Out with the Old, Accepting the New

Standards change as we grow. The older we become and the more experience we gain, things that once seemed great end up not really being something we want forever. As a kid, most of us were probably pretty happy with getting a hot dog and some chips for lunch. However now as adults (or at least most of us being in our teenage years), a hot dog and chips might not end up sounding like the best thing for lunch. We end up wanting something a bit more filling and a bit better quality, but it doesn't mean we'll never eat hot dogs and chips again or no longer like it. Gameplay is much the same way.

The fact of the matter is that with each new generation of gaming and each now "masterpiece", the gaming community's taste change. Each new groundbreaking game makes the community's standards either rise or change. Even if developers want to keep the gameplay and even if there are still fans that enjoy and prefer the older gameplay, they have to pick what's best for the series in order to make a profit. (They are a company after all.) If the community feels that things need to change, then they need to change in order for the game to compete against the other games and sell.

One of the things I've constantly seemed being brought up regarding Resident Evil 5 is the fact that it doesn't feel like "Resident Evil". Naturally when I hear this complaints, I can't help but want to say, "Well no shit..." since it was obvious that this was the new direction for the series when Resident Evil 4 came out. The game was popular...People loved it...Naturally Capcom is going to continue do something that people felt was done well, but not it seems like what was once good is now bad. Maybe I am just missing something but it's something I don't fully understand.

The thing is the survival part of survival horror isn't gone from the series; the presentation has just changed. If you look at the fan definition of survival horror, you'll see that to most people, all it is is the thought of trying to survival a threat. It never really specifies the atmosphere that it is suppose to be in though most people have grown to feeling it belongs with a certain feel. However, as a hardcore Resident Evil fan- and a fan of horror in general- I've come to realize that the idea of survival horror and Resident Evil being connected is really just associating two sub-genres of horror as one instead of separately.

Resident Evil wasn't the first horror game nor even the first "survival" horror game; the genre term was borrowed from the term "ambient survival horror" which spawned from Alone in the Dark that came out prior the Resident Evil series. When we look at the actual horror elements within the first Resident Evil games, we see that they fit within the sub-genre of "Western" or "American" horror. Anyone who's seen horror films by Japanese directors and then watched a horror film by an American director, you will see two completely different approaches to how they scare people.

American horror generally uses gore to make us sick to our stomach and make our skin crawl; it also uses a lot of cheap scares (aka things jumping out at you). Personally when I played the original games, I was never really afraid of the atmosphere or the environment but I was more or less startled by having something suddenly jump through a window in a hallway that had been quiet the past four times I went down it. These are elements that are seen more within the Resident Evil series but the community had seemed to associate survival horror with the "Resident Evil setting" since it made the term popular. However, even without the fixed camera angles, the zombies, the old control scheme, and the more tense atmosphere...Resident Evil is still about surviving.

Resident Evil 5 falls into a sub-genre that I've classified as the "Left4Dead horror" due to lack of a better term at the moment. Basically this horror is when your sense of fear comes from the fact that you're more worried about your team and the fact that you're surrounded; the fact that if you get slip up, you're screwed. The whole time I played Resident Evil 5, I played it with another person. Not once in the game did I get scared from something jumping out at me or from the atmosphere being tense, but it doesn't mean my heart started racing.

The thing that scared me the most in the game was whenever my partner got in trouble...Whenever the game flashed red telling me that my boyfriend was dying, he had no health, and I had no way to get over to him...Whenever we'd be split up and one of us would see a special enemy closing in on the other but not being able to do anything about it.

Yes, it is true that I did enjoy and did love what the series was. Yes, I am disappointed that Capcom couldn't figure out a way to make the game a bit more tense like it use to be but still have new gameplay, like what they were close to doing with Resident Evil 3.5. However, it doesn't mean I can't enjoy the game. I guess fans of the series are now going through the phrase that I went through when Resident Evil 4 came out. I guess the reason why the change in gameplay for the series doesn't bother me as much now as it is for some people is because I grew to accept this change five years ago. Whatever the case maybe, even with the new gameplay, it's obvious that Capcom did make Resident Evil 5 with the fans in mind:



The thing is...It's ok to favor the old over the new. The Remake of the first game remains my favorite in the series, and probably always will be, but you just need to learn to accept change and be open to it. Even though Resident Evil 5 doesn't exactly feel like Resident Evil, it's still a good game.

The same goes for anything else that changes a little over time.

Resident Evil 5 Impressions

The Resident Evil 5 demo, which has hit 4 million download, offers two levels that can be played either by yourself with a friend.

The first level, Public Assembly, takes place at a small part of the village. (You know the trailer that features the guy giving a speech with a megaphone? Yeah, it takes place there.) Chris and Sheva barricade themselves in a small house as they try to pick off some of the mob, but of course, the barricade is eventually torn down. Soon they find themselves coming face to face with a giant, hooded man wielding a huge axe. It's a mini-boss fight that spreads out into the streets containing a few other buildings you can run into and climb the roofs of in order to put some space between you and the axeman. Explosive barrels are littered throughout the area, allowing you to lead him to them and shoot them off. The whole idea is to survive until reinforcements show up. (I don't believe there's a time limit; it just ends once you kill the axeman. At least, that is the impression I was given.)

The second level, something Town...Hell if I remember it's going on 6am...is the neighboring area. Here you can explore a bit as you meet a new enemy type: some flying bug thing. This is also were the co-op shines. When Sheva is tossed over the next building, it's up to Chris to help cover her with the sniper rifle from the other. Once the door on the other building has been opened, the two can proceed onward only to be confronted by another mini-boss, the chainsaw guy. Again, much like the first level, you're confined to a small area with explosive barrels. You can either use to clear out multiple weaker enemies at once or use to knock out some of the mini-boss' health and knock him down to allow you to get some good shots into him before he goes after you again.

The gameplay is good and solid. Besides following Resident Evil 4's over the shoulder camera, the game has also adapted Resident Evil 4's laser pointer, melee moves via button sequences, and inventory style. However, unlike the previous Resident Evil titles (besides Outbreak), the game does not pause itself when accessing the inventory screen. When you go to use a health item or change weapons, you become vulnerable since you are unable to move forcing you to rely on your partner.

Having co-op in a Resident Evil title might seem a bit unorthodox, even with a couple previous games having two characters together, but it actually was executed very well. There are a few parts where you do feel like you can carry your own weight but there's also a few parts where you are completely grateful to have someone by your side. When getting pinned by an enemy, the other player has an option to go and help you by knocking the enemy off of you. If you don't have a real-life friend helping you out, don't worry, you're not at a complete lose. The AI in Sheva (who will be a NPC if you don't have someone else to play her) is fairly smart. She'll gather ammo, give some if you need it, she'll heal you, and she can stand pretty well on her own. However, I do wish that there was some sort of "Give me" command similar to what was seen in Outbreak. I say this because at one point, I found myself mistakenly giving her all my handgun ammo and not having any way to get some of it back because she just wouldn't give it to me. (Greedy bitch...)

The difficult of the game also seems to change depending on if you are playing with someone or playing alone. When Amaterasu and I were playing together, there seemed to be a higher density of enemies, a little less ammo since we both were going through it pretty quickly, and the enemies just felt a bit more aggressive. Yet, when I was playing alone, there seemed to be fewer enemies that, while still aggressive, didn't overpower me like they did when playing with him. Then of course I could be greedy and horde all the ammo and health for myself if I wanted. (Naturally I didn't though because I needed Sheva's support and honestly, giving her some health items to hold isn't a bad idea since she is pretty good at healing you when your health gets low. It frees up some of your inventory space and gives you one less thing to think about.)

The game is naturally good looking but like so many other current games, the areas felt a tiny bit bland since tans and browns were the dominant colors. The environments were detailed though I didn't get a chance to see how the real time effects were since there wasn't much in the environments to see blowing in the wind. The character movements are superb though. The animations between switching weapons on the fly or doing some bad ass looking kick were smooth. There wasn't any choppiness between me changing from a shooting position to a kicking or punching position to knock some enemies away from my partner. The enemies movements were not jumpy either, though I will go to say that the blood and the decomposing effects look like bubbling jelly...

The controls were solid and easy to use once you get the hang of it. You might find yourself accidentally giving away an item when you meant to use it yourself or you might find yourself shooting when you meant to swing the knife or vise versa. But once you do get a hang of things and learn to balance out the items that you need and the items that your partner needs (unless you're playing with a person who I would hope tells you what they need and can think for themselves, if not, get a better friend), you'll do just fine. I personally felt that it was too easy but I'm hoping it is just because this is a demo probably taken from a very early part of the game. I'd like to think that the difficult will be a bit more tense in the final version or later parts of the game. It didn't necessarily take away the fun factor of the game, but when I saw just how easy it was to actually beat each level, I just felt a bit unsatisfied because I was expecting something a bit rougher.

Basically, if you've played any Resident Evil game before, even if it was just Resident Evil 4, you'll have no trouble jumping into this game. Once you get the co-op controls down, you'll do pretty well. Newcomers might have a bit of difficulty at figuring out how to conserve ammo or find alternative ways to dealing with the situations but the game shouldn't make you feel too overwhelmed.

I don't have doubts the final version of the game will be a good. I just hope there's some edgy parts in it when it's done.