Resident Evil 5 is a pulse-pounding thrill ride full of plot twists, explosions and dismembered limbs. Capcom's bold decision to set the game in Africa and include cooperative play makes it stand out from its predecessors, and players will enjoy working together to slaughter hordes of chainsaw-wielding baddies. At the same time, the company's decision to focus on action instead of genuine scares makes RE5 less terrifying than its prequels, and numerous issues leave it a few steps behind the competition.

In this beautiful adventure, a noticeably buffer Chris Redfield (now working for the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance) visits the African country Kijuju in the hopes of stopping terrorists from distributing bio-weapons on the black market. Within minutes after arriving, he runs into his gorgeous female partner Sheva Alomar and learns that someone infected the locals with the dangerous Las Plagas parasite. Together, they embark upon a dangerous journey that takes them from run down villages teeming with the infected to marshlands populated by man-eating crocodiles. New characters appear, old ones make a grand entrance and a sizable number of plot twists will keep you guessing throughout the 11-15 hour adventure. To its credit, Capcom tells a compelling story.

Resident Evil 5

    First reports indicate that Resident Evil 5 will be set in a new desert location and star Chris Redfield of Resident Evil 1 fame. The game will apparently keep the control scheme and action of Resident Evil 4. (Screenshot 1 of 38)

    First reports indicate that Resident Evil 5 will be set in a new desert location and star Chris Redfield of Resident Evil 1 fame. The game will apparently keep the control scheme and action of Resident Evil 4. (Screenshot 2 of 38)

    First reports indicate that Resident Evil 5 will be set in a new desert location and star Chris Redfield of Resident Evil 1 fame. The game will apparently keep the control scheme and action of Resident Evil 4. (Screenshot 3 of 38)

    First reports indicate that Resident Evil 5 will be set in a new desert location and star Chris Redfield of Resident Evil 1 fame. The game will apparently keep the control scheme and action of Resident Evil 4. (Screenshot 4 of 38)

    First reports indicate that Resident Evil 5 will be set in a new desert location and star Chris Redfield of Resident Evil 1 fame. The game will apparently keep the control scheme and action of Resident Evil 4. (Screenshot 5 of 38)

    First reports indicate that Resident Evil 5 will be set in a new desert location and star Chris Redfield of Resident Evil 1 fame. The game will apparently keep the control scheme and action of Resident Evil 4. (Screenshot 6 of 38)

    First reports indicate that Resident Evil 5 will be set in a new desert location and star Chris Redfield of Resident Evil 1 fame. The game will apparently keep the control scheme and action of Resident Evil 4. (Screenshot 7 of 38)

    First reports indicate that Resident Evil 5 will be set in a new desert location and star Chris Redfield of Resident Evil 1 fame. The game will apparently keep the control scheme and action of Resident Evil 4. (Screenshot 8 of 38)

    First reports indicate that Resident Evil 5 will be set in a new desert location and star Chris Redfield of Resident Evil 1 fame. The game will apparently keep the control scheme and action of Resident Evil 4. (Screenshot 9 of 38)

    First reports indicate that Resident Evil 5 will be set in a new desert location and star Chris Redfield of Resident Evil 1 fame. The game will apparently keep the control scheme and action of Resident Evil 4. (Screenshot 10 of 38)

Interestingly, the entire game works via the buddy system. If you play solo, a computer-controlled Sheva instinctively follows you (if she lags behind, simply press B/Circle to call her) and automatically engages enemies. Although she exhibits brief moments of incompetence, she's an expert at conserving ammunition, shooting enemies from great distances and supplying Chris with ammo for weapons she doesn't have. She's far from brilliant, but she saved our butts several times.

That said, Capcom made some bizarre decisions that hamper the single player co-op experience. You cannot tell Sheva what weapons to use, nor can you order her to mix red and green herbs. She'll automatically heal you (it's best to load her up with first aid sprays), but this limited communication makes the game tedious, especially since the developers force you to equip items in real time -- even with enemies barreling down upon you. Although you can tap the d-pad to change weapons, this often fails when you there are more than three guns in your inventory -- especially if that weapon is out of ammo.

Online co-op, thankfully, is another story. Playing alongside a buddy is much more enjoyable than fighting the computer, and voice support lets you bark orders while tackling bosses and other creatures. You can play co-op offline, but the split screen mode makes it difficult to see everything and feels too old school for our liking. We'd much rather put up with the slight lag online.

No matter how you play, you'll need to deal with other shortcomings that begin with the lack of scares. This game is about as terrifying as your standard issue action flick. Capcom drops the ball with each and every monster and set piece because we've seen it all before and Sheva always has our backs. Instead of wrestling with a single inventory, we use her to carry our junk, and no matter what happens, there's always that confidence that the computer or a friend will bail us out.

Furthermore, Capcom broke the game up into chapters with auto saves. Whereas previous Resident Evils had us racing for safe rooms, this one encourages us to reach the next checkpoint (doing this often forbids you from backtracking, another one of the game's faults). Even if we die, Resident Evil 5's designers allow us to reorganize our inventories to better prepare for the fight ahead. That kills any sense of dread they hoped to achieve.

On top of that, the game feels almost exactly like Resident Evil 4. While not bad per se (RE4's a masterpiece), Capcom blatantly ripped off its own video game. You'll break the same pots and barrels, encounter the same trip wire explosives, run around town while a masked guy chases you and even battle a burlap sack wearing dude with a chainsaw. Despite the African setting, the game feels disappointingly familiar.

It's also behind the times. You cannot walk while aiming, though both characters do this in cut-scenes, and Capcom designed specific moments where Chris or Sheva can stick to walls and then pop out to engage their attackers -- outside of those moments, you can't take cover.

Boss characters, while hideously gorgeous, operate using recognizable patterns and often take a half-hearted effort to defeat. The same goes for the game's weaker enemies. They'll charge and occasionally employ basic intelligence, but that's hard to notice when most of them stand around waiting to get blown to pieces.

Puzzles, a Resident Evil staple, take basic intelligence to solve but that seems to fall into Capcom's plan to keep the player moving without long breaks between action sequences. While that fits the game's run-and-gun style, we were disheartened by part five's grade school brain teasers.

Our gripes notwithstanding, there's a lot to love about this video game. Visually, Capcom did masterful work bringing Kijuju to life and populating it with expertly designed monsters and locations. You'll explore dank caves, wander through seemingly deserted towns and marvel at the craftsmanship, from bodies hanging upside down to intricate carvings along walls. Resident Evil 5 bleeds detail in every animation, explosion, and even in the characters and never ceases to impress us.

Even the voice acting's high quality, a switch from previous Resident Evil games. One of the game's enemies, Irving, has some goofy lines, but everyone else sounds impressive. The music fails to inspire (we cannot remember a single track), but Capcom delivered on the gun and monster noises.

The same goes for the combat. Yes, it feels behind the times, but we still had a blast shooting explosive barrels, upper cutting baddies and scoring messy headshots. Plus you'll unlock all sorts of hidden goodies as you play, including the history of the franchise, character files and a bonus Mercenaries mode that forces you to beat the clock while scoring tons of kills both online and off. It may not be scary, but this addictive pick up and play vibe makes it entertaining.

Resident Evil 5 is both wonderful and disappointing. We applaud Capcom for creating such a magnificent looking video game and feeding us a gripping story. At the same time, we played it in total darkness without flinching and there's something wrong with that. Everyone should experience it, but after waiting four years, we expected better.

Related Links

Resident Evil 5 Xbox 360 Game Guide

Resident Evil 5 PS3 Game Guide