Eurogamer Expo 2008 Hands On: Resident Evil 5

Xbox 360 preview by Terence Gage, published on Thursday 30th October 2008

Would you believe that it has been nearly four years since Resident Evil 4 first came out on the GameCube? It was arguably the best reinvention ever of an ailing franchise, but after numerous ports and as many superlatives as you can level at any game, it’s beginning to feel a little long in the tooth. After so much praise heaped on its predecessor and such a long time between instalments, Resident Evil 5 is promising, important and very overdue.

Anyone familiar with Resi 4 will feel instantly at ease here. You can select the classic control scheme any fan of the fourth instalment will be at ease with, or you can chose a control scheme which has more in common with other third-person shooters, complete with right stick camera control and strafing. However, with limited time to play the game we opted for the familiar Resi 4 control layout, and set about shooting some African Ganados, or whatever they will be known as.

There were two levels on offer, and we had the chance to sample both. In the first, returning protagonist Chris Redfield and new ally Sheva begin in an enclosed allyway. There are two ways forward; one through the window of a shack occupied by a few foes, and the other through an iron gate. We chose the window. Meeting the opponents head on, it quickly becomes clear how similar to Resi 4 this is - the enemies move the same as their Spanish counterparts, carry familiar primitive bladed weapons and their animations all seem extremely similar to the point where it could almost be the series’ fourth instalment with a HD lick of paint.

Progressing a little further, a US chopper goes down amidst a cluster of flying parasites, a few of which fly down to attack Chris and Sheva. After taking them down, Chris boosts Sheva up to a first floor rooftop who covers him while he proceeds around the building and encounters a group of enemies. With Sheva providing adequate covering fire from out of harm’s way on the rooftop, we were able to take out the group of foes, although not without sustaining moderate damage. Pressing Y brings up the inventory in real time, so you can change weapons and heal yourself on the fly, and dead foes often leave ammo in their wake, a la Resi 4. Going into the building which our foes had vacated, we were able to gather some ammo and a red herb, whilst playing around with some of the environmental physics and breakable objects. Going out of the building again, we encountered more foes who were soon dispatched, and before we knew it crowds had gathered to watch this Resident Evil expertise and paupers were asking us to allow others a go. Luckily we managed to try out the other section a bit later.

Sheva and Chris begin in inauspicious surroundings outside a downtrodden shack. Going into said shack - the only apparent way forward - we are treated to a cutscene where an angry man is shouting at a crowd full of angry men from atop a podium. We couldn’t really hear what was going on, but they looked angry, and perhaps if we’d bothered to watch the whole cutscene we’d have known how the whole group comes to be attacking Chris and Sheva, in a sequence which evokes memories of Resi 4’s village defence where you first meet Dr. Salvadore, or the shack where Leon & Louis rebuff the sustained assault. After killing a group of enemies and holding your ground, a huge foe carrying a massive axe enters the fray, smashing apart walls as he goes. Retreating to a corner outside, Sheva was downed by this mammoth opponent and in need of assistance. Equipping Chris’s shotgun, we attempted to clear the way and get to our fallen ally, but too much time passed and Sheva’s death resulted in a game over.

It seems much of the game will live or die by Sheva’s AI. For the most part, it seemed fine, although she did seem a bit too willing to waste ammo and wade in close to the enemies. But then, to keep the game balanced she can’t be too capable or it would remove the challenge. It’s a difficult result to achieve, and the intricacies of her design will probably only become fully apparent after a few hours’ play. For the moment, it seems the developers have done a decent job with her, perhaps with a few kinks to iron out before release.

The incessant similarities to Resident Evil 4 may yet prove to be a double-edged sword for Capcom. Whilst the previous instalment was massively successful and more or less re-started the trend of modern survival horrors, what you are getting here appears to be much the same game, flaws included. While many fans will want little more, other games are taking the genre in new directions - such as Dead Space - which ironically may leave Resi 5 feeling a little archaic with some of its designs when it launches early next year.

However, while it may not feel particularly progressive nor bring anything new to the genre, Resi 5 is a beautiful game with solid, proven mechanics and a few tweaks for what looks set to be a smoother experience. Either way, you can guarantee this will be one of the biggest and best survival horror games of 2009.