Resident Evil 5
By Marcus Lim

Capcom has certainly reached a point wherein they are trying to focus on worldwide respect and legendary status. OK, maybe that was a little exaggerated, but with this new game coming out, one would certainly wonder. Resident Evil 5 is an excellent action packed survival horror game that builds upon its forerunners. The game is massively fun, though this description is referred to the demo (issued for the Xbox 360) that was released in Japan around December of 2008 (and a month later in Europe and North America). Fans of the genre and the series will definitely be amazed at the scale and ambition of this game. Although the demo has its downsides, it is hoped that all the minor irks would at least be tweaked before its official release for better performance and therefore garner praise from the gaming community.

Published by its developer, Capcom, the full game is set to be released on March 5, 2009 in Japan for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles. It has yet to be confirmed whether it will be issued for other platforms. After its initial Japan launch, the game will then be released in Europe and North America on March 13, 2009. It’s kind of strange to think that the game was announced way back in 2005 but it only proves that the developers certainly had time to think about making the game more appealing to the western gaming community. Jun Takeuchi, producer of this lovely game, brings out the survival horror category in a new light that hopes to attract more fans to the genre.

Playing the game is much like the previous Resident Evil installment, except it’s on a huge scale with a lot more enemies to put down. There’s a new control scheme introduced as an alternative to the orthodox system that fans have gotten used to (or hated). The main character that one plays is Chris Redfield (from the original Resident Evil). Chris still can’t strafe or move while aiming and one wonders why the creators did not include this. Other games have certainly come out with this option but Capcom insisted that this was important for game balancing. The controls are a bit like Gears of War or Call of Duty, obviously to placate the average western Joe Gamer.

Aside from the main character that one controls, the player is assigned a partner that follows one around helping you take down evil bad guys. Sheva Alomar, a beautiful yet deadly BSAA agent (from the Western African Branch), is quite helpful in teaming up with the player. Adept with hand-to-hand combat and loads of different firearms, she is almost too good to be true. Her AI is amazing but it still could use more work. Somehow it gets to the point where she is always in the way, making it a bit irritating to progress through the game. Overall, however, the AI is solid and all the other little annoyances about it are overshadowed by the sheer beauty of the game.

The Demo shown back in December 2008 starts out in the basic slums of Africa. It is still unclear whether all of it will certainly be in that setting. However much of the plot tends to focus on the continent. It has been said that the Progenitor Virus that caused the outbreak of other virus strains in certain parts of the world came from there. The outline of the story starts 10 years from the original Resident Evil. Apparently, Chris Redfield is no longer a member of the S.T.A.R.S. organization and that this group seems to be defunct. The aim of most of the sub plots that reveal themselves as the game progresses is to try to answer some of the mysteries involving the Umbrella Corporation. It seems there’s more to the mysteries than the mysteries itself (if you follow all of the series and including the movies that is).

Overall, the game is promising. The gaming community is very much excited about the possibilities and one wonders if the reality could live up to the hype. Other Gaming Magazine reviewers have stated their content and even with agitation about Resident Evil 5. Most give it 9 out of 10 stars while others give it high praises without fault.

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