After about 1.8 million people download the Resident Evil 5 Demo on Xbox Live Marketplace, which came out last week, the same demo is now on PSN as of yesterday morning and about time PS3 only players get a shot of what's to come with RE5. The demo consists of two sections, Private Assembly and Shanty Town, the same two scenarios we have seen since last E3, but now available for download. You can play these sections alone or co-op both local and online. Lastly, there's 4 control options ranging from the old-school RE4 style controls (Type A) to the "Gears" controls (Type D). Good thing the demo is there for people to figure out which control style to prefer. After playing through the sections twice, I am currently preferring the "Gears" controls to the classic RE4 style. Of course, the gaming message boards have been divided whether or not this game is still good and relevant despite being RE4 in HD gameplay wise. Sure, players have been spoiled of Halo/COD/Gears style controls because those shooters got it right, but returning to the RE4 playstyle where u stop and shoot at enemies, it does feel weird and dated in this age of the current generation.
The core gameplay is pure Resident Evil 4, but enhanced due to the co-op mechanic with Sheva around. It is clear that this game is designed for co-op throughout and Capcom did a good job with Sheva's CPU A.I. Of course, the game would be more interesting with another human player around as u have to act more as a team, but even as a CPU, Sheva does hold her own end helping you revive from death and give you cover. The co-op mechanic surprisingly delivers in the co-op specific sections where Chris and Sheva divide up, but still in the same vicinity helping each other out (the two buildings part of the Shanty Town section). Yeah, going back to "tank" controls standing still shooting at enemies is awkward especially if people have been playing shooters like Gears 2 and Left 4 Dead like crazy. Personally, having not played shooters seriously, the change of pace with the shooting feels fine even with the limited movement options. This is the case fighting the chainsaw guy at the end of Shanty Town demo when my plan of attack is to hit and run with the rifle after hitting the burning crates. At least with the Private Assembly section, there is some sense of freedom due to being an open area of how to survive the enemy encounter before the helicopter comes for the rescue.
Despite my mixed feelings with the gameplay, the game does look beautiful with detailed characters and the action does fit the setting. Even though the demo environments feel the same, at least the final game will spice it up with the variety of locales from the vehicle chase scene, some nighttime levels, and more. I didn't notice any framerate drops on the PS3 version compared to what people are saying as the game runs pretty smooth and constant. Good thing there's also a mandatory install to minimize load times. The game also delivers on the sound department especially when the music picks up in intense moments and enemy encounters. The voice acting seems fine to me as Chris and Sheva are not as annoying as I thought they would be when screaming out orders. Then again, the demo didn't provide enough different lines when giving out partner commands or giving Sheva items.
I haven't tried the demo yet cooperatively both locally and online. Even though it is a great feature and nice to have another human player around, I don't mind playing RE5 alone like RE4. The single player feels fine as Sheva does hold up as a great partner. It does feel like I'm back in 2005 playing Resident Evil 4, one of my favorite games of that year, but I can see why people think this style of gameplay in 2009 feels somewhat dated especially if they have been playing Call of Duty or Gears-like shooters every day. It is a different game than those previously mentioned shooters and I do believe we are spoiled of that standard control scheme, so it is nice to return to this different change of pace with Resident Evil 5. It is going to be a tough decision between Killzone 2 and RE5 after my game of the forever Street Fighter IV comes out in 2 weeks (I'm spending too much money on that damn game). If I'm buying RE5, I'm not even going to bother with the Collector's Edition this time as I will just spend the normal 60 bucks. Yeah, Japan still has some catching up to do especially in the action shooter genre, but that topic can be saved for another time. Plain simply, the Resident Evil 5 Demo is not that bad and I hope the final game (story, gameplay, and replay value) delivers in the end. Otherwise, I'll stick to Killzone 2 instead of this.
