Resident Evil 5... Dem-O!

Read the title of this blog post like the announcer in the RE games says the title when you start a new game. "Resident Evil 5... <= (this is a pause) Dem-O! (said like the guy said Zer-O in RE0)" Anyway, let's get to the point. RE5 demo is fantastic. The graphics are sick. It really helps that RE is a long-running franchise. Seeing the jump from RE4 to 5 is very rewarding, as opposed to seeing some new-fangled franchise that just started on these "next-gen" platforms. Great graphics are more appreciable when there is this standard standpoint from which to judge them. Of course, great graphics are great graphics regardless, but seeing one of your favorite franchises taking the next graphical leap is one of the best parts about being a gamer. From the get-go, you are presented with an awkward control scheme called "Type D". It is completely alien to RE4 veterans. I got easily destroyed by the hostile Africans with this setup. At this point, I was kind of down - on the game and myself; however, I fought back and decided to look at all the control schemes. After much experimentation and struggle, I settled on "Type A", which is as close to RE4 controls as you are going to get. With this setup, I was able to defeat both scenarios in one shot each. Why Type A is good
If you have played the crap out of RE4, the controls became second nature to you. You played dozens of games in the "Mercenaries" mode, running for your life and shooting in all sorts of stressful situations. You are going to like Type A because it is the most familiar to you.

Type = C || Type = D Pros:
  • You can strafe
Cons:
  • You still stand still when you're in "aiming mode"
  • Hard to turn while running
  • Still no aiming reticule on screen unless you're in "aiming mode"
Overall, there's no ideal control scheme. They all offer an advantage coupled with a disadvantage.

Other Thoughts
I don't like how Capcom focused on co-op for this game. RE is a single player experience, not a trend-following co-op game. Of course, the ideal would be that you have friends that love RE and would play co-op with you. The fact of the matter is, not everyone has a friend play the RE franchise or even own a next-gen console, let alone the same next-gen console. I do not want to play with strangers online. Still, RE5 isn't a far stretch from other games in the series. RE0 had computer-controlled single player "co-op" and their online games of course were co-op.

In conclusion, RE5 has sick graphics, the game is still fun (probably because of the sick graphics) and having co-op as a focal point of development is ill-advised. Single player is not dead! Xbox Live SHOULD BE FREE! I'm not gonna pay for online when it's free on PC, PS3 and WII.

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