Resident Evil 5 is not a horror game and more like a third-person action shooter game. I actually bought this for the PS3 when it first came out and I was disappointed and just left it in my game shelf. Then this past summer I decided to give it a try again and to my surprise I started to enjoy playing it. I guess I started to look at this game from a different perspective when I just stopped wishing this game to be like the original Resident Evil and viewed this game like any other third-person action shooter and it does a very good job in terms of gameplay.
Controls on this game is a pure joy. You can’t move while shooting so you have to be more precise with your shooting. It creates tension and you have to make every shot count especially against the enemy with the chainsaw and those alien looking species. You just can't spam the action button as fast as you can. Even the reload animation is perfectly slow so precision and timing is key. In addition, changing equipment is done in real time. Healing in this game is not your typical mechanic in most games where you just press a button and health will magically replenish. No. You have to equip it first and it also has an animation. You can't carry a million items in your inventory so you have to manage what equipment you would want to take with you and you will be managing your partner's inventory which gives me more option to decide which style of play I would want to play whether I will be handling close quarters combat and Sheva will be long range or the other way around. All of these make the game more interesting. The game still manages to create fear but in a different style. I have played a lot of shooters and in my opinion this has one of the best shooting mechanics in a game. There are no cheap deaths here. I died because I either foolishly forgot to reload and an enemy is about to attack or I go on a rampage and just start spamming the action button without any concern if an enemy is about to strike me from behind. Be prepared to test your reaction time when playing this game.
There is some strategy involved for each level where you want to have the right kind of weapon or the level will be more difficult to complete. It has some rpg content like being able to upgrade your weapons for more damage. I like how the action never stops from level to level. I also like the cutscenes. It lets you get involve by pressing the right button fast enough or you will die. It is a good way to keep you on your toes. I also like the melee feature which allows you to get closer to an enemy by shooting either the face, arm, or knee and it will trigger a stylish melee move depending on which part you shoot. It gives the game more flavor and good for conserving ammo.
The content of the story is somewhat lengthy. But gameplay does not stop once you finish the story. The Mercenaries Mode is unlock upon completion and it is a lot of fun. Basically, you have to kill as much enemies as possible before time runs out. There are time bonuses that you can unlock throughout the level so you can score more points which is recorded for online rankings. You can play co-op or solo. You can also co-op in campaign. The AI on your partner for the single player campaign is actually pretty smart and does a great job protecting you. There is also a NG+ when you finish the story meaning all of your progress will carry on to the next game.
If you have a gaming pc and prefer using mouse and keyboard then get the pc version. I enjoyed this game so much I bought the pc version and it is superior in graphics and controls. Although, it felt like the game's difficulty went down a notch using a mouse and keyboard so you might want to increase the difficulty one level. Don't get me wrong. The Ps3 version is of high quality also and this review is for the Ps3 version. The only thing I don't like about the pc version is the fov is too low. Fortunately, there is an fov fix that you can download or you can play the game on windowed mode to decrease screen size. If you don't think that is a good idea then using an Xbox controller is just as good and is more responsive than the console version because of pc's ability to play with 60fps. The console version looks and feels like 30fps.
The bottom line is game mechanics on this game are the definition of what games are all about. You are actually playing the game whereas other shooters will just let you shoot bad guys with no effort and I sometimes wonder am I even playing the game. Good story, good graphics, great gameplay, and just a pure fun experience has placed this game on one of my all-time favorites.