To be honest, the initial previews for Resident Evil 5 didn't overwhelm us. But its predecessor on the PS2 and Wii was so amazing (BEST. GAME. EVER.) that we didn't hesitate to try the demo. I'm normally a single-player enthusiast, but GrrlGotGame and I dove straight into co-op and haven't looked back. It's not particularly innovative, and there are some major annoyances, but the game still grabbed us and so far hasn't let go.
The game neatly skirts the controversy of having a white protagonist assassinating mostly black enemies by pairing him with an attractive black partner and driving home from the start how the zombie-like monsters are created. In the end, the controvery was for naught: Zombies are zombies, and that's clearly what we have here.
If you play solo, you will still have a partner - though she'll be controlled by the AI. I haven't tested this yet, but reports suggest it is very hit and miss. If you can find a local partner, you'll play with a horizontal, staggered split screen that actually takes very little time to adjust to (though you will want a large-screen TV!). You can also play co-op online or via LAN if you have friends with their own copies of the game. It is nice having your partner nearby so you can shout at them when you get in trouble. Which you will.
The game plays much like RE4, for better or for worse.
You're still planted in one place when you aim; the designers probably believe strafing would unbalance the game and rob it of its scariness. But it feels notably absent particularly after a string of great third-person shooters such as the Gears of War series.
The other peeve is that when you pick up a weapon in co-op, it is glued to you. You are permitted to give healing herbs and ammo to your partner, but not weapons. So when your friend playing Sheva picks up that scoped rifle you're going to need to cover her during a nearby mission, you are out of luck - your only recourse is to save up your gold and buy your own rifle between levels. Apparently this is to prevent game inbalance by stopping you from passing along a particularly powerful, upgraded weapon to your drop-in co-op buddy who then uses it in single-player mode or another co-op game. Though it seems like the developers could have just kept your co-op stats and equipment separate from your single-player games, keying them to each unique game session. We're playing different games with different profiles on different hard drives, so it just seems inane that I can't simply hand Sheva a shotgun when I'm two feet away from her.
The other annoyance is that achievements (on the Xbox 360 at least) don't always trigger for both co-op players. We completed the first level on GrrlGotGame's save together, from the very beginning to the end - albeit in two gaming sessions. As best we can tell, I didn't load my save quickly enough and I missed a few seconds of non-combat - which robbed me of the achievement. We played the second level the same way with a break halfway through, but we both earned the achievement that time. Minor annoyance, but still a pain. You should simply be able to load both players' profiles BEFORE starting the game, right? Drop in is a nice feature, but it shouldn't be required if your choice is to play co-op all the way through.
Even with these quibbles, so far it's a fun game with a good story and some tough challenges. The difficulty ramps up fast and then drops off for spells. Important safety tip: Don't get separated. It is possible to wander off quite a distance from your partner, and you are required to be there to revive him or her quickly if they fall. Which they will.
A few other handy tips:
- In co-op, you can only skip cut scenes if both players skip at the same time. Handy if you repeat the same sections more than once.
- Use the D-pad to select favorite weapons quickly by placing them at the up, down, left and right points on your item grid.
- Master the quick turn: While running with A, pull back quickly on the control stick while stretching to hit the X button. This may take some practice (we're still working on it).
Well, you didn’t tip the scales in the “buy” direction. I have also heard the game is pretty short, less than 10 hours. I placed it at the top of the Gamefly list and will see what happens.