Resident Evil 5 |-REVIEW-|

RE4 was the game Capcom had to beat and they couldn't. It's not that RE5 is a bad game; its still a lot of fun, but it is considerably shorter then RE4. That and the crappy partner AI you're stuck with are my biggest complaints. It would have been a lot better if having a partner AI was optional. It's not like she makes a huge difference, or is crucial to beating the game. I got so frustrated with Sheva that I just ended up going the infinite ammo route, since she wasted most of my ammo otherwise. What is nice about having a secondary character is that you can use her to play through the entire game again if you chose to. There are also a number of character specific outfits to unlock, like the S.T.A.R.S. uniform for Chris and a business suit for Sheva. There is also the standard Mercenaries mode if you just feel like ploughing through a ton of enemies in time attack fashion. This is really fun and gets harder with the passing minutes.

The game is a nice visual upgrade and it plays just like the previous title. It's still not as amazing as some people claim it to be visually as there are some nasty texture or background models here and there, but thankfully they're rare so its just a minor gripe. One fair complaint I have when it comes to graphics is that RE5 is not optimized to run with AA very well, or at all as it would seem. Expect the performance to drop by roughly 50% if you so much as bump the game up to 2xAA. Aside from that its all french fries & gravy, with everything rendered in such a fashion it doesn't need much if any AA at all. I did run some tests to see if there was a huge difference between 2xAA and 0xAA, and found little if any difference at all. Most of this is attributed to the 1920x1200 resolution I'm sure. Clearly this game was meant to run without AA.

On the gameplay side of things, I don't understand why shooting while moving is still so taboo. Its not that big of deal in the long run, albeit its quite archaic. The inventory has also improved and is a lot better in my opinion, with no need for a shady character to manage your stash. Story wise, it's RE so don't expect expertly written dialogue, but it works well for the most part and the cutscenes are shot nicely. Actually, if the recent RE: Degeneration movie was 80% of what the in-game cutscenes were quality wise, then it would actually be watcheble and possibly even enjoyable.

As for the scares that the series has been known for, well...there are none. There are no unexpected moments and you can see things coming from a mile away plot wise, so there are no surprises either as far as that goes. Oh and the final boss, without spoiling anything, is the biggest letdown from a design point of view. I guess Capcom really likes to recycle. You'll know what I mean when you see him. Still, all my complaints aside RE5 is a good game overall. I've experienced no crashing, which is rare when it comes to gaming on PCs these days. Getting a steady 60fps at 1920x1200 with everything at the highest settings(no AA) with only an HD4830(not OC'd). If anything, this was probably the most surprising thing from playing RE5. Overall RE5 is worth your time and money.................86/100



*On a side note, arranging pictures in the posts to go side by side is a pain in the ass. Honestly, you have to be super lucky to get them to agree with what you want. FACK! I give up...