GameGirl Review: Resident Evil 5 - GameGirl - Girls And Video Games: What More Do You Need?

The next installment of the Resident Evil series finally made it's way into our hands and as gamers we rejoiced. Resident Evil 5 had been a game of much discussion, controversy, and anticipation for months. Finally, we played it, we loved it, and now it's time for Raychul and Kess to review it. We are sure you have already played it and are probably already one your second or third playthrough like some of us here, but we wanted to give you our own thoughts and feelings on Resident Evil 5. Did we enjoy it as much as we were expecting? What did we love, or what did we hate? What were our feelings on the mechanics and controls of the game?

Keep reading to find out.

If you read my first impressions on the Resident Evil 5 demo you know that I was rather disappointed by the demo and not expecting too much from the new game. Once I got my hands on the full game, my opinions completely changed. RE5 is amazing and completely proved me wrong from what I originally thought. (My review is written based on my co-op experiences only)

From the first moment that I finally got a hold of a gun, I actually found myself loving the controls. I like the fact that you can't run while shooting or loading, I think that adds to the tension and that panicky feeling. The inventory system is definitely old-school Resident Evil, but there were a few things that could have and should have been changed. For one, I should have an option to combine an item without actually having to put it in my inventory first. If I am holding a red herb yet my inventory is full, and I see a green herb; I should be able to combine them without needing to pick up the green one and place it in my inventory first. Same with guns and bullets, if my inventory is full but I have gun that can hold more ammo, I should be able to instantly combine or reload my gun when I find ammo lying around somewhere. At least if I discard something it would be nice if the discarded item showed up on the ground so that I can pick up the ammo, reload my gun and then re-pick up that discarded item before it disappears. Small things like that should have been noticed and changed.

Also, a small thing that was overlooked in the inventory management was the two different vests you can later buy in the game's store. First you can buy the Melee Vest that helps guard you against melee attacks. In the description it explains that it can be combined with the bullet-proof vest that will become available later on. This vest takes up a spot in your inventory -- shouldn't something you wear not take up an open slot? Secondly, when you are finally able to buy the bullet-proof vest, that vest too takes up a second slot in your inventory. How can the melee vest and the bullet-proof vest be combined if they both take up two different slots in the inventory? This is very frustrating and is something that should not have been an issue.

One of my favorite aspects of the game is being able to upgrade my weapons as I play-through the game. This small detail plays a huge part in how I actually play the game. Also the amount of weapons and the choices in what weapon to use and why allows each player to play the game a different way. My boyfriend likes to snipe the enemies who are far away or blast them with the shotgun when they are close. I like to use my machine gun and mag for more powerful encounters. This type of co-op also helps when deciding who gets what ammo and since we use different weapons we each always have a very ample amount of ammo for each of our guns. The co-op in this game is very well put together and managed. Everything in the game is equal and well balanced.

Now, I still do have a little bit of an issue at calling this a Resident Evil title, as the series seems to be getting farther and farther away from its roots and where it all began. Even if this game was a standalone title I think I would be having just as much fun with it. My only huge problem was with the story. Umbrella used to be the huge evil corporation in the Resident Evil universe. Umbrella was the corporation we all feared and it had gained this respect from its fans of the RE series. In RE5 Umbrella is hardly anywhere to be seen, and even in one of the in-game notes Umbrella is referred to as "a tool". You can't just build up all this fear and respect for this huge corporation, a company that most of us grew up fearing since the first Resident Evil title and then just downplay it and call it a "tool". I was actually very upset about this. It's like what the newest Star Wars movies did to Darth Vader. We saw Darth Vader as this super villain, yet the new Star Wars movies turned him into a spoiled, sniveling brat. Kinda ruins the magic for ya, huh? The rest of the story though, was still kinda stale and uninspired. Jill still alive? Yeah, that wasn't cliched at all.

The graphics in this game are gorgeous, and the level designs are breath-taking. There are some levels in this game that looks like something right out of a Tomb Raider game, but better. Even though the monsters were not scary, the spiders were terrifying. I have a huge issue with spiders and some levels had so many of them that I would actually begin to get nauseous from seeing all of those gross little bastards. I also love the treasure hunting aspect of the game, I am a hoarder and love games that play upon my love for collecting things. The BSAA symbols were fun to try and find in each level as well.

I know some people hate quick-time evens, and Resident Evil 5 had a lot of those quick button hitting moments. Personally, I love quick-time events and thought they were well placed. I also like the fact that when you die it kicks you back to your inventory home screen so that you can manage your inventory and buy or add items that you need for that level or boss fight.

Overall, I do have to say that I love Resident Evil 5. I am on my 2 1/2 playthough of the game and I am already planning on playing it on Insane next. I am just working on upgrading my weapons and unlocking unlimited ammo so that I can go into Insane mode with super weapons. I recommend this game to anyone who was a fan of the past Resident Evil games or anyone who enjoys a great action/advenure title. A lot of people were expecting this game to control like a Gears of War, but it's not Gears of War, it's Resident Evil and as a Resident Evil tile it's excellent!

When I first had Resident Evil 5 in my hands I couldn't wait to get home and play it. I ended up staying awake until three in the morning with a few friends testing out the co-op. Days went by where I just kept playing the game over and over and was pretty much addicted to it. Then a week later I lent the game out, and then realized, I don't miss it at all.

Resident Evil 5 is a decent game, plain and simple. At first I thought that I would be terrified with getting mobbed by waves after waves of enemies, but found myself not really getting scared at all.

For those who haven't played just yet, here's a quick summary of what happens. Chris arrives in Africa so that he and his lady-partner Sheva Alomar can stop the dealings of viruses in the black market. But as the story goes on it seems there is a lot more going on then just the selling of what's causing the natives to go bonkers. As you progress through the story you learn that Wesker (surprise?) is at it again with his evil doing, and this time he has a partner in crime. This is pretty much the reason why the people in Africa have been getting infected with a virus similar, but not the same, to the one seen in Resident Evil 4. I won't get too much into detail, but the story is pretty stereotypical just like all of it's predecessors, with a few little twists thrown in.

One thing this game has going for it is that it looks amazing. It looks nice and crisp, and is almost realistic. And while Chris does look like a raging bag of steroids and hormones, the character designs complement the look of the game as well. The only complaint I have about the characters is that Excella Gione looks out of place with her fancy look. Other than that, the game is great eye candy.

Gameplay-wise, while there are a few really good things about the mechanics, the developers seemed to have spent more time tweaking up controls that didn't need the attention rather then focus on the ones that do. I'm sorry, but having no choice but to stand in place while you have groups of crazies coming after you is not as fun as it sounds. While I can see how it can be used to build more tension as well as add to the scare factor, it just doesn't seem to fit in a game of this league. One thing I loved about the controls is the use of the directional pad as quick access to what you have in your inventory. This kind of leads into the screen between chapters, which is also nice. You can use that time to sells items, upgrade weapons, and buy more guns for your arsenal. This ties into the directional pad use I mentioned. When you organize your inventory, it automatically puts your weapons in the up, down, left, and right positions, so then that way if you're having to fend off 10 guys at once and you want to switch from your handgun to your shotgun, all you have to do is press the button and viola! You switch weapons, it's that easy.

One thing I'm glad they kept is the use of melee attacks. There's nothing like kicking a guy in the face after you shoot out his kneecap. Sometimes it could be hassle to get the Majini into the positions in order to execute the attack, like sometimes I would shoot them in the arm or knee and they wouldn't respond. I would think that they would considering that they are still human. Either way, another cool thing about this is that you can execute combos with Sheva if your timing is right and if she's next to you. Which leads to her and her AI.

Sheva's AI is okay. She has two modes, cover, where she doesn't attack, or minimally attacks, and then attack, where she'll scout a room out and shoot at whatever enemy that's coming your way. She tends to run into bullets at times, but other than that she's actually very useful compared to a blonde President's daughter who shall not be named, whom I've shot many times out of frustration. If you point a gun at her, she moves out of the way, if some mo-fo is grabbing you, you can depend on her coming to help. She';s also very good at healing you and giving you items when you need them.

Now to talk about the enemies. Now I know there's a lot of them in the game, but they're just too slow! At least the mini-boss like guys are. I wasn't as terrified as I was when I would play Resident Evil 4. Yeah it's nerve-wracking when you have a ton of guys coming after you, but it isn't as scary when you can easily get past them. The bosses were pretty easy as well, once you found their weakness all you needed to do was run, lots of running. Wesker was pretty fun to fight the second time, but the first was just kind of annoying. Playing hide and seek in a videogame isn't exactly fun. Unless it's the boss fight with The End from MGS3, but this is far from being really strategically challenging.

So after you beat the game, you unlock the Mercenaries Mode, just like in RE4. Wow is this mini game fun! I find myself having more fun with this then the actual game! I've yet to unlock all the characters, but you pretty much get different variations of Chris, Sheva, Jill, and Wesker. The levels are fun and are pretty challenging. And it's nice because you can unlock some nice goodies when you get good scores in the game.

All in all, this game isn't as good as I would have hoped. I still like it, don't get me wrong, but I would've hoped for better scare tactics and a bit better of a story. I give Capcom props though for doing well though, it must've been hard trying to make a game just as good as Resident Evil 4. But sad to say it isn't as perfect as it's predecessor.