Game Review #2: Resident Evil 5 & History of the Series (Part 3)

And now, after all that long reading you did on the history of the games (or at least I think you did), here is, Resident Evil 5.

Damnit where's that any key?

Resident Evil is the 5th chronological game in the Resident Evil series. The game takes place in Kijuju, Africa, where a terrorist threat is posed and the BSAA (Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance) are sent to intervene. Upon arriving at their destination (a small village in Kijuju) they soon realize something is terribly wrong. The locals become hostile and Chris calls for backup. Chris also notes that the villagers are acting like the Ganados, as detailed in the Kennedy Report (Resident Evil 4). 

They seem friendly...let's just be careful

Chris and Sheva soon discover that a BSAA unit had already gone ahead... but were unlucky and met up with a mutated B.O.W. (Bio Organic Weapon) that destroyed the entire team, even the members who wore enough armor to be a one man army.

They soon after proceed down into a furnace area where they discover what exactly killed all their comrades... 

B.O.W. down before me... get it? Get it?!

They dispatch him through the use of a conveniently constructed furnace. Well what, did you just expect him to die to your dinky handguns? Well he can, but you probably are on a second play through. Soon after these events, Sheva and Chris decide to proceed to the mine, where Irving (the Antagonist thus far) is supposed to be making a weapons deal. At this point in the game you become rescued by Josh Stone, an old acquaintance of Sheva's. This is where the game throws a twist at you *spoiler alert* Chris finds out that Jill Valentine, his partner who was presumed dead when she fought Wesker and fell off a cliff, is seen in a recent photo. Chris now has a personal stake in the whole affair and decides to disobey HQ's commands and seeks out Jill. *Spoiler done*             Irving is confronted soon after in a small building, but a smoke bomb is thrown in the room and a mysterious cloaked person carries him off.

That's about as much as I can delve into the story before I hit spoiler territory. So there you have the beginning of the game, in a nutshell. Now onto the review. 

Plot: 9/10

Resident Evil 5 faithfully follows their plotline and tries to keep plotholes to a minimum. The only reason I won't give a 10/10 is because the location of the game felt a little off at first, but slowly became acceptable.

Graphics (for their time): 8/10

When Resident Evil 5 hit store shelves March 13, 2009, this game was equal to if not better than a large majority of any title you could pickup at the time. It held up visually and kept the African landscape nice and colorful. The only downside is there are some scenes where the HDR lighting is literally overwhelming and unpleasant. That isn't as apparent in the PS3 version, but none the less, this is for the overall. 

Controls: 8/10

I honestly have not played the PS3 version, but I do use a PS3 controller for the PC, so I will not judge the PS3 controls here. The Xbox 360 controls felt smooth and responsive, though I would have definitely remapped some of the button locations for things like inventory and others. The PC version is very smooth and responsive, but sometimes felt like a chore when going through the equip menu (if you weren't using the numpad for item switch).

Replay Value: 9/10

This is where I honestly feel the title shone the brighest. After you play through the game you now have a plethora of new things to do. One of which is the Mercenaries. If you don't know what that is, I'll give you a briefing. The Mercenaries is something that began in the Resident Evil 3 game. After you beat the game, you played through mini missions where you were sent out to rescue people... but when Resident Evil 4 and 5 came along, they just dwindled it down into a zombie survival scenario.

You receive waves of zombies at a time and try to hold out until the timer ends, killing zombies to improve the score. Ok ok technically not zombies, but Ganados, but hey, whatever. Also, playing through the game for a second time will keep your previous inventory. This was a badass decision on Capcoms end, because with all the upgrades and new ultimate weapons, you tear through the campaign in style. The Veteran and Professional difficulty also proved worthwhile as they were both brutally hard.

Price /Where to get it: Because the game became a platinum hit, as of now it can be snagged up for 29.99 at EBgames.com. Some local wal-marts might have it, but I tend to find it there for over 40 dollars, which for a year old title doesn't feel right.

Final Mark:  8/10

 Definitely a worthwhile title in the series, but often criticized for doing more than making the series descend away from the survival horror genre it once was. In my personal opinion, it's not that big of a deal. Resident Evil 4 was action oriented but kept the survival horror aspect of it at a nice median, whereas Resident Evil 5 was more action oriented. Knowing Capcom, expect Resident Evil 6 (which has been announced in development but no details given) to feature someone like Leon in a dark scenario again, or hell, I'm going to ballpark the idea that Claire Redfield makes a feature game since she's been MIA since Code Veronica.

Some after thoughts and info:  

Did you know ... that this game had a lot of skeptics, claiming it was racist?

Did you know ... Resident Evil 5 is the highest selling game in the franchise at 5 million copies?

Did you know ... Resident Evil 5 was one of the first 3D titles for the PC?

And to finalize this review, here's some screenshots I took (or the respective person did) of the beginning of the game, and various further areas.

... And that's it for my review, I sincerely hope you enjoyed it, as I loved getting to play this title again to write it :)