Resident Evil 4 was the most acclaimed games in the Resident Evil series. It brought a completely new game play system and changed the course of the storyline of the franchise. So naturally Capcom made Resident Evil 5, the most recent addition in the main series, just like the previous installment. While it does feel familiar and make it easy to play, some would feel as if it's pretty much the same game with a different characters.
Even the storyline is almost similar to its predecessor, the game jumps from 2004 to 2009. Of course, some events that took place in between do have an impact on the game. These are told through flashbacks which occasionally come as you progress through the game. To appreciate the characters and story basis, one has to have previous game experience. Chris Redfield returns after his previous experiences about 11 years ago in the T. Virus outbreak in Raccoon City. Joining him this time is a new ally in the form of Sheva, Jill Valentine's absence is explained at the beginning with her revealed to have died in 2006 although the real situation gradually starts forming. Chris is dispatched to Kijuju, Africa to apprehend Ricardo Irving before he can sell a bio-organic weapon. He meets Sheva who remains his ally throughout the game. After arriving they learn that the villagers have already been converted into Majini through the Uroburo virus. From here the two set out to uncover the conspirators behind the situation. They eventually learn that Albert Wesker is yet again behind everything having used the serum provided to him by Ada wong to produce the Uroburos. Chris and Sheva's journey stretches all the way from the marshlands to the inside of the main facility and finally to the inevitable confrontation with Wesker. The story is told in the classic Resident Evil fashion with the main story being mystery for virtually the whole game and unraveled right at the end. Its good enough but could have had a little more life into it.
Combat is largely the same as the previous game. In fact other than having a partner with you this time round it's exactly the same experience and a change in inventory systems. That being said, having a partner is a good addition, Sheva is a valuable ally for you not because of her fighting ability but due to the fact that she can be used to store the excess items that Chris won't be able to store in his inventory. The core battle system, however is the same, with the game being shown in an over the shoulder perspective. While shooting the laser helps you target the Majini. The best way to kill them is targeting specific areas to weak them as most of the time you'll be fighting hordes of them. The Player cannot move while targeting so to be safe from enemy attacks, a certain space should be kept to kill them easily. The Inventory system has been changed so that its more realistic, while before you could easily pause and go through your briefcase even if you were fighting the final boss, this time you have to do it in real time. The slots in it have also been reduced which makes Sheva more important for the player as she can be used to store the extra things. Again guns have a lot of variety, the player starts with a single revolver which is good enough at first but as the game progresses you'll be surrounded by much more and much larger opponents. By that time though you'll have had more powerful guns like the grenade launcher and the ever reliable machine gun.
Resident Evil 5 has an option of playing the game with someone else online which is great in-game as you'll have a much smarter partner than the AI which is a bit klutzy. Player's wont get there items and weapons easily as purchasing them requires gold, By picking up gold coins scattered in the game you could have a sufficient amount. But in order to get rich you'll have to kill the big guys and spot treasures which are hidden in plain sight. Shooting is the main gameplay feature but occasionally you'll be required to solve puzzles to go forward. Even then you'll have to fight your way through a bunch of Majini to find the missing pieces. Despite these conveniences, there are some frustrating hurdles that need to be leaped over before a partner can begin playing. Co-op isn't drop-in, so if someone joins, gameplay is interrupted and immersion is broken to some degree. There's also an online mode included for those who finish the campaign, mostly people finish off with the story to enjoy the game online but in this game the online isn't much fun to play. Clearly they tried to make the online deathmatches like the ones everyone's come to love but have failed miserably. The setting and objectives look dull and are mostly unappealing.
Graphics look just a little notch higher than those of Resident Evil 4. It won't be included in any list of graphical achievements but the environments are great. The areas are nicely detailed, with the marshlands giving you a feeling as if you really are standing the middle of a swamp. The Gold edition incorporates the DLC's together. Players can play out the Mansion incident featuring Jill and Chris which goes back to the series' roots of the survival horror theme. Also included is the desperate escape DLC which mainly has you killing hordes of Majini. There are tons of extras in the game so players will have a lot of replay time.
It isn't exactly Game of the Year material but it is a great game to play. Old fans may or ma not like it as the similarity could be either off putting or fun to go through again. But Resident Evil 5 has many qualities that will make the majority of players happy to play it.
Circana data shows Resident Evil 5 as the best selling Resident Evil game in the US, ahead of Resident Evil 4 remake and Village.
So the most successful RE is the one where a white man is killing Africans.
This can't be real.
Resident Evil 5 launched 15 years ago today - and it continues to stand as a stepping stone from the good to the bad.
One of my favourites because of the co-op. Then Resi 6 arrived and the series nosedived further.
I enjoyed the game co-oping with a friend I know the game in solo the AI can be an idiot but RE5 is way better then RE6. I played RE6 with a friend if it wasn't cheap when I got I would have avoided RE6.
5 was excellent, still play Mercs with my brother.
I would love a fully remastered RE:5, with some added, reworked content. The DLC for 5 was also excellent.
6 was awful.
I never understood why the game was misunderstood. It was a fantastic game at launch and is still fun today to play. It’s as action packed as Resident Evil 4 was, yet that’s regarded a masterpiece 🤷♂️
it was "misunderstood" because they introduced co-op into the franchise at a time when people loved to have fake rage about co-op. like, you could play the game as a solo experience, but people chose to have their bandwagon rage because it was cool at the time lol
What the hell are you talking about? Fake Rage? Bandwagon? Come on.
You can play it solo but you are forced to carry around a shitty AI partner you have to micro manage. It wasn't as fun solo.
Co-op sucked all the horror, tension and suspense from the game because having a partner covering you was like a safety net. Enemy trying to sneak up on you? No sweat the AI will just automatically lock on, alert you while they shoot first telling you where they are basically.
It was the start of Capcoms fall with the Resident Evil series where it basically become an over the top generic action game which betrayed it's own survival horror roots. Least RE4 had a good blend of both but Capcom just went the wrong way with RE5, especially going off what they were going to do during the RE4.5 beta phase before co-op was added.
At least the game was a ton of fun tho. If the game was bad, the outrage would’ve been justified. They simply pivoted for a couple of games. At this point it’s bad because it’s called Resident evil 5? But if was called something else it would’ve been good? Please.
like i said: fake baby rage and bandwagon hate. res4 wasn't really that scary, either, and was already taking the series into more of an action-oriented direction at the time. 5 was a good game that people fake-hated because of co-op that you didn't even have to play lol hence the fake rage and bandwagon hate. i mean, it obviously did well enough for capcom to go ahead and make 6 the way they did, right? if 5 was so bad, they would have changed what 6 was during development. the difference is that 6 was actually just bad.
people "hate" 5 because res4 was so good, and 5 was just unfortunate enough to be its successor. like i said, 4 wasn't scary, either, and relied more on tension than horror, but it was already more of an action game. if you don't wanna like 5 because it's not scary or whatever- that's fine, but it wasn't meant to be strictly a horror game anymore at that point anyways. the gameplay was a lot faster-paced than 4, so saying that the ai helping you by potentially shooting someone that was sneaking up behind you is a moot point. there were more enemies that were more aggressive, along with newer threats.
5 isn't as good as 4, but it's not a bad game by any stretch.
What? I always thought RE5 had fake controversy because it was set in South Africa and you shot a bunch of black zombies. I live in South Africa and thought the game was absolutely awesome, played the whole thing co-op with my brother.
@Foxtrot I think you're confusing the garbage Dead Space 3 with Resident Evil 5. Resident Evil 4 was already a hyper action game and had zero fear factor other than the grotesque appearance of some enemies.
An exploration of whether RE5 is truly the most logical next step for a remake, or whether there are others in line who deserve their day in the sun.
Remake of Resident evil outbreak as well as file 2. Same gameplay as the recent remakes. Choose what ever character you want to play as. With online co op.
I've been dying to see Outbreak come back for years.
Even RE Zero and Code Veronica would be excellent.
But for the love of God, not RE5 or RE6.
One they get around to the aforementioned games, why not remake the original Devil May Cry trilogy? That would be a much better use of time. At the very least, the first two games.
CV is good candidate for a remake but requires way more work for today’s standard. People look at CV through their tinted glasses. I think capcom wants to remake every game up till 6 and fix the plot holes so they can continue the series in one straight story path
Also not sure why only RE have to get remade when there are other capcom games that would be better suited for remakes like oninusha
That's PRECISELY the reason Code Veronica needs a remake. All the other RE games aged pretty well, considering the limitations of the time, but Code Veronica is the game that would be served the best bybremaking it because it feels so archaic these days.
DVA
But it depends if capcom wants a big project or a quick remake. CV will require a lot more work than RE5
IMO they should remake other games before doing RE5
RE5 is the closest to the bottom of the pot(a little smoky flavor but passable in a emergency) before we get to the burned crust that is 6 that not even the pigs would eat
Unpopular opinion here, but I enjoyed 5 and 6. I just think, in terms of Remakes, the classics are the one that should get the treatment above the modern takes of the franchise.
Don’t get wrong, RE4 definitely was an outstanding Remake, but RE5… I just get less excited about a Remake for that over something like Code Veronica.
Nope.
Rather remake other past Capcom & non-mainline RE games ... IF they have to continue churning out Remakes.
I'd rather want a new 3rd person RE spin-off
Dino Crisis and Onimusha Reboot
New IPs after Pragmata ships
Fun game in general, however as a Resident Evil game, it failed horribly. It wasn't scary in the slightest.
Good action game, bad RE game. You can get it for like 10 bucks now a days, so heck why not.
Not sure if anyone played this game with the move but it worked extremely well
It's a SOLID ACTION game, talking about the immersion of Resident Evil atmodphere, Crapcom failed miserably to deliver..