New Resident Evil 5 screenies shed some light
Capcom has again reinvented survival horror. Forget about Resident Evil 4—they’re coming up with something even bigger and scarier. The adult diapers industry must love them for it.
It’s Resident Evil 5 folks, and the new screenshots alone is enough to make you see the entire genre differently. Consider the old survival-horror conventions that we’re all used to: creepy haunted houses, moaning zombies, tank controls, and dark places, among others.
In Resident Evil 4, Capcom made the tank controls obsolete and put in a new scheme that propelled the game to overnight immortality. This may be a tough act to follow, but the Japanese developer/publisher just might pull it off.
Have you seen a survival horror game set in a clear day?
I haven’t. Sure, Silent Hill may have parts that involved daytime, but the fog sure didn’t make it feel like the sun was shining.
Based on what we’ve seen in the screenies, we can make the following observations:
- Like Leon Kennedy, Chris Redfield has bangs. Bangs are a must in male Resident Evil protagonists.
- Los Ganados have been replaced by dark-skinned natives.
- The screenies seem to be rendered in-game.
- Not all places in RE5 are in broad daylight—some parts are dark, and this is where the vision adjustment comes into play.
- The red laser-light reticule makes a comeback, and the camera seems to be placed a bit higher on the protagonist’s shoulder this time.
- Shedding tears of blood are both cool and creepy.
- Chris Redfield has an even bigger knife slung on his shoulder. I can’t say I recall the machine gun he’s using, but here’s to even better rifles in part five.
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POSTED IN: Misc, Screenshots
8 opinions for New Resident Evil 5 screenies shed some light
Alex
Jul 30, 2007 at 8:10 pm
“In Resident Evil 4, Capcom made the tank controls obsolete and put in a new scheme”
Mike, you are indeed a snarky, sneaky little tyke. RE4 didn’t quite make tank controls obsolete, because even as fluid as the controls were, they were still built on the same fundamentals as previous titles: push forward/backward to walk, left/right to turn.
The tank controls were still a huge part of the game, and are still a huge part of the RE series. Unfortunately.
What RE4 did, though, was swinging the camera down to that over-the-shoulder position. That was really what gave the game the overnight immortality. It was Resident Evil, but from an all-new physical viewpoint.
Aside: I do miss the static camera angles of the first two games, not for gameplay reasons, per se, but just for the overall presentation. The film student in me really loves how those originals stayed so true to classic horror movie-making technique.
But that’s neither here nor there anymore, unfortunately.
What is here, however, is the need for true FPS controls in RE5. RE4’s tank controls worked because the pace of the game was still relatively slow. The enemies weren’t terribly much faster than the Z-words (random: you’d better be psyched for Hot Fuzz on DVD) in previous entries.
From what we can see in the trailer, RE5 is going to be a hell of a lot faster than RE4 ever was, even in its most intense moments on the military island. In the RE5 trailer, the amount of ground the attackers cover in a few seconds is scary. They aren’t plodding along. Normally I’d say their speed is venturing near FPS territory, but I think it’s pretty much there already.
So I’m kind of worried about how RE5 is going to play if the gameplay in the trailer is a any indication.
I’m still excited as hell about the game, and I’ll still have it on street date, but still. I know you dig what I’m saying. ;-)
Mike
Jul 31, 2007 at 1:13 am
An excellent point, Alex. Yes, I’ve realized my mistake in that statement, so thanks for the correction.
And yes, I am a snarky, sneaky type. ;)
Yes, it was the camera that was changed, and this made the experience completely different.
As for the FPS controls, I hope that Capcom balances the enemies’ speed with how quick you can react. As much as I love RE4 and FPS games, I wouldn’t want the franchise to turn to speed.
Resident Evil as quick as Unreal Tournament? Shudders.
Alex
Aug 1, 2007 at 8:37 pm
Apparently RE5 is racist.
Mike
Aug 2, 2007 at 3:30 am
Because of the natives? I can’t really say. If Capcom set RE5 in Transylvania, then the natives would be European.
Alex
Aug 2, 2007 at 7:47 am
I should have included the link, haha. I read a report yesterday about a whole bunch of different groups getting their panties up in a twist. You can find it on Gamespot somewhere, I think.
I busted a gut laughing. They actually tried to link the RE virus to AIDS.
Mike
Aug 3, 2007 at 4:02 am
I was afraid some people would react that way.
This very reaction itself is racist. If the bloggers that GameSpot cited weren’t racist, then there’s no “racism” to see in RE5. Because really, there’s no need to go there.
If RE5 is set in China, then I expect to see Chinese zombies, not Hispanic. If Capcom decides that the game is set in India, I would find it strange to see an all-Australian army of zombies there.
All this talk of concern over perceptions on Africa is a load of bull.
If there’s a race that’s victim to the Resident Evil games, it’s the whites. But no one’s screaming racist after so many RE games.
The bloggers are just bringing this up because they know that controversy brings in traffic.
Alex
Aug 3, 2007 at 6:30 am
“If RE5 is set in China, then I expect to see Chinese zombies, not Hispanic. If Capcom decides that the game is set in India, I would find it strange to see an all-Australian army of zombies there.”
Exactly.
Gears of war
Jan 25, 2008 at 4:55 am
I heard a bit about people saying resi 5 is racist as well. I agree that it is not, but a load of these black africans are saying the fact that a white is going round killing black people means it’s racist. But how is it racist if your just killing people who are trying to kill you?
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