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• Resident Evil 5 Succeeds Without Building a Better Mousetrap

  March's release of Resident Evil 5 was met by a hail of criticism; while the game tried to capture the same spirit that made Resident Evil 4 so breathtakingly amazing, many thought certain core design elements used by RE5's older brother (no strafing, no running and gunning) were a bit too archaic to rehash without significant revamping. But rehashing is something Capcom does very well, and they took this familiar approach to their famous survival horror series with fantastic results: Resident Evil 5 was last month's best-selling game (thanks to Game|Life for the stats). As much as we like to gripe about the lack of innovation in gaming blockbusters, there's something to be said about the comfort that familiarity brings--a comfort borrowed entirely from Resident Evil 4's goodwill. Read More... Posted Apr 20 2009, 12:05 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: hardcore, resident evil 4, bob mackey, resident evil 5, innovation, sequels

• Up All Night: Dino Crisis

  When a refined sort decides that it is time to once again stay up all night, they must make certain preparations to ensure that their endeavor goes smoothly and that they will arrive at the dawn richer having survived their trials. They must ensure the room is properly lit, that they have sustenance to last the long hours, and they must make sure that they have chosen a game that is either appropriately terrible or admirably trashy in its content. They must also make sure to say a quiet prayer to the reining deity of trashy videogames: Shinji Mikami. Shinji Mikami’s reputation is impeccable, no doubt. The man created Resident Evil. Remember though, that even though the original Resident Evil was a genre warping success and Resident Evil 4 was one of the best games ever created, they’re also prime candidates for Up All Night. I mean, hell, the plot and dialogue alone are enough to qualify them. The rest of his resume is an even better fit; Mikami’s Gamecube debut, P.N.03, was Up All Night’s very first subject. After finishing Resident Evil 5 last month, I found myself hankering for Shinji’s distinct flare for the absurd premise and awkward control scheme. Lucky for me, there was an enormous Mikami-shaped hole in my gaming history: I had never played Dino Crisis. So, I journeyed to eBay, walked away with a shiny black Playstation disc and prepared to stay up all night. Read More... Posted Apr 14 2009, 12:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, pn 03, up all night, shinji mikami, resident evil, dino crisis, resident evil 2, resident evil 5

• Jim Henson's Resident Evil 5

  Every generation is required to pity the subsequent generation for something, whether it's a degrading environmental situation, poor schools, or the belief that people are now lying, thieving jerks for the first time in humanity's history. I have my fits of nostalgia (obviously, since I can't stop gabbing about retro games), but I'm pretty content to leave the past in the past. One exception: my generation had awesome Muppets. The new generation? Ehhh...not so much. Don't bother arguing unless you want to humiliate yourself by holding up Elmo's senseless baby-babble against the Muppet Show (isn't Elmo supposed to be a role model for children forming their first sentences?). Thankfully, some resourceful and artistic gamers have put together a project that restores the Muppets to their former fuzzy glory: Jim Henson's Resident Evil 5. Because you can't send a man to do a Muppet's work. Video after the jump. Read More... Posted Apr 08 2009, 03:26 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with no comments Filed under: fan stuff, nadia oxford, resident evil 5, muppets

• Question of the Day: Why Can’t I Play Online?

  It’s getting bad. Ugly even. A friend walks up to me and asks the simple question, “Hey, John, what are you playing right now?” Then I think of the backlog. It’s a pile of games sitting by the consoles, a gargantuan mass of briefly played games, none of them seen to completion. I started Persona 4 in December! MadWorld? Yeah that first stage was a hell of a good time, for sure. My plan to beat Vagrant Story by March? Didn’t work out so much. What’s worse than the line up of single player games sitting by the boxes is the pile of those other games. Some of them I’ve even “finished”. You know the ones I’m talking about. The games that you’re supposed to play with other real live human beings over the internet. Resident Evil 5 without pushing around an artificial intelligence. Left4Dead with more than two people in split-screen. Racing in Burnout Paradise against, you know, drivers. Those games. The ones that keep slipping to the bottom of the backlog. Read More... Posted Apr 07 2009, 09:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, boom blox, resident evil, madworld, halo 3, question of the day, resident evil 5, burnout paradise, left4dead, persona 4, vagrant story, jenga

• The 61FPS Review: Resident Evil 5

  Resident Evil 4 is one of the greatest videogames ever made. It is top three, desert island material, the one to play before you die. It is Shinji Mikami’s definitive statement as a creator. It is the best three-dimensional game to ever come out of Capcom across all of their internal teams. It is Dark Side of the Moon to Super Mario 64’s Sgt. Pepper. These are not things that can be argued. These are facts. So when every single person that plays Resident Evil 5, whether as a demo or as a finished, ten hour game say that it is just “gorgeous Resident Evil 4", you know they are not damning it. That is a compliment. And an accurate one. Producer Jun Takeuchi and his team of toughs followed the recipe precisely: Mix claustrophobic, over-the-shoulder gunplay, careful resource management and a dollop of flip-the-switch puzzling. Add an adventure through a forbidding village of transformed locals, then some marsh land hiding a water-bound monstrosity, then one industrial complex. Slowly blend in one spooky castle/ruin and one evil laboratory. Garnish with final confrontation that culminates in rocket-launchering a monster in the mutated face. Do battle with human, canine, insect, and various oozing grotesques. Let rest occasionally near save point, serve chilled. It is an expertly-made game, its only serious flaw being the partner AI’s occasionally spastic behavior. Sheva Alomar (or Chris Redfield on a second single-player run) is capable throughout the chapters, but useless in boss fights, especially the last. The addition of a constant partner, whether AI or player controlled, does not change the rules, the flow of Resident Evil as a game. It can, at first, make the game feel quite different, giving combat a refreshed sense of immediacy and panic. Read More... Posted Mar 19 2009, 06:00 PM by John Constantine with | with no comments Filed under: john constantine, resident evil, capcom, 61fps review, jun takeuchi, resident evil 5, chris redfield, sheva Alomar

• Resident Evil 5: If You're not Offended, Then You're a Racist?

  Take a moment to go check out today's Penny Arcade comic. In the accompanying newsletter Penny Arcade's Tycho sums up his thoughts on a preview build of the upcoming Resident Evil 5: It's more or less exactly what we want out of a Resident Evil game, but it's impossible for us to play it without the metanarrative of race providing a grim context for our every in-game action. It's clear when playing it that they've added a few caucasoids to the mix, and also what looks like zombie version of Saddam Hussein, but it's hard to tell what they're doing there. Playing the game does nothing to dilute the imagery people have found objectionable, the trailer wasn't out of context in any way - in fact I would say quite plainly that they go much farther than you might believe possible. It won't be hard to find an authentic, devoted racist on Xbox Live to play as Chris - but is the game somehow less racist if I join someone else's game as co-op partner Sheva Alomar? I hope so. It's sort of like those Magic Eye pictures. You can't see it, you can't see it, and then bam. All you can see is the genocide. Read More... Posted Feb 18 2009, 03:00 PM by Cole Stryker with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: penny arcade, cole stryker, resident evil 5, racism

• Once More Into the Breach: A Final Peek at Resident Evil 5

  Sitting down for one last taste of Resident Evil 5 before the game finally comes out on March 13th, I received the saddest possible news: the shopkeeper from Resident Evil 4 is gone. That’s right. No more buying it at a high price. No more good things on sale, stranger. No more gunning down the purple-bandana-wearing-sumbitch when he won’t sell you any more first-aid sprays. In RE5, you do your buying and selling from a cold, faceless menu. Maybe it’s for the best. Like the original demo, now available to all on Xbox Live and PSN, Chapter 3-3 of RE5 makes it clear that there isn’t a whole lot of down time to be had in Kijuju. Chances are if you stopped to hang with your old pal Shopkeeper, a zombie would bury an axe in your shoulder. Then your co-op partner would swear at you for window shopping so long. It would be bad. Read More... Posted Feb 05 2009, 05:00 PM by John Constantine with | with no comments Filed under: john constantine, resident evil, capcom, resident evil 4, resident evil 5, chris redfield, sheva Alomar, t virus

• Resident Evil Arguments that Need to Die

  With the recent release of the Resident Evil 5 demo, I've been subjected to something far more stomach-turning than hordes of the undead running amok in an African village. Of course, I speak of the Resident Evil fanboyism I assumed had ended long after the release of Resident Evil 4; you see, with the newest RE being made in the model of the series' previous game, purists are still upset that many of the things they've come to cherish about Resident Evil have been left to rot nearly 5 years ago. If you're a sane and functioning member of society, then you've probably realized that the Resident Evil 4 renovation was the best possible thing to happen to the series--and I commend you for your common sense. However, it's entirely possible that the drastic shift in the franchise still burns the living hell out of your beans; if this is the case, I bear you no personal grudge. I simply wish to ridicule your wrong opinions out of existence. And now, friends, I present the Resident Evil arguments that need to die. Read More... Posted Feb 02 2009, 10:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: resident evil, capcom, resident evil 4, bob mackey, demo, resident evil 5, survival horror

• The Resident Evil 5 Demo is Now for Everybody

  So what if Japan got this demo weeks and weeks ago? The all-region version is here now, letting everyone in on Capcom’s latest not-a-zombie slaughterfest. Obviously it’s a must-play—did you play Resident Evil 4?—so go queue it up. Continue on for impressions. Read More... Posted Jan 26 2009, 03:00 PM by Joe Keiser with | with no comments Filed under: xbox 360, demo, resident evil 5, joe keiser

• Trailer Review: Resident Evil 5

  Game Trailers has posted some new Resident Evil 5 in-game footage, and does it look pretty. I am consistently amazed at how heart-pounding they have been able to make this game, even though it seems largely set in bright sunlight. I find it impossible not to be a little nervous when I hear those wailing sirens that sound when enemies are near. Maybe it's because I've been playing so many old games over the last year, but the way the camera wobbles when slap a dude disorients me. Was it that dramatic in RE4? I can't remember. Watch a guy and a girl kick and shoot some undead suckers back and forth, just for giggles. The footage, called "Zombie Ping Pong Montage" after the jump: Read More... Posted Dec 12 2008, 03:00 PM by Cole Stryker with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: trailer review, gears of war, cole stryker, resident evil 5

• Achievements and Trophies and Unlocking, Oh Meh

  Amazing things are going to happen in 2009. In the first third of the year, we’ll be playing a trifecta of raw, unadulterated Capcom goodness in the form of Street Fighter IV, Bionic Commando, and Resident Evil 5, Killzone 2 will finally come out and not look anything like the concept footage shown at E3 2005, we might find out just what the hell Alan Wake is, and maybe, just maybe, it’ll turn out that Final Fantasy XIII is actually a videogame and not just a three minute clip of a chick with nice hair. Home might even come out! Instead of the adorable little freak version of you that putters around your Wii games – or your Xbox 360, which is the exact same little freak but with hands and a selection of shirts from Old Navy – you’ll get to have a version of yourself that is iPod commercial ready, with glossy hair sharp enough to cut a Nomura character. You’ll get to go bowling, wonder why no one’s playing Warhawk and show off all your trophies. And you will have trophies, rest assured. Come ’09, Sony’s making them an obligatory component of any and all PS3 games. I don’t necessarily think achievements and trophies are a bad thing, especially for the type of player who enjoys setting themselves inane goals outside a game’s explicit ones. I just don’t understand why they have to be a necessary feature in every game. Read More... Posted Nov 21 2008, 03:30 PM by John Constantine with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: playstation 3, street fighter, xbox 360, wii, bionic commando, street fighter 4, mega man, gears of war, mega man 9, street fighter iv, mii, final fantasy xiii, resident evil 5, alan wake, achievements, killzone 2, trophies

• Meet People (Yay!) On the Internet (Oh.) Play Games With Them (Fine, I Guess…)

  Personality tests are stupid. Unless they are being given to you about by a psychiatric or sociological professional, a series of multiple choice questions meant to reflect some fundamental aspect of your nature is almost assuredly complete, fragrant bullshit. Like everyone else wandering the wide halls of the internet, I find myself clicking on them incessantly, the stupider and more specific they are the better. Of course I want to know what character I am from The Adventures of Pete & Pete! Why the hell wouldn’t I? Yes, certainly, tell me what type of pants I am, internet. Let me know how compatible I am with dogs, tell me how the music I listen to defines my past lives. I insist that you judge my abilities as a lover on a sliding scale of temperatures! MyGameMug, alongside their gamer personality test, actually provides a service. The site is about, in their own words, “connecting similarly-minded gamers together through a proprietary matchmaking algorithm, for all games and all platforms.” It’s a noble ambition, but I cannot attest to the quality of said algorithm. Read More... Posted Oct 24 2008, 06:30 PM by John Constantine with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, resident evil, resident evil 5, mygamemug, multiplayer

• Resident Evil 5: Continuing on the Transformation Trail From Horror to Suspense

  It might seem strange, considering how often I’ve expressed my adoration for the genre here on 61 Frames Per Second, that I wasn’t always a fan of horror. In fact, being frightened was not something I considered a good time in any way, shape, or form. Call it a symptom of an extremely over-active imagination, but even a scary story told at summer camp was enough to keep my childhood self wide-eyed and sleepless, sheets pulled over my head while my mind conjured even greater terrors than the ones in fiction. Scary movies, scary stories, and even scary games were simply too much for me. It wasn’t until I was in my mid-teens that I started to come around to the thrills of being afraid for fun, but it was still a slow process. The original Resident Evil was, in many ways, horror training wheels for me. I’d be lying if I said the game didn’t still freak me out a little. It was never the “BOO!” moments either, the dogs jumping through windows or the rushing camera POV that signaled the arrival of the first Hunter baddie. It was the atmosphere, the lonely clacking of feet on the floors of empty hallways, the score, and that very first zombie, its grisly visage slowly turning to the camera, rendered in CG just abstract enough to seem unreal. The campy dialogue and ridiculous live-action intro weren’t enough to dull the menace, but the action and puzzles kept me hooked. By the time Resident Evil 2 came out in 1998, I was converted and I’ve remained a devotee of horror gaming since. I’ve stuck with the series too. But Resident Evil hasn’t really been about horror, or even fear, in almost ten years. Each successive entry has brought the series further across that delicate line, from horror into suspense. Resident Evil 4 was a true sea change, but it’s the upcoming Resident Evil 5, which Derrick and I got to play at Capcom’s New York preview event today, that cements the franchise’s transformation into a full-bore action experience, one whose tension comes from overwhelming numbers and a sense of claustrophobia instead of limited resources and lurking dread. Read More... Posted Oct 22 2008, 06:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, resident evil, capcom, dead space, resident evil 5

• TGS Trailer Time: Resident Evil 5

  A trailer for Capcom's upcoming Resident Evil 5 debuted at the Tokyo Game Show, and--fortunately for you--watching it is now mandatory. Note to Capcom: if you're going to introduce a female character by first showing us her butt, you might as well go all the way and throw in a cartoony thumping bass drum for full effect. This is the most story we've seen out of RE5 yet, which may be why this preview reminds me so much of Metal Gear Solid (mainly when the stirring music kicks in).  And the real return of longtime series villain Wesker should delight all of the RE fans who poo-pooed 4 for essentially being a side-story.  Yes; there are seriously people who didn't like RE4 because it was only tangentially related to the series' tortured, ludicrous continuity--and they walk among us, so watch out for that. Read More... Posted Oct 09 2008, 12:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with no comments Filed under: trailer review, resident evil, capcom, bob mackey, tgs, resident evil 5