Just finished the game, my thoughts (I'll warn of any spoilers and give a few lines):
The graphics are fantastic, the music (as mentioned above) is pretty good, and the sound effects for the weapons and explosions are decent. The controls, what many call outdated and difficult really weren't too bad, they fit the game well. Everyone wants to run and gun, but the enemies don't really attack you in a way that makes run and gun necessary. Later in the game there's a really basic cover system ala. Rainbow 6: Vegas and GoW, although it's pretty basic and you can beat the game without using it I'm sure.
Overall I really liked the game, although I must admit I like the first four chapters (really the first two the most) alot more than the last two. They built the game up so much about being in Africa and such but alot of the game might as well be anywhere as it all looks the same, Resident Evil 4 has the same problem. It started out as a little village setting and turned into a secret military facility type place. They should have worked with the African setting a little more in my opinion. The first 2 chapters are so great, running from street to street through a city, they should have used that setting more.
The weapons for the most part seem balanced (minus the machine guns), although I wish it was more difficult to acquire some of them, maybe make repeat playthroughs necessary. The machine guns are the one weapon I never seemed to use. The damage is really low and you blow through ammo like it's hotcakes. The need to beef the MG's up and give the player a reason to use them. Also, in every class of weapons there seems to be one stand out contender that is easily "the best." For me it's the P226 (I haven't unlocked the final gun yet though), the M3 shotgun, and the VZ whatever MG. All have much higher damage than the next closest, although they all lack the perks that some of the other guns have (critical hits, penetration, spread distance). I'd actually like to see even greater differing attributes for the guns, in the end it doesn't really matter what pistol/shotgun/MG/Sniper rifle you have for any situation because they'll all work, make it so that some are obviously better for certain times.
Also, there's an exploit that you can use that is intended I'm sure, but needs to be removed. You can load a game, quit, and save any items you pick up. What's wrong? There are several places in the game where I'd load, there would be TONS of ammo right in front of me, quit, save weapons, rinse, repeat. I did it because I kept running short on ammo...isn't that sort of the trademark RE style? You never have enough ammo? Well, now I have alot more than enough...
There's a decent spread of enemies in the game, although some are simply fodder and others are annoyingly tough. Like, out of nowhere in chapter 6 they intruduce a new type of enemy with no real story on what they are so you're not really prepared. Some of the bosses are overly easy, others are pretty annoying, to avoid any spoilers I'll leave it at that. The boss of the game wasn't hard, figuring out how to fight him was difficult for me though.
**Spoiler**
Wesker coming back was neat, but he's transformed from a miscontent normal Joe in the 1st game to a superhuman ninja from space. The same thing with Jill, in the original RE she's a "barely hanging in there" cop, now she's using karate and all sorts of stuff...and she's blonde? What the heck? Why not leave her as the short haired-beret wearing cop who's the "master of lockpicking?" Bring back a somewhat believeble enemy/scenario and a somewhat normal plot.
**End Spoiler**
I'm not exactly sure what the purpose of the bulletproof vest and melee armor are as I seemed to take the exact same amount of damage whether I was wearing it or not. Maybe it's just my imagination...
I played the game by myself the first time through, although I really wish I'd had a teammate, it would have been more fun. The one random person I play with online though was silent and he just ran from place to place...might as well have an AI teammate who actually helps. The benefit of playing by myself is that I got to go at my own pace, and I did so. I didn't rush at all, I went very slow, tried to collect alot of stuff (although I only found 6 BSAA badges!), tried to get as many treasures as I could, I'm sure I'll try to get the speed achievement sometime as well but for now I'll just try to find a co-op partner.
I played through the bonus game Mercenaries, it's kind of fun but certainly lacks the meat that the story mode has. There's a ton of people to choose from, I've no idea how to unlock them though. I'll try it again when I get a good teammate.
Overall I enjoyed the game enough to call it a "good purchase" for sure, and with the coming competitive multiplayer it'll add some fun to the game later. I plan on playing through it another time or two, once you beat the game you can use Sheva and I just started a Veteran game with her, now I've just gotta find a teammate...
I give it an 8.5/10
I played the RE5 demo and it was enjoyable, just not in the survival/horror vein for which I was looking. I'll probably still pick RE5 up, but I'm still a bit bummed.
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