Although Resident Evil 5 does make some improvements in the series, it also falls short in certain obvious areas.
Cons: Uninspired puzzles, predictable storyline, sub-par sound, lacks horror aspect, item swapping slows down gameplay, no major control enhancements, voice to mouth sync is off at times
Truly, it hurts me a bit to say this game is "all flash, no substance." After playing through Resident Evil 4 about five or six times, I was hoping Resident Evil 5 would blow me away, and be even better than the last. In reality, it just did not live up to its predecessor. Although this game has made obvious improvements such as the revamped visuals and the addition of cooperative play, it seems to fall short in several areas. Personally, I was expecting much more from a next-gen Resident Evil game. Despite these problems, Resident Evil 5 is still a great game, and they have definitely added some really cool things to the game.
The most obvious addition to this game is the co-op feature, which allows two people to play through the campaign, either through split screen, system link, or Xbox Live. One player plays as Chris Redfield, and one plays as Sheva Alomar, Chris's new partner. Chris carries a machete, and uses more down-to-earth melee attacks such as the straight punch and the "stomp" feature. Sheva carries a combat knife and has more acrobatic melee attacks, like the somersault kick. The cooperative play was well-integrated, and both characters will always appear in each cut-scene. This new feature definitely adds replay value to the game, as many players will want to go through the game again and again with different friends. The good thing about this game's co-op feature is that it does not feel tacked-on. It was obviously created around this multiplayer aspect, as there are many actions which involve two people.
Despite the pros of the co-op play, there are some slightly damaging aspects to it as well. One obvious area is the item swapping menu. Although useful, this feature can prove to be very frustrating. For example, let's say that you are fighting a chainsaw-wielding enemy. Your partner really needs health, but the chainsaw guy is right around the corner. So you run up to him or her, press Y to open the 3 x 3 grid menu, move the cursor to the health, press A, scroll down to give, and... oh, you just got decapitated. The game does not pause when in the item menu, which hinders the combat. Some people argue that Resident Evil 4's menu broke up the combat by pausing the game during item selection, but I think that it worked better than what they have in RE5. Item swapping was a good idea, but was not well-executed. It would have been better if a player could simply hotkey an item to the d-pad and give it to the other player with the press of a button. Aside from a few flaws, the item menu is very useful, and it does allow you to hotkey your weapons for quick and easy weapon selection.
As far as graphics go, Resident Evil 5 has made some great visual enhancements, which is to be expected from a next-gen console. The lighting and detail is much better, and the explosions and fire effects have improved immensely. Nearly every aspect of the game looks good, although the water effects were a bit bland. However, the graphics are not beyond criticism. Back before the game was released, the developers discussed how they were going to base the visuals loosely off of Black Hawk Down. They said that they would use the daytime environments to create an eerie setting through the use of shadows and glare effects. The problem is, they really did not do any of this. Although the lighting and shadow effects are great, they are nothing like I expected them to be. I pictured Chris Redfield standing in an alley, looking upward into the burning sunlight, seeing enemies jumping down from rooftops. What we get is simply a Resident Evil game that takes place during the day; there is really nothing eerie about it. Don't get me wrong, the graphics are great; they are just not on the level that I was expecting.
Gameplay is Resident Evil 5's strongest feature. Although the control scheme takes a bit of getting used to, it is fairly easy to use after a while. The addition of new melee attacks improves the combat system by adding some variety. The dynamic cut-scenes make a return as well, making the game a bit more immersive. The main weapon menu works very well too. At the beginning of each new chapter, players will be able to purchase new weapons and upgrades, as well as sell their treasures for more money. As much as I miss the merchant of old, this new setup works well, because it also lets you do these things each time you die. This is good, because it allows players to rearrange the weapons they decide to take with them if they find out that the ones they originally chose did not work out well. Another great thing about the gameplay is that it has a good variety of action. Players can fight in the streets, use mounted turrets, fire heavy machine guns in the back of a moving vehicle, and much more. Due to this variety, the gameplay does have some memorable moments, including some really awesome boss battles.
The only things that really bother me about the gameplay are the unimproved controls, the horror aspect, and the environments. I feel like the developers thought that since Resident Evil 4 was rated so highly, they did not need to change the controls. I agree that RE4's controls were good, but they were not completely perfect. As a result, neither are this game's controls. Players still cannot fire weapons while moving, which can be very frustrating during more tense gameplay moments. The horror aspect is also lacking. I find myself asking "Is this survival-horror, or just survival?" It could be that we have just grown accustomed to horror, and it is hard to scare people these days, but I think its more than that. Where are the levels in which players must defend buildings from enemy attacks? They were present in much of Resident Evil 4, but it is only seen in the first level of Resident Evil 5. Yay, I get to move two bookcases in front of windows in the entire game! Its almost like they just completely forgot about that aspect of gameplay, which hurts the game's overall fear factor. The fact that this game takes place during the day also takes away from the scariness. If only they would have incorporated more interesting shadow and glare effects like they said they would, this game could have been much more horrifying. At times, it felt as though I was playing Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. The only difference was that I was fighting infected enemies, and the main character looked like someone I wanted to punch. Think about it though: this game is supposed to be a survival horror, but it now seems more like just an action game.
I'm going to devote this paragraph to discussing the environments, because I feel that there is much to discuss in this area. When the game first started, it was actually kind of eerie, and foreshadowed great danger. Walking through the streets of that run-down African town, I saw a group of thugs huddling around a burlap sack bound by ropes. The bag was wriggling as if a person were inside it, and in a moment, the thugs began to beat on that helpless person with nail infested 2 x 4's. Now that's scary! The developers could have played off of the idea of being alone in a place where you have no help, a place where everything is so vastly different than what most are used to. But they did not, and that bothered me. Another mistake they made was taking us out of the beautifully eerie outdoor environments, and into the dark, indoor environments. Just when Africa was beginning to get scary, I end up in an underground temple that looks like something pulled right out of a Tomb Raider game. I begin to do puzzles involving reflecting sunlight with angled mirrors in order to open doors; by then, I am convinced that I am playing Uncharted, except for the fact that my character looks like Ben Stiller on steroids. After the temple comes the pipe-ridden industrial environments, and by then I feel like they just copied RE4's pattern. It is hard to describe how much these things annoy me. Nevertheless, I had fun playing through the levels. At least there was a decent variety of areas to combat in.
The sound quality is another area which could have used some improvement. The dialogue sounds a bit muffled at times, which is inexcusable for a next-gen console like a PS3 or a 360. The voice acting, although decent, could have been a lot better had they not used such cliche dialogue. Also, the mouth movements of the characters do not always match the vocal track. For a while, I was wondering if I got the Japanese version of the game, because at times the characters' mouths seemed to move even after they stopped talking. Then I realized that it only really happened with Chris Redfield. I know for a fact that they used motion capture for the facial movements and character actions. So, I ask, why do the mouth movements look so awkward for Chris Redfield? I think its partly because Chris Redfield looks "funny," for lack of a better word. His is very disproportional, and therefore, the motion capture was probably difficult to match to the computer generated models. Aside from a few flaws, the musical score is well-suited to the gameplay, and the weapon sounds are very good as well.
Further adding to the replay value are the mercenaries missions, which make a comeback for Resident Evil 5. For those who are unfamiliar with these missions, they are basically time trials in which players will try to kill as many enemies as possible before time runs out. Throughout the level, you can pick up ammo, health, and even time extensions to add seconds to the clock. Mercenaries mode can be played in single player or co-op, online or off. Although I was glad that they included this mode, I was hoping they would have something similar to Call of Duty: World at War's "Nazi Zombie Mode" (Nacht der untoten), in which players would have to defend a house for as long as possible with the enemies arriving in increasingly larger numbers.
It is evident that Resident Evil 5 did not turn out to be as good as everyone hoped it would be. But, that's not to say that it is a disaster. This game is, without a doubt, a fun and entertaining experience which fans of the series will not want to skip out on. It may not be quite as awesome as Resident Evil 4 in certain aspects, but it does improve in many different areas. And when I say "all flash, no substance," it is really not that harsh of a criticism. I think that the developers focused much time on the graphics (maybe not necessairily in the correct areas), when the gameplay and levels needed more attention. But what can I say; I have been playing Resident Evil 5 non-stop since its release. That must mean that Capcom did something right.