Rating: 
Reviewed by: Gerasimos Manolatos
Price: $59.99
Reviewed on: PS3
The Skinny: Bio-terrorism Security Assessment Alliance agent Chris Redfield goes on location in Africa, teaming up with local enforcer Sheva Alomar to investigate a new occurence of the biohazard—Resident Evil—that turns people and animals into zombies.
The Good: If
Army of Two rebranded co-operative play as simply more than just two players together,
RE5 may have taken it a step further. Level bosses require effective teamwork (or being subject to a horrible impalement of some sort) and when you're hooked up online, you shouldn't have any trouble strategizing with a fellow human how to take down opponents. You'll still be subject to co-op when you're offline, but the CPU does a passable job of backing you up as long as you supply them with a decent amount of guns and ammunition. (They sometimes like to run into a mob of zombies unarmed and not tell you about it.) There are a ton of weapons to acquire throughout the game, but you won't be able to get your hands on some of the heavier artillery until you grind out some more cash money and experience points.
The Bad: Probably feeling pressure from horror-centric titles—
Dead Space and
Silent Hill, to name a couple—that have supplanted the series' scare tactics,
RE5 goes in a different direction which melds action and, at times, cave raiding. Unfortunately, it's like replacing Flipper with a great white shark—watching kids getting eaten by sea life is entertaining, but it misses the point a bit. Also, one would think that after five iterations of a video game you'd finally get to play with protagonists that can walk
and shoot at the same time. Not the case here.
Maxim Tip: To get the achievement/trophy that requires you to acquire all weapons, you must buy all of the upgrades to certain guns. The easiest level to accomplish this is Chapter 4-1 where gem stones are awarded for each section of the cave explored. (Shoot the torches adorning the walls for even more hidden booty!)
Buy, Rent, or Disembowel: Rent. This will take you about eight hours on the Veteran difficulty to complete, but there is a ton of replay value in the form of an even higher difficulty and unlockable weapons. Nothing you wouldn't be able to sweep through on a lazy weekend though.
