• 10Aug 07

  Resident Evil 5: what next?

  It's been a long time since Chris' last appearence on the Resident Evil series (excluding all the remakes), and now Capcom is drawing him back to the fray. The trailers confirm it: Chris Redfield is not only back, but he seems to be the protagonist of Resident Evil 5. Yet the trailers aren't exaclty very clear about his intentions for being in the middle of an African village, fighting a bunch of people infected with god-knows-what. So, in order to discover exactly why Chris is back, it's a good idea to revisit some of the plot that involves him.

  Starting in the original Resident Evil, Chris was just a member of the S.T.A.R.S. Alpha team sent to find out what happened to his fellow Bravo team members, who were sent to the Arklay mountains just outside of Raccoon City to investigate a series of bizarre murders. During RE1, he has to survive a mansion full of strange zombie-like creatures in order to uncover the truth behind all that. What he ends up discovering is that the monsters are the results of infection by the T-virus, Umbrella's newest bio-weapon. Also, he discovers that Albert Wesker, captain of the Alpha team, worked as a researcher for Umbrella and betrayed the S.T.A.R.S., luring them to acquire combat data on the B.O.W.s. Though he, along with Jill, Barry and Rebecca, survived the ordeal, Umbrella managed to cover up the whole incident. They tried to initiate an investigation on Umbrella, but the Chief of Police denied their request, he being an asset of Umbrella. Chris decides to go to Europe to further his investigations.

  During RE2, Claire Redfield, while searching for her brother in Raccoon City, finds out about his investigations and decides to go to Europe after him. When RE:CV starts, she's captured and taken to an island somewhere in the South America. Upon her arrival, a viral outbreak takes over the isle, and she's released. While searching for a way out of the island, Claire contacts Leon for help, and he contacts Chris, giving him Claire's location. Chris arrives at the island a few hours later. Upon confronting Wesker (who had attacked the island and caused the whole outbreak, now working for a new company) he finds out that Claire is now in the Antartic and he must find a way to get there and help her. He manages to get there using a Harrier and, not long after that, he finds Claire. After the brief encounter, they're cut off from each other by a tentacle. As Claire follows her way, Chris is confronted by Alexia Ashford and Wesker. Wesker fights Alexia, claiming he was sent to get the T-Veronica virus in her body, but fleds. Chris defeats Alexia and once again search for Claire. He finds her once more, yet she's locked in a room and the only way to unlock the door is to activate the self-destruction system. Claire slips him the keycard which enables him to do so, and, after freeing Claire, they are both confronted by Alexia. Claire goes ahead as Chris is left to fight Alexia once and for all. But, after defeating her, he finds Wesker holding Claire hostage. Wesker releases Claire and starts fighting Chris, revealing that he recovered the body of Steve, another survival from the island who was infected with the T-Veronica virus. Suddenly, an explosion burns Wesker's face and cuts them both off. Chris escapes with Claire, and they both vow to take Umbrella down.

  

  So now we have Resident Evil 5. In RE4, it is revealed that Umbrella eventually ceased it's functions due to governmental pressure. So, basically, Chris and friends had nothing to do with it? Also in RE4, we have the return of Wesker, which for god-knows-what reasons seem to want Umbrella back in business. This is coming from the same man who betrayed them once and later attacked them. The story so far is a bit messy, but there's still something very important, important enough to form a story-line: Wesker wants revenge on Chris. Though he did come out victorious on the last their met (he got the virus), he is still holding grudges from RE1. Of course, it probalby isn't Resident Evil 5: Wesker's Revenge, so there's probalby much more to the story. From the trailers, there are a few safe assumptions to be made: Chris is now a member of a military organisation called B.S.A.A., it's nature as of yet unknown (is it govenrmental? is it related to the UN? is it the militia he formed with fellow S.T.A.R.S. members?); the enemies weren't made with any previously known virus, so they're either the Ganados or something new altogether; and the end of Umbrella didn't mean the end of Chris' adventures, since he states in the trailer that he's tired of fighting (what was he fighting after Umbrella? is it a new corp.? is it Wesker's organization?). Now we are left to speculation, but there are a few things that I, personally, think Capcom should explore: the return of the S.T.A.R.S. members and Claire is a major subject, since they weren't noted whatsoever in RE4; Wesker as the main villain instead of someone always behind the stage, since his conspiration has been going on for to long (so much that his main objectives have been lost long ago); and use some of the elements from the Outbreak series, since they introduced several and rich plot elements that are very useable (like the mysterious outpost Umbrella placed on Raccoon city after the missile strikes).

  My point is, RE5 must have a rich story in order to tie some of the loose ends the series left (especially after the incredibly cool to play, yet ultimately pointless RE4), and, although we have to wait for what Umbrella Chronicles for the Wii will reveal, this means the next game has some pretty big shoes to fill.

  

  • Posted Aug 10, 2007 4:42 pm GMT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 13Jun 07

  Learning the pleasures of driving

  Well, here I am, eighteen years later. I didn't make it into law school and now I seem to be whining to a bunch of unknown people... but that's just a blog thing, right? RIGHT? But I digress. Though my career is on a low right now, it doesn't mean I can't be a total adult, afterall, I'm about to become my mom's chauffer (that's the correct spelling, I think). But I was told I'd get access to the car now and then, so I'm okay with that. Plus, driving is a really neat activity. I almost ran over a dog, a cat and a child so far, but I can park very neatly. I didn't know driving could be so fun! If anyone reads this, feel free to post your two cents and, as a great man once said: "If you don't like my driving, get off the sidewalk!".
  • Posted Jun 13, 2007 6:46 pm GMT
  • Category: Cars
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