View Full Version : Resident Evil 5 Review Thread
Carbonox_Ratchet
29-01-09, 16:11
Review Scores
Official PlayStation Magazine (US): 5/5
Empire UK: 5/5
GamePro Germany: 93%
OXM: 9/10
Links:
http://www.dpadmagazine.com/2009/01/29/first-resident-evil-5-review-awards-top-marks/
http://v4vg.com/opm-march-issue-scores/
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=929198&topic=47960302
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=351171
Got any review links/scores? Post em here!
Hmm, unfortunately, im going to need a more accurate score, 5 out of 5 is just too inaccurate, whilst I am confident that it will be a good game, I am equally interested in its flaws as I am its brilliance.
thezombiemessia
29-01-09, 20:35
Agreed with Dante.
5/5 means nothing to be honest.
I honestly do not agree with reviewers that give games perfect scores...every game has its flaws, even RE5.
The control problems alone should decrease the score.
This is why I prefer marks out of 100 if a reviewer is forcing themselves to give a score.
i tend not to listen to scores at all, they are opinion and everyone has a different one so it makes em all inaccurate, i just read the reviews themselves
regarding this review, i couldnt find the full one on their website but the quote greedy sence of self presevation i thought was incrediablly dumb
thezombiemessia
29-01-09, 21:14
but the quote greedy sence of self presevation i thought was incrediablly dumb
How come?
Every RE game has focused on that entirely...even when you have a partner in the games (Rebecca/Billy, Sherry, Ada, Carlos, Steve, Ashley) they are fine until YOU die...
It is self-preservation, and it is very greedy. Not once did I ever actually care about the well being of the other characters unless it threatened my game plan.
well quite a few resident evils have had more than one main character, the concept of 2 players working together is nothing new, just the fact that 2 people can be controlling them
i did love this quote which was a comment on the review
The game only cost 33 pounds on Amazon, which means few people will like the game and others will love it. If it cost 39 pounds, it is guaranteed to be an awesome that everyone will love.
thezombiemessia
29-01-09, 21:25
well quite a few resident evils have had more than one main character, the concept of 2 players working together is nothing new, just the fact that 2 people can be controlling them
Which is exactly the point. It is greddy self-preservation because you only care about the character you are playing.
RE0 and Outbreak are the only ones that have tried to go against this, but even then it never had the same sort of impact that RE5 is making.
Zero, you controlled both of them and this meant you swapped who you cared for at any given time. For the rest of the game, the AI would control the other person, and it wouldnt matter what happened to them. The only times it would matter is if it threatened your game...
With Outbreak, it was possible to completely ignore the other players throughout the game and only concentrate on yourself.
With RE5, because you are working directly with another person in online co-op (which is what the review is referring to), you have to think about the other player.
well each to his own i suppose, i never solely cared about the character i was playing and was always sad when a comrade dies...
Im sorta mixed in attitude when it comes to teamplay with another character, I usually just heal them and equip them before I save so they are still good for a while, I rarely heal or supply them unless they are near death in front of me.
As for the review, I tend to ask my friends or people with similar interest to me, so im given a full and honest comment rather than some uneducated nonsense just because its an anticipated game, or fabricated because the reviewer either loves or hates the series too much, or have a large complimentary cash wad for writing a good review. (Im not suggesting Capcom do this, it just happens from time to time.)
Carbonox_Ratchet
29-01-09, 22:14
The cached version of Empires site has the review in all its glory:
In many ways, Resident Evil 5 feels like a `greatest hits spanning the series 13 years of terror. As well as marking the return of Chris Redfield - a key player in the first adventure back in 1996 - and featuring the playful balance of indoor and outdoor locations that characterised the PlayStation sequels, RE5 is also peppered with the genuinely distressing movie sequences that punctuated Code Veronica and team-based challenges that defined Outbreak, all wrapped in the glorious visuals and intuitive controls that helped reboot the franchise in Resident Evil 4. In short, for anyone who spent their formative console years up to their neck in zombie guts, man-eating moths and betentacled horrors, RE5 is a sublime joy.
Like its hallowed predecessor, RE5 plays fast and loose with the series conventions, shifting the action from the familiar streets of an American city to an African landscape of crumbling villages, barren countryside and twisting shanty towns, once again breathing new life into the familiar franchise. But while the new setting is a major departure for the series - and has been a heated source of banter on fan forums - what sets this adventure apart from its forebears is its double-headed action.
While alternative characters have always been a part of Resident Evil, RE5 goes a step further by having a computer-controlled companion by your side at all times, in turn bringing new possibilities to the action; as well as lending a helping hand during gun battles - and being a constant source of frustration when you have to step in and save your partner from being eaten alive - the addition of a second character allows for new co-operative moves and two-person challenges, whether it be giving your friend a leg-up to climb over walls, keeping zombies at bay while your accomplice barricades open doors, or picking off distant enemies with a sniper rifle as your companion uses a handgun to perforate nearby monsters.
But while the new co-op gameplay is fun while playing alone - and your computer-controlled companion does a reasonable job of looking after herself while you get on with the important business of monster mashing - where the dual gameplay really comes into its own is online, allowing a second player to remotely join the adventure and share the horror. And like a George A Romero zombie flick where the human drama of survivors working together to overcome overwhelming odds is just as important as the shocks and gore, having a living partner by your side makes for a much more gripping experience, forcing players to look after each other and watch each other s back, rather than being solely driven by a greedy sense of self-preservation.
Aside from its two-headed set-up, RE5 is largely business as usual, with puzzle solving, tense combat and ammunition preservation forming the backbone of the action. Destructible environments that allow enemies to smash through walls, smarter monsters who ll use flanking techniques to corner you and tighter camera angles that add a fresh sense of claustrophobia go a long way freshening the experience, but RE5 s greatest triumph is taking a beloved franchise and polishing it to within an inch of its life, in turn producing 2009 s first killer game and a title that will delight habitual gorehounds and newcomers alike.
Reviewer: David McComb
As you can see, there are no spoilers in the review whatsoever.
To get to the link, search Resident Evil 5 Empire Review in Google and when the search comes up with the actual link to the site review, click on cache. It will show the page before it was taken down.
Triple Seven
29-01-09, 23:07
Agreed with Dante.
5/5 means nothing to be honest.
I honestly do not agree with reviewers that give games perfect scores...every game has its flaws, even RE5.
The control problems alone should decrease the score.
This is why I prefer marks out of 100 if a reviewer is forcing themselves to give a score.
I bet it will be rated much like part 4. Bad for those who didnt like it, good for those who did.
P.S.:
RE5 s greatest triumph is taking a beloved franchise and polishing it to within an inch of its life, in turn producing 2009 s first killer game and a title that will delight habitual gorehounds and newcomers alike
To me this almost sounds cynical. Unfortunately that is where Capcom is headed, what Capcom is now. Onimusha Warlords and Devil May Cry had potential. Look what these franchises have become. Lost Planet is just another example. In regards to their movie someone from Capcom said that it wasnt possible to have extensive - in any way relevant, apparently - character interaction in a video game. Thats allegedly different when it comes to a 2 hour movie. Hilarious and ridiculous, in my opinion.
Member_of_STARS
29-01-09, 23:48
TZM, the problem with a dependant/dependable AI partner is that it has to have a bloody damn good AI, or excellently scripted battles/engagements. So far, theres really only three games that have, what I consider satisfactory to brilliant BlueFor and OpFor AI and one of them is thanks to the community:
Rainbow Six Vegas and Vegas 2
FEAR and its two expansions
STALKERs AI modifications by the fan community
Considering the possibility that CAPCOM hasnt invested that much time into RE5 AI, and what Ive seen from the Demo footage, theres going to be a lot of moments where the player is going to be annoyed about babysitting the partner. COOP will be its saving grace though.
As for the review. Very vague, no detail, written off first impressions and no knowledge about the games past. I find some of the lines pretty comparable to that funny and laughable Its not RE if theres no chainsaw wielding maniac line we saw before, cant remember the magazine/site that said it.
Language. Tenebra
Triple Seven
30-01-09, 00:03
I find some of the lines pretty comparable to that funny and laughable Its not RE if theres no chainsaw wielding maniac line (...).
Unfortunately that line appears to be hauntingly accurate now.
Member_of_STARS
30-01-09, 00:35
Indeed. It wouldnt even be funny if there was such a baddie every RE game to come, like a trademark of sorts.
Imo the review was poorly and ambiguously written, and really didnt tell us anything new at all.
There are already some hands on reviews out in gaming magazines atm which are a lot more insightful and interesting.
Its obvious the reviewer never played Zero either, but I suppose who could blame him.
Triple Seven
30-01-09, 13:43
Its obvious the reviewer never played Zero either, but I suppose who could blame him.
True, that wasnt part of the series anyway, which - pardon me - I would like to refer to as Gears of Evil.
having played the demo I still cant see why people refer to it as Gears of Evil TBH, it plays and feels nothing like GOW IMO.
It still feels like Resident Evil 4 in most respects which predated GOW:s :s :s :s
Member_of_STARS
30-01-09, 14:02
Well, lets call it Resident Cell or Evil Recon :P
Calling it Gears of Evil is just a jab at the new market CAPCOM is aiming at. Yaknow, adolescent boys with no clear sexual preference, who seem to be torn between overly muscular bear-men and slim, perfectly bodied women with only tactical knowledge being the knowledge of luring angry men armed with pitchforks to their doom, using those hips and booty... mmm... booty...
Well, lets call it Resident Cell or Evil Recon :P
Calling it Gears of Evil is just a jab at the new market CAPCOM is aiming at. Yaknow, adolescent boys with no clear sexual preference, who seem to be torn between overly muscular bear-men and slim, perfectly bodied women with only tactical knowledge being the knowledge of luring angry men armed with pitchforks to their doom, using those hips and booty... mmm... booty...
Now the Evil Recon bit i can understand b)
Its obvious the reviewer never played Zero either, but I suppose who could blame him.
Anyone who liked the game? Because of it being so much more entertaining than 2,3 and most, if not all, of the side-games?
Its obvious the reviewer never played Zero either, but I suppose who could blame him.
Anyone who liked the game? Because of it being so much more entertaining
Well, IMHO, it was indicative of everything that was wrong in the series up to that point. No wonder Mikami and co. were so shocked enough to change everything with RE4. I have no sympathy for any so-called fan(boy) who gives that crap a pass. :P
than 2,3 and most, if not all, of the side-games?
I LOLd :P But still I respect your opinion.
:) I just like both characters, the leech monsters, the whole changable characters thing and the 12 slots in the inventory. Being able to drop items anywhere also made things much easier and quicker.
I just dont think that 2 and 3 have the same quality of gaming that Zero does...they dont entertain me, to be honest. I wouldnt consider myself a fanboy of Zero...Ive only played through it 3 times.
Carbonox_Ratchet
01-02-09, 13:31
http://v4vg.com/opm-march-issue-scores/
The US Official PlayStation Magazine also gave the game 5/5. Again, not much in terms of content but this is only an excerpt.
With this post, Ill now turn the thread in to the main review hub (better than having multiple review threads).
Carbonox_Ratchet
02-02-09, 23:12
GamePro Germany:
+ great character models, fantastic special effects
+ Varied areas
+ Interesting story
+ Outstanding AI
+ Gigantic boss battles
+ 18 hours of gameplay (story mode)
+ lots of bonus material
+ High replay value
- Framerate hickups (PS3)
- No puzzle solving
93%
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=929198&topic=47960302
Another resi with no/not many puzzles. Meh, I didnt mind with 4, so I wont mind here.
Member_of_STARS
03-02-09, 04:15
+ Outstanding AI
What the bradwurst!
Carbonox_Ratchet
04-02-09, 01:23
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=351171
OXM has given the game 9/10
Reasons:
+ An action spectacular with terriffic production values
+ Excellent co-op game
+ Huge variety of environments
- Item management and control issues
? Will Evil arise from the ashes of Raccoon City? (whatever the hell that means)
The last point is interesting. Thoughts?
Carbonox_Ratchet
04-02-09, 08:38
Here are a few details (minor spoilers included) in the GamePro review:
- GamePro could only make their own screenshots of the first three chapters. The later ones, they had to use Capcoms images due to an embargo
- It is all about the Progenitor virus
- Resident Evil 5 changes locations more often than Resident Evil 4 and the pace moves on immensly, especially after the first 10 minutes.
- The game is about 18 hours long.
- Theres no location that is as big as the castle area in Resident Evil 4.
-The game is divided in 6 big chapters, each of them again divided into 3-4 areals.
- After the refinery, the game goes more for darkness (pyramids)
- GamePro counted 1 (!!!) real puzzle in Resident Evil 5.
- The emphasis is clearly on Co-Op. When a character is investigating something alone it usually deals with finding a key or moving something. GamePro says that these are the most intriguing situations as you wish your partner would be with you and help you fight the hordes of enemies.
- A few classic enemies are indeed in Resident Evil 5 (like the Licker)
- GamePro found the fights with Wesker very cool. They are absolutely dramatic and stunning.
- The visuals and audio are top notch.
- The PS3 version suffers a few glitches here and there, but they are not heavy.
- Resident Evil is gone, long live Resident Evil.
http://www.rehorror.net/v20/first-real-resident-evil-5-review&;no_cj_c=1
Zombie Fred
04-02-09, 08:43
Good to see everything getting highly positive so far, now its not that long until the game will finally be in our grasp :)
Hi im new to these forums, im sorry to say but i felt that the demo was a real let down and i was extremely disappointed, i have lost confidence in the resi name and am unsure if i will be buying this one at all.