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The story picks up with Chris Redfield, one of the survivors from the first game. He has left STARS behind to join a new organisation, the BSAA (Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance). The writers certainly love their acronyms. In this chapter he has been sent to Africa to investigate a nasty outbreak and he is partnered with local Sheva Alomar. The story weaves the usual blend of familiar faces with new characters as yet another twisted bunch of evil doers have released yet another hideous strain of infection on an unsuspecting populace.
This is a third-person shooter and since it was designed for consoles they have had to completely rework the control system. It is easy to master with mouse and keyboard using the WASD standard. They’ve also thrown in aim with right mouse and fire with left as well as an instant spin button to run away and a knife slash. You can also hit the numbers to quick equip inventory items and this system is infinitely superior to the console method.
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Most of the time you are exploring run down shanty town areas or swamps or caves which appear to be deserted but actually contain hordes of infected. The infected in this game are far from straightforward zombies. They are fast, rabid and they use weapons. They also have a horrible habit of splitting open to reveal monsters within, an effect which conjures up memories of the film The Thing.
The game is completely linear and narrow corridor levels give way to rail vehicle sections. They have ditched the quick time events for this version and the Versus Mode is also gone but you won’t miss them. There is Mercenaries Mode where you can slaughter as many enemies as possible with a friend. There is also No Mercy Mode which is a solo suicide mission which really lives up to the name.
Resident Evil 5 plays well on the PC and, rather than slapping the console version out with minimal tweaks, they really have thought about it. The flaws in character control and the occasionally irritating camera are problems that the Resident Evil series has never really managed to solve but fans will be used to that by now. There is nothing that really detracts from the epic action and this is a stunning horror game.
