Resident Evil 5 Review Summary

Exceptional Co-op Experience: Players overwhelmingly praise the cooperative mode, especially with friends, as the primary source of fun and replayability. The split-screen and online co-op features are highlighted as transformative, making the game significantly more enjoyable and memorable than solo play.

Strong Action-Oriented Gameplay: The game is lauded for its engaging, fast-paced action, satisfying gunplay, and dynamic combat system. Players appreciate the variety of weapons, challenging enemies, and memorable boss fights, which contribute to a thrilling and replayable experience.

Classic & Underrated Resident Evil: Many players consider this a classic and often underrated entry in the Resident Evil series. It's seen as a successful evolution of RE4's mechanics, expanding the lore, and offering a unique action-focused experience while retaining the franchise's charm.

Engaging Story & Characters: The game's story is described as intriguing, entertaining, and well-paced, with strong character dynamics, particularly between Chris and Sheva. Albert Wesker is frequently cited as a charismatic and iconic villain, enhancing the narrative and boss encounters.

Excellent Mercenaries Mode: The Mercenaries mode, including its Reunion variant, is highly praised for its fast-paced, addictive, and replayable score-focused gameplay. It's considered a standout feature, offering endless playtime and a great way to test skills, even solo.

Frustrating AI Partner: The AI companion, Sheva, is consistently criticized for being incompetent, unreliable, and a hindrance rather than a help. Her poor resource management (wasting ammo and healing items), questionable combat decisions, and tendency to block player movement or die frequently make solo play a frustrating experience, especially on higher difficulties.

Shift from Survival Horror to Action: Many long-time fans express disappointment with the game's departure from traditional Resident Evil survival horror elements. The game is heavily action-focused, with less emphasis on puzzles, exploration, and a diminished sense of terror or atmosphere. This shift alienated purists who preferred the series' horror roots.

Buggy and Tedious Boss Fights: Many boss fights are plagued with game-breaking bugs, especially at higher framerates on PC, making them impossible or excessively long. Players also found boss mechanics unintuitive, leading to frustration and a reliance on external guides. The overall design of boss encounters is criticized for being tedious, repetitive, and featuring 'bullet sponge' enemies.

Inferior to Resident Evil 4: A significant portion of feedback compares the game unfavorably to Resident Evil 4, citing it as a regression in various aspects. Players feel it copies RE4's elements but executes them poorly, with inferior level design, inventory systems, and overall gameplay mechanics. This comparison often positions the game as a 'worse version' or 'clumsy imitation' of its predecessor.

Outdated Controls and Movement: The game's controls are widely described as clunky, tank-like, and outdated, particularly for PC players using keyboard and mouse. The inability to move while aiming, shooting, or reloading significantly hinders combat fluidity and feels restrictive compared to modern action games. This contributes to a frustrating gameplay experience.

Co-op and QTEs are Core: The game is fundamentally designed around two-player cooperative gameplay, available online or via split-screen, with an AI partner filling in for solo players. Quick Time Events (QTEs) are prevalent throughout, appearing in combat, boss fights, and cutscenes, often requiring coordinated actions in co-op.

Diverse Game Modes & Difficulty: The game offers multiple difficulty levels, including 'Professional' unlocked after the first playthrough, and extra modes like 'Mercenaries'. These modes, along with unlockables and weapon upgrades, provide significant replayability and extend the game's lifespan.

Evolution of Resident Evil 4: The game is a direct evolution of Resident Evil 4, reusing many core mechanics, animations, and level design elements. It maintains the over-the-shoulder perspective, tank controls, and strategic combat, essentially offering a cooperative version of RE4's successful formula.

Limited Inventory System: The inventory system is limited to nine slots per character, with each item occupying one slot, a departure from RE4's grid-based briefcase. Inventory management is real-time and can feel restrictive, though playing solo effectively doubles the available slots by managing the AI partner's inventory.

Chris and Sheva in Africa: The main campaign follows BSAA agents Chris Redfield and his new partner Sheva Alomar on a mission in Africa to investigate a bioterror threat. They confront enemies infected with the Las Plagas parasite and the Uroboros virus, ultimately leading to a confrontation with Albert Wesker.

Excellent PC Optimization: The game is highly optimized and runs smoothly on a wide range of hardware, including low-end PCs and laptops, often achieving high frame rates even at higher resolutions. This indicates good performance scalability.

Various PC Technical Issues: Despite good overall optimization, the PC version has several strange issues, including graphical glitches, occasional crashes, and problems with game launching. Some of these issues may stem from its console port origins.

Games for Windows Live Removal: The recent removal of Games for Windows Live (GFWL) has significantly improved the game's launch and installation experience for new players, resolving many long-standing compatibility and installation issues.

Minor Visual and Audio Points: The game has sharp textures, good particle effects, and excellent shader management. The lighting system is decent, though not outstanding. Minor audio problems can often be resolved by restarting the game.

DisplayPort Compatibility Issues: Some users experience infinite crashes when using DisplayPort with certain monitors after a DirectX update. A workaround involves using an HDMI monitor as primary and dragging the game window.

Mixed overall reception: While many consider it a great or even a favorite game, a notable portion of feedback indicates it's not enjoyable or is a 'bad game.' This highlights its divisive nature within the community.

Co-op is highly recommended: The overwhelming majority of players emphasize that the game is best, and often only, enjoyable when played in cooperative mode with a friend. Solo play is frequently described as a significantly worse or annoying experience due to AI partner issues.

Worth buying, especially on sale: Players generally agree the game is worth purchasing, particularly if found at a discount. The Gold Edition, which includes all DLC, is frequently recommended for its value.

Deserves a remake/remaster: A significant number of players express a desire for a remake or remaster of the game, hoping for updated mechanics, graphics, and potentially addressing some of its original flaws, while preserving its co-op strengths.

Important for franchise story: The game is recommended for those who want to experience the full Resident Evil saga and understand its evolving narrative, despite its shift in genre focus.

High Demand for a Remake: There is a strong desire among players for a modern remake of the game, similar to other Resident Evil titles. Players hope a remake would improve the camera, allow movement while aiming/reloading, refine the story, and update graphics to modern standards.

Strong Nostalgia and Replay Value: Many players have a deep nostalgic connection to the game, often citing it as their first Resident Evil title or a significant part of their gaming history. This leads to high replayability, with players returning to the game across multiple platforms and over many years.

Historical Context and Comparisons: Players frequently compare the game to Resident Evil 4, noting its evolution from RE4's engine and similar criticisms regarding its action focus. It's seen as a product of its time, marking a significant shift in the series' direction after Shinji Mikami's departure.

PC Port Quality and Mods: The PC version is a port of the 2009 Games for Windows - Live edition, with graphics superior to its console counterparts at the time. Players note that mods can address issues like the visual filter and narrow field of view, enhancing the experience.