Demo Impressions: Resident Evil 5

Resident Evil 4 came out for the Nintendo GameCube in January 2005 and became a must have for the platform. I remember getting that the day it came out and thought it was a great action game. Then in 2007, Capcom ported the hit to the Nintendo Wii as Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition. The Wii Edition became the most popular of the versions due to the faster paced, intuitive control scheme. Most who played it now think the GameCube and PlayStation 2 are now obsolete due to the slower pace it has compared to the motion controlled Wii version. The Wii Edition is now one of my favorite games of all time because it was the perfect platform with the perfect control scheme.

Now this article is about Resident Evil 5 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Why was the introduction totally about Resident Evil 4? It’s because Resident Evil 5 is not on Wii and instead is on platforms whose controllers are more traditional. After seeing Resident Evil 5 four years later than the original RE4 and two years after Wii Edition, can the next-generation consoles beat out Wii Edition in controls and become the best in the series?

Like Devil May Cry 4 before it, Capcom makes the most with the demo by offering two parts of the campaign. One is in the African slums and the other was in the African slums. Each of them though has their different feels. The first one sticks you in a secluded area, where you kill and kill until your backup arrives, while the other is more based on the “let’s see why we added a partner” bit where your goals are based on teamwork.

For those who are new to the new-age Resident Evils, it has skewed away from being a normal survivor horror to being a third person action game with Resident Evil 4. You shoot, you slash, you try not to die. RE4 started revolving all other controls around a context sensitive button so when you needed to jump, instead of pressing a jump button, a button will designate all other non-action related moves. RE5 continues the same setup for the most part, with some better or worse tweaks. Stuff like right analog stick turning and map switch are added due to the extra options the newer controllers have versus the GameCube controller.

For those who played Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition, expect to be disappointed by the crawl-like pace the fifth Resident Evil feel with the standard controller. Not only is it slower than the lightning-fast Wii Edition, but it’s even slower than RE4 on GameCube. Seems like Chris Redfield ate one too many cheeseburgers than Leon, because it takes forever to turn, run and walk compared to the GameCube original. Deaths will happen if you cannot adapt, because the guy with a chainsaw won’t give you the chance to get a handle with the controls.

One thing Resident Evil 5 has added is a partner. It’s a nifty addition, but it adds something I never wanted. This partner can be controlled via the CPU, or through another player- online or off. It’s cool the newer consoles can produce so many infected enemies that two people can blast them away, but it’s too bad I have to share ammo, weapons and health items with someone that will just waste them (or force me to be conservative for once). One final gripe with the co-op in the demo: Why can’t we both have shotguns in the demo? Plus, will the full game allow two of the same weapon outside pistols?

In the end, I expected most of what I saw in Resident Evil 5. It plays a lot like Resident Evil 4 with a buddy. Sadly, one thing I didn’t expect was the torturous speed of the playable characters. Just one last plead to Capcom: Please make a Resident Evil 5: Wii Edition. I REALLY need this game with a faster pace. The Xbox 360 and PS3 versions feel so obsolete compared to the excellent Wii Edition control scheme.