Resident Evil 5
Resident Evil 5, known in Japan as Biohazard 5 is a survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom. It is the seventh installment in the Resident Evil survival horror series, and was released on March 5, 2009 in Japan and on March 13, 2009 in North America and Europe for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Resident Evil 5 is set around main characters, Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar, as they investigate a terrorist threat in Kijuju, a fictional town in Africa. Similar to Resident Evil 4 with context-sensitive controls and dynamic cut scenes, Resident Evil 5 sees players controlling Chris Redfield or Sheva Alomar in a similar fashion to Leon S. Kennedy (in Resident Evil 4). The game features an over-the-shoulder perspective, as well as dynamic game environment. An example would be the Mercenaries minigame, featured in previous Resident Evil games, which is also present in Resident Evil 5. The game online multiplayer can be played online with the installation of a patch released on launch day (it can still be played without the patch but will be on offline mode. The game features new types of enemies called “Majini”, which means evil spirit in Swahili. The game also features a number of weapon variations which has been increased compared to the previous games in the series; there are now several varieties of the handgun, shotgun, submachine gun and rifle to choose from; but unlike inventory systems in previous Resident Evil titles, the player now can only equip weapons and items in the midst of gameplay, instead of accessing an inventory menu by pausing the game. The game also features some online elements, such as playing the game’s main story in a co-operative online mode which allows players to enter or leave anytime during the game. Players will not always stick together, and can be separated at points during the gameplay; and an offline co-op mode with the same co-op experience offered by the online co-op mode, only with two local players controlling the action in split screen. The game takes place roughly ten years after the events of the original Resident Evil and explores Chris’ life during the ten year interval between the two games. During the game’s events, he is a member of a group known as Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA), and sent to investigate a terrorist bio-organic weapon threat in an African desert area in Kijuju The game begins with Chris and Sheva deploying to Kijuju to intercept the sale of a biological weapon. Unaware that their arrival is not only anticipated by the arms dealers, but part of their plan the agents have to fight their way through throngs of natives who have been transformed into a suicidal army of the zombie-like enemies. Chris discovers that the perpetrators may have knowledge of the whereabouts of his missing former partner, Jill Valentine. Other antagonists of the game include Albert Wesker, a returning antagonist to the series, and Excella Gionne, a relative of the founder of the Tricell Pharmaceutical Company who operates the company’s African branch. The game also includes Ozwell E. Spencer, the founder of Umbrella Corp. and a key figure in the background story of the series since the original Resident Evil, is also included in a flashback. Capcom changes its game mode with Resident Evil 5, breaking away from many of the survival horror conventions it pioneered with the series. The game by far is less creepy than that of the earlier games and has been replaced with an action-packed setting that will appeal to some gamers and disappoint others. It does the action game genre well, and the game provides users with a wealth of replayability through item collection, weapon upgrades, score chasing and the unlockable Mercenaries mode. This gives the game a nudge against the formula of the previous main RE games; and if one can accept it as that, then Resident Evil 5 will give much appeal to the gamer.
Specifications
Publisher and Developer
Resident Evil 5 is developed and published by Capcom and distributed by THQ
Designers
Is is a game directed by Kenichi Ueda and Yasuhiro Anpo and produced by Jun Takeuchi and Masachika Kawata. The sound designers for the game are Hideaki Utsumi and Yoshihiko Wada.
Haruo Murata wrote the game and the music is composed by Kota Suzuki (lead composer) and Wataru Hokoyama (orchestral).
Engine
The game is built on the MT Framework (enhanced) with Havok Physics
Platforms
Other than the PS3, Resident Evil 5 is also written on the following platforms: Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows (PC). The PS3 version requires 4900 MB hard disk drive space and 1099 KB Per save file (PS3).
Ratings
The game has been given the following ratings – BBFC: 18, CERO: D, ESRB: M, OFLC: MA15+, OFLC: R18 and PEGI: 18+.
Reviews
“Perhaps Resident Evil 5’s most remarkable achievement is how it deftly straddles the line between the franchise’s sometimes endearing, sometimes frustrating, legacy gameplay mechanics while incorporating more contemporary action adventure elements like enhanced interaction and exploration of environments and a decidedly more shooter-like control scheme.” – (Playstation: The Official Magazine (US), 2009)
“Resident Evil 5 is like an expensive diamond. The outside is polished well and the inside is strong enough to go through iron. The graphics of the gameplay and the cinematics are beautiful and full of detail. We can understand the criticism of the controls, but you can easily get used to it. The co-op is an exciting feature and when you are without a friend it turns out that Sheva is a great companion. Resident Evil 5 doesn’t revolutionize the series, but it is still a fantastic game to play.” – (Inside Gamer, 2009)
“Resident Evil 5 isn’t just a port – it’s of demonstrably higher quality than its source. The definitive edition, if you will. There are no overworked textures, no controller miscues, the game never crashed, and it performed at a sturdy 30 frames per second on an older AMD FX-60-based machine. It’s an extremely fine-tuned thriller that stays fresh and exciting through multiple playthroughs in both single-player and co-op modes. It tortures completists with hundreds of collectibles, and the Mercenary mode in co-op is on its own worth the price of the entire game.” – (PC Gamer, 2009)
