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Resident Evil 5 - Fantastic Disappointment or Natural Series Evolution?

RE4 changed what the series was, and if you can accept that RE5 would be somewhat of a natural series evolution.

But in the grand scheme of things, I wouldn't even call it evolution. It's still RE4 but with coop tacked on to it. I enjoyed the coop but I can't imagine playing solo. Plus it's an easily forgettable game, and I'm not trashing it. It's just not that memorable.

Maybe because there were too many coop games that came before it (i.e. Gears, Halo 3, Rainbow Six Vegas) that at this point, it felt a bit same ol same ol and didn't offer anything new. It's difficult to make it memorable when its a bit generic I guess.
 
Lionheart1827 said:
And godamnit, WTF happened to the music? I hate hearing just silence when theres no enemies around. I was listening to the RE2 soundtrack yesterday and it gave me chills.
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Yeah, I agree with that. See, having music even when there were no enemies in the immediate vicinity was one of the things that RE4 kept (though to a lesser extent than the old games) that I really appreciated and wanted to see more of. RE5 pretty much ditched that and only kept the encounter music, heavy encounter music, and boss music.

Not only that, but I preferred RE4's soundtrack in general. The boss music in RE5, especially, was just way too over the top and Hollywood movie-like, as I've mentioned before. It's just another thing that made the game seem more like Gears of War, and it was entirely unnecessary. Not only that, but some themes in the game really just bugged me after awhile, like the first one that plays in Public Assembly.

Though, I will say the regular encounter themes in RE5 were good.
 
Rash said:
It wasn't a massive disappointment or anything. The game just feels a lot more forgettable than most of its predecessors. It's on the level of RE0 in terms of memorability, as I see it, and that's unfortunate considering that the game was in development for four years.

Anything that RE4 had that kept it at least feeling somewhat like Resident Evil is gone in RE5.

Not only that, but at least RE4 had funny dialogue and a cool protagonist to support its crappy story and main villain, whereas RE5 has the crappy story, the overly-cliche villain (though I hate to say it), and characters that really just feel "typical." Good ol' self-righteous Chris and his trusty sidekick.

RE5 improved upon its predecessor in some ways. It has better gameplay, more control options, an improved Mercenaries mode, online play, and most importantly, co-op. However, most of these things mattered very little to me; I wanted to see the best parts of RE4 improved; I didn't want to see Capcom take the game in a direction that resembles nothing more than an action-focused tangent with a summer blockbuster feel.

So I'd say it's certainly not a fantastic disappointment. But, as I said, it's more of a misguided tangent away from what made Resident Evil good in the past than a natural series evolution. Yeah, it's fine that people are enjoying getting high scores in Mercs, are enjoying playing the game for collect-a-thon-focused achievements/replay value, and are having fun playing co-op with their buds, but I as a Resident Evil fan am not entirely pleased with this direction, regardless of those that do appreciate it.

That said, the control complaints are the most retarded complaints about the game. The controls are fine. In fact, I think Type A is a glorious control style for games in general.
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My thoughts exactly.

A fantastic videogame, thats gets quite a lot right...

...just a flippin' shame it HAD to be called Resident Evil : (
 
Sorely disappointed. I thought it was pretty dull. I loved RE4, so I was ecstatic for this, but I just found myself uninterested. I loved the demo, though. I think what really killed my interest was knowing that I was missing some treasures and emblems and thus never feeling satisfied. Damn obsessive compulsiveness.
 
Put me in the "I like RE4 better than RE5" camp and the "this was a good action game but a bad RE game" camp.

Still generally liked the game, though. I don't regret my purchase.
 
yoopoo said:
I was expecting RE5 to be RE4 in HD. That is not what I got...at least RE4 had some horror/creepy elements. A lot of night time environments, brilliant enemy design like Garrodor, Regenerators, Iron Maiden, Armaduras or U3.

Besides the lickers nothing in RE5 really stood out, and every environment besides the village scenes not at all interesting.

And the soundtrack, while excellent...I wanted the creepy music from RE4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6guAuXJ-Gv0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H053Etciapk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN9sG23LFJQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNVehfz9Rxw


RE4 took away many elements of a RE game...but RE5 removed all elements of a RE game. An excellent game, a horrible RE game.
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How about this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsZ9z04Kbts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V09VyfD8QpI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhIx3-GCnss

Damn that's good.

EDIT- Oh god and this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRQI9GlGjsE
 
TheChillyAcademic said:
Good stuff eh?

BUT WHERE THE HELL IS THE RESIDENT EVIL!?

Honestly, RE5 was a great action game, active adventure or shooter or whatever the devil you want to designate it.\
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You just described RE4 as well. Those saying "a great game, but a horrible RE game", that is no different for RE4.

But yeah, RE5 is an absolutely fantastic game. It's flawed, yes, but the good FAR outweighs the bad. It is DESIGNED to be a co-op game. That is how it is meant to be played. And when it is played that way, it's completely great.
 
Dead Space gave me bonners.
You guiz should play it.

Not a huge fan of "RE" 5 though, sadly. Well made, but didn't do anything for me.
 
Snaku said:
Fantastic disappointment. What they did to Jill was unforgivable. Not enough horror either.
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Again, like I said, I would have loved her to be a villain, alas she played second fiddle as a puppet and useless side character.

RadioHeadAche said:
Sorely disappointed. I thought it was pretty dull. I loved RE4, so I was ecstatic for this, but I just found myself uninterested. I loved the demo, though. I think what really killed my interest was knowing that I was missing some treasures and emblems and thus never feeling satisfied. Damn obsessive compulsiveness.
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RE5 was a lot of things, dull was not one of them. The set pieces were amazing and the action was campy fun...if not a tad matrix esque at times. But the horror was completely missing, absolutely vanished.
 
Himuro said:
No, he didn't. Stop saying this.
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But it's a fact. RE5 goes more in the action direction that RE4 started, but it's more related to the RE storyline than RE4 was.

They're pretty much equal, but they're both completely different than what RE once was.
 
The game was alright. I've found its unlockables to be much more entertaining than the actual campaign, but I'm currently replaying RE4 for the...14th time? It shits all over 5, IMO.
 
I can agree with you op, I loved the game yet as a huge horror fan it was lacking something.

I did recently play up to chapter 12 on Siren and I recommend it.
 
Suburban_Nooblet said:
I can agree with you op, I loved the game yet as a huge horror fan it was lacking something.

I did recently play up to chapter 12 on Siren and I recommend it.
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Siren is an AMAZING horror game that no self appointed horror fan can miss.
 
As people have mentioned, it will make me question the work of the lead designer and director from now on. I like Japanese games because I feel like the directors always have a strong vision for their games that we're free to reject or accept. Resident Evil 5 was a conceptual mess, as it whored out the gameplay just enough to cleave it from the "Resident Evil style" without actually capturing the whiz-bang fun of western 3-d shooters. It was a design mess, with numerous vestigal aspects (no player adjustment for new sorts of enemies, horrible inventory, poorly planned level design, so many other things) that undermined the new experience. They just poured money on it. Oh, and it wasn't scary.
 
The gameplay and level design in RE5 is great. The inventory was flawed, but worked most of the time, so calling it horrible is hyperbole.

"no player adjustment for new sorts of enemies"

I don't even know what this means.
 
The game was awesome and a great extension of RE4. Resident evil hasn't been "survival horror" since RE2 and even then it wasn't scary. Get over it. Also, if you actually give a shit about the story get the fuck over yourself. Its a game. The story is the least important part.
 
If you want your horror kick + awesome gameplay buy Dead Space plz.

If you want archaic controls and creatively defunct game design then RE5 is the game for you.
 
omg rite said:
"no player adjustment for new sorts of enemies"

I don't even know what this means.
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The enemies were redesigned, gameplay-wise, and belong in a different game. You're largely still "Resident Evil player-character," so the skillsets are mismatched. I HATE it when designers are careless about interaction with the environment.

Is he a troll?
 
GhaleonQ said:
Resident Evil 5 was a conceptual mess, as it whored out the gameplay just enough to cleave it from the "Resident Evil style" without actually capturing the whiz-bang fun of western 3-d shooters. It was a design mess, with numerous vestigal aspects (no player adjustment for new sorts of enemies, horrible inventory, poorly planned level design, so many other things) that undermined the new experience. They just poured money on it. Oh, and it wasn't scary.
Click to expand...

You summed up my thoughts.
 
Got the game day one, installed it, downloaded the patch, and then put it on my shelf.

I haven't had the urge to put it back in my PS3 since then though. :lol
 
GhaleonQ said:
As people have mentioned, it will make me question the work of the lead designer and director from now on.
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I honestly wonder how much Shinji Mikami was missed with this game. I said years ago when we found out he wasn't going to be involved that I was worried about it.
 
scitek said:
I honestly wonder how much Shinji Mikami was missed with this game. I said years ago when we found out he wasn't going to be involved that I was worried about it.
Click to expand...

But, I mean, I could understand them doing a slightly inferior copy of his work without him. Though it was enjoyable in spite of itself, Resident Evil 5 showed that the guys fundamentally didn't understand what made Resident Evil Resident Evil or what made Resident Evil 4 fun. They didn't need a Mikami to guide and critique so much as "any message board dweller who has played Resident Evil 4."
 
I hated it at first, but what sold me the the CO-OP. I thought it was done very nicely and it brought freshness to the game.

Honestly I was bored with the old RE and welcome RE4 and more so 5.
 
The only reason I played through Story mode was for Mercenaries, which was awesome. God did I hate story mode, I just didnt care for it at all. Change the controls already!
 
scitek said:
I honestly wonder how much Shinji Mikami was missed with this game. I said years ago when we found out he wasn't going to be involved that I was worried about it.
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I'm not of the mind that the project was going to be terrible without him, but I think I knew it was going to be different. I remember the first trailers for the game, back when they were still going with the whole "scary in daytime" angle...shame they never built on that.
 
a Master Ninja said:
Phenomenal replay value. I loved the DMC chapter select and upgrade structure. Not perfect, but probably my favorite co-op game of the gen so far.
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None of this is what I would, in a million years, think of when I think of Resident Evil. Devil May Gears indeed.
 
jett said:
If you want your horror kick + awesome gameplay buy Dead Space plz.
If you want archaic controls and creatively defunct game design then RE5 is the game for you.
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This.
I don't care if action focus is faithful to RE or not - the problem is it's a Bad action game.
 
TheChillyAcademic said:
Besides the obvious control issues, what makes you say this?
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How about the awful plot that takes itself to seriously? But just speaking generally, they pulled out all the sense of dread and made it a shooter... minus the atmosphere and controls...

Deadspace is a better game in every way. And it's not like Deadspace is the second coming either.
 
Tylahedras said:
How about the awful plot that takes itself to seriously? But just speaking generally, they pulled out all the sense of dread and made it a shooter... minus the atmosphere and controls...

Deadspace is a better game in every way. And it's not like Deadspace is the second coming either.
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Seeing as your avatar is from one of the greatest games ever, I cannot help but be drawn to your reply.

But the ridiculous ham fisted story has always been there, if anything RE5 had one of the most cohesive stories in the entire series. Doesn't make it any better, but even so.
 
Fabulous Disappointment - Basically retconned everything good about RE4, and doubled everything bad about RE4. Sidekick was a pain, logical inventory system was removed, simplistic control scheme was tossed for a more complex one, quadrupled human enemies instead of removing them altogether...

Only good thing I can say about it is that they kept the story short and simple instead of going the MGS4 route.
 
RE5 was probably a disappointment to many because the HD consoles turned out to be less powerful than what was expected in 2004-2005. Lots of things had to be cut back or removed. I remember the early hype for RE5 when it was supposed to make use of the sunlight/heat and darkness, and also run at 60 frames per second.
 
You know what's funny? I love RE but I hate the RE fanboards. I'd love to discuss my favorite series in a specialized board but the RE series has the worst bunch of elitists fans you can imagine and they all universally hate RE4.

Then RE5 came out and everyone screamed genius. Even the IGN RE board where you can get banned for saying you like RE4. So everytime someone says RE5 isn't a good RE, I think of all these people who pissed me off by saying RE4 suck yet embraced RE5.

Weird.

EDIT. Oh and watch after RE6 is released, there will be a thread about how it sucked and took everything good about RE5 out and how RE5 is the best game ever. Just watch.
 
IrrelevantNotch said:
Fabulous Disappointment - Basically retconned everything good about RE4, and doubled everything bad about RE4. Sidekick was a pain, logical inventory system was removed, simplistic control scheme was tossed for a more complex one, quadrupled human enemies instead of removing them altogether...

Only good thing I can say about it is that they kept the story short and simple instead of going the MGS4 route.
Click to expand...

What do you mean? Feel free to spoiler tag if you feel you need to. Are you just referring to
the whole "we made a bug-spawning virus to unleash on the world, and the RE4 one was the old ugliness, but this one is the new hotness" thing
?
 
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