Resident Evil 5 Demo Impressions
December 5th, 2008
If the Japanese demo for Resident Evil 5 is any indication of what the final product will turn out like, I can safely say it’s on track to be a huge success. The demo provides a small part of two different levels. While it’s not very telling as far as plot is concerned, it does provide a solid opportunity to get a feel for the gameplay.
Resident Evil 4 veterans will feel right at home in RE5, as the controls for both games are pretty much identical. The controls felt a little muddy at first, but I’m chalking that up to lazy fingers rather than an inadequacy inherent to the game. After five minutes or so, I felt completely comfortable with the controls, and I was killing “zombies” like a pro. Why the quotes around the word zombies? Because the enemies in this game are clearly infected with a parasite similar to the one in RE4, and are very different from the slow moving zombies from earlier entries in the Resident Evil series.
The addition of a second character brings with it a variety of new gameplay mechanics. Chris Redfield is now joined by Sheva Alomar. You have to work as a team with your partner to get things done as you play through the game. If one of you is being held by an enemy, the other can get them off of you. If you are downed, your partner can pick you back up, and you can also share items, and ammo with one another. While all of this is fun enough with an AI team mate, it pales in comparison to playing co-op with a real live human being. I played over XBL several times, and saw no evidence of lag whatsoever. The already intense experience of fighting off the infected became even more thrilling and immersive when a human ally was thrown into the mix. Teamwork is a must. It’s very easy to get overwhelmed if you don’t stick together, and share items with one another as needed.
RE5 is still three months away, but it already looks and feels extremely polished. The co-op was a blast, and this short demo only left me wanting more of it. For now, all I can do is cry myself to sleep every night wait patiently until March 13.
-Mike Kurz
Tags: Cross Platform, demo, featured, Microsoft, PS3, Resident Evil, Sony, Xbox 360, zombies
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December 5th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
Impression coming from a Resident Evil fan boy:/ no wonder why people didn’t take this seriously.
Within 5 mins you got used to the controls…SURE YOU DID
Don’t forget there are 4 types, and it doesn’t feel like Resident Evil 4’s control.
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Mike Kurz reply on December 5th, 2008 9:03 pm:
Actually, the D setup is almost identical to RE4
Also, yea, I have enjoyed other games in the series, but that doesn’t really effect my opinion of this one.
Also, keep in mind this is a demo that came out 3 mo before the game’s release. I’m not going to scrutinize it too brutally when the release of the final product is so far away. If the final product has some major flaw in it, I’ll be the first one to point it out. This was a solid demo indicative of a good game coming down the road.
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