Fear you can forget - Resident Evil 5 review

Resident Evil 5 is a game with a problem, and that problem is an identity crisis. It's at the same time a bold step forward for the franchise and a game rooted in frustrations of the past, along with a whole new set of frustrations that have been brought in.  

As any fan of the franchise knows, chainsaws are bad news

Any discussion of Resident Evil 5 must inevitably begin with a discussion of its illustrious predecessor. Resident Evil 4 was a revolution not just for the franchise but for action gaming in general. It found the triumphant combination of factors to make the definitive experience - more action, bigger weapons, smarter enemies, nastier bosses, new setting. The fact that it moved to a more action orientated stance and switched to a fully 3D camera made it appeal to a far larger audience than before, and it's rightfully acclaimed as one of the best games ever made. For Resident Evil 5 Capcom has wisely decided to build on the solid base that game provided. The interesting thing is how it has chosen to do this. The first thing which strikes you about RE5 is its setting. Capcom has cranked glorious visuals out of its proprietary MIT engine, and RE5 uses these in the best possible way to create a hugely effective environment. The dusty, ramshackle town of Kijuju oozes menace, its angry inhabitants throwing malicious glances at you as they kick writhing objects in sacks on the ground. Similarly to RE4, you get the impression of a civilization that has fallen off the edge into barbarity, its rural isolation being a lot more scary than any typical zombie apocalypse could be. The problem is, as impressive as this environment may be, you don't spend a great deal of time here, with only the first act being set in Kijuju. This in itself isn't the issue, it's the fact that subsequent environments lack flair and interest. When the mandatory Resident Evil underground laboratory is the most interesting things that crops up you know you're in trouble. Each of the six acts has its own setting, but within each of these there's too much repetition and sameiness, with little feeling of progression. At its worst the environments can degenerate into bland Quake- style killboxes. 

Capcom cranks its tentacle fetish to all new heights

This neatly brings us to the combat, which has been one of the most controversial aspects of the game, debate raging over the remaining of the stop and shoot controls. There's definitely reason to keep them here. They crank the tension up and force tight and precise aiming, always important when taking on the hordes of 'zombies'. And it's definitely hordes - the enemies now pour out in overwhelming waves, flooding combat areas and boxing you in, forcing you into alleys and onto roofs. It's a shame then deja-vu hangs heavy over all of them. The basic Majini are exactly the same as RE4's Ganados, same animations, same tactics, just with spears replacing pitchforks. It doesn't help that there's a far greater proportion of 'super enemies' who basically are colossal ammo sinks, disrupting the essential 'crowd control' tactic that applied so well and created so much tension. Despite this enemy design is pretty poor, with nothing as iconic or terrifying as RE4's Regenerator or Iron Maiden. The game seems to have issues with balancing its combat correctly, never better illustrated than at the end of act 3 when, having thrown a chainsaw wielding miniboss at you, leading to a protracted battle, it immediately goes and throws out.

It's here then that the identity crisis comes to light. As so many have said, this is now no longer a survival horror game. It is an action game, its entire being concentrated on shooting action and big combat set pieces. This wouldn't be an issue if it weren't for the fact that so many of the old hangovers exist. Tank controls and slow movement are fine when they are in service of a slow paced scary game, but they are a real and irritating detriment to blowing up as much stuff as possible. A limited and clunky inventory isn't suitable for such a higly paced game (why has the option to use things straight away without picking them up gone?). The introduction of a limited cover system halfway through the game smacks of half-arsedness and is poorly implemented, only necessary because there are gun toting zombies with machine guns and rocket launchers everywhere in the latter stages. It honestly feels like a bad Gears of War clone at certain stages.  

Alongside this crude evolution into action is the loss of almost all the traditional qualities of Resident Evil. The game is almost never scary, the constant presence of a second player and the fact that they can revive you from your near death state killing almost all tension. In single player the AI is a valiant attempt but is clumsy and makes certain boss battles supremely irritating. Said boss battles lack imagination and generally require the use of a specific weapon or environment conveniently found only in that arena and discarded straight away. The story, so cleverly rebooted in RE4 to revive the themes of infection and possession that made the series so distinctive, returns to a tangled mess of backstory and convoluted science. The supposedly world destroying Las Plagas are basically reduced to an excuse to have Ganados in the game, with an infuriating mix of viruses (I counted T, G, T-Veronica, Progenitor and Ouroboros viruses) taking centre stage once more. Worse still is the game's refusal to even slightly acknowledge its pulpy origins. The sarky quips of RE4's Leon S. Kennedy are replaced with Chris and Sheva calling each other 'partner' at every opportunity and generally playing it dead straight. The merchant is gone, and the game just generally feels very po-faced, as if it's trying to make a serious point in a game where you battle against an evil David Bowie lookalike. Oh, and there's a plot twist so telegraphed that a blind man down a coal mine could see it coming. If you've played it you know the one I mean.

However, the game still has several redeeming features. Foremost among these is the inclusion of co-op, which utterly destroys the experience as a Resident Evil game, but makes it into a far more fun game to play overall. Any game is more fun with another person, but the specifically co-op design makes RE5 a total blast. And every so often, a set piece crops up that reminds you simply how very effective a game like this can be. A trek through a darkened mine where one partner has to hold the spotlight, the opening levels in Kijuju where the bright sunlight offers a startling contrast, the triumphant return of Mercenaries mode. And at its most base level, it is built on bones and mechanics which remain sound, and the strengths that characterised RE4 remain here. The level of polish remain high also, graphics, sound and voicework being excellent. It's important to emphasise that the core gameplay here are still good fun in its own right, the crowd control shooting and set piece battles often being tense and exhilarating. Still plenty of fun to be had here.  

Ultimately, this is a game which struggles to find what its purpose is. It cannot escape the shadow of RE4, yet it tries to by cranking up the action factor, without realising that this causes it to discard a great deal of what made that game special. The greatest fear before release was that this game copied Resident Evil 4 too much, ironically it turns out that it simply didn't copy the right things. It's a good game, a fine game to play through in co-op especially, but it lacks imagination, and coasts by on being merely competent rather than extravagant. The polish and fine gameplay raise it above average, but there's nothing here that makes it special, nothing here that inspires.

[7]

Still in a Dream - Looking back at Metal Gear Solid 3

Among the Metal Gear games, Snake Eater (and its enhanced version Subsistence) are somewhat anomalous. Metal Gear games have always fetished technology and embraced barmy futurism, but Snake Eater on the whole curbs these tendencies, creating a much more insular Metal Gear than any that had gone before.

The key factor here is setting. By placing the game in 1964, firmly in prequel territory, Kojima continues with his usual nuclear message, but allied as it is to real Cold War era paranoia, it feels much more cutting and pointed than usual. Winding the clock back also allows in a single swoop the ditching of the dreaded Metal Gear continuity, allowing the story and characters to stand on their own and develop without the need for referencing. The result is a much leaner, sharper Metal Gear, one which feels very focused and intimate. The jungle setting is also a clever inversion of the normal Metal Gear environs, allowing a more open and freeform play style while adding to the claustrophobic atmosphere of the game. Atmosphere isn't something the game lacks either, the combination of these changes giving a much more naturalistic, creepy vibe to proceedings, accentuated by the seemingly supernaturally powered Cobra Unit.

Speaking of the Cobras, Snake Eater features some of the most memorable characters in the enitre franchise. The Cobras themselves are standouts, some of the best bosses in history, particularly the near legendary sniper battle against The End, while Colonel Volgin is a typically, but wonderfully overblown villain. The appearance of young Ocelot is a real treat, his evolving rivalry with Naked Snake powering some key set pieces, particularly the revolver juggling torture sequences. The Boss meanwhile remains a fascinating figure amongst videogame characters, an adversary who is tied inextricably to the hero by the bonds of duty and loyalty. Kojima maintains his theme of soldiers as pawns here, but because the cast is much smaller and again because of the real world ideal of double agents and defectors the ideas of patriotism, the often overblown dialogue and the rammed home points here work much more effectively.

Ultimately, like the character it portrays, the game is a stripped back, bare minimum Metal Gear. But what this does is allow the fundamental  qualities that have always made these games great shine through. From its iconic opening through to its famous, heartbreaking finale, this is an example of a developer and storyteller firing on all cylinders. Although surpassed in technical and gameplay terms by the extraordinary Guns of the Patriots, no game will ever speak to the hearts and souls of gamers about soldiers and patriots quite like Snake Eater.

The line starts here

Yesterday, a friend and I undertook a mission: To head to the Trocadero, the large shopping centre in Picadilly, and hunt down what I believe is the only Street Fighter IV arcade cabinet in the country. It took some diligent searching (hey building planners, why not have one enormous arcade rather than 4 or 5 smaller ones?) but eventually we discovered a minature mecca of fighting games tucked away in a corner.  Street Fighter III: Third Strike cabinets were lined down the middle and an impressively large japanese Tekken 6: Bloodline Resurrection cab at the end of them. The Street Fighter IV cab was easy to find however, because it was the one with the crowd around it.  We watched for around ten minutes as the guy on the left cabinet went on a hot winning streak with Ryu, pulling some high level juggles and we ooohed and aaahed with everyone else when the flashy finishers came out.  Eventually I got to sit down and face off with him, picking Sagat as my character, and while I lost, I'm happy to say I didn't disgrace myself. He pulverized me in the first round, but I fought back to win the second round, with the third round going right to the wire, but a mistimed Tiger Knee finished me as I got caught in a juggle in the corner.

See that guy on the left? He's not half bad.

It's been years since I played in an arcade, and I've never played a competitve fighter in one (quite a black mark for a fighting game fan I know), so the difference in the experience was quite a revelation. The incessant noise, the people behind you egging you on or laughing at your incompetence, the sturdier controls, the trash talk, it all adds up to a heady blend, and it's easy to see why people get nostalgic for the so-called 'Arcade Culture.'  It was particularly gratifying to be able to turn to my opponent at the end of the match and go 'Good fight mate' and hear the same back, it personalises the experience in a way no amount of online play could.  I may have to drift back soon...

P.S. Also in the Trocadero is a branch of Tokyo Toys, where I scored an awesome Kingdom Hearts scarf and Sonic X pin badges :)

Fight for the Future - Looking back at Street Fighter III: Third Strike

Games from 1999 generally haven't aged well, and there's fewer still that would be regarded as ahead of their contemproray peers, yet a decade after its release, people are still playing Street Fighter III Third Strike: Fight for the Future and it features regularly in every major fighting game tournament. Yet it also remains a deeply divisive game, with some arguing it represents the zenith of the 2D fighter while others maintaining it was a major misstep that failed to capture the magic of its famous forebear Super Street Fighter II Turbo.  As ever, the truth lies somewhere in between.

Technically, SFIII is probably the most perfect fighter ever made. Keeping the familiar joystick motions and basic mechanics from Street Fighter II, it made several important changes and tweaks. Most notable of these was the infamous 'parry' system. Supplementing (but not replacing) the basic blocking system, the idea was simple in principal. By pressing forward or down-forward at exactly the point an opponent's attack connected, the attack would be deflected away, not causing any 'chip' damage and not breaking any blocks. Furthermore, a spilt second window would be opened in the combo to allow a counter-attack.

In practice this worked brilliantly. The problem was that parrying was a) Very difficult. In a typical SFIII match  the hits come so thick and fast that parrying was near impossible for the average player and b) Very powerful, since it could break combos and provide near invulnerability, even against super attacks.  Therefore it was practically a requirement at high level play, which made the gulf between amateur and dedicated players even wider than before.

The other major change made to SFIII was the way the super combo system worked. Renamed to 'Super Arts', each character now had up to three super arts which could be selected before a game began. Each different character and art would have a differing length of super maeter, and each would also have a 'stock' counter where full super meters would be stored, up to a maximum of three. This created intriguing tactical possibilities, as there was now a contrast between characters with short super meters who could unleash weaker moves more often, while longer barred characters would have to wait but could perform more damaging attacks at the end. The stock system also allowed constant building of the super meter even when specials were not needed, and added another layer to character and Super Art selection.

Ken vs Alex - Note the use of the parry at 0:11 and the Super Art finish.

The character roster was probably the most controversial thing about SFIII, seeing as it practically erased the cast from SFII. Only Ryu and Ken returned, and even then only as supporting characters. Instead, as the original subtitle suggested, a 'New Generation' carried on the fight, led by burly grappler Alex. They were an odd bunch indeed, ranging from the freaky failed experiment Necro to the dapper British boxer Dudley (who has surely the best motivation in a fighting game ever - he's trying to get his car back). Subsequently, Second Impact and Third Strike added back Akuma and Chun-Li respectively, but also delved deeper into unusual territory for new characters, ending up with the robotic trenchcoat wearing Q and the truly insane Twelve, who could shape his limbs into weapons and whose special move involved transforming into the character he was fighting.  Despite their oddities, the new cast is likeable, and it's a shame none of them carried over into later games, as there's real potential here.

Yun and Yang were originally reskins of each other but by 3rd Strike had become separate characters 

Playing it today, Third Strike holds up extremely well. Graphics are crisp and well designed, defying their low resolution, and the much admired animation is as good as it ever was, with the super arts in particular still visually stunning.  It's great to play as well, feeling a much more rapid, focused game than the increasingly sprawling Street Fighter II sequels, with a great deal more depth than any other game out there. The issue remains however, that only those of similar skill levels will ever enjoy matches. This isn't a game where the underdog will ever have any chance, where anything less than perfect timing and total knowledge of a character will triumph.  There's more here than anybody could ever know, and that remains the issue. With Street Fighter IV seeming to take the franchise in a new direction, it's unlikely that Third Strike  will ever be bettered as a pure fighting game, and its technical  brilliance cannot be denied. I'll end on a controversial note because it deserves it. It's better than Street Fighter II and always was, it's perhaps only now people realise it. A game to lose yourself in and to teach yourself endlessly.

Mini Review - Prince of Persia: Epilogue

The Good - Still beautiful to look at and to control.  Challenge level has been significantly raised, some new sections require superbly tricky timing and acrobatics. A partial return to the 'large puzzle room' philosophy of The Sands of Time (one room in particular). Solid level throughout. 

The Bad - Short. Nothing too new here. Dark design (though necessary from a plot standpoint) dulls the game's beauty somewhat. Practically no narrative progression.

The Ugly - Boss recycling, which the main game was guilty of already, reaches irritating new heights here. Particularly bad to see The Warrior, the most tiresome boss from the main game reused extensively.