Surgency Games

The narrative force of the game, is, if taken at face value, absolutely ridiculous. Little sense or logic is to be found here, either in the dialogue or plotting. There is a great forward momentum at play; it is always clear where you’re going and why you’re going there. The single slices of plot, taken on their own, are easy to understand. Easy to follow. When pieced together to form something bigger, problems begin to arise. I think this speaks mostly to the progression system, and it’s possible some liberties were taken with the narrative, to make the act of simply playing the game, come to the forefront. I can accept this.

The acting, an integral part of telling any character-based story, is difficult to take seriously. Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar, the protagonists, speak with almost no middle inflection. Everything they say is either whispered or shouted. This is the best the game has to offer. One villain speaks with a high-pitched, Brooklyn accent, that is more grating than frightening. Another gains and loses a vaguely British accent, depending on the scene, possibly on the time of day. Any drama to be found within the story and within the cutscenes of the game is completely undermined by the voice acting. The heroes are ciphers of heroic action with no soul; the villains are in no way threatening.

Bad acting has always been a “choice” that the Resident Evil franchise employs. It speaks to the B-Movie feel. But what’s on display here (and in past games) is supposed to be taken seriously. This is where the horror of these games comes from. The deadly serious nature of the events and the horrible situations the characters are put into. When the first Resident Evil was released, finding good voice talent to work in the field was difficult, if not outright impossible. Today though, it’s easy. Today, one of the most successful franchises of the last ten years should be able to afford and hire the best possible talent to voice their characters. When they don’t, as evidenced here, it destroys the credibility of the story, it devalues the drama and it hurts the overall experience.

Another holdover from past games is the inability to move and shoot at the time. In title’s past, this gameplay restriction made sense. The controllers were limited. The technology was limited. Resident Evil 5 is built on some of the best technology I’ve ever seen in a video game and it can be played on what I consider to be the two best controllers ever made by the industry. The inability to shoot and move at the same time makes no sense, from any perspective.

Within the game, logically, this makes no sense. Chris Redfield is a big badass. He’s been sent halfway around the world as an agent of a powerful government, and the guy doesn’t know how to shoot and walk at the same time? Outside the game, from a more meta perspective, it limits player choice. There is only one way to engage enemies, and that way is stop moving, plant your feet and ready your weapon and fire. Outside of the fact that the timing of all these animations is way too long and drawn out, it simply makes for boring play. There is little choice except where to run and stand your ground. It makes it difficult to prioritize targets and it makes it frustrating to deal with a large number of enemies in a 3D space.

It was a choice on the part of the developer. It was a bad choice. It in no way adds to the horror of the game; it in no way adds to the complete feeling of helplessness the franchise has always been so good at presenting. Dead Space lets you move and shoot at the time; it’s one of the scariest games I’ve ever played. Let it be said again, it was a bad choice.

But… It is executed extremely well. The controls are tight (if a bit heavy) and every time you fire a weapon in the game, it feels dangerous. It has crunch and weight and it is more satisfying than 90% of the other games out there. If you can get past the controls, if you can meet them half way, the game can be a blast to play.

The progression is more arcade than narrative. Even before you’ve finished the game the first time, you can go back and replay any level, in any order, with any accrued money, items and weapons you may have found. In fact, your inventory is always present; find something in the game, you will have access to it for the rest of the time you play, regardless of the level or the mode. I like this progression quite a bit. It lends itself well to the dual economy in the game. You use money to buy weapons and items, which is earned through exploration and killing zombies. You use points to unlock bonus content, which are earned through finishing levels or completing challenges in the other game modes.

The game ensures that you’ll always have something new to buy or work your way towards, and this extends out beyond the first time you play through the game. The experience is just about the right length for a playthrough, although I felt it went on a bit too long towards the end. With all of the unlockable content and bonus modes to play (including online co-op), the game can last you a very long time, especially if you’re a top end gamer that loves to explore and uncover every nook and cranny the game has to offer.

Now for the small things I mentioned earlier. On their own, they detract little from the game. Added together, they started to compound and overshadow my enjoyment. I believe that the more you’re able to look past these faults (if you even consider them faults) the more likely you’d be to enjoy the game. As a point of reference, I was able to get over them, and when all is said and done, found myself pleasantly entertained.

The partner AI for Sheva is, at times really good, and at times awful. It doesn’t necessarily impact the game too much, but on multiple occasions, the AI got itself killed, which, in essence, counts a death and forces you to restart at the last checkpoints. The enemy AI isn’t much better. Yes, I know, they are zombies. But they never feel right. It feels like you’re fighting against a simulation of zombies. Resident Evil games have never had this problem before, I wonder what happened.

While the checkpoints are good, they are not saved between play sessions. What this means is that you must finish a level before turning off the game, or be forced to start from the beginning when you come back. Any money and items found are kept, but having to play a level in one sitting can sometimes be difficult, especially considering some chapters can take upwards of an hour to complete.

Some weapons are obviously better than others. Again, because you can’t move and shoot, the differentiation of a lot of weapons goes out the window. Why would you ever want to use the lesser machine gun once you have a better version. In games like Call of Duty and Gears of War and Killzone 2, every gun has its advantages and drawbacks. The progression of weapons in Resident Evil 5 didn’t feel as robust.

The bosses are, with one shining exception, boring. They are altogether too easy, but at the same time too long. You can figure out how to kill a boss quickly (which is good) but then to actually defeat, you often have to repeat the same task far too many times. Also, the bosses are visually unremarkable. Especially towards the end of the game, as they all start to look like rejects from a Final Fantasy tentacle porn.

Later in the game, a basic cover system is introduced. It is, for lack of a better word, wonky. It’s too hard to get in and out of cover, and only one character can take a piece of cover at once. This is Resident Evil, and cover shouldn’t matter for the most part, but some later levels really require it to be used, which only leads to frustration.

The game isn’t very scary. Resident Evil 4 had a palpable sense of impending dread. It was never really clear what was going to happen next, and the gameplay twisted in on itself so often, there was a great sense of relief in between levels, when you’d just get a minute to take a breath. This is not the case in Resident Evil 5. In fact, the game tends more towards action than survival-horror, although scarcity of ammunition (a mechanic that I say defines the genre) is present and forces a lot of tactical decisions as you try to outfit yourself in between levels.

The inventory system is good while standing still, but cumbersome to use while fighting enemies. I guess that might be the point. Whatever. It isn’t fun to struggle with an inventory while fighting hordes of zombies, something that happens quite often.

Resident Evil 5 is a good game. It has high production values, fun (if frustrating) core combat mechanics and a terrible narrative that really has no place in this franchise. Looking past its faults and minor inconsistencies, there’s good entertainment to be had. It add co-op and online play to the mix, which is nice to see and a big step forward for the future of the survival-horror genre.  As much as Resident Evil 4 was a “back to the drawing board” revitalization, I think it’s already time to, once again, figure out the franchise. Because while a shitty storyline and terrible controls might have been acceptable this time, the franchise deserves better. The fans deserve better.