Resident Evil 5 trailer whets our appetite for 'zombie' destruction
by Griffin McElroy 
{ May 31st 2008 at 10:30AM }
As promised yesterday, GameTrailers recently dropped their debut preview for Resident Evil 5. For those yet to run an anticipatory pointer over that quivering play button, the trailer heralds the return of the third-person view present in the franchise's last installment, features familiar parasites who recently and irrevocably wrecked the shop of a small European village, and introduces the game's obligatory female accomplice -- though the new femme fatale appears to be able to hold her own a bit better than the president's daughter. Controversial imagery or no, our excitement for Capcom's newest head-buster is thick enough to drizzle over pancakes, and as infectious as that rascally T-Virus.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
johnny @ May 31st 2008 10:40AM
NUMERO UNO!
ugg.tryptophan @ Jun 1st 2008 1:35AM
i probably wouldnt have voted you down if you just said 'uno', but the 'numero' and the caps just made it annoying -1
Tiptup300 @ Jun 1st 2008 2:00AM
HEEEY AFRICA,
What about these evil zombies?
gozer @ May 31st 2008 10:42AM
looks like res 4.5
not that that's a bad thing.
m @ May 31st 2008 10:43AM
That worm was the scariest part!!!
Trulz @ May 31st 2008 10:46AM
Easily the most racist thing I've ever seen in my life. I'm really disappointed that Capcom is stooping so low as to use the old "black people have zombie tentacles that will pop out of their mouths and eat you" stereotype.
Rob Accomando @ May 31st 2008 11:16AM
Wait till Al Sharpton sees this trailer. He's going to have a coronary.
rafael @ May 31st 2008 12:42PM
trulz,
your sarcasm is not subtle or funny - considering that I can honestly see Al Sharpton arguing that black people have zombie flesh octupus arms is very racist indeed (even though we all have been shooting white ppl for our whole RE lives)
elmersglue @ May 31st 2008 12:54PM
lord bowser...seriously, why are you playing the god role right now... it makes me want to beat you over the head until you stop being such a douche bag. Not only do you make ridiculous assertions about this game being insensitive SIMPLY because the villains are black (no different than killing russians in goldeneye), but you also insult peoples parenting because of "profanity" that is being used in response to your comments. Who do you think you are? seriously... get over yourself...
elmersglue @ May 31st 2008 12:55PM
have no idea how my reply ended up here, probably my fault...my bad
Ryoga Vee @ May 31st 2008 5:03PM
Black, white or blue, Zombies don't care who you are.
I Actually applaud capcom for taking a new step forward in the series.
Ubiqutous Oxymoron @ Jun 3rd 2008 3:09PM
why is it racist? we have engaged with (as gamers) wholesale slaughter of men, women, destroyed cities and planets, fought in the name of good/evil.
how or why is this racist just because the baddies are black? if the game is Africa and the baddies were all white then that would be political correctness gone too far and would be racist.
What will happen when far cry 2 comes out (set in Africa) and you have to go and off some warlord? will you think that is racist? bad people can be black too, just look at Robert Mugabe ffs.
Lord Bowser @ May 31st 2008 10:49AM
I'm not one to make a fuss, but I still believe Capcom have made a grave mistake with the imagery. It's all well and good to set the location in Africa, whatever that means, a change in location is always welcome, no matter how vague it is. The images of the virally infected black people - considering the history of pharmecutical companies testing products on poor Africans - I'm sorry to say, look beastly and frankly disgusting. We can all see it, there's no need to beat around the bush: it's ghastly. It looks like a Stormfront project. Now knowing the makeup of this site, judging from past comments, I can see I am in the distinct minority aned I have no wish to argue. I just wanted to get my opinon across. Hopefully, when this game is released it will get the reception it deserves.
Lord Bowser @ May 31st 2008 10:51AM
Ok, I just lost three more paragraphs and I didn't get to proofread because I pressed refresh by accident.
eldee @ May 31st 2008 10:52AM
I have no words for your stupidity.
Adam @ May 31st 2008 10:54AM
It's a videogame. It's not meant to be taken seriously. So why do you! People need to lighten the hell up.
eldee @ May 31st 2008 10:55AM
Okay I thought of some words- Think of a game like Saints Row. I think that does far more damage to ANY ethnicity than an obvious game of fictional horror like RE5.
Pimping Ho's, dealing drugs, and shooting rival gangs is apparently far more socially acceptable than a zombie infestation. People like you are grasping for straws, trying to find controversy where there is none, meanwhile glazing over subject matter that widens the divide in *relevant* parts of the world. Newsflash: those 'poor africans' aren't going to be playing RE5, so they will not be influenced by it. But what about a 10 year old who manages to get his hands on Saints Row or GTA4? Get over it, it's a fucking game.
voodoo_craig @ May 31st 2008 11:00AM
It's set in Africa, what would you expect to kill? Badgers? Rampaging choc-ices? Killer tomatoes?
Following your arguement, no game should ever be set anywhere, lest we offend the people who live/come from there.
Lord Bowser @ May 31st 2008 11:05AM
Reply system is acting weird...
Saints Row has awful imagery, as does GT4. I don't support those games with my €s.
"Newsflash: those 'poor africans' aren't going to be playing RE5, so they will not be influenced by it."
Yes, but millions of suburban Americans and Europeans will be. I don't have faith that most people can separate fantastical imagery from real life situations and as such we should just refrain from controversial locales until we can deal with the subject matter at hand in a proper, adult way.
tmacairjordan87 @ May 31st 2008 11:14AM
Simple solution to all of this. If by some insane reason you're offended by this...don't buy it.
But do the majority of us who are buying it a favor and shut the hell up with all of this "racist" BS talk.
Lord Bowser @ May 31st 2008 11:20AM
I never used the word racist, and neither did I allude to it. I would use the words 'insensitive' and 'short sighted'. I can see tmac must have had a wonderful mother judging from his brilliant use of profanity.
Kyattsuai @ May 31st 2008 11:24AM
Wow, if all those atrocities you mentioned in so much light-grey text are true, and that's what they intended for the game's plotline, then Umbrella could be perceived as an evil corporation...
What a twist!
eldee @ May 31st 2008 11:25AM
Bowser: I see your point.. I know if I ever personally visit africa I won't be able to shake the feeling that a zombie is right behind me..
WTF are you on about? Separating fiction from reality.. nobody in their right mind will have ANY difficulty separating the impoverished nations of africa with a video game depicting over the top zombie horror. I think the only one having problems separating fiction from reality is you.
Super Fun Time Gamer @ May 31st 2008 11:33AM
Don't you think it would be more "insensitive" and "short-sighted" to have the game take place in Africa(I heard Carribean Islands at one point) and have it be full of white people? Why is it that every time a minority is used as a villian when it is regionally approriate to use said minority, the first thing out of everyone's mouths is "RACISM"??
tmacairjordan87 @ May 31st 2008 11:51AM
Are you seriously saying you didn't allude to it? What the hell is the point of your first post then?
This all needs to stop. I don't care if you're black, white, hispanic or whatever. I've lost my patience with all races of people who bring up racism at everything for attention or personal gain. SHUT THE FUCK UP!!
And that's not all directed towards you bowser. That's towards everyone who's brought this shit up so far like N'Gai, that one columnist lady, you, and future people that we all know are going to run this into the ground when the game is close to release like Sharpton and Jesse Jackson and probably lunatics like Obama's pastor.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ May 31st 2008 11:53AM
"Don't you think it would be more "insensitive" and "short-sighted" to have the game take place in Africa(I heard Carribean Islands at one point) and have it be full of white people?"
This man speaks the truth.
Noshino @ May 31st 2008 12:08PM
"t's a videogame. It's not meant to be taken seriously. So why do you! People need to lighten the hell up."
Games CAN be taken serious, just like you can take a novel seriously...it just depends on what it is, don't generalize.
Lord Bowser,
Excuse me, but where were you when all the other Resident Evil/Biohazard games were released? So now that they are shooting black people it is seen as insensitive?...what about when they were shooting people from antartica, spain, canada, and russia?
Dude, you know whom are as bad as racist people? the ones that call everything racist in a way to "defend" others...
"Newsflash: those 'poor africans' aren't going to be playing RE5, so they will not be influenced by it."
That's not the point, they just simply wont care, after all, its fictional....hell, if I was them I would be grateful that a game is taking in mind their area that is usually not use for stories (this is MY opinion btw)
Maverick Saturn @ May 31st 2008 12:18PM
Bowser, its a game, insensitive it may be, its still a game, compared to the likes of GTA:SA which depicts blacks as gangsta thugs with no intelligence, or 50 Cent games, this game is nothing.
Besides, nobody was moaning when all the zombies were white.
Lord Bowser @ May 31st 2008 12:29PM
Maverick stop being an apologist, you're better than that. I know you can see fallacy of these paper thin arguments these people bring up.
Stop playing the Morgan Freeman role.
And I already said, though it may be whited out, that I despise GTA as much as I disapprove of the imagery in this game. And to all the people saying
Let me be blunt; when I see the Resident Evil Zombies in this trailer I see this:
http://www.sterlingtimes.co.uk/golliwog.htm
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/200803/ape_330.jpg
But if you don't see it, you don't see it.
Obie @ May 31st 2008 12:39PM
You get more and more stupid with every post...it's quite remarkable actually.
Maverick Saturn @ May 31st 2008 12:41PM
I can see with my own two eyes whats going on, and I'm not disregarding it by any means. I still think the game could have been done better in terms of plot, and I've said that in many a RE5 article, thread etc
But personally, I love the fact it takes place in Africa, the last game to do that was Halo 3, and it didnt do a very good job of it ¬_¬ The only thing they could have done really was make the main character black or people helping him black or African. But how would that have been any less racist. It still black on black violence.
Theres not much that can be done about it, Capcom didn't do it with the intention of causing racial hatred towards them.
Personally, I find games that depicts Americans going into arab, russian and german countries to kill them all off racist, but then noone complained about them, so why start now, if it offends you so much, start your own company and change the way we depict groups of people in games, but from where we stand, all we can do is look at the game for what it is, and its a good game, the trailer shows that, and just disregard what may be posed as offensive. Complaining in a Joystiq article is hardly going to change things is it. All you will do is stir up more unneeded racial tension that the likes of me will have to try and clean up ¬_¬
tmacairjordan87 @ May 31st 2008 12:45PM
Oh so that's what the big fuss was about that lebron james cover. I really couldn't figure it out. Guess I should have turned my racist vision on.
That's funny though Bowser, cause everytime I see a post from you I see something along the lines of this
http://www.slapyo.com/wp-content/thumb-owltards.jpg
Lord Bowser @ May 31st 2008 12:49PM
"Personally, I find games that depicts Americans going into arab, russian and german countries to kill them all off racist, but then noone complained about them, so why start now"
What's with all these assumptions. I complained, I hate it. It's horrid, absolutely horrid. And that "why start now" comment is so defeatist. It's like you don't want to better yourself and you'd rather wallow with the pigs in the filth. We can do better.
tmacairjordan87 @ May 31st 2008 12:55PM
No bowser, what he was saying is no one cared that in the other RE games you had to kill white zombies and then spanish zombies. The fact that you only care that black zombies are being killed is actually pretty racist
Lord Bowser @ May 31st 2008 1:03PM
Who said I only cared about black zombies? Whatever that means. Nobody asked my opinion on the subject, they just downvoted me and insulted my character.
To be honest, most game that requires physical acts of violence is a no go for me. There are exceptions, MGS for one, but I believe, for the most part, without being wishing to generalise, these games are the equivalent of 80s action movies and in a few years we'll all look back on these violent games with great embarrassment.
Maverick Saturn @ May 31st 2008 1:04PM
Can we bowser? Explain how? By moaning about it in here? And by doing that you are achieving, hmmm, what exactly? You do realise that a high majority of Joystiq users are of different races, if anyone cares about your complaints, its certainly not them. Whos being defeatist? Look how many COD games have been made, how many MOH games made, how many GR games made, and to top that, GTA etc etc etc, and yet they they still sell, why? God knows, but if you think by you and I complaining in here its going to change things, you're horribly wrong, until you get into a position of which you can lead the gaming industry towards the rightful place it should be, your complaints will go unnoticed.
If anyone should be offended by this, its me, I'm black, I have african family members although I was not brought up there myself. And yet, while it does bother me, what can I do to change it, this is not the first game to cause a stir like this, nor will it be the last.
And you can moan to all the white gamers here about the game, all they will do is tell you to shut up, why? Because RE5 has gone through several games all shooting at white zombies, now that its changed to black theres an uproar? Dude, it may be deemed as racist, but you have to think about all parties involved, if people didn't complain when white zombies were shot, why would they care what you have to say now that the race of the zombies has been changed.
I've said it already, they could make the game more subtle, but what does subtle entail, basically you are asking for the game to be finished and stopped completly, thats the only way it can avoid racial issues, and I think more people will be annoyed at that then you and your complaints.
Maverick Saturn @ May 31st 2008 1:11PM
And bowser, if you really want to talk violence and racial discrimination, you are highlighting pretty much 90% of games.
Even something such as Mario, silly yes, but it could be deemed as racist, or Halo, or MGS, isn't Snake an American shooting at, hmm, who? Russians? Oh yeah.
And Mario, is he not jumping on the heads and eliminating other races in order to find a blonde blue eyed princess?
And Halo, is he not on a genocidal rampage taking out and entire colony of aliens, the other race.
And Final fantasy, how many blacks have you seen in them.
And Lord of the rings, what black person was in that?
Bowser, sometimes, unless it really is called for, like the PSP advert with the white and black PSP, its best to just let things be. Because by moaning about this, in order to achieve your pretty world of non violence and no racial issues whatsoever, we would have to remove 90% of games and movies on the market.
SuperGayParade @ May 31st 2008 1:27PM
I agree with you bowser, and I think it's despicable that the general users of Joystiq suppressed your thoughtful comment with negative votes and unintelligent responses. N'Gai did a great article on this, and everyone should read it.
ronald.raygun @ May 31st 2008 1:56PM
The game's not even out and everyone's jumping on the rascist bandwagon. It's obvious that there's a larger enemy than just the town's folk that are infected that chris keeps shooting.
I think it would be very interesting for plot and gameplay if they used some real life scenarios and worked something into the story about chris going up against atrocities like the ones that happened in Rwanda(with some sort of zombie back story) or maybe something like the tutti and that other tribe. You know where millions died and they could turn the story from being so negative into something more positive.
ThePassenger @ May 31st 2008 3:16PM
I think it's a shame that Bowser was making a point in a fairly articulate and polite manner, and that so many just argued back insulting him. I disagree with most of your points Bowser, but I wish more people would make the effort to explain them in the way that you did.
Wii60Warrior @ May 31st 2008 6:42PM
As an African American I just don't see whats wrong with this trailer...
eldee @ May 31st 2008 7:01PM
Wii60Warrior: You have to be white to be offended by stupid shit like this. It's that whole separation anxiety thing.. they're trying so hard not to be racist that they become what they hate.
Tiptup300 @ Jun 1st 2008 2:23AM
I'm still confused, what is bowser complaining about?
Violence in video games?
Different races in video games?
Fictionious Drug-teseting operations in Africa?
It's all so hard to read!
donovan of war @ Aug 6th 2008 9:19PM
you have no idea what your talking about do you
eldee @ May 31st 2008 10:50AM
'my last partner was a woman too'
double entendre much?
This game is remarkably similar to RE4, which IMO is a good thing if they ramp up the difficulty a bit. RE4 was too easy because the controls were *gasp* intuitive. Now they need to bump the skill of the AI up a bit, or provide a few more intense situations.. and LESS quicktime events. I freaking hate those things.
Adam @ May 31st 2008 11:03AM
I personally would like to see a return of the umbrella corporation as well as more mutated monster-like creatures to go up against, ala the earlier installments of the series, instead of just wave after wave of infected/zombie-esque people and guys weilding chainsaws. I liked the campy horror nature of the originals better myself. Looks good though.
J @ May 31st 2008 11:34AM
@ eldee
I believe his last partner was his sister, claire. I am wondering where she is, because in code veronica, they escaped together, i believe. but what else could it mean, do you think?
ewww... r u saying he and claire... ?
tmacairjordan87 @ May 31st 2008 11:53AM
I'm pretty sure he meant Jill Valentine from the first game.
Mr Khan @ May 31st 2008 12:36PM
Legend has it that it IS the RE4 engine, just rebuilt for 512 MB of RAM and the vast new array of lighting techniques available
Kayeliminal @ May 31st 2008 4:38PM
Game looks to be great, can't wait for it's release.
I still say as a black guy myself, it's stupid that they're making this a big controversy about killing blacks in RE5, when in RE4 you killed mainly hispanics.
People take life to seriously, I'm ready to kick ass when this is released!