Resident... Pew-Pew?
Capcom continues the Resident Evil series' slide into action over horror with seriously mixed results in Resident Evil 5.
Published: March 12, 2009
The multi-platform MT Framework Engine that Capcom has cooked up for their next-gen efforts is definitely up to the task. The differences between the PS3 and 360 versions is trivial, really (the PS3 offering lacks some of the texture detail of the 360 version, but both make use of quite a few pre-rendered, in-engine cutscenes that use the highest-detail versions of the models), so when the camera does pull in close, the detail is very much there on both platforms. It's actually nice to see a developer really trying hard to push their characters' personalities forward with all the extra power that the latest HD hardware offers. Specifically, it's in the way the characters speak; they actually enunciate, mouthing their words with their whole mouth rather than looking like a bunch of jabber-jaws. Their lips pull back, revealing teeth, their eyes dart back and forth as they think things over. Brows furrow, eyebrows raise, and tongues actually flick away in their mouths as they form L sounds. The lip synching isn't perfect, but it's much, much better than most games have demonstrated thus far, and actually goes a long way toward making the characters seem more, well, real -- even if they're gunning down red-eyed, murderous not-zombies and cloaked ninja-like females wearing quasi-bird masks.
There's quite a bit of motion blur, too, during high intensity scenes and when coupled with ramshackle buildings that slowly give way to more technical, stark climes, there's a sense of moving from the isolation of a downtrodden, slum into areas that are more "developed," though the change is quite gradual. The setting of Africa wasn't just a swapping out of locations; there was a genuine attempt to replicate bits of less grandiose civilization -- at least for a while before things start to slip back into more traditional Resident Evil locales. Even when it does, there's usually a story-driven reason for it, and it looks quite nice. The final act of the game (which we're apparently not allowed to talk about) swings from being a little cookie-cutter to one of the most epic conclusions the series has ever seen.
The audio, too, does a wonderful job of keeping the mood of the series intact. There's a sort of droning, attempted tension-boosting background track that plays whenever there are enemies near (which is, frankly, almost all the time; there's rarely a stretch of more than a few minutes before you're gunning down guys with your laser sighted guns), and the end-level music that plays is trademark Resident Evil: a little melancholy, but also a bit calming too, giving a sense of uneasy tension that's actually more effective at provoking a feeling of terse calm after an onslaught of not-zombie slaying.
The rest of the audio is exactly as you'd hope for, delivered with some great back channel separation if you've got a decent 5.1 or better sound system. The guns have a nice bit of pop, the snarls and roars and screams and cries are all done fantastically, though without the low, mumbled "muele" of the last game's enemies, the inhabitants this time have a knack for sneaking up and delivering a shout riiiight before they impale you, which can cause some surprises at least. In short, this is a game that certainly looks and sounds like you'd expect from a Resident Evil game, which will give your surround system and HDTV plenty to feast on.
What's most distressing about Resident Evil 5 is that it doesn't feel like a Resident Evil game. It feels like some kind of side project that's pure action and completely forgets any of the spookiness and puzzles that made the series so great in the past -- or at least that seemed to hit the perfect balance in the last time. It's also a little on the shorter side compared to the last game, though with some of the bonus content and extras, there should be enough here to keep people going for at least a few hours post-game, and that's if they don't feel like running through it all again by their lonesome as the left-handed Sheva, which changes the game more than you'd think.
And here's where all my bitching starts to taper off. Despite all the cussing I did at the screen while playing the game (and there were times where I let loose with a string of obscenities that would have made a drunken longshoreman blush), I still immediately jumped right into playing through the game a second time. The co-op modes that are in the game let you jump into someone else's game at any point you specify, it does change the series' play style and at least offers something different. The problem is, as good as Resident Evil 5 is, it's not what I was hoping for in a follow-up to Resident Evil 4. Maybe it's because the series is such a huge leap forward. Maybe it's because I just wanted what most people thought RE5 was going to be, which was just RE4 in Africa. Whatever the reason, this is the worst good action game I've played in a while, and though I still recommend it to anyone that played the last game, I do so with just a bit of trepidation and a healthy dose of caution that this is not the Resident Evil you knew. It's dumber, stripped down, and while there are new things to experience, the overall whole is nothing compared to what the last game delivered.
