Resident Evil 5 Revisited

Resident Evil 5 was a definite change of tone for the series making a move towards action and the first designed to focus on two player cooperative action. Two players could jump into the action taking the role of either Chris Redfield or Sheva Alomar in a fictional location within Africa. Here the team is tasked with finding out information about a biological weapon, but there's always more to it than just the mission. The game was mostly just focused in providing a solid narrative, but it also received some multiplayer support with a versus expansion. The general response to the game was positive and as of 2017 it's the best selling game within the series as well as the best selling Capcom game ever.

Resident Evil 5 released in early 2009 on Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. The game was also later re-released in summer 2016 for Xbox One, Playstation 4 and PC. This new version was essentially the same game with an increase in resolution and a bump to a smooth 60fps. The game was developed and published by Capcom eventually becoming their best selling game as previously mentioned. The campaign was typical in length to previous entries and kept many aspects that were iconic within the series such as the tight camera angles. It did however mix things up by essentially taking place entirely during the day and focusing on two player cooperative action.


At this point Resident Evil 5 actually runs fairly well, at least on the re-released versions of the game. It doesn't look too bad, but some portions of it have aged poorly. This mostly is seen within the tight linear setup of the story and some rough looking textures within the world. It's interesting how tiny the levels are in comparison to what was done in other similar games just shortly after it released. The character models are surprisingly solid at the current point, but Redfield sure does seem oddly proportioned. The story is interesting as Redfield does have other things on his mind as he works with a new partner to complete their assigned mission. Things obviously don't go too well as the local population has become infected and a definite threat to the team's survival. There was a definitive change of focus as the series went towards action while continuing with the odd stand in place to shoot system.

The game did encourage players to work through the content multiple times since new unlocks would become available in doing so. With that system players were able to improve their weapons, sell gems and buy a selection of guns. The coop mechanics were well implemented as both players need to work together to get things done. Together you'll open doors, spray herbs on each other and throw Sheva to high platforms. It did have a nice sense of progression across the landscape and the change to a mostly day environment was well presented. The variety within the enemies was fine, but the areas you move through certainly feel claustrophobic and tiny against current modern releases. Resident Evil 5 was a fine game to go back to, some of it has aged well and other parts are just alright at the current point. The bump in resolution and frame rate is awesome though.

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