A great game in just about every aspect, but it no longer feels like a Resident Evil game.
Old school fans will tell you it's all about isolationism and trying to survive the grisly horrors with very scarce ammo, running whenever you can, but most of all, they'll probably say the game is about... zombies...
Let me just start by saying that Resident Evil 5 has absolutely none of this. Yes, sorry old fans, this game may not be anything like what you expect or want. However, that's not to say to say this game is bad, as a matter of fact, it's quite amazing. Knowing all this may be a turn off to most old fans, but luckily, this game may just be very welcoming to newcomers to the series.
Now, let's get started...
SETTING: 6.5/10
Starting in a large mansion on the outskirts of the small rural town of Raccoon City, Resident Evil games have many diverse locations scattered across the world.
Resident Evil 5 takes place in the small, fictional continent of Kijuju on the continent of Africa. With violence and murder popular across many parts of Africa, this fact alone would almost guarantee a very terrifying game. Sadly, you'd be wrong if you assumed this. This game takes place almost entirely during the day and this takes away almost all amounts of horror this game could have had would it have take place during the night. There are, however, a few places that are dark and dimly lit, though somehow, it still doesn't make this game very scary.
The setting no longer feels scary and the Resident Evil series has almost always been about 'scary' settings. This is why I have to give this game setting such a bad score, and in truth, it's this games one major fault, especially if you walked in expecting to be scared.
GRAPHICS: 9.5-10/10
I can't even lie, this game looks stunning. The graphics are top notch and possibly some of the best I've seen in a video game. You can literally see the glistening from the sweat on your character's arms, as well as sand breezing through the air.
There are way too many nice graphical effects in this game to list in this review, but simply put, you won't be disappointed.
The only reason I lowered the score by .5 is because I hear so many complaints about slight frame rate issues which, I personally, have never even noticed and I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt for anyone who might notice it. If you're the kind of person to be very nit-picky about this sort of thing, you may be bothered by it, everyone else won't even notice.
STORY:7.5-8/10
I'll be honest with you, I'm a fan of this series and I personally had mixed feelings about the way the story was told. Newcomers to the series may find the story - should they understand it without knowledge of the previous titles - very cliche and standard. There's the hero, and the super strong bad-guy who can't be beaten.
Old fans of the story will find a lot more here than the newcomers. You'll be able to see the return of older characters and what they've been doing this whole time. But most of all, you'll find closure and some satisfaction when this game comes to an end.
I myself felt disappointed, yet somewhat content with where the story went. To avoid spoilers, I won't go into detail, but suffice it to say, it feels as if Capcom believed the story would be just 'good enough' for long time fans of the series, but they definitely didn't take that extra step for greatness.
GAMEPLAY: 9.5-10/10
Finally, we get to the meat of this review. Simply put, the game is very fun. It is hard, however, to review the gameplay without bringing in Resident Evil 4. In all seriousness, this game sometimes feels identical to RE4, with, of course, some slightly upped game mechanics.
At its essence, it controls like most TPS, you have your standard melee attack which comes in the form of a knife slash. You have an aim button, and you have a shoot button and you can aim at specific body parts to cause certain effects, much life RE4. What sets this game apart, however, from just about any other game I've seen is the ability to follow up an attack with another 'special' melee attack.
For example, Chris Redfield(the game's main protagonist) can shoot an enemy in the head, and quickly run up to the enemy as it is stunned and follow it up with a straight punch to the face which can only be activated through a button prompt. This helps alot with ammo conservation and can knock down quite a few enemies, not to mention it can do quite a bit of damage, and sometimes even kill the enemy, or several enemies, if you're lucky. There are even some secret moves which can only be met under certain conditions.
But, by far, the biggest part of the gameplay for this game is the co-op mode. Better yet, the co-op mode is online, which let's you play with all your online buddies. Use a mic to play with your friends and it'll add a whole new level of fun. This is the major source of fun for this game and if you don't play online, you're missing a whole chunk of this game.
Unlike past RE titles, which have always geared to 'run away, and live to fight another day' this game is more of a 'kill everyone' type of game. For the most part, you'll gain plenty of ammo for your weapons, and you've got the special melee moves to help you, as well as your knife, all of which allow for plenty of killing action.
However, like I stated, most old-school fans will find this to be a turn off since they probably wanted a scary game, and quite honestly, this game fails to deliver that.
One thing that many people may find annoying about this game is the inability to move and shoot at the same time. Hardly a make or break, but annoying to people who are used to being able to do this. Personally, it's not a problem, and once you get used to it, it really shouldn't bother you.
With plenty of different enemies, and in pretty large numbers, this game offers lots of fun gameplay to be had. Whether you're an old fan or a new one, there's definitely lots of fun to be had here.
EXTRAS AND REPLAY VALUE: 9.5-10/10
With harder difficulties available, and countries full of online co-op partners, there are plenty of reasons to continue playing this game over and over again. Chances are, you'll find yourself playing this game quite a bit.
With plenty of unlockable items and a very fun and exciting extra mode, you can play this game all day for weeks before you finally become bored of it... that is... if you become bored of it.=]
Also, be sure to keep an eye out for DLC to be released sometime within the upcoming months, which is sure to add a whole new level of fun to this game.
OVERALL: 9/10
Whether you're an old fan of the series, or someone brand new, there's something here for everyone to find enjoyable. In all fairness, I can't quite give it a perfect score as a reviewer, but I feel as if it should come very darn close.
All in all, you're sure to have plenty of fun with it. A definite buy. =]