The Final Cut

Part 5 of the Resident Evil Musings.

Does this sound familiar?

1. "Boom - Resident Evil!"
2. Hey you're a white, average cop in their twenties. Your name is Chris/Jill/Leon/Claire.
3. Welcome to the scary mansion/police station/Raccoon City/Eastern European/African village.
4. Things are looking a little scary, thank God you have your pistol.
5. Aaagh... Zombies/Infected folks of mixed ethnicity!
6. Solve this puzzle.
7. Oops, the pistol's a bit rubbish, here's a shotgun.
8. Aaagh... monsters that are faster and more dangerous than zombies!
9. Here's a bit with a train/tram/boat.
10. Hey you've reached the laboratory, now get to the bottom of this mystery.
    
11. Damn, it was Wesker what done it!
12. Aaagh... a Tyrant! Better use this rocket launcher.
13. All done. Fly away on the helicopter and stare at your partner with your dead, personality-free eyes.

It's really as by the numbers as that, and this is coming from someone who loves the Resident Evil series. My biggest problem with 5 is that it does nothing with the formula. The acting is just as bad, the plot twists just as trite, but there isn't anything new or sparky about it. Resident Evil 2 had branching story lines for the two leads, 3 had the ever-stalking presence of the Nemesis, Veronica had a scrolling action that did away with static screens, and 4 had the new controls and perspective. Aside from pretty graphics, Capcom have come up with nothing new for the series in five years... with the exception of an incompetent sidekick who gets herself in trouble or killed more often than a Doctor Who assistant.

Yes, it would appear co-op was what they were dangling their hopes on for this game, but if you don't have a friend with you - if, say, your best mate is still waiting for his copy to come through the post, days after yours arrived - you have to make do with the AI to help you out as Sheva. But she doesn't. Sheva wastes your good ammo and herbs, creates frustrating weapon trading scenarios and gets herself cornered and squished by axe-wielding brutes when you're being relentlessly attacked. The brutal combination of non-pausing item control and belligerent, suicidal AI makes your single-player experience hollow and annoying, leaving you only able to see the similarities and lack of improvement on previous games.

Think of the advancements we've seen just in video games over the past five years since the last RE game. We've had two Gears of War games, which picked up and ran with the third person action perspective redefining it in the process; Silent Hill Homecoming, which by all accounts has improved the control scheme of the original game and made it easier to move and dodge, in a survival horror long known for its steadfast adherence to slow, awkward progression. We've had Left 4 Dead with its multiplayer orgy of never-ending fast-zombie onslaught, twitch-fast controls and genuinely nerve-wracking pace. And we've had games like Uncharted and The Darkness which worked on a tried and tested movie formula and made the delivery fresh and interesting.

In truth RE5 is not a bad game experience. In relation to 50 Cent: BOTS it's a breath of air that, while not fresh, is at least breathable. But another average outing in Umbrella-Town is not what I wanted. I want to see this series that I cherish advance on the level that Metal Gear did when it jumped from MSX to PSX. Maybe it needs a hiatus before a grand reboot, but if Capcom do the same thing again for 6 then there's going to be words.

Screw Chris, Jill, Leon and Claire. They are mindless, character-free automatons which have no place in contemporary games. The day of the Mary-Sue superman whose abs ripple in the sunlight and whose catlike reflexes are remarked upon and admired by all has long since departed. We need flawed, fascinating, dangerous or vulnerable individuals, surrounded by a cast of similarly original creations. Capcom need to employ some western writers of high quality like J Michael Straczynski or Mark Millar if they wish to continue the form of homage to American movies, because their staff scripters and plotters are doing a horrible job.

And finally the controls simply aren't good enough any more. If Capcom want an action game they need action controls. This means running while shooting, an intuitive item system you really can operate on the fly, canceling of animations if you need to move fast, and the ability to beat the crap out of your enemies without fulfilling certain criteria first. It's what we'd all do in a survival situation and it's time RE reflected this.

The rating I give RE5 is based on the game itself, but taking into account what it should have been. Tony maintains that experiences of Resident Evil 5 may vary.

Final Score: 6/10