Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Mixed reactions"

This will not be a significantly long review, mostly because of the fact that there isn't too much to this game besides the basics.

I've been a player of Resident Evil for a while, only recently did I become a big fan, there are certainly bigger fans of the series than myself, but I wanted to write a review on Resident Evil 5 before I begin playing Resident Evil 6, because I do not want a possible improved successor to taint my opinion about this game. I don't want you to waste your time reading another bias review.

ENJOYING AN APOCALYPSE

From the very first encounter with the main menu there is this creepy feeling you're supposed to have, but then you start the game, and that feeling is gone in seconds... You are walking through the urban roads, and then you meet up with a contact, acquire your "gear", and that is when everything goes wrong.

Before you know it, you're being attacked by a horde of infected villagers, retreating into a room and barricading yourself inside of it. Of course the barricades don't last long, you start firing at the villagers, and it is pretty much just one chaotic mess after another from that point on.

The graphics are fantastic even now years after its release, I'm amazed by them. The frame rate is smooth most of the time, with the occasional skipping here and there, but overall frame rate issues are uncommon. Playing co-operative greatly enhances the experience, although splitscreen co-operative shrinks the size of both the top and bottom screen leaving all this unused space on your television set, which is completely pointless.

But when it comes to the co-operative, it is nice to have someone watching your back, and it also saves you from the inevitable problems you'd get with an A.I. partner.

Now the bad guys throughout the game are very mindless, and act very very brain dead, of course that might actually be because they really are. It just makes the game rather easy, and not at all challenging, all it is, is a matter of maneuvering skills.

Movement is very wooden, it makes you feel like... a "robosapien" actually... Like some remote controlled robot, you're turning left, turning right, moving forward, or quickly turning around, but besides that, there isn't any life-like movement.

The movement is much like that of the original Resident Evil. But no need to worry about this, because it is still entertaining most of the time, especially if you have a friend to play it with, I've played it both by myself, and with another player... and it is MUCH more enjoyable with another player.

Inventory system is nice, being able to give your partner weapons, ammo, etc. is also very neat... and even though they get REALLY IRRITATING after a while, the "Squad commands" (you could say) can sometimes be both helpful, and comical.

This game is not a ground-breaking one, and it most certainly is not the best game I've played, but (when with a friend) it can be very enjoyable and worth every penny you'd be spending.

SOME PRETTY ROUGH SYMPTOMS

Like I said, movement is pretty unrealistic. The enemies you face throughout the game are pretty much all the same with a slight difference in movement and/or appearance, really slow, really unintelligent, and no problem at all.

Unfortunately, there isn't any situation where you are so badly surrounded by hordes of infected villagers that you're nearly hopeless. Usually it is really easy to find a nice corner or a nice window to position yourself next to and pick off the bad guys one by one, and this makes the game easy and in no way challenging 75% of the time.

Sometimes you just want to be left to investigate things, and check things out, but you never really get any opportunity to do that, you're mostly just facing violent situations throughout the entire game, and nothing else.

Lack of ammo, the one thing that makes the game challenging... can also be prevented, by simply being a bit more patient and aiming for the head, you'll be just fine.

Overall, not challenging, not very interesting when it comes to the storyline, and not very realistic... But, the graphics are fantastic, and with a friend this is truly a very very enjoyable experience.

PARENTAL ADVISORY

Resident Evil 5 is rated Mature for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, and Strong Language.

Blood is not extremely obvious, and for the most part creatures have blackish/bluish blood instead of a realistic crimson, but the gore is perfectly realistic. When nailing a headshot you can cause an enemy's head to explode chunks and all. Also some enemies grow a long scorpion like tail in place of what was once their head, which could be disturbing to some, but overall it is not very creepy, just unexpected the first time it happens... Things like this also happen with other infected people, but in different ways... like some of them may explode from the chest with crab arms, etc.

Pretty violent setting, all about killing and death, and not much else. Strong language doesn't make an appearance often, but towards the beginning a helicopter pilot shouts "What the f**k are those things!?" or something along those lines, but besides that, you will not come across a whole lot of language, and if you do, most of the time it isn't anything stronger than sh*t.

Interesting game, great graphics, dull storyline, bad A.I. and one of the most disappointing things about the game... It isn't really a horror like its predecessors.. It is simply an action game but it still plays like a horror game. (You can't aim and move at the same time).

Worth buying and playing, especially with a friend, and you'll most likely keep it, because it really is a neat game, unfortunately though, there are a lot of things they didn't do, lot of problems they didn't fix, and not much variety to what you do.

Hope this was a helpful review.. thank you for reading.

-ARBALON