Resident Evil 5

A trip to the African continent with another virus unleashed and another investigation to pursue.

Resident Evil 5

Introduction

This is the fifth instalment of the franchise. This was actually the first Resident Evil I played, which was around a decade ago and on the PlayStation 3 console. However, I never actually finished it. This time, I started the game from scratch and managed to complete the entire game in a faster pace than the total amount of time I spent on my first playthrough, although I was relatively close to the end. This game was the most action-orientated from the previous instalments and I felt like there were minimal horror-aspects in comparison. Upon reflection, it somewhat reminds me of the tonal shift between Dead Space 2 and Dead Space 3. However, the thrill was definitely intact!

Chris & Sheva in a Cave — Uploaded by GamingBolt

Story

Chris travels to Africa as a BSAA operative with Sheva as his contact. They were tasked on receiving some intel of sorts. However, the mission does not go as planned and most of the other members of the team are slaughtered by the locals. They soon learn that the populace have been infected by a new strain of the virus. They need to figure out which organisation was responsible for this and to put an end to their games (no pun intended). At the same time, Chris receives intel on the potential whereabouts of Jill Valentine, who he assumed died beforehand under the hands of Albert Wesker…

Tricell America by Viperaviator

Characters

There were a couple of central characters of which the story revolved around:

• Chris Redfield (Roger Craig Smith) — A BSAA operative. He was one of the initial members of the team which investigated the Spencer Mansion in the events of the original game.
• Sheva Alomar (Eva La Dare) — Contact of Chris Redfield. She travels with him in his missions.
• Jill Valentine (Patricia Ja Lee) — A journalist/whistle-blower-turned operative. She was on ground in Raccoon City during the events of Resident Evil 3.
• Excella Gione (Nina Fehren)— A partner-in-crime with Albert Wesker. She stands to make quite a bit of profit.
• Albert Wesker (D.C. Douglas) — The man himself. The villainous mastermind. He and Chris shared correspondence during the events of the Spencer Mansion.

Resident Evil 5 Characters by IvanCEs

Worldbuilding

The lore of the game was simple. There was nothing overtly complicated in this particular instalment. There were BSAA operatives, a pair of eccentric villains and a horde of zombies with the not-occasional super-zombie (boss) sprinkled throughout the journey. I felt like this game had more boss fights relative to the chapter lengths in comparison to the previous games. This reinforces the fact this was a lot more action-packed out of all of the games I had played in this series at this particular point in time. I would personally prefer slight more horror and a deeper lore.

Chris and Sheva overlooking a Desert Town — Uploaded by GameSpot

Gameplay

The gameplay was the same as the previous games (discounting the original). A simple-to-understand FPS mechanics. Unlike the previous instalments, your screen does not pause when on the inventory menu. This is likely because this game has online capabilities and allows the user to play with someone else. This was useful for me to breeze through some of the later chapters, of which I was stuck on for a considerable time. No significant issues, aside from the fact that the inventory space should have been WAY bigger!

Chris Staring at the Zombies At The Bus — Uploaded by Siliconera

Critique

Overall, I quite enjoyed the game. I did not enjoy it as much as the previous instalments, but it was still a decent experience nonetheless. I liked the story, though it did not feel as complex as the previous games. I have to confess that this is a game which I would be least likely to replay, unless you count the DLCs. I can not spot any obvious NG+ bonus feature from the previous games where you can unlock a variety of weapons (some with unlimited ammo) and gears exclusively for the second playthrough. In Resident Evil 5, this appears to be relegated to mere costumes, although I have seen a few players online from my playthrough who somehow acquired a Bow with Sheva which appears to possess infinite arrows.

Longbow — Uploaded by Cdr. Amora Shepard

Afterwords

For those interested in action more than story, this is one worth recommending. I still prefer the previous instalment because it had an element of mystery to it…

Resident Evil 4