Resident Evil 5 Ranking: A
This game was in the running for S-rank, but then when I compared it to Resident Evil 4, I decided it hadn’t innovated enough to deserve a shrine as its predecessor did. That being said, Resident Evil 5 still has an innovation that makes it praiseworthy and I will argue that it has a very important place story-wise in the Resident Evil series.
The most apparent innovation for the Resident Evil series here would be the partner system and multiplayer. I played this game with a friend, and had so much more fun than I had in the single-player experience with Resident Evil 4. It opens up all sorts of tactical opportunities during fights, and it also allows for multiple character gameplay without escort missions. Sheva is a totally awesome improvement over Ashley Graham, no matter how you look at it.
Story-wise, Resident Evil 5 is where the main arc of the series ends. Albert Wesker, arguably the main villain of the series, finally meets his demise here at your hands. And no main protagonist is better suited to perform this than is Chris Redfield. I loved Resident Evil 4’s innovations on enemies – for the first time, you weren’t fighting zombies from Umbrella – but it left loose ends in the Umbrella arc, and here those ends tie up nicely.
This brings me to the detractors’ point that this game is way too action-oriented. I say it’s supposed to be. Chris in Resident Evil 1 is just a special forces agent going to investigate the disappearance of his fellow STARS members. He’s got no idea what he’s about to face, so of course he’s going to go in under-equipped. As a result, his mission in the Arklay Mountains is going to be more of a survival mission.
Contrast that to Resident Evil 5, where the BSAA is a militarized organization founded specifically to stop bioterrorism. Chris is embarking on a mission to Africa where he knows there is bioterrorism. He’s going to go in much better prepared, which means he’s now on the offensive and not on the defensive. I argue it would make little to no sense to make a survival horror game out of this scenario.
That doesn’t mean the series needs to stray too far from survival horror. Resident Evil 4 still pulled it off quite well – Leon had no idea he was going to be fighting a mind-control parasite cult and so didn’t go in with a fully-militarized squad. I think the Resident Evil creators just need to think scenarios through better and maybe create new villains if they want the series to return to its roots.
This game was in the running for S-rank, but then when I compared it to Resident Evil 4, I decided it hadn’t innovated enough to deserve a shrine as its predecessor did. That being said, Resident Evil 5 still has an innovation that makes it praiseworthy and I will argue that it has a very important place story-wise in the Resident Evil series.
The most apparent innovation for the Resident Evil series here would be the partner system and multiplayer. I played this game with a friend, and had so much more fun than I had in the single-player experience with Resident Evil 4. It opens up all sorts of tactical opportunities during fights, and it also allows for multiple character gameplay without escort missions. Sheva is a totally awesome improvement over Ashley Graham, no matter how you look at it.
Story-wise, Resident Evil 5 is where the main arc of the series ends. Albert Wesker, arguably the main villain of the series, finally meets his demise here at your hands. And no main protagonist is better suited to perform this than is Chris Redfield. I loved Resident Evil 4’s innovations on enemies – for the first time, you weren’t fighting zombies from Umbrella – but it left loose ends in the Umbrella arc, and here those ends tie up nicely.
This brings me to the detractors’ point that this game is way too action-oriented. I say it’s supposed to be. Chris in Resident Evil 1 is just a special forces agent going to investigate the disappearance of his fellow STARS members. He’s got no idea what he’s about to face, so of course he’s going to go in under-equipped. As a result, his mission in the Arklay Mountains is going to be more of a survival mission.
Contrast that to Resident Evil 5, where the BSAA is a militarized organization founded specifically to stop bioterrorism. Chris is embarking on a mission to Africa where he knows there is bioterrorism. He’s going to go in much better prepared, which means he’s now on the offensive and not on the defensive. I argue it would make little to no sense to make a survival horror game out of this scenario.
That doesn’t mean the series needs to stray too far from survival horror. Resident Evil 4 still pulled it off quite well – Leon had no idea he was going to be fighting a mind-control parasite cult and so didn’t go in with a fully-militarized squad. I think the Resident Evil creators just need to think scenarios through better and maybe create new villains if they want the series to return to its roots.