Resident Evil 5 (PS3, Xbox 360)

When Resident Evil 4 was released in early 2005 (so early, in fact, that many people seem to remember it as a 2004 title), it was hailed by many as the most impressive survival-horror game since, well, the first Resident Evil. It wasn't that the game did much of anything we hadn't seen before, it's just that it did everything better than its predecessors, combining all of its tried-and-true third-person action elements into a remarkably polished package. RE4 was an intense, terrifying experience from beginning to end, in part because it focused more on the action elements of the game than the traditionally slower-paced survival aspects. After both the GameCube and PlayStation 2 versions went on to win multiple Game of the Year awards, we couldn't help but wonder what was in store for the future of the franchise.

RE5 takes place 10 years after the events of Resident Evil 4. Leon Kennedy, however, is a no show. Back from the original Resident Evil, the main playable character is former S.T.A.R.S. member Chris Redfield. The official location is still unknown, but rumors and speculation point to the Caribbean country of Haiti. Oddly enough, RE5 incorporates heavy use of bright daylight, a first for the gloomy series.

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Chris and Sheva are taking down zombies with extreme prejudice.

RE5 opens in a very familiar scene - Chris Redfield trapped inside a dilapidated building while scratching, pawing, yelling zombies try to break inside. As with RE4 though, they're not really zombies, but villagers with some kind of new virus controlling their behavior. In this case it's the Progenitor Virus mentioned in Code Veronica (probably due for a Wii remake any minute now). This virus was said to have originated in Africa, so Chris is on the case and is now, much to our gaming delight, surrounded by bloodthirsty madmen.

Right away you can tell RE5 is going to tread different ground. Everything we saw took place in bright daylight, an area most horror tales rarely tread, be they game, print or film. Seeing a horde of axe-wielding maniacs with bits of your skin beneath their fingernails chase after you in a hot, hazy afternoon carries a different sense of dread than previous games. But, other than the time of day (and the expectedly gorgeous visuals), we didn't see anything that wasn't already accomplished in RE4 three years ago.

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Co-op gameplay will be an exciting element of the gameplay


The first level that we is short, tutorial-style run called "Assembly Place." Main characters Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar are in the back alleys of a shantytown when it starts. The first order of business is guiding the pair down a short path, at the end of which they drop down and enter a house. There were a few items to collect--ammo and health--on a dumpster by the door. The game's new co-op angle was front and center; the minute the option to collect the items came up, it was possible to direct Sheva to pick them up.

Once you guided Chris into the house, a lengthy cutscene kicked off. From the look of it, a fair chunk of the in-game cinematic has been shown in the previous trailers for the game. The action revolves around a dictator type speaking to a mob before an execution courtesy of a massive, hooded behemoth wielding a big axe. Shortly after the execution, the dictator spots Chris and Sheva; in retrospect, it probably wasn't the smartest thing for the pair to be watching everything go on while standing in the window. As you'd expect, the dictator and the mob aren't thrilled about the intruders, and the cutscene closes with him directing the mob to house

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Skip across the roofs of the shanty town before blasting zombie flesh


The level's pacing started with a slow burn, much like the first big rush of enemies in RE4, with the mob getting more and more aggressive in their attempts to enter. As we you get our bearings, Sheva helpfully started shooting at anyone who showed their face in windows.THe mob will come in by kickin the main door and started streaming in. As if that wasn't bad enough another highly motivated group will start dropping down from a hole that they had made in the roof. The final kicker will be when massive, axe-wielding hulk smashed his way through the main wall...clearly a sign that is the time to get out.

It's also the setting we're being shown in playable form on Xbox 360. Takeuchi's colleague Masachika Kawata is on pad duties, and he picks up Chris Redfield trapped in a kitchen defending multiple entrances, besieged by sunburnt zombies keen to get out of the heat and cut open his head with machetes. As they advance, he lowers his sights and shoots them in the leg to slow them down. They clutch at the wounds when shot, even though they're far from fatal, suggesting that Resi 5's zombs can still feel some degree of pain even if they've "lost all semblance of humanity" as Takeuchi helpfully points out. Shots to the head do the trick though, and, once floored, enemies bubble away to nothing following some phosphorescent agitation.

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The village level is said to be four times as big as the one at the start of Resi 4.

After the zombies breach the ceiling above him and the tide becomes too heavy to turn back, Chris makes a break for it and hotfoots it outside, and starts touring the town to make his escape. "This environment is right at the start of the game," Takeuchi explains as Kawata plays, and is "about four times the size of the village at the start of Resident Evil 4". It's a mess of half-built walls and wonky picket-fences, tyre piles, skeletal buildings loosely cobbled out of planks and steel poles, filled out with market stalls, burnt out cars and the charred husks of buses. Everything is rust and decay, and even the clothes flapping on washing lines are muddy rags.

First, the basic gameplay familiar to fans of Resident Evil 4 is noticed, putting you somewhat at ease if you’ve ever played that game. You move at a walking speed, but can sprint if necessary. You don’t have the same range of motion you would in most first person shooters, but you can pull off quick turn-arounds and dodges. Shooting is similar, and you have a quick melee attack you can pull off with the large hunting knife strapped to your back.

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Just like in RE4, enemies will throw knives that you can shoot down in mid-flight.

When enemies got up close and personal, which they often did, the melee attack was handy. But there was also a kick move you could pull off at certain times as well. Of course when you get grabbed you’ll have to waggle the stick back and forth rapidly. Don’t let that big executioner guy grab you though, he’s not so nice

The visuals in the game are looking fantastic, even in the work-in-progress version . The game is sticking close to the gritty, realistic art style of RE4, which works well with its African setting and the tone. The color palette is a bit washed-out but the gray hue adds to the grim feel of the proceedings. Likewise, the character models look great and feature a ton of detail. We especially like how your enemies occasionally have their faces burst into tentacles when you're getting attacked, which raises some questions about what the heck is going on. The new destructible elements in the environment are a cool albeit unsettling touch. There's an added sense of danger now because nowhere is 100 percent secure or safe. As far as performance goes, the game purred along nicely, although there were some obvious work-in-progress loads for the cinematics.

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An over-the-shoulder camera system is the sweet spot for RE5


Another new element to Resident Evil 5 is a quick-swap feature that lets players move between their last few selected weapons in real time without having to pause and go to a menu -- it definitely keeps the action feeling hectic and hurried. There are special "team attacks" that players can perform too. If Sheva is cornered and bullied by a local ruffian, for example, Chris can rush up to her and perform a context-sensitive move on her assailant for the rescue. A kick to the head, a smash to the face, WWE-style suplexes, or other such maneuvers are the kinds of saves we can pull off now, with more promised for the future.

The controller configuration, character speed, firing mechanic, and camera angles are all lifted directly from the previous game with only slight alterations.The two new twists of course, are that 1.) You can now aim with the right stick instead of being forced to stick to the left like last time (though sadly, that feature hadn't been enabled in the build we sampled), and 2.) Players can control their AI-controlled partner, Sheva with the B button (not necessary when playing with another human). Context-sensitive cohort actions can include anything from using Chris' cupped hands as a boost for jumping gaps so that Sheva can help Chris access a previously inaccessible area, to something as simple as resupplying ammo or health when Mr. Redfield is low.

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This looming figure seems to play a similar role as Resident Evil 4's chainsaw-wielding maniac, Dr. Salvador.

Everything else felt right out of RE4. The location is much more vibrant and the pulse-pounding tribal music gets you worked up and ready to watch Chris leap from roof to roof, but yeah, it's kind of the same. The hooded chainsaw enemy, rabid dogs, the same CQC as Leon, same weapons, all that. Granted, Capcom is keeping a tight (make that stupidly tight) lid on secrets, gameplay changes and plot points, so there's every chance in the world something amazing is waiting for us that they're not sharing. Given their track record, we're inclined to believe that's the case.

Currently, explained Takeuchi, Resident Evil 5 is approximately 60% finished, putting them on track to have the game ready to ship in early 2009. Although there are still some adjustments being made, the development team expects that the game will be over 20 hours long, although we weren't told if that will just be to finish the story or if there will be other content as well. The PS2 version of Resident Evil 4 featured the "Separate Ways" collection of mini-games, so we wouldn't be surprised to see something along those lines in RE5.

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See Resident Evil 5 Trailer Preview (PS3) (Xbox 360)

Taking advantage of our early entry onto the TGS showroom floor this morning, Mike and myself popped over to Sony's booth to play a little Resident Evil 5 co-op. Mike got Chris and a shotgun, I got Sheva and a handgun/sniper rifle, we both got dropped into some African marketplace and had to kill a whole load of zombies. Oh, sorry Capcom PR guy: infected. So, how'd we go?

We died. A lot. The level, which has been played a few times at press events, starts with the two characters trapped in a house while a horde of zombies - and a big dude with an even bigger axe - come at you like spider monkeys. Being the first time we'd played co-op, instead of trying to finish the level, we figured we'd test out some of the co-op specific parts of the game.

These mostly involve one player bailing out the other. Say, for example, Chris gets grabbed by a zombie and is about to get his face bit off. Sheva can run up and with a prompted button press give the offending zombie a kick in the head. Another case is taking a cue from some other recent co-op games by letting one player save the other from death. If Chris, for example, is near death, Sheva will get critical warning messages (which you'll need to heed, since if one player dies, it's mission over). Run over to him, follow the button prompt, and you can revive him.

The other way the game uses co-op is to surmount some obstacles. Long jumps, that sort of thing. Think Ico, with Chris giving Sheva a leg up, etc. Though these are strategically placed, and entirely artificial, making them more a gimmick than any mind-blowing addition to the way the co-op mechanic works.

And how does it affect your Resident Evil experience? Playing with a friend changes things entirely. While both Chris and Sheva will be in the single player game, there's something about relying on AI for help that just doesn't feel right. Indeed, you'll probably end up having to save the AI more often than it saves you. But with someone else there with you, **** is different.

That feeling of having zombies creep in and surround you is gone, as even if they should flank you, a quick shout can get your friend kicking three of them in the face at the same time and saving your butt. I didn't think that single aspect could alter the feel of the game so much, but when you remove a lot of the tension, you realise how big a part tension played in the feel of the last games. Or, at least, Resident Evil 4, since that in turn didn't feel like the previous installments.

I, for one, think it's a great addition, because it drops a lot of the pretense that this is still a survival horror game. Which it's not. This is an action game, just like Res 4 was before it, and adding a co-op mode where players aren't just playing together, but have to rely on each other, is only going to kick this series up a notch

kotaku