I've covered every other aspect of RE5 exhaustively, but I finished off the Achievements last night so I'll finish up that series with a few comments about the set.
Overall, it's a pretty solid set of awards. Some are pretty standard, including the obligatory Achievements for finishing each chapter and beating the game on each difficulty setting. There are some collection Achievements for finding all the weapons and treasures...I usually hate collection awards but these make sense because there's obvious value to the items for which you're searching.
There are also some Achievements that are fun to pursue. Examples include shooting a stick of dynamite while an enemy is still holding it, trying to take out three enemies with one explosive barrel, and killing an enemy with a rotten egg to the face. The game also includes two secret weapons, and there are a pair of Achievements for killing a few enemies with each of those (they're both fun).
I only have two complaints about the set. The first is aesthetic: it' just not a very attractive set of icons. Lots of the pictures repeat, and the artwork is pretty mediocre. It's unfortunate because one of RE5's greatest strengths is the quality visuals.
My other beef is with the Achievement for fully upgrading every weapon. It takes A TON of cash to accomplish this task. I played through the game four times (admittedly one was a speed run), including one playthrough on Professional difficulty where you get double cash, and I still needed to grind through Chapter Select mode for around five hours to get the rest. A better idea would have been to make the award for fully upgrading one weapon of each type (handgun, rifle, shotgun, etc.). As it is, this one is a real pain in the butt.
If you do go for the weapon upgrade Achievement, make sure you keep all the weapons in your inventory, because it doesn't count if you upgrade and then sell them.
Showing posts with label resident evil 5. Show all posts
Showing posts with label resident evil 5. Show all posts
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Capcom - Racists or just Idiots?
A hypothetical conversation between two Capcom executives prior to the release of Resident Evil 5:
Jim: Hey, listen...I'm hearing rumors that game sites are previewing our upcoming release and calling it "racist". I haven't really been following the project that carefully, so is this something we should be worried about?
Slappy: Not at all. I put together some screenshots for you to look at. As you can see, there's nothing racist going on here.
Jim: Uh, this looks like a white hero locked in mortal combat with waves and waves of black people. That doesn't seem strange to you?
Slappy: Well, the game is set in Africa.
Jim: Oh I get it, so a viral outbreak - because ALL of our games are about a viral outbreak - happens in Africa and it affects the local populace. Okay, that makes perfect sense. We'll just get some PR guys talking to the media, they'll explain the setting and how it works within the Resident Evil conventions, and most people should understand that we aren't intending racism but merely verisimilitude.
Slappy: I don't know what "verisimilitude" means, but don't worry about the PR guys. We've already got it covered.
Jim: I'm not sure I like the sound of that...what do you mean covered?
Slappy: We made alterations to the game in response to the criticism. That should appease our critics.
Jim: I definitely don't like the sound of that. What kind of alterations?!
Slappy: Well, we made some of the mutated zombie villagers light skinned. See?
Jim: Wow, that's profoundly retarded. You do realize that it doesn't look like you mixed in some white zombies (which wouldn't make sense anyway), but that some Albino subgroup of the African populace was also infected? Because they have African features and are wearing local clothing...heck, it sort of looks like you spray-painted some of them white.
Slappy: Yeah, we pretty much just used the computers to recolor them and called it a day.
Jim: I don't think that fixes anything. Also, now that I read the design documents I'm seeing some other problems. It says here that the hero goes to a native village full of mud-and-stick huts? And the locals, dressed in rags and decorated with bones, feathers, and war paint, attack him with spears??? Is that right?
Slappy: Yeah, it's great. They make these yelping, growling sounds too. Spooky stuff. Well, not spooky like scary, but it disturbs the senses.
Jim: I'm definitely disturbed. You don't think that sounds a little over the top? I mean, spear chucking black natives...we're getting into some pretty blatant stereotyping here. And is this even necessary? How would natives living in isolation from the urban areas come in contact with the virus?
Slappy: Oh, they're being exploited by a pharmaceutical company run by white Europeans.
Jim: Hmm...is this some kind of commentary on the economic and industrial relationships between the Western world and underdeveloped nations? Sort of a "Constant Gardener" thing?
Slappy: Nah, they're just dicks. It establishes who the bad guys are. We couldn't think of a more subtle way to do it.
Jim: I'm getting a headache here...
Slappy: But don't worry, because I haven't shown you our trump card yet. The addition that makes it so nobody can accuse the game of being racist.
Jim: I'm afraid to ask.
Slappy: Meet the hero's partner, Sheva:
Jim: Yeah?
Slappy: Don't you see? SHE'S BLACK. So it's not a white person killing a bunch of black people. It's a white person AND a black person killing a bunch of black people. Bam - not racist.
Jim: Uh wow...you've got this all figured out. Why was I worried? I'm just going to check Monster.com for openings in the video game field.
Slappy: Before you go, check out the best part. Once you beat the game and find all the collectibles, you can unlock her super-sexy "alternate" costume.
Jim: Oh Lord, this is going to be bad.
Slappy: It's great! Check it out:
Jim: Ah, so you've decided to kill the twin birds of racism AND sexism with one stone. Nice. I think I'll just put our lawyers on retainer now and avoid the rush.
Thus concludes our scene. For the record, I don't think setting a game in Africa and then having some of the baddies be Africans is racist. But Capcom handled this entire situation with the deft grace of a battering ram to the skull. It's unfortunate, because gaming companies will likely take the wrong lesson from this: namely that they should go back to putting only white people in games. Showing a little cultural variety is fine, heck it's encouraged, but applying a healthy dose of common sense at the same time would really help!
Jim: Hey, listen...I'm hearing rumors that game sites are previewing our upcoming release and calling it "racist". I haven't really been following the project that carefully, so is this something we should be worried about?
Slappy: Not at all. I put together some screenshots for you to look at. As you can see, there's nothing racist going on here.
Jim: Uh, this looks like a white hero locked in mortal combat with waves and waves of black people. That doesn't seem strange to you?
Slappy: Well, the game is set in Africa.
Jim: Oh I get it, so a viral outbreak - because ALL of our games are about a viral outbreak - happens in Africa and it affects the local populace. Okay, that makes perfect sense. We'll just get some PR guys talking to the media, they'll explain the setting and how it works within the Resident Evil conventions, and most people should understand that we aren't intending racism but merely verisimilitude.
Slappy: I don't know what "verisimilitude" means, but don't worry about the PR guys. We've already got it covered.
Jim: I'm not sure I like the sound of that...what do you mean covered?
Slappy: We made alterations to the game in response to the criticism. That should appease our critics.
Jim: I definitely don't like the sound of that. What kind of alterations?!
Slappy: Well, we made some of the mutated zombie villagers light skinned. See?
Jim: Wow, that's profoundly retarded. You do realize that it doesn't look like you mixed in some white zombies (which wouldn't make sense anyway), but that some Albino subgroup of the African populace was also infected? Because they have African features and are wearing local clothing...heck, it sort of looks like you spray-painted some of them white.
Slappy: Yeah, we pretty much just used the computers to recolor them and called it a day.
Jim: I don't think that fixes anything. Also, now that I read the design documents I'm seeing some other problems. It says here that the hero goes to a native village full of mud-and-stick huts? And the locals, dressed in rags and decorated with bones, feathers, and war paint, attack him with spears??? Is that right?
Slappy: Yeah, it's great. They make these yelping, growling sounds too. Spooky stuff. Well, not spooky like scary, but it disturbs the senses.
Jim: I'm definitely disturbed. You don't think that sounds a little over the top? I mean, spear chucking black natives...we're getting into some pretty blatant stereotyping here. And is this even necessary? How would natives living in isolation from the urban areas come in contact with the virus?
Slappy: Oh, they're being exploited by a pharmaceutical company run by white Europeans.
Jim: Hmm...is this some kind of commentary on the economic and industrial relationships between the Western world and underdeveloped nations? Sort of a "Constant Gardener" thing?
Slappy: Nah, they're just dicks. It establishes who the bad guys are. We couldn't think of a more subtle way to do it.
Jim: I'm getting a headache here...
Slappy: But don't worry, because I haven't shown you our trump card yet. The addition that makes it so nobody can accuse the game of being racist.
Jim: I'm afraid to ask.
Slappy: Meet the hero's partner, Sheva:
Jim: Yeah?
Slappy: Don't you see? SHE'S BLACK. So it's not a white person killing a bunch of black people. It's a white person AND a black person killing a bunch of black people. Bam - not racist.
Jim: Uh wow...you've got this all figured out. Why was I worried? I'm just going to check Monster.com for openings in the video game field.
Slappy: Before you go, check out the best part. Once you beat the game and find all the collectibles, you can unlock her super-sexy "alternate" costume.
Jim: Oh Lord, this is going to be bad.
Slappy: It's great! Check it out:
Jim: Ah, so you've decided to kill the twin birds of racism AND sexism with one stone. Nice. I think I'll just put our lawyers on retainer now and avoid the rush.
Thus concludes our scene. For the record, I don't think setting a game in Africa and then having some of the baddies be Africans is racist. But Capcom handled this entire situation with the deft grace of a battering ram to the skull. It's unfortunate, because gaming companies will likely take the wrong lesson from this: namely that they should go back to putting only white people in games. Showing a little cultural variety is fine, heck it's encouraged, but applying a healthy dose of common sense at the same time would really help!
Professional Difficulty = NO FUN MODE
I finished Resident Evil 5 on "Veteran" difficulty last night. After knocking out a few side Achievements, I started my final run on "Professional" difficulty. Pro is so tough that it isn't even available at the beginning...you have to beat the game on Veteran just to prove you're worthy or something.
If you've ever been a PC gamer, then you might know that on some games you can toggle settings to turn off advanced graphical features. This is in case your machine isn't quite up to snuff and you need to improve how the game runs. So you can turn off things like reflections, shadows, and other enhancements.
Well, RE5 on Professional is like going into the menu and toggling the "Fun" setting to off. Granted, RE5 is pretty obnoxious to begin with, but once you get the infinite ammo magnum and rocket launcher, there's definitely some enjoyment to be had. Not so with Professional difficulty. The enemies are insanely aggressive and every time you get hit, it's essentially an instant kill. Thank God I've already run through the game three times so I know where most of the enemies are. Otherwise I could hardly stand to play this thing.
If you've ever been a PC gamer, then you might know that on some games you can toggle settings to turn off advanced graphical features. This is in case your machine isn't quite up to snuff and you need to improve how the game runs. So you can turn off things like reflections, shadows, and other enhancements.
Well, RE5 on Professional is like going into the menu and toggling the "Fun" setting to off. Granted, RE5 is pretty obnoxious to begin with, but once you get the infinite ammo magnum and rocket launcher, there's definitely some enjoyment to be had. Not so with Professional difficulty. The enemies are insanely aggressive and every time you get hit, it's essentially an instant kill. Thank God I've already run through the game three times so I know where most of the enemies are. Otherwise I could hardly stand to play this thing.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Resident Evil 5: Achievement Path
An "Achievement Path" is simply a series of directions indicating how to get the Achievements with great efficiency. They're particularly useful for games that involve multiple playthroughs, because you can get an idea of which Achievements to pursue on which trip through the game.
RE5 requires a minimum of two playthroughs for 100% completion. If you want to emphasize getting the Achievements as quickly as possible, then do your first trip on Veteran difficulty and your second on Professional.
I don't suggest that path though, because the game is annoyingly frustrating trying to work through Veteran (and especially Professional) without amassing some upgraded equipment.
Here's my suggestion for a path that will take a little longer but save you some annoyance. Minor spoilers are scattered throughout, but nothing plot-based.
Game 1: Play through on either Amateur or (preferably) Normal. This is your "enjoy the game" run. Just play normally, watching the cutscenes and seeing what RE5 has to offer. I didn't enjoy it much but maybe you will. Two key points on this playthrough though. First, don't spend any of your cash yet. Second, in Chapter 5-3 when you get to the big double boss fight (you'll know) look for a locked door on one side and keep running around near it until you get kicked through it. Then run down the newly opened passage and find the metal case containing the super-kickass Lightning Hawk Magnum. After the chapter, use you stockpile of cash to FULLY upgrade the Hawk, selling treasure if you need more money. Every upgrade should be purchased. Then finish the game.
Game 2: You've now seen everything the game has to offer, so it's time to do a speed run. Use the bonus features menu to unlock infinite ammo for the L. Hawk. It takes 15,000 points so if you're a little short, use the chapter select and play through a couple short missions until you have the necessary points. Make sure you enable infinite ammo in the extras menu. Now start up a new game at Chapter 1-1 (using New Game+ or Chapter select) on Amateur difficulty. You need to finish the whole game in 5 hours or less, so don't waste time hunting for treasure. Just run and gun with the L. Hawk.
Game 3: Congrats, you just unlocked the infinite ammo Rocket Launcher! With that and the L. Hawk, you're now well equipped to conquer Veteran. I suggest using a guide on this playthrough so you can get the BSAA emblems and the treasures. Save up cash to upgrade weapons as well. Veteran is definitely a step up in difficulty but you can one-shot most regular guys with the Magnum and most bosses with the rocket launcher.
Game 4: Same deal, but now on Professional. Most hits will just about kill you in this mode, so go slowly and make good use of your souped up weapons. An upgraded rifle can really help on this difficulty so you can pick off enemies before they see you. Have patience and good luck!
Clean up: If you're missing any Achievements for barrel kills or whatnot, use the chapter select to choose a good spot to grab them. Hint - they can all be done on Amateur.
Enjoy your 1000 new points!
RE5 requires a minimum of two playthroughs for 100% completion. If you want to emphasize getting the Achievements as quickly as possible, then do your first trip on Veteran difficulty and your second on Professional.
I don't suggest that path though, because the game is annoyingly frustrating trying to work through Veteran (and especially Professional) without amassing some upgraded equipment.
Here's my suggestion for a path that will take a little longer but save you some annoyance. Minor spoilers are scattered throughout, but nothing plot-based.
Game 1: Play through on either Amateur or (preferably) Normal. This is your "enjoy the game" run. Just play normally, watching the cutscenes and seeing what RE5 has to offer. I didn't enjoy it much but maybe you will. Two key points on this playthrough though. First, don't spend any of your cash yet. Second, in Chapter 5-3 when you get to the big double boss fight (you'll know) look for a locked door on one side and keep running around near it until you get kicked through it. Then run down the newly opened passage and find the metal case containing the super-kickass Lightning Hawk Magnum. After the chapter, use you stockpile of cash to FULLY upgrade the Hawk, selling treasure if you need more money. Every upgrade should be purchased. Then finish the game.
Game 2: You've now seen everything the game has to offer, so it's time to do a speed run. Use the bonus features menu to unlock infinite ammo for the L. Hawk. It takes 15,000 points so if you're a little short, use the chapter select and play through a couple short missions until you have the necessary points. Make sure you enable infinite ammo in the extras menu. Now start up a new game at Chapter 1-1 (using New Game+ or Chapter select) on Amateur difficulty. You need to finish the whole game in 5 hours or less, so don't waste time hunting for treasure. Just run and gun with the L. Hawk.
Game 3: Congrats, you just unlocked the infinite ammo Rocket Launcher! With that and the L. Hawk, you're now well equipped to conquer Veteran. I suggest using a guide on this playthrough so you can get the BSAA emblems and the treasures. Save up cash to upgrade weapons as well. Veteran is definitely a step up in difficulty but you can one-shot most regular guys with the Magnum and most bosses with the rocket launcher.
Game 4: Same deal, but now on Professional. Most hits will just about kill you in this mode, so go slowly and make good use of your souped up weapons. An upgraded rifle can really help on this difficulty so you can pick off enemies before they see you. Have patience and good luck!
Clean up: If you're missing any Achievements for barrel kills or whatnot, use the chapter select to choose a good spot to grab them. Hint - they can all be done on Amateur.
Enjoy your 1000 new points!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Resident Evil 5: Plot Spoilers
There isn't much plot to RE5, but what's there is pretty dumb. Here are some of my beefs with the story, which obviously contain spoilers:
- Okay, you're an evil corporation that's conducting secret research in Africa. There are some flowers that you need for their DNA mutating purposes (odd, but I'll go with it). They grow in a specific series of caves. Now if you're not an idiot, you put your base somewhere near the site and go to collect flower virus samples to study. Or if you absolutely insist on putting the base in the cave near the flowers (Why? The virus seems perfectly stable in an ordinary syringe), then you'd dig or construct a convenient entrance to the surface, right? Well not this evil corporation. For access to their secret base, the bad guys decided it would be more convenient to use an ancient underground temple complete with monsters, death traps, and doors that can only be opened by two people working in concert. There's all kinds of stone pillars and staircases that move around (how exactly?), and even a series of mirror puzzles used to power some kind of prehistoric African elevator (???). How the Hell did they set up their super-futuristic base in such a remote spot? How did they even get the materials through all these traps? The whole thing doesn't make any sense. One minute I'm walking around what looks like an Aztec ruin (in Africa?), and the next I'm standing in a room full of computers and cryopods.
- I would love to take a look at the Umbrella Corporation books. These guys must be worse with money than the entire US banking system put together. What exactly is their business plan here?
Step One: Build a REALLY fancy, hi-tech facility in a REALLY remote location.
Step Two: Mutate a bunch of people and creatures into various kinds of monsters (on purpose).
Step Three: Cackle with glee as the whole thing turns into a giant clusterfuck.
Step Four: ???
Step Five: Profit
You can find documents that mention nebulous "military contracts" while playing through the game, as if the military has a lot of use for a virus that turns people into mindless, unstoppable monsters. Let's just say that if I was on the Umbrella Corp. Board of Directors, I'd be selling my stock as fast as I could.
- Excella...this character makes no sense to me. I'm rich, I'm beautiful, I'm powerful, and I can pretty much have anything in the world. So what do I do? Give all my money to a mutated lunatic, purposely infect myself with a highly unpredictable mutation virus, and then follow him through a series of dank African caves to do his bidding until he betrays me. Hey Excella, you do realize you could retire to a tropical island and pay a dozen guys better looking than our villain to worship you like a goddess for a fraction of the cost of this idiotic plan, right?
- As for the main bad guy's scheme, this whole "I'm going to destroy the world and rule over what's left of it" plan has been done a million times, and it's ALWAYS stupid. Never once does he give a reasonable justification for his actions. At one point he claims that people constantly battle against each other, so their time is done (I'm paraphrasing here). So turning them all into hyper-violent zombies is better...how exactly? Gosh, I'm sure he can hardly wait to be the unquestioned lord and master of the decaying ruins of human civilization. Again, he's already got money and power, plus mutant abilities that put him pretty far beyond prosecution for most any crime. Why wreck the place up? How does he know some of the new mutants won't be even stronger than he is, and not particularly amenable to his rule?
- One final note to Capcom: LAVA IS HOT. Crash-landing in a volcano means instant death, not sweet boss fight. And anything I can hurt with bullets will be right-fucked if it's submerged in molten rock (actually biological material would float on lava since it's less dense...if it didn't incinerate instantly, that is).
However, I did get a laugh watching Chris Redfield punch a giant boulder into position. I guess that's why he needed those giant muscles.
- Okay, you're an evil corporation that's conducting secret research in Africa. There are some flowers that you need for their DNA mutating purposes (odd, but I'll go with it). They grow in a specific series of caves. Now if you're not an idiot, you put your base somewhere near the site and go to collect flower virus samples to study. Or if you absolutely insist on putting the base in the cave near the flowers (Why? The virus seems perfectly stable in an ordinary syringe), then you'd dig or construct a convenient entrance to the surface, right? Well not this evil corporation. For access to their secret base, the bad guys decided it would be more convenient to use an ancient underground temple complete with monsters, death traps, and doors that can only be opened by two people working in concert. There's all kinds of stone pillars and staircases that move around (how exactly?), and even a series of mirror puzzles used to power some kind of prehistoric African elevator (???). How the Hell did they set up their super-futuristic base in such a remote spot? How did they even get the materials through all these traps? The whole thing doesn't make any sense. One minute I'm walking around what looks like an Aztec ruin (in Africa?), and the next I'm standing in a room full of computers and cryopods.
- I would love to take a look at the Umbrella Corporation books. These guys must be worse with money than the entire US banking system put together. What exactly is their business plan here?
Step One: Build a REALLY fancy, hi-tech facility in a REALLY remote location.
Step Two: Mutate a bunch of people and creatures into various kinds of monsters (on purpose).
Step Three: Cackle with glee as the whole thing turns into a giant clusterfuck.
Step Four: ???
Step Five: Profit
You can find documents that mention nebulous "military contracts" while playing through the game, as if the military has a lot of use for a virus that turns people into mindless, unstoppable monsters. Let's just say that if I was on the Umbrella Corp. Board of Directors, I'd be selling my stock as fast as I could.
- Excella...this character makes no sense to me. I'm rich, I'm beautiful, I'm powerful, and I can pretty much have anything in the world. So what do I do? Give all my money to a mutated lunatic, purposely infect myself with a highly unpredictable mutation virus, and then follow him through a series of dank African caves to do his bidding until he betrays me. Hey Excella, you do realize you could retire to a tropical island and pay a dozen guys better looking than our villain to worship you like a goddess for a fraction of the cost of this idiotic plan, right?
- As for the main bad guy's scheme, this whole "I'm going to destroy the world and rule over what's left of it" plan has been done a million times, and it's ALWAYS stupid. Never once does he give a reasonable justification for his actions. At one point he claims that people constantly battle against each other, so their time is done (I'm paraphrasing here). So turning them all into hyper-violent zombies is better...how exactly? Gosh, I'm sure he can hardly wait to be the unquestioned lord and master of the decaying ruins of human civilization. Again, he's already got money and power, plus mutant abilities that put him pretty far beyond prosecution for most any crime. Why wreck the place up? How does he know some of the new mutants won't be even stronger than he is, and not particularly amenable to his rule?
- One final note to Capcom: LAVA IS HOT. Crash-landing in a volcano means instant death, not sweet boss fight. And anything I can hurt with bullets will be right-fucked if it's submerged in molten rock (actually biological material would float on lava since it's less dense...if it didn't incinerate instantly, that is).
However, I did get a laugh watching Chris Redfield punch a giant boulder into position. I guess that's why he needed those giant muscles.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
This isn't your parents' Resident Evil
I'm still plowing through Resident Evil 5. Note that I'm not using the term "plowing" to indicate playing through rapidly because I can't put it down, but more in the sense of "manual labor of a tedious nature". Resident Evil 4 was an all time classic. This game is well below average. How does that happen?
Rachel may be one of the world's premier RE4 fans, and she has some thoughts that really echo my own. Check those out here!
I'll just add a few of my own opinions. The biggest issue in my mind is that the makers of RE games completely misunderstood what was good about RE4, and thus played up the wrong aspects of the game for RE5. For example:
- RE4 had an amazing fight in which you had to hold off a horde of villagers with only limited supplies. RE5 has SEVERAL of these...the first time it's tense and scary but quickly it becomes boring and repetitive.
- RE4 had a smattering of quick time events. They were annoying but tolerable. RE5 has tons of quick time events, almost all of which result in instant death if you miss them. Thus the game effectively punishes me for watching the cutscenes instead of staring at the bottom of the screen waiting for a button prompt, while simultaneously rewarding me for memorizing Simon-says style button sequences. This is fun how exactly?
- RE4 had a feature where you could find loot and exchange it to do simple upgrades on your weapons. RE5 has the same thing only far more complicated, and now there are multiple versions of each weapon type (shotgun, rifle, handgun, etc.) to be found. So do I upgrade my current shotgun or wait to see if I find a new one? This kind of metathinking takes you out of the game's story because you're too busy fussing over resource management.
- RE4 had a spooky setting and a solid plot with overarching intrigue. There were legitimate scares to be had. RE5 opens with a cutscene explaining "There are terrorists...they have a virus that makes people mutate. Go get 'em." This game isn't trying to be scary or atmospheric, it's just putting a throng of zombies and monsters between you and the bad guys on a linear path.
- RE4 starred Leon Kennedy. He was a fairly normal guy, albeit with combat training. He wasn't superhuman or anything, but he was a decent person who made the best possible decisions available during the game. RE5 stars Chris Redfield, who looks a bit like a shaved gorilla after a severe steroid bender. He's practically invulnerable to damage, has a sniper's aim (with a pistol), and possesses similar decision-making skills to a teenager in a slasher flick.
I could say more but I'm not sure why I'd bother. The bottom line is that everything RE4 did right RE5 tosses out the window, and everything that was a minor annoyance in RE4 gets pushed to the absolute limit in RE5. It's not a good recipe.
As I get closer to finishing the Achievement set, I'll post something about that.
Rachel may be one of the world's premier RE4 fans, and she has some thoughts that really echo my own. Check those out here!
I'll just add a few of my own opinions. The biggest issue in my mind is that the makers of RE games completely misunderstood what was good about RE4, and thus played up the wrong aspects of the game for RE5. For example:
- RE4 had an amazing fight in which you had to hold off a horde of villagers with only limited supplies. RE5 has SEVERAL of these...the first time it's tense and scary but quickly it becomes boring and repetitive.
- RE4 had a smattering of quick time events. They were annoying but tolerable. RE5 has tons of quick time events, almost all of which result in instant death if you miss them. Thus the game effectively punishes me for watching the cutscenes instead of staring at the bottom of the screen waiting for a button prompt, while simultaneously rewarding me for memorizing Simon-says style button sequences. This is fun how exactly?
- RE4 had a feature where you could find loot and exchange it to do simple upgrades on your weapons. RE5 has the same thing only far more complicated, and now there are multiple versions of each weapon type (shotgun, rifle, handgun, etc.) to be found. So do I upgrade my current shotgun or wait to see if I find a new one? This kind of metathinking takes you out of the game's story because you're too busy fussing over resource management.
- RE4 had a spooky setting and a solid plot with overarching intrigue. There were legitimate scares to be had. RE5 opens with a cutscene explaining "There are terrorists...they have a virus that makes people mutate. Go get 'em." This game isn't trying to be scary or atmospheric, it's just putting a throng of zombies and monsters between you and the bad guys on a linear path.
- RE4 starred Leon Kennedy. He was a fairly normal guy, albeit with combat training. He wasn't superhuman or anything, but he was a decent person who made the best possible decisions available during the game. RE5 stars Chris Redfield, who looks a bit like a shaved gorilla after a severe steroid bender. He's practically invulnerable to damage, has a sniper's aim (with a pistol), and possesses similar decision-making skills to a teenager in a slasher flick.
I could say more but I'm not sure why I'd bother. The bottom line is that everything RE4 did right RE5 tosses out the window, and everything that was a minor annoyance in RE4 gets pushed to the absolute limit in RE5. It's not a good recipe.
As I get closer to finishing the Achievement set, I'll post something about that.
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