Join me in the evil.
Eleven years ago, Resident Evil 4 released, completely changing how the popular horror franchise played, largely due to the way the game was controlled. Gone were those outdated, clunky tank controls, and over-the shoulder game play was born. Resident Evil 4 was a great game (except for the terrible escort mission) but, in 2009, Capcom out did themselves by releasing Resident Evil 5. The game did not change a whole lot but Capcom put in a feature that just made sense: a co-op mode.
When RE:5 released, to say I was excited was an understatement. I picked my copy up day one, and was the only game I played for a while. I liked the style of game play that RE:4 introduced, but liked it that much more in 5. I was never really a fan of Leon, and the escort mission. No thanks. There were no such missions in 5, and playing as Chris again was all I really needed. But playing as the new character, Shiva, was pretty fun, too. But, if you asked me why I liked the game so much, I could not (and still can’t) give a straight answer. I just really did.
MSRP: $19.99
Platforms: XB1, PS4
Price I’d Pay: $19.99
Maybe it was because the game environments were completely different than the previous games. Instead of dark and creepy locations, RE:5 takes place in Sunny Africa. Still just as creepy, though…just brighter. There were also new enemies to face caused by a new virus, Las Plagas. This virus turned some probably once nice people to ravenous killers. These were some big changes, and Capcom took a big risk in making them. I mean, a Resident Evil game that was not bathed in darkness and no traditional zombies?! It just won’t work. But it did. It was a breath of fresh air. On top, was a new game play mode.
For the most part, when I played through the game, I did so by myself. I was not eager to try the co-op mode by any means, but evidently I caved. And it was the only way I would play the game again. And that still holds true with this remastered version. Sure, playing the single player mode is terrific, but having to give commands to the AI helper just was not the same as playing with another human who actually knows what they are doing.
Cooperation was the theme in RE:5; not only was it a new game play mode but it was crucial to share resources between the two characters. Keeping with the previous games, ammo is somewhat hard to come by, and the rounds that are found are somewhat scarce. And since shooting the heads of the enemies no longer is an automatic kill, conserving ammo becomes a bit harder. So sharing items between partners has to happen in order to get through this game. But, I am sure you already knew that…nothing has changed from the original version. Including the one thing I had a very hard time adjusting to with the remastered version: the controls.
When I first played through the game, I remember having very little difficulty getting used to the controls and the way you could not move and shoot at the same time. When playing through the remastered version, however, I had a hell of a time getting used to that whole non-moving while shooting concept. This method has shown its age, and it just doesn’t work today. I have grown used to the run-and-gun controls of today, so RE:5’s controls took a while to get back used to. I did find myself getting tired of the whole run, shoot mechanics this time around, more so than I did back in 2009. But the boss battles (for the most part) kept me playing through the game and helped me forget about the tedious game play mechanic.
The remastered version of Resident Evil 5 has been up-scaled to full 1080p HD and includes every piece of DLC that was released for the original. The game looked fantastic back then, but there is very little difference in the remastered version, and the voice-acting is still pretty terrible; a fact that I only paid attention to when the cut scenes popped. But, to be fair, there is very little talking when there are enemies to shoot on the screen.
When I first played Resident Evil 5 back in 2009, my enjoyment came from the new way the game played, new enemies, and new environments. Today, however, my enjoyment comes from remembering all the good times I had playing this game back in the day both by myself and with others. While the game still is pretty fantastic, it just does not hold my attention the way it originally did. That’s not saying the game is bad, not in the least. I just played it a ton seven years ago and the remastered version just served me as a reminder of how much fun I had playing the game. Even if it is now outdated.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
