Australia's premier mens magazine with news on mens style, mens fashion, movies, vedioe games, babes and more

A vivid fan of everything zombie this office has been itching for the release of Resident Evil 5 for the PS3. We pre-ordered our copies well in advance and made Jerry our coffee-boy wake up at 5.30am and sit outside Big W.

I also realize that we promised our readers a review of it on the day it came out but I confess that I was hooked on the game and couldn't tear myself away enough to get it done. So here it is, three days later, your review of RE 5.

Background

First lets start with a little background info. Your character, Chris Redfield begins his journey in the little African town of Kijuju, a place not unlike other African villages you see on TV. The air is dry, buildings are worn, poverty is widespread, and the atmosphere is somber. At least until those crazy b*stards at the umbrella corporation set a virus down upon the little town.

This is when things get ugly. Eyes start goozing, skin begins falling and a rise in aggresive bloodlust occurs among the people of Kijuju. You of course will be in the middle of this transformation totally unprepared for the gruesome things that lay ahead of you. And on your side is Sheva, an Africa bio-weapons expert whose going to help you fix this little conundrum.

Gameplay

The basic gameplay of RE5 is similar to its predecessors. Prevent getting mauled by zombies, you can't run and shoot, controls are awkward, inventory is limited, weapons can be upgraded and you replenish your health with herbs.

The difference is Sheva is on your side, and she never leaves. RE5's trademark will be cooperative gameplay. You can switch roles and use each others unique characteristics to get through the levels.

Graphics

We have to applaud Capcom on the graphics here. A real looking zombie generally makes you sh*t your pants quicker then a fake one, so kudos to the boys there. The scenery is beautiful too, which is important because you will be picking up lots of little gifts and treasures when stolling around, which you can use to upgrade weapons among other things.

Animation is also beautiful however the zombie movements get a bit repetitive over time.

What Went Wrong?

Our biggest complaint with RE5 is that it just wasn't scary. Something which all 4 of its predecessors accomplished, this one couldn't. Partly because Sheva is always with you, so the feeling of doomed isolation isn't there, and fright just feels like panic. You are no longer in the horror genre but now have moved into action. Which is as we found out deliberate by the developers. RE5 has evolve from the earlier games and is meant to be a more fast-paced on your feet game.

What Went Right?

Co-op....This game is just more fun with a friend now and killing zombies, especially the bosses is just more satsfying done as a team. The split-screen was a bit confusing here so we opted using the online feature for our team playing.

Conclusion

We have to give a thumbs up for RE5, despite it shying away from the slow-moving fear-inducing nature of its franchise it does have lasting appeal attached to it with loads of unlockables and well-paced level designs. If you do want to get back the fear then we suggest Mercenary mode where resources are limited and enemies are extra crazy. This one brought the best of both worlds combining the fast-paced gameplay of RE5 and the scariness of RE1-RE4.

A final note on the numerous comments of racist overtones in this game that is circulating the web. Naturally brought on by the fact that a white guy is gunning down thousands of Africans. This sinks in more when you realize that you are using treasures found around their town to buy bigger weapons to subsequently kill them with. So maybe a bum move on the developers part, but certainly not anything intentionally racist going on there from what we observed.

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites