Reviewed by: David Valjalo

Format: PS3, Xbox 360

Publisher: Capcom

Developer: Capcom (in-house)

[ratings]

Assuming the role of Chris Redfield, it’s time to go once more unto the breach and do battle with a village of marauding zombies and their unquenchable thirst for your blood. The second game in the series to bring in a mandatory and (mostly) trustworthy sidekick, the action in Resident Evil 5 is, paradoxically, the same but… different.

After the critical and commercial success of the franchise’s reinvention/ resurrection with Resident Evil 4, Capcom were always going to stick to the new, improved formula. The control scheme and set-up are almost identical to its predecessor (no strafing here), albeit with a few structural changes. Partner Sheva replaces the need for a munitions box and also mucks in when the going gets tough (often with mixed results).

It’s the new features – on-the-go inventory, sprint command, co-op play – that ultimately prove Resident Evil 5’s curse, placing the title in a grey area between solitary survivalist horror and arcade action thriller. Separating the story into rapid-fire chapters removes any real sense of threat and the action oriented story that eggs players on from one set-piece to another is too aggressive and brash to be intriguing, memorable or even fun. More than the additions to the series’ hallmarks, however, it’s the removal of Resident Evil’s deadliest weapon – silence – that renders it a little pale in comparison to what has gone before.

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