Resident Evil 5's producer, Masachika Kawata, granted CVG an audience in order to discuss the finer points of dealing with a viral outbreak in Africa. How have the controls been fine tuned for Western audiences, and just how much does RE5 differ from its predecessor, Resident Evil 4.
Simply head on over to CVG to read the rest of the article. Don't forget that Resident Evil 5
Resident Evil 5 looks superficially similar to Resi 4; what's been improved here?
Kawata: First of all, and quite obviously, the graphics. Even the title screen of this couldn't have been done on PS2 or Wii. Online co-op as well; the number of enemies you can have on-screen at one time; destructible scenery, physics - we're using Havok this time. We can do more complex stuff with AI; the concern I had in the very beginning is that sometimes an AI partner can become very frustrating. Now she handles fine and you can play through the game without her becoming a frustration. When you see the new stuff you'll say "Oh my God, I can do this and this and this", but you'll probably get used to it quite quickly and then get into the story.
And you're still pretty excited about the way the lighting can impact on the gameplay?
Kawata: Yes. In the daylight, you can see your opponents very clearly, so the gameplay is very action-oriented. In the dark, you can't see your enemies nearly so clearly, so we utilise the power of the next generation consoles; particularly the sound abilities. The sound effects are quite incredible - if you have a 5.1 stereo system you'll hear your enemies moving around you even if you can't see them. We spent about three to four times more cash on the sound effects in Resident Evil 5 than we did in Resident Evil 4.
Kawata: First of all, and quite obviously, the graphics. Even the title screen of this couldn't have been done on PS2 or Wii. Online co-op as well; the number of enemies you can have on-screen at one time; destructible scenery, physics - we're using Havok this time. We can do more complex stuff with AI; the concern I had in the very beginning is that sometimes an AI partner can become very frustrating. Now she handles fine and you can play through the game without her becoming a frustration. When you see the new stuff you'll say "Oh my God, I can do this and this and this", but you'll probably get used to it quite quickly and then get into the story.
And you're still pretty excited about the way the lighting can impact on the gameplay?
Kawata: Yes. In the daylight, you can see your opponents very clearly, so the gameplay is very action-oriented. In the dark, you can't see your enemies nearly so clearly, so we utilise the power of the next generation consoles; particularly the sound abilities. The sound effects are quite incredible - if you have a 5.1 stereo system you'll hear your enemies moving around you even if you can't see them. We spent about three to four times more cash on the sound effects in Resident Evil 5 than we did in Resident Evil 4.
Simply head on over to CVG to read the rest of the article. Don't forget that Resident Evil 5