➤ Africa and blood 🎮

The fact that Capcom is a company famous (also) for its ability to squeeze all its successful brands to the maximum to optimize production costs and earnings is now known all over the world. And that the Resident Evil saga is in this sense its goose that lays the golden eggs is a fact by now well established: in fact, there is no occasion in which Japanese society does not try to insert the characters or stories of its series of terror, re-proposing them in every sauce and on every console. In line with this philosophy, Capcom decided months ago to release the last three titles of the regular series on the new consoles so, after Resident Evil 6, it is the turn of Resident Evil 5 to return in a remastered version at 1080p and 60fps on Xbox One and PlayStation 4., plus all the extra content released after the launch of the original, enclosed in 15,8 GB to be downloaded to your hard disk.

Resident Evil 5 returns in a special edition for next-generation consoles

Virus letale

Even if the game is now known by all, it is necessary to make a quick summary of what are the main mechanics and the plot for those few who have no idea what it is like. Resident Evil 5 is not a survival horror, but a modern action game whose mechanics are clearly linked more to shooting and fighting, than to the phases of exploration, solving puzzles and moments of real tension. The setting is therefore the same as in many products of the genre, as in the rest of the previous chapter (in part) and of the following one, with a third-person view behind the protagonist, a good amount of bullets available and a fair variety of weapons.

All elements that allow the user to explore levels full of enemies, which mostly come in waves, except in the boss fights that mark the progression between the levels, without excessive worries of mind. This does not mean that Resident Evil 5 is easy, mind you, but only that by learning to use the paraphernalia at your disposal, and to properly exploit the help of your partner and the level design of the various scenarios, you can experience the adventure with less tension than perhaps in the first episodes of the saga, when ammunition was scarce and you never knew what the protagonist was waiting for around the corner. In any case, the fast pace of the adventure finds fulfillment in the various action sessions often seasoned with quick time events, and in the combat system. This involves the use of the weapon pointer to accurately hit the enemies in those who are their weak points, as well as interacting when possible with particular elements of the scenario to cause more damage. Without forgetting the possibility of using your hands in furious melee attacks when you find yourself locked in a corner. However, to limit the effectiveness of these moves, however, the character's control system intervenes in spite of itself, characterized by a certain underlying intricacy that does not allow fast movements and sudden dodges, as well as to aim a weapon and shoot on the move. And that can be particularly annoying against those opponents who are themselves armed and very aggressive. In this sense, the African continent becomes the "homeland" of various types of infected and monstrous aberrations, generated by the madness and action of unscrupulous men on the local population. In fact, the title tells of Chris Redfield, former member of STARS who joined the special group of BSAA fighters, specifically created to keep at bay the risk born with the proliferation of bio-organic weapons, who is in the African region of Kijuju to investigate about a terrorist named Irving, together with a new partner, the sensual Sheva, managed in the game by artificial intelligence or, if desired, by another player. Soon, however, the mission takes on more dramatic contours, in an escalation of nightmarish events that overwhelm the couple to the point of forcing them to fight for their own survival.

PlayStation 4 Trophies

There are 71 Trophies in Resident Evil 5 for PlayStation 4, including those of the various DLCs. In fact, they are the same as the original edition and can be obtained, depending on the mode, by completing the main adventure or individual expansions, eliminating a certain number of enemies with a proximity bomb or making certain combos, just to give two examples , up to Platinum, which is obtained as always by collecting all the others.

The contents of the new edition

As for the "news", there is little to say, given that the analyzed edition is limited to including all the downloadable content already published in its previous versions. We therefore have the Dead End Nightmare and Desperate Escape expansions, a competitive mode, a few extra characters and four costumes. With Nightmare without exit, gamers can experience firsthand a sequence that in Resident Evil 5 can only be seen through a flashback, controlling Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine in a scenario that recalls the first episodes of the saga, also for the pace of the game. Of the two extra contents related to the main adventure it is the best successful, if only because it manages to evoke the classic spirit of the series, with the Spencers' home to visit, the decaying rooms to be carefully explored, and so on. The other, in fact, A Desperate Escape, is a decidedly action scenario that sees Jill Valentine and Josh Stone, the black agent of the BSAA, join forces first to help Chris and Sheva in the final stages of the regular adventure, then to escape from Kijuju. All through three adrenaline scenarios, the last of which is timed. To these contents are added the Merciless mode, previously exclusive to the PC version, where it is necessary to face in time an above-average number of infected, almost always with an attached parasite, which can reach up to thirty in some screens. forty enemies simultaneously, and Mercenaries gathered.

The latter, taken from the Gold Edition, offers a higher level of challenge than the classic mercenary mode, as well as new costumes, characters (Excella Gionne, Josh Stone, Rebecca Chambers and Barry Burton) and alternative moves depending on the partner: in practice based on the adventure companion with which the user decides to face the game session, will end up with more powerful melee attacks. So to have real news, you have to look at the technical sector, where however, let's say it immediately, we do not find anything exceptional or that has not already been seen in the past PC version. In this sense, Resident Evil 5 on PlayStation 4 offers 1080p graphics with a frame rate of 60 frames per second compared to the 720p / 30 frames of the old consoles, so as to give the view a more defined and globally sharper image. However, if we exclude the increase in resolution and a better general fluidity, the graphics of the game have remained substantially unchanged compared to that of the PlayStation 3 / Xbox 360 editions, especially in terms of texture. On this front, by eye, we would say that perhaps a few new ones have been added ad hoc positioned at certain points, but nothing more. We think that Capcom could make a little effort in this regard, and maybe improve some movements of the characters to make them less rigid in certain situations. Yet thanks to an original base, however, of good workmanship, to the variety of level design that ranges from the typical dusty African village to underground ruins, then passing through scientific laboratories, villages in the jungle or by the sea, and much more, to the intelligent use of light sources and particle effects, the title is able to offer some fascinating glimpses. No upheavals even for the audio sector, which offers a good dubbing in English, with subtitles in Spanish, and a beautiful soundtrack that knows how to properly accompany every single moment of the adventure, adequately underlining the most chaotic or tense phases, compared to those a little quieter. Excellent sound effects, from the almost delicate ones that are the background to the moments of exploration, to the more "noisy" and wild of the sessions in which dozens of monsters, infected or deformed creatures come out with their moans, roars or gurgles terrifying, determined to eliminate the protagonists.

Comment

Tested version PlayStation 4 Digital Delivery PlayStation Store, Xbox Store Price 19,99 € Resources4Gaming.com

7.5

Readers (17)

7.1

Your vote

The "new" edition of Resident Evil 5 is a good conversion of the original title, with better graphics resolution and frame rate and all previously released content both as DLC and as part of other special editions. Too little, however, to push those who have already played it on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 or PC to buy it back, or to get it a higher rating. The title, however, confirms the strengths and weaknesses of the original version: it is a pure shooter full of good ideas but with fundamentals that are sometimes a bit limping, but overall well structured and extremely fun to play, even in two, thanks also to a setting fascinating in its own way in the heart of Africa.