Our old protagonist Chris Redfield returns to us in this installment of one the the weirdest, creepiest and probably one of the scariest franchises of gaming history: Resident Evil 5. You’ll be playing as either Chris, or his new partner Sheva Alomar as they make their way through infected Africa in an attempt to escape; and later to reunite with an old friend, and an old enemy. Resident Evil 5 makes many improvements upon it’s predecessor, Resident Evil 4. Although these “improvements” seem to be considered mistakes, and even treason, by some of the hardest of hardcore fans of the series, Resident Evil 5 maintains fun gameplay and even a compelling storyline that will keep you interested in the series for many hours after you beat the game. So let’s sit back, relax and put on our zombie faces as we take a look at Resident Evil 5!

  When you first start up the game you’ll enter into the main title screen with “Resident EVIL 5″ blasting in your ears. This announcer kind of reminds me of a fighting game like Soul Calibur in a way. Despite it being relatively corny, it’s easy to ignore and move into the main menu screen. Resident Evil 5’s menus are easier to navigate than a lot of games I’ve played recently. I don’t understand what’s up with developers and making extremely complicated menus; but Capcom was nice enough to just make a simple list and go with it. Once you dig further into the menus, mostly under “New Game” obviously enough, you’ll immediately see that this game has a lot of replay value. A long list of unlockable action figures, bonuses, guns and outfits are all obtainable through the game by earning “points” by beating chapters. This was definitely important considering the games length of only 6 “acts” as I call them with a few chapters within each act.

  Despite the games length, Resident Evil 5 still maintains an interesting story of partnership (Come on, shippers!), horror, tyranny and tragedy. It may be confusing to most players, including myself, when you first play it if you haven’t been a huge fan of the game for a while. I get the feeling even if you ARE a huge fan of the game, you still probably won’t know what’s going on. If you pay attention to the dialogue and the information given in the game (Or if you just read up on the story on Wikipedia), you’ll begin to understand and then begin to form a bond with the characters. Chris is brawny, idealistic and sharp witted. Sheva is brave, open and surprisingly tough for her size. As you’ll be playing with these two literally through all of the game, I’d hope there would be something you could find to like about them. Personally, I think they made a good team and kept the story rolling nicely. Chris’ sort of “superhero” persona makes him a little corny at times; but so is every major protagonist. Except Batman. Batman is always cold as ice.

  Resident Evil 5 plays mostly like the older games. You can’t run and shoot in unison, which significantly slows down movement and combat scenarios. This is a hit and miss topic with many people, so it really just depends on the player. Personally, I thought it added a nice intense feel to the game. It made every fight feel real and almost scary in a sense. All of the weapons in the game have a much heavier feel than in a first person shooter like Call of Duty of F.E.A.R. because everything is slowed down. Not only are they heavier; but they feel much more realistic. Any weapons fanatic would have a blast unlocking, buying and upgrading all of the guns in the game. And to all of you gamerscore lovers out there, there are plenty of achievements to keep you busy in this title. None of them are ridiculously hard to obtain like in some games; but they are a challenge. If you’ve been a fan of Resident Evil for a long time, or if you like a game with plenty of guns, or if you just like killing zombies, then you shouldn’t have any problems with Resident Evil 5. The learning curve for FPS players can be a little steep; but once you get used to it I’m sure you’d love it.

  I’ll admit, I was worried about the graphics of Resident Evil 5. I’ll also admit that I was extremely wrong in doing so. I was worried because the first time I played the demo, the graphics looked almost muddy. It was hard to tell one thing from another in the environment and everything just looked boring. …Then I got an HDTV. Resident Evil 5 is absolutely gorgeous in 1080p. You can see every detail you could want in the environment and everything is crisp and clear. Some areas can be a little dark for my liking; but that’s why there’s a brightness setting in the menu! The cutscenes look fantastic and it seems to maintain an excellent framerate even during larger fights with bosses. My only real complaint is that even though every person in the game looks real, the skin textures in the game look a little clay-like. It’s a small thing though and it definitely does not hurt the game itself at all.

  Voice acting in a horror game is extremely important. You need to feel like your surrounded by undead, ready to eat your brain and claim your body. Resident Evil 5 does just that! All of the voice actors did a fantastic job. Every character sounds like they’re either scared for their lives or ready to tear you to pieces without even thinking about it. The monsters sound disgusting and the villains sound…Creepy. The music throughout the game comes and goes at the appropriate time, sometimes fading in and out to match your situation. There isn’t much to the music, not like in a game like Halo, but you’ll know when it’s there. I was pleasantly surprised when I was walking through the urban environments of Kijuju. All of the foot steps, crashes and gunshots sound real and absolutely amazing through 5.1 surround sound.

  Despite a relatively short completion time of only about five or six hours, a few Nintendo-esque puzzles throughout the game and the fact that it’s not nearly as scary to me as the older games, Resident Evil 5 definitely holds it’s own against it’s predecessors. With a great cast, beautiful graphics, sharp controls and an enticing storyline that makes you beg to know more, the latest hit title from Capcom is definitely worth the money. Running at only thirty or forty bucks from Gamestop, I would recommend going and getting as soon as possible. If zombie games aren’t your thing, at least give it a rent. Don’t pass this one up guys! I mean, come on, it’s Chris Redfield instead of that Leon guy that everyone hates. …Or am I the only one that hates him?