This is a rewrite/reassessment.
I had the chance to do so, because of changes to my personal blog. I took it.
I will acknowledge that Resident Evil 5 is not a survival-horror game. It is a buttery-smooth 3rd-person shooter set in Africa. When you’re in Spain, you kill zombie Spaniards. When you’re in Africa, you kill zombie Africans. The setting was dictated by the machinations of the villainous organizations in play, not the heroes. Further, a handful of the heroes present in this narrative are Africans! They are wonderfully written, they are selfless, and frankly, they are entirely badass.
In one regard, this is akin to a buddy-cop movie: it has knowing dialogue centered around the concept of partners, and the word ‘partner’ itself. However, I’ve come to realize that that’s simply a facade. It’s draped over the top of outstandingly resonant relationships. I genuinely feel the emotion that is brought to bear, and that exists between Chris and the ladies he fights alongside. He’s also a beautifully cynical bastard. Be sure to dilly-dally in the first area until you’ve heard the full extent of his dialogue. This is all counter-weighted by my favorite villain, who tries desperately to steal the show, once he finally takes the stage. Admittedly, you do have to read data files, as they unlock, to see the entire tableau. But, you know what? I’m not holding that against the game, anymore. Read. It’s good for you.
The biggest added feature is of course the co-op. Playing with strangers comes with all of the usual pitfalls inherent to online interactions. I did have a blast playing with my friends, though! Relatedly, the biggest problem CAN BE Sheva’s AI. It’s possible that she might use healing items as soon as she grabs them. It’s also possible that she may run wildly into walls. HOWEVER, I personally believe that this may be due to the meshing of vanilla RE5 data with RE5 Gold data. I have gotten consistent, stellar results with fresh Gold files, on fresh PS3 profiles. My last few runs have seen her mixing and saving healing items, and changing weapons appropriately. I.e., she can be exquisite. It is 100% possible.
A smaller change from RE4 is that the menu is no longer out-of-time. Bringing it up does not pause the game. It’s nine slots, and the four present on the cardinal directions act as hot-keys, which allow quick-switching between whatever you place in them, via the d-pad. Of course you’ll end up doing some active management in the field, by dropping items and passing them between yourself and Sheva, but you are given the opportunity to organize your base load-out, in-between levels. This is also where the shop exists, for good and ill. You are missed, Merchant, but I appreciate the small homage that is present, here. I assume it’s an homage, at any rate…
A huge step-up from 4 is the fact that any of the weapons can be equipped with infinite ammo. For the vast majority of them, it’s as simple as purchasing the perk with the bonus points you receive for completing each level. There’s even a specific level designed for grinding those points out. There’s also one for making money! Your arsenal thankfully carries through into Professional Mode, as that will gladly end you in one or two hits.
Having to turn said infinite ammo on in two different menus is a bit annoying, I’ll concede. If you want to use cheats for online play, the person hosting will have to be using a completed file with cheats enabled. No infinite ammo for you, if you’re helping a friend clear the game for the first time~
The Gold edition of the game, and the PS4 and Xbox One ports, add in all of the dlc released. This includes additional figures (akin to the bottlecaps in 4) and characters for the various iterations of the Mercenaries mini-game. The most relevant additions, however, are the two extra scenarios. I think these are both glorious. They each emphasize a central tenant of the series. Desperate Escape is all action, all the time. Control of two very notable NPCs is given over to you (and maybe a friend) and it's mostly a showcase of how much fun the combat engine truly is. Lost in Nightmares delivers on the promise of the first game. You get to explore a recreation of the mansion, without the ruinous combination of fixed camera-angles and tank controls. Though, the camera can become fixed, via an easter egg, if you REALLY want that. It’s both Chris and Jill TOGETHER. I personally believe that its existence completely precludes the need to play the first game. The entire scope of Chris’s journey exists on a single disc!
That is of course assuming that you aren’t looking to purchase the 360 version… All of the dlc content there is provided via a download code, because it wouldn’t fit on one of their discs, alongside the game. If you want everything, in perpetuity, you really do need it on PS3, PS4, or Xbox One. There is a bit of graphical white-out on the PS3 when enemies use flash-grenades, but I’ve decided that that’s not a problem, either. It’s never gotten me hurt, and (I assume) it accurately conveys what it would be like to be in the proximity of one when it goes off. Your ears ring, and everything! Nope, I’m not taking off points for that, any longer. Deal.
I adore this game. Period.
Original score, accounting for the AI and white-out:
3½ ‘Ikuze, aibou’s out of 5
Final score, incorporating everything I’ve learned and decided:
4½ Guttural Screams out of 5
No comments:
Post a Comment