Resident Evil 5 General Hints and Tips

Written by: Simon Hill • Edited by: Eric Stallsworth
Updated May 22, 2011 • Related Guides: Resident Evil | Resident Evil 5

Resident Evil 5 is a challenging co-op third-person action title and you’ll need to be at the top of your game to survive. This article offers up a few general hints and tips to help you through.

Surviving Resident Evil 5

The Resident Evil series has always been challenging and RE5 is no exception. You’ll encounter all manner of rabid monsters, flying beasts and behemoths intent on wrapping you up in a tentacle and snarfing you down. You need to focus and work co-operatively if you expect to survive and unfold the plot. In this article we’ll suggest a few tips and hints that should help. You can also read the full Resident Evil 5 review or check out the RE5 Weapon Guide.

Co-operative Gameplay

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The development of co-op gameplay is a great thing. You can play through a game with a friend and work together to boost your strength. Fighting back to back with a hoard of slavering Majini charging you is hugely satisfying if you survive. The PC version offers online co-op so you can hook up with a friend or stranger and take on the challenge. If they leave the game the AI automatically slots in to replace them. There is no offline co-op on the PC but split screen wouldn’t be much fun on a PC anyway.

The game really is designed as a co-operative experience and there are situations where you need a partner. It is best to stick closely together as you play through so you can cover each other. You should also share pick ups, if you partner needs health or ammo then you can select it from your inventory and hand it over. If you use health sprays in close proximity you’ll both get the benefit.

If you play through with an AI partner you can use the Partner Action button to call them to you. This is handy if you are being attacked, want to pull off a joint attack or just want to make sure your explosive charge doesn’t blow your buddy away. You can also request items from your partner which is super handy. If you are being attacked and a Majini is grabbing you then there are a series of finishing melee attacks you can pull off if you both time it correctly. It is well worth perfecting your melee attacks because they take out Majini in one swift move and help you to save ammunition.

Health

There are various pick ups in the game which will improve your health. Your health is clearly marked on the HUD and will change colour to alert you to danger from green through orange to red.

First Aid Spray – full heal and you can buy them in the store which you’ll want to do frequently.
Green Herb – partial heal and you can combine them for a bigger health boost.
Red Herb – useless on their own but combined with a green herb you’ll get a full heal.
White Egg – will give you a small health boost.
Brown Egg – will give you a medium health boost.
Golden Egg – will give you a full heal (or you can sell them for big cash).
Rotten Egg – you wouldn’t eat one of these in real life so don’t do it in the game, you’ll lose health (try throwing it at a Majini).

Inventory and Items

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There are loads of items to find in Resident Evil 5 and so you should search every area thoroughly. There are boxes, chests, stone vases and various other containers that may be holding vital ammunition or gold. Smash them with your machete to save bullets. You’ll also find treasures that you can sell in the store to build up a bigger bankroll for the important purchases in life, like explosives or weapon upgrades.

You get a total of nine slots in your inventory so use them wisely. The best idea is to combine anything you can to save space. Since items that are the same can be combined make sure you consolidate them in one person’s inventory rather than splitting them between you. You should also make sure and leave some empty slots for the next level because it is very annoying to find pick ups and be unable to grab them. If you do find something you really want and swapping things around with your partner won’t create space then you may have to drop something you’ve decided is less useful.

You can organize your inventory, store and swap things and buy new items between each level. During gameplay you can still access your inventory but it happens in real time, it doesn’t pause the game, so be very careful about when you do it. You can quick select items from your inventory with the 1-9 number keys.