While my colleagues have been jetting around the world, playing preview versions of Resident Evil 5 and generally having a great time, I had to wait until today before getting my first hands-on experience with Capcom's latest not-zombie adventure. Technically, I could have done it sooner but I'm a lazy, lazy man and making a Japanese account is too much like hard work.
Nevertheless, after hearing people complain about the "new controls" and how disappointing the game is, I started to fear that one of this year's most highly regarded upcoming titles was going to suffer the fate of other franchises that have made the console jump recently.
Having spent all morning popping heads and stabbing Ganados in the heart, I find myself asking the question, what's the bloody problem?
First of all, I don't quite understand where the "new controls" part comes into play. The game has no new controls. It has controls that were introduced to the world in 2005. Resident Evil 4 was hailed as one of the greatest action games ever made, and quite rightly so. It's true that we've not had a game that handles quite like RE4 in those three years, but the fact remains that there is no new and terrible control scheme in Resident Evil 5, unless my Xbox downloaded a completely different demo from everyone else's.
I still maintain it's an excellent control scheme as well. The accuracy of the laser sight and the deliberately slow turning movements help to keep up the tension while ensuring that you have a fighting chance. Sure, Chris and Sheva handle "like tanks," but if you know how to run and do 180-degree turns properly, there's no reason why you should struggle getting around the map.
When playing the demo, it felt like playing Resident Evil 4 again, just with better graphics and even creepier enemies. That was definitely a good feeling, since RE4 is one of my favorite games. I don't get how a follow-up to one of the best action games made, that handles the exact same way, can suddenly be deemed "new" and "bad." Am I really missing something crucial here? I don't think I am.
It has been compared unfavorably to Resident Evil 4 Wii, and I can at least partially understand that bit. Yes, RE4 Wii's controls worked incredibly well, perhaps one of the best uses of the Wii remote yet. However, are we seriously marking down videogames because different games on different systems have control schemes we prefer? I happen to think that Resident Evil 4 Wii had a fundamentally better control scheme than a lot of games -- Metal Gear Solid 4, Gears of War 2, Drake's frigging Fortune. That doesn't mean those games are bad or unplayable.
I guarantee you as well that if Resident Evil 5 ever comes to the Wii, it'll be the worse for it as well. Online play would be a joke, and if you want a preview of the graphics, there are plenty of Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop screenshots on the 'net. Gameplay controls are incredibly important, but these ones work very well. Just because they're not motion-spurred doesn't mean they suck. It strikes me as a rather snobbish attitude to take, considering nobody said RE4 sucked when it was still on the GameCube and PS2.
Another point I am seeing is that Resident Evil 5 is not "scary." Now, I grant you that the game is not psychologically scary, like old-school survival horror. This game isn't survival horror; it's pure action all the way. However, again I must ask if we were playing the same game. Being trapped in a house and surrounded by a bunch of crazy villagers with axes and wine bottles and massive axes and chainsaws and bags on their heads ... that's pretty fucking terrifying, if you ask me. Okay, it's not disturbed terror -- it's popcorn terror. It's fun terror. But it's still incredibly tense in a Left 4 Dead "Holy shit they're everywhere" vibe.
As one of the harshest reviewers on Destructoid, I have no problem seeing a game get critically mauled if it deserves it. However, when I can't even begin to understand where the criticism is coming from, I can't help but feel the need to ask what the bloody Hell is up. There's nothing new and terrible in Resident Evil 5, as far as I can see. It's just an improved and upscaled Resident Evil 4. The controls are almost entirely the same, with the only big changes I noticed being D-pad equipment changes which, in my opinion, make the controls even more convenient.
The full game might take a sudden dramatic turn and stink to high Heaven. I don't know for certain if this game will be great or not. The demo's given me a pretty fair idea, however. What it hasn't given me is any sort of clue as to why people have decided to hate it.
So seriously, when does this demo punch me in the balls and steal my wallet?
Contest:
6:00 PM on 01.26.2009
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If it aint broke, don't fix it.
thebza hit the nail on the head, though; gamers love to bitch. I might as well join in drinking the Hater-ade by saying that I wish RE would return to its roots and make another survival-horror masterpiece.
Thanks Jim for this article. I love you.
I've noticed the same thing. Its like going to the talkback on aint-it-cool news. Nobody likes anything at aint-it-cool, and game site comments are really going the same direction.
I mean, there's bound to be people that don't like something, but so much whine happens in comment threads. Nothing new, but you just *feel* it sometimes.
The control scheme made Resident Evil different from the other pack of shooters and along side the rush of infected zombie things, is of course by design and is what keeps the PRESSURE on the player to make swift decisions on how to handle the mobs. Capcom is sticking with their winning formula and they're not gonna change it.
Move along, nothing to see here.
It isn't that Resident Evil 4 or 5 were bad by any means, that's something we all need to understand. It's that Resident Evil 5 doesn't bring anything new to the table for the Resident Evil titles.
Why does everyone love Resident Evil 4 so much? Because it was fresh and it was new. If RE4 would have been another fixed-camera Resident Evil title nobody would have given a rats ass about the game and would have complained about it being more of the same. In fact, before RE4 everyone was complaining about the RE series being a continuous cycle of more of the same. So now we're suddenly praising Resident Evil 5 for doing the exact same thing we all ripped the franchise for doing pre-4?
Nobody complained that RE2 was just RE with new graphics, but they sure did seem to complain about Code Veronica being more of the same. Alot of people didnt mind that Halo 2 was just Halo 1 with dual wielding, but suddenly Halo 3 was a repetitive borefest?
I dont know but I guess I'm failing to understand this slight hypocrisy.
I beg to differ. It was the first original RE (and ultimately, only) game that was on that generation of consoles...people would have bought the polished version with original controls and loved it. Actually, come to think of it, a big deal was made about the graphically enhanced Cube version of the first game, and people quite enjoyed that. Going in a different direction was simply a risk that paid off in spades, because the execution was done so well.
While I'm all for something new, at the same time some people are being critical for the sake of it...there has been but ONE Resident Evil title with this style of gameplay. Give it at least one more title before you start begging for something different.
"I dont know but I guess I'm failing to understand this slight hypocrisy."
That's because your comparisons are jumping across at least two titles in your respective examples, whereas RE4 to RE5 is only one. You're being kind of harsh.
Personally, i think the controls are gimped; exactly as intended. It can be frustrating, and i believe there are better ways to create tension and fear in a game, but it also makes these games what they are. I enjoyed RE4, i will probably end up playing this too at some point.
Again, if this is not your cup of tea, dont play it. There are plenty of games that play differently.
Make a Customizable control option...and i know easier said than done, but it's possible.
Halo 2 was praised because of the myriad of options you could have in online play. It was unprecedented in any console shooter, sans Golden Eye.
I think people bitched about Code Veronica because the story was shitty and the game wasn't as engrossing.
The Ganados' AI, the Monks, the incredibly different locales; THAT'S what made RE4 so good. The updated camera/controls just tipped it over the edge. I mean, what other game has you go from a beat-up old town--->monastery--->special forces beachfront camp?
As for the series:
RE1-->RE2-passably different - RE3? People bitched. RE4-->RE5-different - RE6 (If they don't change the controls) Not just a minority of gamers will bitch.
Im not comparing Splinter Cell and RE4 as a whole. Just their gun mechanics.
@ Dexter345
I played the demo and own RE4. And I think you unintentionally discovered the subliminal point I was trying to make. One franchise only needs to use a control scheme once or twice before it gets old, because if they do it the first time and it works then everyone copies it and builds upon it.
But you missed one point. The reason alot of people want a game to control differently is usually do to another game simply doing it better. If those other games didnt do it better then those games would have been ripped on for not being as good as RE4.
While I think Dead Space showed that a survival horror game can have really actiony controls and still be suspenseful, I'm not saying RE5 needs the same controls as Dead Space; being stationary to aim could be considered part of the series, but they could combine it with dual stick controls to make navigating things easer and still lock Chris in place when you hit the aim button. They could make the knife/melee better.
I'm not upset about what they did, I'm disappointed in what they didn't do.
I've been saying this for awhile. The only people who have trashed the [Mega Man 9] are people who obviously didn't play [Mega Man 1-6], or they did, but in the meantime between the two, they played one of the dozens of other [Side Scrolling shooter/platformer] games that all control the same, and they want every game to control like that.
*wink*
13a., Section 1- If anything reaches a predetermined level of popularity, savvy internet users should immediately be polarized by it and either proclaim undying affection or extreme hate for it. It does not matter whether the subject is a band, book, movie or video game. It is either awesome or it sucks.
Play this, notice how you dont move at all, the AI is daft and you're slower than a 90 year old man.
I guess playing Dead Space spoiled all of us on decent contorls and handling or something.
I don't see why Capcom needs to stick with their outdated and shitty control scheme.
And the atmosphere, I know its only 2 segments but there wasn't any semblance of atmosphere in any of them.
Dead Space makes RE4 and the demo for 5 look pretty terrible, I'll still buy it but the game feels like an RE4 re-skin, not a problem for some but I guess I expect a bit more.
I see a lot of folks bring up Dead Space, I have yet to really try out the demo so I can't comment on the controls.
Who knows, Capcom might patch that in between now and its release.
In order to get a good shot, you stand still. It's not The Matrix. That doesn't even touch upon the gameplay elements at work, vis a vis the tension of the combat when you have to get a good distance and pray the enemies aren't inches behind you when you turn around to shoot.
You want run n' gun, go back to Dead Space, or play Contra or something.
Sure, the controls are like RE4, but there's nothing wrong with that, as its like getting back into a car after not driving for a while. The controls are easy to figure out and while not to every players cup of tea, it still works a dream.
I know some Dtoiders have been complaining, but there's little that Capcom need to change from RE4.
I'm happy to play Left 4 Dead one way, and RE5 another, and still have both of them give an amazing sense of overwhelming, think fast gameplay. Roll on March, you can have my money, Capcom.
This demo is also a good example of how to do a good demo, I just wish their wasn't so much pussyfooting around it translating it the jap version, when the full game is due soon.