The fine folks from G4 were given the opportunity to get a little touchy-feely with Resident Evil 5. Does the latest installment of the survival-horror series live up to expectations?
You can read more of G4's preview at the G4 website.
The first major improvement we noticed was the inventory system, which also has major gameplay consequences. By hitting the Y button, the inventory is called up, but the game no longer pauses. Instead, a semi-translucent grid is brought up, which allows the player to quickly manage their inventory... even while an insane enemy wielding a chainsaw rushes toward you.
This new system includes item management for Sheva as well, which lets the player trade items between her and Chris. We opted to keep the sniper rifle and let her keep the automatic weapon. She is effective as backup and will actually put enemies down on her own.
We did notice several times, however, where she will blindly following Chris during a fight instead of actively take part in the battle. If you turn to retreat, she will too, even if she isn't immediately in danger. This also means that running away and doing a quick 180 degree turn often results in having Sheva directly in your line of fire. We'd love to see some better partner AI by release, but it doesn't detract from the game drastically.
Sheva gets her own life bar and if she takes too much damage, she'll drop to the ground and bleed out... another similarity to Gears of War. Chris can revive her, but if he doesn't make it in time, it's game over.
The other thing we noticed about this next-gen Resident Evil is that a great number of things in the game world can be interacted with. Explodable barrels litter the streets and doors can be shot through. Some larger enemies can even destroy the walls of weak buildings to get at you. The strategy of making enemies tunnel through a single doorway will not always work in this game.
It sounds like some things have been nicely improved compared to RE4, while others maybe not so much.This new system includes item management for Sheva as well, which lets the player trade items between her and Chris. We opted to keep the sniper rifle and let her keep the automatic weapon. She is effective as backup and will actually put enemies down on her own.
We did notice several times, however, where she will blindly following Chris during a fight instead of actively take part in the battle. If you turn to retreat, she will too, even if she isn't immediately in danger. This also means that running away and doing a quick 180 degree turn often results in having Sheva directly in your line of fire. We'd love to see some better partner AI by release, but it doesn't detract from the game drastically.
Sheva gets her own life bar and if she takes too much damage, she'll drop to the ground and bleed out... another similarity to Gears of War. Chris can revive her, but if he doesn't make it in time, it's game over.
The other thing we noticed about this next-gen Resident Evil is that a great number of things in the game world can be interacted with. Explodable barrels litter the streets and doors can be shot through. Some larger enemies can even destroy the walls of weak buildings to get at you. The strategy of making enemies tunnel through a single doorway will not always work in this game.
You can read more of G4's preview at the G4 website.