Today's Article
Resident Evil 5...For Couples!
Media / 6/25/2009 11:58:39 PM
There have been plenty of reviews posted about the latest incarnation of the Resident Evil video game franchise since its release a few months ago. While it is not without complaints from those who have played RE 4 and earlier versions, I have the unique perspective of seeing and playing Resident Evil for the first time. As I've mentioned in before on Killer-works, I'm not a life-time gamer geek like my husband. I have recently cut my first console teeth on Bioshock (got ALL 51 achievements, thank you very much), then Prey and Left 4 Dead. If you're video game savvy at all my wee list will tell you that I have very specific (ok, narrow!) tastes in gaming. Oh, my beloved has made it a mission to expose my video virgin brain to ALL kinds of games, trying to educate me on everything from the first side-scrollers (quaint, but annoying), to strategy games (Culdcept...Brain hurts, must close eyes...) and quest games (Oblivion?...Zzzzzz...). Try as he does, unless the world around the characters is darkly beautiful and I can up close and personal shoot the crap out of things with satisfyingly messy explosions, I don't seem to be able to pay attention.
Resident Evil 5 satisfies all my criteria and adds a few more. It turned out to be a perfect date night for us! We both got to indulge our own video game needs while having to constantly co-operate to move through the game. We could run off and do our own thing if we wanted but we quickly learned that it was much more effective if we stuck together and capitalized on our different strengths. Where else can you blast a chainsaw-wielding, burlaped crazy guy with your Magnum while your partner snipes the flaming arrow shooting zombies surrounding you? The graphics are truly beautiful and the environments are varied throughout the game - jungle shanty towns, ancient ruins, marshes, high tech ships. The crazy zombie/majini/creature attacks are widespread and can spring from anywhere in the environment (above, below, behind...) Plenty of weapons to find/buy/upgrade, fair amount of treasure to gather. More action than horror there are still enough squishy blood splatter and exploding limbs to entertain me.
The addition of the co-op in game function is a new element for RE. The game is designed around two main characters (Chris and Sheva) thrust into a hostile African environment fighting off virus-enhanced zombie types while trying to find the source of the chaos before the world goes to hell in a bio-hazard hand basket. This buddy system allows two people to play the game together (either on the same console or online) in horizontal split screen. Now, I had played Left 4 Dead with my husband (and a brief but tense stint with Lego Star Wars - let's just say the shared screen control was not for us!) and enjoyed working together but there were also two other computer characters running around to help and interact with. In RE5 it is primarily you and your partner against the video world. One of the biggest complaints from RE fans is how useless the computer partner can be in some instances. This isn't necessarily so for the human partner! The game is specifically designed for you to co-operate and work in tandem. And if you don't, you die. You can't even go through half the doors without your partner's help.
Who knew? Resident Evil 5, the new relationship tool for horror gamers of the 21st century!
Yours in co-operative gore, Jill
p.s. You can find more reviews and your own copy of Resident Evil 5 in our Killer-store.