Resident Evil 5: Remastered

Firstly, I liked Resident Evil 5. Sure it wasn’t perfect and compared to its predecessor, RE4; it felt like a shallow sequel that didn’t evolve the series further. Other than adding the co-op feature which has split fans down the middle. You play as Chris Redfield, former S.T.A.R.S member and now ultimate beefcake who tackles bio terrorists with his new Partner, Sheva a counter terror specialist. Together the pair embark on an epic journey through Africa in order to find and capture a well-known Bio. The narrative is far from gold, but at least we’re taken to some interesting locations and many loose ends the series created up to that point are tied up. However, the character development is one majorly poor aspect including our main leads who are dull, wooden and just plain boring with no emotion or charm. It doesn’t help that much of the supporting cast is just as bad, with villains such as Excella who are just annoying. The only two who showed some personality were the creepy Irving and the brilliantly camp Wesker.

Wesker is a hoot! I laughed uncontrollably whenever he came onscreen with such a naff bravado and cheesy dialogue. It can’t be taken seriously, but you can’t help but not laugh at every time he pops up to torment Chris and Sheva. Irving is just plain strange yet sinister and creepy, making for a good villain who sounds like a cockney Bugs bunny. Yet his time in the game is short lived.

Gameplay is identical to RE4 where the camera is from a behind the shoulder perspective and players will engage with resource management, lateral elements and big set pieces. There is brilliant intensity to the combat where tension runs high with the various enemy types, death traps and environment hazards in the world. With resource management and low resources making survival elements strong in this game, you’ll understand the need to work together in order to progress. There is a great sense of pacing throughout, even if the game does take a more extreme action tone in the last third. The most compelling aspect here is the exploration along with finding secrets and unlocking rewards. There are a vast number of treasures and secrets to discover and to find everything will require multiple play-throughs. Best of all is the depth of weapon customisation/stats and the acquiring of new, more powerful weapons with progression.

The big addition I mentioned before and the one which seems to sticking around is the co-op feature. I did enjoy the co-op aspect playing with my best friend and it had some amusing moments along the journey. But the main issue with the co-op is that the AI controlled Partner is awful. Also, it limits the prospect of bigger set pieces along with the lessen impact of the horror elements you would find with older RE games (even RE4). There was great potential to have RE5 a bold and dynamic approach from many other horror games then and now. The original idea sounded great as Chris would have to battle the heat as well as deranged humans while taking shelter. But this co-op feature felt like a cheap gimmick inspired by games like Army of Two and Kane and Lynch which still feels a little shallow to this day.

Where the co-op feature does become stronger is with The Lost in Nightmares addition. This is a great extra chapter to RE5 with a stronger sense of horror to make co-op much more interesting when tackling enemies involving lateral thinking and teamwork. While the other additional chapter sees Jill Valentine and Josh from the main campaign in a more action orientated segment with some big set pieces and intense action. It’s certainly difficult but a worthy challenge for any Veteran gamer.

As for the technical side of things, the game does run smoother with 60fps at a solid pace. Visually the game does hold a sharper edge to the details and particle effects, with some minor tweaks to lighting and water reflections. Yet there’s nothing more. The problem with poor AI controlled partner, stiff controls and bugs such as items jumping up erratically when you bump into them seem to be still here even after 7 years on. It’s not so much a remaster but rather standard port with some flaws in its execution.

Resident Evil 5 has stayed strong after so many years and is still a solid survival horror game. The most compelling aspects are from the exploration, pacing and huge amount of rewards to gain while the additional levels offer both strong action segments and classic survival horror scares in their own packages. However, the co-op is a lazily felt addition, the story is bland along with many of its characters and by the third act the game gets a tat repetitive. Resident Evil 5 was one of the last good games from the series, holding strong elements and enjoyable gameplay. It may not be perfect but it’s far better than RE6 and with some hidden gems it makes it worth the while to invest in it but do so with a friend.

+ Great pacing and intense action
+ Huge replay-ability factor
+ Has some fantastic horror elements
+ Additional chapters are excellent

- Poor narrative / lame character development
- Co-op feature feels shallow for the most part
- There are still some technical issues / minor improvements for a "remaster"