Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Worth playing"

I've only ever played the RE series on consoles so I was worried about the keyboard and mouse layout for the controls, but they were fine and couldn't be any smoother; although, the mouse sensitivity setting needs to be adjusted to your liking, as it controls how the camera pans. After setting my to "2" (default is 5) and after a few hours of gameplay, the controls were second nature à la any PC shooter game.

Another plus of the keyboard/mouse controls is the option of using the number keys as hotkeys for the weapons/items in your inventory.

As for the graphics and frame rate, I'm on a pretty dated system (AMD 3200 single core, ATI HD 2600 XT, 1 GB RAM) and still able to get solid FPS with all textures and graphics maxed out on high on native 1680x1050 resolution. Anti-aliasing is completely off though, but has little effect on the quality of the beautiful graphics. The PC game comes with a built-in benchmark, which can be really helpful.

As for the game itself...

PROS:
Think of RE5 as RE4 - 2.0. I enjoyed RE4 immensely so this next one in the series was right up my alley. Along with the beautiful graphics (the lighting and some of the environments are a marvel to look at) that I've mentioned already, the game is just plain fun with some exciting and cinematic set pieces.

The inventory system has been improved from the already improved upon system in RE4. The most notable, and very welcomed change, is the lack of having to collect the numerous documents and files that you come across during the game. I always thought collecting those were pointless and never went back to reread any of them anyway. In RE5 you just read the docs/files at that moment during the game and that's it.

Lastly, there are enough extras and bonuses after you complete the game to keep you occupied until Capcom decides to release the new DLC for the PC. Hoping they will at least.

CONS:
It's like RE4 - 2.0. Ha! The gameplay and mechanics are fine, but I found the set pieces, level structure and enemy class in the course of the story unfolding similarly to RE4. If you've played both games you'll know exactly what I mean.

The game is way too short! Even shorter than RE4. You'll probably finish the game on your first play-through in about 15-20 hours.

Also, the new co-op feature, or if you're playing single player, the bot controlled Sheva, is annoying. The computer AI is competent most of the time, but at the end of the day it's still just a bot and can get in the way at times. With the exception of RE Zero, the series has always been one player, solo. The addition of another player has taken the "survival horror" anxiety of going at zombies and monsters alone out of it. With the 5th installment, the game is already not very scary in itself, which leads to this...

It seems the RE series is progressively getting less and less scary. I want GameCube RE remake scary! That is probably my biggest gripe, along with the minimum amount of puzzles.

BOTTOM LINE:
RE5 is still a solid game and worth every minute played; however, I think this is the last game in the series I can take being the "same ol' done that" deal. RE6 has to break new ground as well as visit old roots for me to continue playing one of my favorite video game franchises ever made.