E3 2008: Resident Evil 5 Updated Hands-On - Controls and Combat

Although we've already covered the basics of Capcom's highly anticipated sequel Resident Evil 5 in our earlier preview, we couldn't help but head back to the Capcom booth to take in some more details on the game. In our follow-up session, we played the Xbox 360 version through the same early level of the game that we covered before, in which Chris and Sheva watch an execution on a scaffold in front of a bloodthirsty mob that sights the two of them afterward and attacks in droves.

After watching the execution unfold in a cinematic sequence, we took control of Chris in a small shack with two different doors and a narrow glass window running along the length of it. As we noted earlier, there are bookshelves near both doors that you can either push yourself, or order Sheva to push, in order to bar the door, as in the infamous "cabin battle" scene from Resident Evil 4. However, this fight was much more claustrophobic than that battle because the room was even smaller and had no stairs to climb for breathing room. We were able to pick off a few enemies through the window as they milled around looking for the doors, but we generally saved our ammo to wait for them to break in, in the hopes of popping a few enemies in the face to try out the game's new melee attacks.

Unfortunately, the enemies in Resident Evil 5 seem even faster on their feet than the Spanish-speaking Ganados villagers of the previous game, and they seem even fonder of trying to out-circle and flank you. And as we quickly discovered, Chris seems to move a bit more slowly than Leon; he's a bigger fellow, and he's wearing body armor and carrying several guns strapped to his back. Furthermore, the camera in Resident Evil 5 appears to be pulled in a bit closer around Chris, which seems to limit his peripheral vision more so than Leon's. Consequently, turning (accomplished with the right analog stick) becomes much more important to make sure that you don't get blindsided.

The control scheme of Resident Evil 5 seems to follow that of Resident Evil 4 closely, with a few exceptions. The game's primary action button (which is used to pick up items, use context-sensitive environmental objects, and attack) is the X button on the Xbox 360. Like Leon, Chris carries a knife, which he can unsheathe by pressing and holding the left trigger; he can pull out his currently equipped gun with the right trigger. When he has either weapon drawn, Chris becomes rooted to the spot, at which point the left analog stick (normally used for moving) is used for aiming, just as in Resident Evil 4. You can also hold down the action button to sprint, and you can quickly tap back on the left stick and press the action button at the same time to do a quick 180-degree turn, just like with Leon.

However, Chris can also swap out and quickly use items in his inventory with an additional button (Y on the 360 controller). This pulls up a transparent 3x3-grid inventory view onscreen, right on top of the action, and lets you move your left stick to select whichever item you prefer to use, or to switch to a different weapon (at this point in the game, we had only a pistol and a shotgun). Once you select an item or weapon, the game then pulls up a vertical menu to let you equip, use, or drop the selected item. The quick inventory view seems as if it'll take a bit of getting used to, especially considering that it appears right in the middle of the screen, on top of the action, whenever you press the button, even in the heat of battle. Nevertheless, it should presumably cut down on that pesky game of "let's rotate a bunch of herbs and grenades and ammo in our inventory." You'll also have an additional button to call for Sheva. By default, the button calls her close to you, though you can also give her orders to perform context-sensitive actions, such as helping move a bookcase or two. This seems to be similar to the controls that Leon used when accompanied by Ashley in Resident Evil 4, but expanded to include more options.

Unlike Ashley, Sheva can definitely take care of herself. She carries a high-powered rifle and can even use a melee attack on stunned opponents; she has a leaping kick that she can use to dispatch any enemies who are staggered by a clean gunshot to a vulnerable body part. She'll also snag dropped items and ammo on the ground, but she's not an invulnerable pet who just tags along. The villagers in Resident Evil 5 seem just as grabby as those in the previous game, and they'll seize both Chris and Sheva if you're not careful. When Sheva has been subdued, you'll hear her immediately call for help and you'll receive a large, obvious-looking warning message on the right side of your screen. In this case, the message read "RESCUE" in large, red letters. When you get close enough, you can perform a context-sensitive melee attack that knocks her assailants away. The middle right-hand portion of the screen seems reserved for situational hints that will appear depending on the situation. For instance, when Chris is severely injured, it'll give you a helpful "DYING" message that indicates that you need Sheva's help to inject you with a stim pack.

Chris seems to have plenty of melee attacks as well. Among others, he has a low kick that he can use to bowl over enemies from the side, reminiscent of Hunk's kick attack from Resident Evil 4's Mercenaries mode. And unlike Resident Evil 4's slim-and-trim pretty boy Leon, who relied on fancy martial-arts kicks, Chris is a bit more of a bruiser and has at least a few different types of punches, including an uppercut and a hook punch. The uppercut knocks enemies back on their heels, but the hook seems better at actually knocking enemies away and giving you some breathing room.

Speaking of breathing room, we didn't actually have any in our room battle. The villagers eventually smashed through our bookcases and came pouring in, along with the hulking, hooded executioner and his massive axe. We tried to pull off a few headshots to flatten the crowds with melee attacks, but we gave up pretty quickly. Aside from the fact that Chris' melee attacks don't seem to be the easy room-clearers that Leon's kicks were (Resident Evil 4 players will recall that Leon could often flatten multiple enemies with a single kick), the room filled quickly with enemies who were darting around chaotically, while Sheva wove her way in and out of battle. And oh yeah, remember the insane monster parasite things that would occasionally pop out of the necks of decapitated enemies in Resident Evil 4? Those are back, too.

Every so often in battle, we'd also get those huge situational messages on the right-hand side of the screen, in addition to the quick inventory menu that we had to pull up after we gave up on trying to finesse our way to victory with pistol shots and switched over to the shotgun. Unlike the clean, cinematic look of the gameplay trailers that have previously been released for the game, Resident Evil 5 seems like it can actually get very busy, with many different interface elements, messages, and menus from time to time. The tighter, zoomed-in view on Chris really heightened the tension of being trapped in such a small room with so many other hatchet- and wrench-wielding maniacs. We finally made a run outside of the room, but found ourselves stuck in a small maze that was just as narrow as the space inside our little hovel--and of course, outside, there were many more villagers waiting for us. We heard Sheva helpfully remark, "They just keep coming!" shortly before we shuffled off this mortal coil at the hands of the executioner (and his gigantic axe).

Resident Evil 5 is clearly building on the success that the Resident Evil 4 team realized when it made the bold step of reinventing the entire series' gameplay. The sequel's new, tighter camera angles and revised melee attacks make the action seem at once more challenging and also more tense. We're very intrigued after our short time with the game and can't wait to see more.