An awful lot of games can trace back some of their DNA to Resident Evil 4, the third-person, over-the-shoulder survival horror that managed to merge the old with the new. Despite not quite liking how it feels to play and still stumbling to get to grips with it, I can see how it shines to many people.
But how do you follow RE4? Do you lean into that new control scheme, even if it means pushing the gameplay towards the action genre, potentially bringing you a new audience, but perhaps irking some of your old fans? Do you play it safe and stick with what works, tweaking what needs tweaking to keep everything up to date?
Resident Evil 5 had some big footsteps to follow, and from what I can tell, for every player that thought it succeeded, there's another player who thought it didn't. Maybe they should buddy up and work things out together in the scorching heat of a bio-terrorized Africa.
Fun Times
The backstory you get for Resident Evil 5 is minimal. A masked figure appears to be infecting the locals with some sort of biological thingamajig, which is now such a common problem in the world that a dedicated anti-biological terrorism team has been set up to deal with it, with Chris Redfield one of its members.
He looks somewhat chunkier than previous depictions, but I suppose you pack on quite a bit of muscle when you're faced with unimaginable bio-horrors on an all too frequent basis.
Now, I just want to go on a little tangent here to talk about how characters can be introduced in media.
Cars are handy vehicles (badum tisch) for introducing characters, especially car doors. You can roll down the window to peer at the passenger sitting in the back seat, or open the door and watch a pair of boots plant themselves on the floor. You've all seen it done countless times across just games alone, let alone film and TV.
In this particular case, we're not introduced to Chris with this weird shot you see above. We've already seen his humvee driving across the African landscape before cutting to a shot through the windshield to see him staring through his shades at the road ahead. He's a man of military background who doesn't need passengers in his military vehicle. He's capable, he's determined, he's in control.
Cue Sheva's backside swaying into the frame.
A toned rear, to be sure, flanked by hands wearing fingerless gloves, within reach of a walkie-talkie hooked into the belt. This mysterious woman appears equally capable, just as determined, even confident in her approach, but I have a sneaking suspicion that whoever was in control of the in-game camera in this scene wasn't thinking about any of that at the time...
Sex sells. Show them her arse. Ironically, the way I capture screenshots means I missed capturing one of this moment, instead getting the before (Chris's arse) and the after (some chatting). But my point stands, damnit. We can do better than this.
Africa doesn't seem to make enough appearances in video games, does it? But when it does, it always seems to be coloured in a way that puts me on edge. Either it's made to be dangerously hot and dusty, or - fitting for Resident Evil - dangerously hot, dusty, run-down with a sickly green air about the place.
It's sunny, it's warm, but you really don't want to be here, do you? You certainly wouldn't want to outstay your welcome, especially if the locals look at you like this, or, just a block further down the street, are ready to roll you up in a carpet and beat the absolute shit out of you.
To increase the tension just that little bit more, the streets mysteriously clear of all life as we get closer to our contact in the area, as if every part of the environment knows more about us than we want it to.
The cutscenes all come with this handheld camera that tends to wobble quite a bit, which is off-putting from time to time, and the way the game hugs Chris' back so tightly also leads to some awkward moments, but they all contribute to the sense of unease that you want from a Resident Evil title.
But where is this title going, exactly?
We, who are part of an anti-bioterrorism task force, don't roll around with any weapons of our own, so it's a good job our contact in the butchers isn't afraid of the state of this place.
It's here where we're introduced to the inventory system, which is different from that of RE4, in that everything that doesn't stack on top of itself takes up one slot in your 9-slot inventory. It sounds like we'll be travelling light in RE5, or else juggling what we want and need a lot more than in previous games.
On the one hand, that feels quite limiting, but on the other, maybe this is just an extension of action games that only allow us to carry two weapons. If we can survive games like that, surely 9 slots are plenty.
Weapon in hand, we're now set for the actual gameplay of RE5, and you'll notice that the HUD reinforces that we are indeed part of a 'we', as Sheva's equipped weapon, ammo count, and health bar are there for us to keep track of too.
You can play RE5 co-operatively with a fellow human, which by all accounts is more preferable to relying on the apparently dodgy AI that we solo-gamers will be making friends with over the course of the story. For what it's worth, Sheva rarely showed me her stupid side, but I haven't played a whole lot to see her in action when it really counts.
In this way, you can carry all the weapons while your partner grabs the healing items, but will this turn out to be a good plan if you become separated and have to fend for yourselves? Again, from what I've heard but not really seen myself, Sheva likes to heal you when you probably don't need healing, and that's when she eventually gets close enough to spray you with first aid in the first place.
Bursting through a door but watching as an innocent civilian gets forcefully infected with a bio-weapon, rather than actually taking steps to stop it from happening, we get our first taste of zombie action in RE5.
It's much the same as in RE4, really, where you can conserve a bit of ammo to stagger a target, and then rush in to punch them in the face and knock them down for good, but ammo seems to be everywhere, so I'm going to hang back and take things slowly.
Sheva will shoot as well, of course, and often finds and kills enemies before I'm even aware of them, so I do need to thank her when this is all over.
Doesn't it all look marvellous, though? The colours, the contrast, the lighting... I'm getting MGS4 vibes, here and there. I'm playing the Gold Edition of the PC version of RE5, and bar some tearing at higher resolutions, it looks great.
Another cutscene shows us the scale of the situation. All those folks who cleared out of the streets earlier? They're infected now and whipped up into a frenzy by this chap and his megaphone. They've also got our contact held hostage, and there's a concerning looking figure standing behind him.
RE5 has you fighting through wave after wave of frenzied (though still usually shambling) zombies intent on ending your existence, and because the game is set in Africa, the majority of these folks are black.
At the time, a lot was said about RE5 being racist. A white man coming to Africa and gunning down black African zombies... surely that can't be taken out of context? What you see in-game is more of a mix of skin colours that belong to infected citizens, right up until it starts getting into tribal territory, where zombies in grass skirts and elaborate masks start terrorizing you.
Then, yes, it could get weird, but racist? I'm not so sure. Ignorant, yeah, but outright racist, I don't see it. But then I'm a straight white male and all my opinions are wrong, so think what you want. All I'm concerned about right now is staying alive until a guy in a helicopter blows open a gate to the next area.
Okay, so it took more than one attempt, but I blame my own recklessness, rather than the controls. The controls are a little sluggish and dated, but they're not unusable. Give yourself some space and don't run up to the executioner unless he actually is staggered and you'll be fine. Before you know it, you'll be faced with your score and a shop before the next chapter.
It is very weird that such a serious (relatively speaking, zombies and all) story is broken up with magic shops where you can buy and upgrade new weapons and whatnot, but it is rather Resident Evil, isn't it? The kind of game that clings onto its past even if it ought to break free and see what happens (foreshadowing for RE7 and RE8, I guess).
You can find money all over the place, it doesn't take up any inventory slots, and you can sell whatever weapons you don't use to keep yourself on top of your game. Again, heard but not seen, Sheva will prefer to use her pistol despite having plenty of ammo for a machine gun, but at least you've got options - new weapon, or upgrades to old? Or have you been hoarding all the gold to be able to get both?
We're on the trail of Alpha Team, but the radio chatter doesn't sound too good at all. These shaded streets don't have a whole load of zombies on them, but it seems that around every corner there's a chance for them to emerge and spoil your day.
As we enter the next area, a brief cutscene of a woman captures our attention. A survivor in this hellhole? Someone in danger, certainly, and we're here to help, aren't we? We're not? We're here to find and stop a bio-weapon deal and eradicate bio-terrorism? Well, we can do that after a slight detour, can't we?
Oh, Chris, come on now, starting thinking with the right head. Zombies have been sprouting lots of mouth tentacles already, but this is something else, and it's something that doesn't go down too easily. It will eventually hit the deck, and I suppose you could run away from it like RE games of the past, but while you're here, eh?
By this point, I've gotten somewhat comfortable with the controls. They're still a little clunky in places, but whenever I get into a pinch, be it through being grabbed or actually dying, Sheva is usually there to spring into action, knocking zombies off me, patching me up, and generally watching my back far more than I watch hers.
If it's recommended to play RE5 with someone else, pick someone who is a better RE5 player than you.
Frustrations
Alpha Team doesn't look too good, and we've got a disc of data that we need to get back to HQ.
I'm going to be honest here: I've no idea what the hell is happening in this story. I wasn't terribly sure what I was even in Africa for, not quite sure I know who Alpha Team are, I have no idea who Irving is or why we need to reach him... but don't worry, the shaky cams make it feel like it's really happening, don't they?
Well, I mean, they give an air of authenticity to the proceedings, but if I can't follow along with the actual content, then I'm not best placed to be engaged with a story that you want me to feel a part of.
RE5 might look good, might play competently, but it still has this bonkers narrative that you're either following or laughing at, and this one is so much an unknown to me that I don't even know where I stand on the matter. Probably laughing at, let's be real.
Further Fun Times
RE5 must have heard me laughing at it, because up next is a boss fight with a big gooey vaguely humanoid thing. It looks both disgusting and yet something very video-gamey. Hard to explain. It's not a default texture effect or anything I'm sure, but it sort of feels like it is, in a way.
Anyway, it's flopping around a furnace, so you can work out what you need to do easily enough.
We've been told to upload the data using some stuff in a humvee nearby, but it seems our efforts are being watched by some unknown individuals, one of which appears to be the same suspicious figure from the intro video. How do they manage to drive a car wearing that sort of gear, anyway?
These two will no doubt turn into thorns later on, but for now, we've got a little more story to try and figure out.
Nope, I still don't know who Irving is. Oh well, at least I've improved during this chapter. Sassy, I say. Another magic end of the level shop to ready ourselves for the next part of the mission and away we go.
Final Word
And away I did go, carrying on until I got chainsawed in the neck and decapitated, but the footage of that got corrupted and will only live on in my memory. Ah well. By that point, I'd seen a little more of Africa but understood no more of the story, so it's probably good that I stopped to try and sort things out here before moving on.
As you may know, I'm more a fan of watching Resident Evil than playing it, mostly because survival horror and faffing around with poor controls aren't high on my list of interests, but Resident Evil 5 may - may - just be doing enough to convince me to stick around a bit longer. May.
It's hard to say for sure. I was playing on easy, obviously, and was generally getting by quite comfortably. There were moments where I actually did run out of ammo, and standing in place and desperately swishing and slashing a knife through the air isn't going to win too many encounters, but I reckon that with a little bit more understanding of how best to play RE5, I'd be comfortable with whatever it threw my way.
I am the kind of player who wants to latch onto a story when one is available, and good stories can help you to overcome unfavourable gameplay, shall we say. I wouldn't say RE5's story is good, but then I also can't really say that when I don't know what it is about yet.
It seems to be more Resident Evil nonsense, evil corporations infecting folks just because they can, silly task forces created to rid the world of them. It's not going to inspire a great many players who are on the fence to check it out, put it that way, but it isn't so utterly terrible as to be avoided.
Will Sheva become more of a problem as the game goes on? Does the game itself have any nasty surprises or problems that will put me off playing it? The answer is that I just don't know, but for once in Resident Evil history, I might just try and find out.
I usually give up playing these games largely because of the controls, but at long last, Resident Evil 5 and I might just have found some sort of common ground to have some fun on, and who knows where that may lead.
Is this a good survival horror game? A good third-person action game? A good Resident Evil game? No idea, but it's good enough to try and find out some of those answers.
Fun Facts
RE5 marks the first time the sun has been seen in a Resident Evil title. Probably. I mean, that might not technically be true, but in terms of gameplay, the differences are, well, night and day.
Resident Evil 5, developed by Capcom, first released in 2009.
Version played: Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition, PC, 2015.