rising from the ashes, the monster is born
So. Resident Evil 5.
I'm not even finished with my first playthrough yet*, but I think I'm ready to semi-review it already. You see... it's not easy to say, but I find myself needing to be motivated to play this game. It's not terrible - in fact, some parts are great, and the graphics are in all honestly pretty much the best I've seen - but it's not what I want from a Resident Evil game. By far.
The Resident Evil series used to be about exploring an area or mansion or facility, backtracking, second-guessing, unlocking doors and puzzles, figuring out out what you were supposed to do. Hoarding ammo and dreading combat encounters. The mansion itself was a huge puzzle for you to unravel.
But, as of RE4, Resident Evil has become more linear and action-oriented. It's gone from survival horror to action. Sure, the subject matter is still survival horror, but the fear one is supposed to feel personally, as the player, has been traded for the adrenaline of action combat. One no longer fears the next (unexpected) fight, because the next fight is always just around the next corner, in the next room, through the next door. The game telegraphs it's every move to the point of being ridiculous.
This was acceptable for one game. Resident Evil has a habit of "trying things" from time to time. In RE2, you were able to pick one of two protagonists, and once you beat the game you had to play through "the other side of the story" (what the other protagonist had been doing while you were playing through it the first time). In RE0, you could switch between two characters who were working through the game simultaneously. In RE4, they switched to an over-the-shoulder camera view, with more aggressive enemies.
The problem is... they took all the neat changes that made RE4 different and neat and novel, and got rid of most of the stuff that made me like the series. The "puzzles" are, in a word, asinine. My 6yr-old cousin could beat this game, if the combat elements weren't so demanding. But... then there's the added support character. Sure, you have to save her occasionally. But she watches your back. It makes the game easier in too many ways. That, combined with the fact that you get ammo like crazy means that the game just isn't scary anymore.
What I like about survival horror is 1) that it makes you think, 2) you need quick reflexes and quick fingers to survive, and 3) it involves the player and creates a psychological atmosphere of fear that heightens the game experience. RE5 has one out of three. The action is great and combat, at it's best, is hectic and fun. But that's it. The game flow has been reduced to an extremely linear "chapter" system, and one is able to replay previous chapters keeping weapons from later parts of the game. In other words, you can play halfway through the game and amass huge amounts of money and ammo and ferocious weaponry, and then go back to the beginning of the game and start off like a heavily-armed badass. What? The whole point of survival horror is that you're always watching your ammo level and worrying that the weapons you've found so far won't be a match for the next new thing you have to fight. In RE5, every boss fight becomes a mere speedbump. At the end of one chapter, I found myself facing the giant four-winged bat monster for the second time, and all I could think was, Crap, this is going to be A MINOR ANNOYANCE. And then I promptly emptied my grenade launcher into its ass and it died**.
I seriously played through about half of this game drunk, and did fine.
I think I miss the Umbrella Corporation and the T-virus. There was an enemy who knew the value of complicated mansion floorplans and ridiculously ornate puzzles and keys. All the Plagas know about is running at you with a chainsaw or an axe or an AK-47 and hitting you head-on. There's no subtlety anymore. It's very, very pretty, but it also feels like it's missing something.
To me, Resident Evil 5 was like meeting a woman with an amazing body and a (superficially, at least) interesting personality who for some reason was attracted to me. And we would talk and flirt, and the sex was going to be so good. And then we found ourselves in bed together, and it was... meh. Yes, it was getting laid. Yes, it was with someone braggably hot, if I were the bragging type. But it was... boring. Not what I wanted. Awkward.
Resident Evil 5 is a hot chick who lays there like a dead fish in bed***. There, I said it. Once the novelty of "OMG, I'm banging a hot chick" wears off, no amount of trophies or unlockable costumes is going to change the fact that it's just an okay-at-best game. It's not even very long. Fun, if you're in the mood. But... if you're not, you could probably just read a book or something, and not have to worry about pressing buttons.
I really want them to make a "backstory" game, using this control/camera style, but have it be set in poor, zombie-infested Raccoon City, or some Umbrella facility, in the past. This RE4 Plaga action shit was interesting for one game's worth of my attention, and one game only.
__________
* - I am at the last chapter, however.
** - That's the problem with splash damage: An enemy may have its most vulnerable spot facing away from you, but a big enough explosion will envelop its whole body. Too many things make this game easier than it needs to be.
*** - And, no, I'm not working off of any specific personal experience, here. This is pure metaphor. Hahaha.
I'm not even finished with my first playthrough yet*, but I think I'm ready to semi-review it already. You see... it's not easy to say, but I find myself needing to be motivated to play this game. It's not terrible - in fact, some parts are great, and the graphics are in all honestly pretty much the best I've seen - but it's not what I want from a Resident Evil game. By far.
The Resident Evil series used to be about exploring an area or mansion or facility, backtracking, second-guessing, unlocking doors and puzzles, figuring out out what you were supposed to do. Hoarding ammo and dreading combat encounters. The mansion itself was a huge puzzle for you to unravel.
But, as of RE4, Resident Evil has become more linear and action-oriented. It's gone from survival horror to action. Sure, the subject matter is still survival horror, but the fear one is supposed to feel personally, as the player, has been traded for the adrenaline of action combat. One no longer fears the next (unexpected) fight, because the next fight is always just around the next corner, in the next room, through the next door. The game telegraphs it's every move to the point of being ridiculous.
This was acceptable for one game. Resident Evil has a habit of "trying things" from time to time. In RE2, you were able to pick one of two protagonists, and once you beat the game you had to play through "the other side of the story" (what the other protagonist had been doing while you were playing through it the first time). In RE0, you could switch between two characters who were working through the game simultaneously. In RE4, they switched to an over-the-shoulder camera view, with more aggressive enemies.
The problem is... they took all the neat changes that made RE4 different and neat and novel, and got rid of most of the stuff that made me like the series. The "puzzles" are, in a word, asinine. My 6yr-old cousin could beat this game, if the combat elements weren't so demanding. But... then there's the added support character. Sure, you have to save her occasionally. But she watches your back. It makes the game easier in too many ways. That, combined with the fact that you get ammo like crazy means that the game just isn't scary anymore.
What I like about survival horror is 1) that it makes you think, 2) you need quick reflexes and quick fingers to survive, and 3) it involves the player and creates a psychological atmosphere of fear that heightens the game experience. RE5 has one out of three. The action is great and combat, at it's best, is hectic and fun. But that's it. The game flow has been reduced to an extremely linear "chapter" system, and one is able to replay previous chapters keeping weapons from later parts of the game. In other words, you can play halfway through the game and amass huge amounts of money and ammo and ferocious weaponry, and then go back to the beginning of the game and start off like a heavily-armed badass. What? The whole point of survival horror is that you're always watching your ammo level and worrying that the weapons you've found so far won't be a match for the next new thing you have to fight. In RE5, every boss fight becomes a mere speedbump. At the end of one chapter, I found myself facing the giant four-winged bat monster for the second time, and all I could think was, Crap, this is going to be A MINOR ANNOYANCE. And then I promptly emptied my grenade launcher into its ass and it died**.
I seriously played through about half of this game drunk, and did fine.
I think I miss the Umbrella Corporation and the T-virus. There was an enemy who knew the value of complicated mansion floorplans and ridiculously ornate puzzles and keys. All the Plagas know about is running at you with a chainsaw or an axe or an AK-47 and hitting you head-on. There's no subtlety anymore. It's very, very pretty, but it also feels like it's missing something.
To me, Resident Evil 5 was like meeting a woman with an amazing body and a (superficially, at least) interesting personality who for some reason was attracted to me. And we would talk and flirt, and the sex was going to be so good. And then we found ourselves in bed together, and it was... meh. Yes, it was getting laid. Yes, it was with someone braggably hot, if I were the bragging type. But it was... boring. Not what I wanted. Awkward.
Resident Evil 5 is a hot chick who lays there like a dead fish in bed***. There, I said it. Once the novelty of "OMG, I'm banging a hot chick" wears off, no amount of trophies or unlockable costumes is going to change the fact that it's just an okay-at-best game. It's not even very long. Fun, if you're in the mood. But... if you're not, you could probably just read a book or something, and not have to worry about pressing buttons.
I really want them to make a "backstory" game, using this control/camera style, but have it be set in poor, zombie-infested Raccoon City, or some Umbrella facility, in the past. This RE4 Plaga action shit was interesting for one game's worth of my attention, and one game only.
__________
* - I am at the last chapter, however.
** - That's the problem with splash damage: An enemy may have its most vulnerable spot facing away from you, but a big enough explosion will envelop its whole body. Too many things make this game easier than it needs to be.
*** - And, no, I'm not working off of any specific personal experience, here. This is pure metaphor. Hahaha.