Resident Evil 5 Gets 5/5 in OPM

[modeps]

CVG (http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=207197) has a report that Official Playstation Magazine has granted Resident Evil 5 a 5 out of 5 in their latest issue... that's a buncha 5s!

Among the many praises in the titanic seven-page review, including the "distinguished" and "revlationary" co-op mode, OPM pays particular attention to the game's mix of gameplay styles, which Resi 4 did particularly well in its excellent pacing.

"RE5 does a great job of mixing gameplay styles to create a sense of pacing that flows between high octane shootouts to more subdued, eerie exploratory sequences," it says.

"One moment you'll be blasting and hacking away at zombie mobs and face off against some seemingly invincible mini-boss in the midst of town, or you'll be systematically exploring working your way through the dark, claustrophobic confines of a mine of the labyrinth corridors of a secret research complex, experience a brief but hair-raising quick-time event and be back to fighting zombies - but this time racing across the Savannah manning the chain gun on the back of a humvee.

Lets hope the trend continues so Disco Stu can say "Ayeeeeeee!"

[silv]

I tried the demo and couldn't get past the god awful control scheme. Seriously, click to run?

Why they feel the need to hamper a game like this with such bad interface/controls is beyond me.

[DarkDaY]

Really looking forward to this game,

[Zaro]

...Seriously, click to run?

Like Call of Duty by the way.
I don't think the control are that bad.

[JazGalaxy]

I had so much fun with RE4 on the wii that part of me doesn't want to play this without the wii remote as my gun

[no wii]

I have a problem with the controls but only because I just got done playing gears 2, so going back to the re4 scheme is tricky . I was going to revisit re4 to make the controls familiar again then I can shut up about controls and focus on what I hope is the greatest game since re4 . sheva better go down on "this" chris :0

[silv]

Like Call of Duty by the way.
I don't think the control are that bad.

How is the current scheme better to those of Gears of War, or any other dual analog stick shooter? (Using gears here as it is a shoulder cam view) I can't think of any.

[Zaro]

How is the current scheme better to those of Gears of War, or any other dual analog stick shooter? (Using gears here as it is a shoulder cam view) I can't think of any.

The control scheme is not better than Gears of war, but i can easily live with it.

[Froggy]

How is the current scheme better to those of Gears of War, or any other dual analog stick shooter? (Using gears here as it is a shoulder cam view) I can't think of any.

It's not better. That's why it's better.

Gears has an excellent control scheme which optimizes the player to eliminating lizards (In armour?) in testosterone-fuled fury.

Resident Evil wants to invoke fear. It is, after all, a survival-horror game. It's alright to change the pace a bit. People move at human speeds. You fumble around with controls a bit. You're not a perfect badass; which is fitting, because you're not. In the mean time, the player feels anxiety at entering new areas, facing new foes.

So, different games try to achieve different things. These controls aren't perfect, but they do provide the feeling of scarcity, which is essential to the genre.

[ElPresidente]

I don't buy that argument. Dead Space has shown you don't need a cumbersome control setup to evoke fear in the player.

That said I am not upset with the controls, they are no different to any other RE (well broadly speaking) and I have always enjoyed the games regardless. I expected this to happen.

[LilAbner]

Didn't like the controls, especially doing a 180 turn. That being said, I still enjoyed the demo.

[ResistanceAddict]

I'll wait until I play the game. Based on the demo, if the controls remain the same, that alone says 5/5 is not a deserved score. I disliked the demo at first. It eventually grew on me, but it has not met my expectations.

And seriously, when are we gonna be able to shoot and reload when MOVING?

[shadow763]

Apparently there is a strafing option

[ElektroDragon]

You guys are complaining about the running controls?! As if Gears 2 is better... when I run in that it feels like I am piloting a whale with no tail though a hallway plastered in Krazy Glue.

[riposte101]

Apparently there is a strafing option

You can strafe, but not while aiming, shooting, knifing...or pretty much anything else.

[riposte101]

Here is what I didn't like about the demo.

1. It is not scary
This is not surprising considering direction taken by Resident Evil 4, but Resident Evil 5 has gone a step further.

The main problem is the setting. A bright nondescript African village at daytime would not by my first choice for a location of a survival horror. It completely lacks the atmosphere of RE4’s Spanish villages at night. Also the zombies are not muttering “morrir es vivir” over and over, which was really creepy in RE4.

Like Resident Evil 4, the controls and camera are too functional to cause the player to be scared. This is a great article summing up this important trait of survival horrors .

2. Controls
The default controls, Configuration D, has very similar controls to Call of Duty 4 surprisingly enough. The player can now strafe, but not while aiming. The player must stop in place for aiming, firing, calling Sheva to follow and knifing. If you are going to go down the path of having halfway decent controls and camera you might as do it right and just rip off Dead Space’s control scheme and be done with it. Unfortunately this is not the case with RE5. I know about the whole survival horror needs bad controls thing, but RE5 has good enough controls and camera that it essentially defeats this intentional aspect of survival horrors. So if you are going to go down the survival horror route then go with awful controls, if you are going to go action game go with great controls, don’t sit in the middle and frustrate both sides.

I am also not happy with the addition of the fast selection of inventory items from the directional-pad as it destroys all the suspense of having to shuffle around in your inventory while a zombie is bearing down on you. Now all you have to do is click the directional pad and your weapon or item immediately appears in your hand ready to use.

3. Friendly AI
Sheva constantly blocks my path and runs in front of my gun. In a survival horror every bullet counts and while I am methodically going through zombies with my knife she unloads on every non-threatening zombie with a rifle round so that she is constantly out of ammo. Also if you do not constantly call her to move, she will very likely become injured or even die to the one hit kill mini-bosses. This causes you to lose and since there are no checkpoints in the demo, you must start from the beginning. Just save yourself a bit of frustration and get a friend to play co-op with you.

Don’t get me wrong; based off the demo Resident Evil 5 is going to be a very good game and I will be a day one purchaser. I do sort of miss the old survival horror aspect of the earlier Resident Evil games as opposed to both RE4 and 5 that are definitely pushing into the action genre. Nonetheless Resident Evil 5 is one of the games I am most looking forward to this year.

[ResistanceAddict]

You guys are complaining about the running controls?! As if Gears 2 is better... when I run in that it feels like I am piloting a whale with no tail though a hallway plastered in Krazy Glue.

It just feels really stiff and awkward. The strange thing is that I know it was the same in RE4 and I didn't mind much. I think either it's slightly worse or the controls just haven't aged well or just feel outdated.

[Exodus]

I don't buy that argument. Dead Space has shown you don't need a cumbersome control setup to evoke fear in the player.

That said I am not upset with the controls, they are no different to any other RE (well broadly speaking) and I have always enjoyed the games regardless. I expected this to happen.

Exactly. This is why I couldn't stand the controls in RE4 though ignoring that it is a great game.

[lost]

I think that first area was a really poor choice for the demo. It just didn't work facing off against a large group.

[Mister Pie]

Well who's to say that there aren't darker areas later on in the game or that the game won't transition to night? I dunno if it's time yet to write off the game on "scariness". Although, to be honest, I didn't think RE4 was that scary but I loved it nonetheless.

[ResistanceAddict]

Well who's to say that there aren't darker areas later on in the game or that the game won't transition to night? I dunno if it's time yet to write off the game on "scariness". Although, to be honest, I didn't think RE4 was that scary but I loved it nonetheless.

I agree somewhat, but some of the music made certain areas scary and hearing that music while the castle dwellers started chanting and rasping at me were pretty fucking scary, IMO.

[Ozena]

I don't see how "more RE 4" is a bad thing. I loved that game, and don't see why Resident Evil should get all the sequel bashing when its been done a thousand times before. Why aren't people sick of Final Fantasy yet?

Personally I can't wait for March 13.

[Exodus]

I don't see how "more RE 4" is a bad thing. I loved that game, and don't see why Resident Evil should get all the sequel bashing when its been done a thousand times before. Why aren't people sick of Final Fantasy yet?

Personally I can't wait for March 13.

People are sick of Final Fantasy. There's just not much to talk about it out since the 360 announcement.

[Zeal]

they must be playing the other version...you know, the one without the horrible controls, framerate problems and with the extra 'fun' add-on patch.

[ResistanceAddict]

So if you are going to go down the survival horror route then go with awful controls...


This is where I just stopped caring about your post. It just seems irrelevant to me. You seem to think that in order to put scares into people you have to make a game a terribly jumbled pain in the ass. A good scary game can do that with its atmosphere and overall content. Making the mechanics of your game bad is not going to be more scary; it's going to be more frustrating and turn people away from the game. Doing everything in real time and not being able to shoot while I move (or only shoot one or two people at a time while more are about to attack me from behind) is not scary... it's just frustrating and unrealistic.

Sorry, but like any logical gamer, I want good, smooth controls.