Resident Evil 5 Demo hasty review: High Hopes

In normal day to day conversations with the general public, I often randomly bring up the fact that Resident Evil 4 was one of my favorite games of the last generation of consoles. I'm actually not even that huge a fan of the Resident Evil series, having only ever really played a little bit of number 1 & 2 on the Playstation and dabbling a little bit in "Nemesis". RE4 bought a fresh feel to the series, an evolution that I feel went hand in hand with the gamers that grew up playing it. That, and it was just a straight up awesome game.

Since then, I have been looking forward to a next gen equivalent for me to sink my teeth into, and I nearly had it thanks to the very admirable efforts of Dead Space. The over the shoulder view point and edge of your seat "dick in the wind" gameplay* was very reminiscent of RE4 but it also brought new gameplay elements such as Zero-G movement areas and object manipulation all wrapped up in a pretty, blood soaked package. And lets not forget, its balls scary too.

Then I played the Japanese Resident Evil 5 demo, which rekindled distant memories of how RE4 really was. Then I got tonnes excited.

Upon first impressions, it feels like a sequel to RE4 rather than the 5th game in the RE series. An extremely pretty sequel. Seriously, this game looks absolutely stunning but none of its gritty vibe has been lost in the next gen sheen. Fans of RE4 will instantly be at home with the characters handling, and the addition of the 2nd player has all sorts of potential. I'm looking forward to checking out the co-op action asap, even if the split screen leaves little to be desired.

One thing I will say is that if you aren't sure how you feel about this game yet then I suggest NOT playing the demo. Like Dead Space, the demo does not really do that game any favors as far as showing off the gameplay. These kinds of games are only really enjoyable when you slowly dip your feet in, not cannonball into the deep end, which is more or less what the demos does. Starting from the top, getting to know how your character controls, how his/her inventory works, weapon effectiveness etc etc. Its pretty overwhelming facing off against hordes of "infected" as a novice player.

For me personally? Even after such a brief peruse of the demo, its displaying everything I am hoping for. I'm well and truly sold. I have no doubt in my mind that RE5 will deliver the underwear filling goods the series is so well know for. Without question, this will be one of the top titles of 2009.

Its due for release on Friday the 13th of March, 1 day before the expected due date of my first child. What a month!

Mr Metal

PS: I have no idea how I got the RE5 demo so early, so don't ask.

PPS: I would also just like to add that after playing the RE5 demo, I now have an even greater appreciation for what Dead Space has given us. As derivative as it seems, I really think it offers a slightly different approach to this style of gameplay which I now understand a little better having revisited what I initially thought was its inspiration. I was searching for a replacement for RE4, but what I got instead was something new and fresh to enjoy. Cheers EA!

*Listen to the Rant Theory podcast #2 for a better explanation of "dick in the wind" gameplay. Coming very soon.