell items and upgrade weapons from a shop. Where is this magic shop? Again I really think this takes away from the survival horror aspect and is turning RE into more of an action RPG.

There are however differences from RE4 which are mainly due to the co-op aspect of the game. Now it doesn't matter if you plan to play on your own or with a partner this is a co-op game. There are many points during the game where you require both players working together to proceed, most are simply a large door that requires both players to open (more a block to stop one player going to far ahead than anything else). Most of these co-op essential moments are unnecessary and some can even be avoided - I don't really see the point. If you play on your own the role of Sheva, your trusty sidekick is played by the CPU. Playing on Amateur or Normal she isn't that much of an issue however anything harder and she really is useless. I would suggest giving her a pistol with about 10-20 bullets and nothing else (or the cattle prod when you get it as it doesn't run out of ammo!). If you give her more ammo/other guns she will waste them. Another rather annoying habit is that she will heal you even when not seriously injured - using a full health spray or red/green herb mix when your health is at 50-60%. For these reasons (as well as it being more fun) I would suggest playing co-op with a friend, although one slight grievance is when playing co-op on one Xbox the screen split isn't great. The split is horizontal and not all the way across the screen (as if playing in two windows within the screen). I think this would be much better if it was the full screen split into two (or maybe even vertical). Again having to play the full game in co-op takes away from the survival horror aspect which RE games are famous for.

Overall I think this is a very, very good game but it doesn't get 5 stars from me because of the frankly unnecessary co-op system. While those who favour the direction RE has gone in since number 4 will maybe think this a good addition to the game, I think this is going too far away from the original format. This, in my opinion is nothing like a survival horror (there's that phrase again!) game is more of an action/shooter/RPG. Get rid of the co-op, shop, zombies dropping items and bring back ye old RE format for number 6 please!

Bit disappointing really
No-one seems to be able to review RE5 without comparison to one or more of its predecessors and I am no exception, but I will at least try to keep this short.

1. If you loved the early RE games but hated RE4, you will hate this too.

2. If you loved RE4, you will like this but probably be disappointed overall, particularly by the clunkiness that having a full-time AI partner has introduced. Managing your inventory is now more complex and Sheva, your new partner, is frankly not that much use - darting around like a springer spaniel, occasionally squirting you with a herb when you don't need it. Obviously a lot of this frustration goes away when you are lucky enough to have another human being controlling Sheva but you will still be disappointed by how much has been recycled from RE4.

3. If you have not played any of the other RE games, you will spend most of your time wondering a) what the hell is going on and b) what is up with the controls, but consoling yourself that at least it looks fantastic.

All things considered, RE5 is not bad. In fact it is OK, but I was hoping for something better. Wait for it to get cheaper, which it will - soon.

UPDATE - If you want more detail, check out NP's review from 27 March - it is spot on.