Joystiq

Resident Evil 5 controls overhauled to be more Gears-like

Justin McElroy — 2008-09-03T10:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

Just as we were complaining about a lack of innovation in the move from Resident Evil 4 to Resident Evil 5, we get word that the whole point might be moot. At a recent Microsoft Media Briefing, producer Jun Takeuchi said that players could expect a new control system, similar to Gears of War, when they hunted digital zombies at the Tokyo Game Show.

Of course, one could argue that "innovation" isn't necessarily synonymous with "cribbing the controls from another game." But hey, Gears was inspired by Resident Evil 4 in the first place, no? It is, as Sir Elton says, the circle of life.

[Via X3F]

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GC 2008: Resident Evil 5 co-op clips

Ludwig Kietzmann — 2008-08-20T17:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

We feel terribly sorry for the first man to come waltzing down the stairs in this video. No doubt venturing into the kitchen for an early morning snack, he's suddenly confronted by two gun-toting interlopers. "Rubber bullet!" he screams, in the unrequited hope that the firearms pointed at him will spare his life. A moment later, he's shot by both. Simultaneously. Oh, who knew that co-op could be so cruel?

Find the other perspective on the action after the break.

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GC 2008: Latest Resident Evil 5 trailer terrorizes Leipzig

Randy Nelson — 2008-08-19T21:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

We hope you're ready for a face full of freshly, um, zombified zombies on film, because that's exactly what Capcom has delivered at the Leipzig Games Convention. This new, entirely in-game trailer for Resident Evil 5 doesn't show too much that's especially new, but it's worth taking note of the vehicle chase sequence and hey ... is that another mine cart level?

Click on the video above and you'll get a peek at playing as Chris Redfield's female sidekick, Sheva Alomar, along with some oh-so-brief snippets of various (we presume) über-important cutscenes. Sure, it may be more RE4, but is that really so awful - especially when it looks this scary-good?

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Resident Evil 4 vs. Resident Evil 5 vid showcases scary similarities

Randy Nelson — 2008-07-29T11:15:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

We'd like to share the game comparison video one person dared to create. One person who goes by the nom de keyboard of "WiiSixty" on GameTrailers, which is fitting since they've created a short subject film pitting Resident Evil 4 for Wii against Resident Evil 5 for 360.

The video runs on a bit, but it nevertheless does a solid job of comparing everything from weapon reload animations to door opening animations (helpfully shown above) to the way enemies react when shot. We'll give you one guess which game's prettier overall, but we think the gameplay similarities between the two might surprise you. Well, maybe they won't, since we've already talked about just how much won't be changing from RE4 to RE5.

(Note: Looks like the embeddable video has caught a bad case of the T-virus; you'll have to hit up GameTrailers to watch it.)

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Joystiq E3 hands-on: Resident Evil 5

Justin McElroy — 2008-07-17T14:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

Before I get into talking about my brief hands-on with Resident Evil 5, I want to make something perfectly clear: I'm fairly sure you're going to love it. It's gorgeous, it's fun and it looks like it's going to be horrifyingly intense. So why am I about to tell you I'm a little disappointed? Well, as good as it is, it's also Resident Evil 4.

To clarify, where it's not RE4 is in terms of graphics. E3 isn't the best place to judge this stuff because the setting is always so ideal, but the game looks astoundingly realistic. As hordes of not-zombies lurched towards the window of the hut I began in, I was almost a little disturbed at having to blast things that looked so ... human. From the standpoint of graphics, I don't have any complaints about RE5.

Gallery: Resident Evil 5 (06-02-2008)

They're complemented by some really nice camera tricks too, which is something I can't believe I'm writing about in a Resident Evil game. For example, when you destroy a barrel, the camera does a quick pan up to show the full scale of the explosion. It's hard to understand without seeing it in practice, but I imagine you'll see plenty of games trying to ape it in the coming years.

However, as good as it looked, I still couldn't get RE4 out of my head. Remember the first time you played it? How fresh it felt? How every facet had been retooled, re-imagined to really serve the experience? I think that is what I was hoping for from RE5's gameplay. But this is iterative, an evolutionary step forward, nothing like the leap I was hoping for.

Your partner is one of the few tweaks that really adds something new. When they're under attack a light begins flashing in the lower left corner of the UI, and knowing that they need you and you're swamped in a thicket of not-zombies adds an even greater sense of urgency to a game that was already pretty intense.

Though it wasn't available, I imagine the previously announced co-op play could be able to parlay that intensity of having to watch two backs into something that really will feel revolutionary. But it hasn't happened yet. Along those future-looking lines, I should note that this is a small section of the game we're talking about, and there could be plenty of surprises, but I have to judge what I'm given.

I have no problem dinging a game if it doesn't meet my expectations for quality, but this is something different. This is complaining about a game not changing the very landscape of the genre, something I'm not even sure is fair. But as I put down the controller, guts freshly ripped out by a zombie, it was the thought I couldn't get out of my head.

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Resident Evil 5 to offer online co-op, delayed to March 2009

Mike Schramm — 2008-07-14T13:44:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Online, E3

When Resident Evil 5 drops, you won't be alone against the legions of zombies -- a second player will be able to join in the gory fun as well. The online co-op mode is confirmed at E3, with another player taking control of Sheva, Chris' female companion.

Unfortunately, you'll have to wait a while -- Microsoft says that it won't be available until a worldwide simultaneous release on Friday the 13th, March 2009. "Please hang on just a bit longer," they say, "we'll have it to you shortly."

Update: Press conference walkthrough video embedded after the cut.

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Rumorong: Resident Evil 5 hitting simultaneously on PS3, 360

Randy Nelson — 2008-06-20T21:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

On Wednesday, PlayStation Lifestyle posted up a rumor that Microsoft was supposedly gunning for a timed Xbox 360 exclusive, to be paid for in cash money and announced at E3. Following an understandable uproar on the part of PlayStation fans, Capcom has set the record straight via their official message forums.

In fact, said record-straightening was done by Christian Svensson, Capcom's VP of strategic planning and business development, who wrote: "The assertion is false. RE5 is a multiplatform release that fits with our oft-stated crossplatform strategy." In the same thread, Svensson confirms "for the avoidance of doubt" that the game will be a simultaneous release on both platforms. Thanks for being so quick with the extinguisher on this one, Sven.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

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Resident Evil 5 wasn't altered after racial kerfuffle

Alexander Sliwinski — 2008-06-04T12:55:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Adventure, Business

Resident Evil 5 producer Jun Takeuchi tells Kotaku that calls of racial insensitivity haven't affected the game's design. Takeuchi tells the site that the team didn't "set out" to make a racist or political statement and he feels there was a misunderstanding about the initial trailer.

Takeuchi says there are Arab and Caucasian targets for Chris Redfield's bullets in RE5 and insists they were always going to be included in the game -- despite the initial trailer showing a less ethnically diverse group of zombies. We'll have to take a "wait and see" approach on whether Japanese developers will continue to fuel the fires of black/white racial tensions across the ocean.

[Via GameDaily]

Gallery: Resident Evil 5 (06-02-2008)

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Captivate 2008 screenshot roundup

Ross Miller — 2008-06-03T17:55:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo DS, PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Galleries

Interested to see all the eye candy that came from Capcom's Captivate 08 event? From jet packs, zombies and bionic arms to Neopets and banjo-playing fish-cyborgs, check out all the new screenshots below (also after the break):

Gallery: Resident Evil 5 (06-02-2008)

Gallery: Dark Void (Xbox 360, PS3)

Gallery: Resident Evil 5 (06-02-2008)

Gallery: Dark Void (Xbox 360, PS3)

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Joystiq impressions: Resident Evil 5 (Xbox 360)

Justin McElroy — 2008-06-03T09:55:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

click to enlarge

Sadly for everyone attending, Resident Evil 5 wasn't able to be played by commoners at Capcom's Captivate 08 event, but we were some of the first on the globe to see a playable version, so we're not complaining.

After showing a new trailer for the game, Jun Takeuchi began walking us through one of the early stages, the African village you've likely become familiar with in recent months. We're told that it's four times larger than Resident Evil 4's starting town, and we can believe it. You can see almost to the edge of the town -- it's sprawling, decrepit and totally imposing. We were impressed that the team has managed to create an environment that's frightening, even without the dark creepiness of earlier games in the series.

Gallery: Resident Evil 5 (06-02-2008)

"It's a challenge to create the feeling of fear in an open area, and one of the reasons we wanted to do it was to challenge ourselves. In those areas, there's a lot of action going on," Takeuchi tells us later through a translator. "But later in the game there will be darker, more enclosed areas. The combination of those will be Resident Evil 5."

Beyond challenging themselves, Takeuchi says that working in the sunlight of Africa was crucial to the game, which will explore the origins of the Progenitor Virus found on the continent.

The scares aren't just coming from the environment though. Before Chris Redfield has left the first village hut he's already been assaulted by an army of not-zombies, led by a massive hooded figure wielding a gigantic ax hammer. We're told that a single hit from that weapon is a guaranteed "Game Over," and, as if to illustrate the point, Hood Dude swings his weapon and takes a massive chunk out of the roof he's hunting Redfield on.

Animations on both Hood Dude and Redfield already look really solid, even though the not-zombies still need some attention. (All of them performed the same overhead scythe swing as they shambled, giving them the appearance of the world's worst-dressed interpretive dance troupe.) Side note: For the first time, we're seeing a range of not-zombies: white, black, and color palettes in between.

We get to see Chris fight not-zombies with a pistol, knife, incendiary grenades and a shotgun, all of which are as visceral as you'd hope. The beefy protagonist also has melee attacks at his disposal. When a batch of enemies gets too close, there's an "X" button prompt that triggers an uppercut capable of flattening at least two opponents. Similar cues appear on a rooftop, allowing Chris to leap over a gap between two buildings.

The early look at the game (which we're told is about 60 percent complete) is impressive, if not exactly a quantum leap forward for the series. In fact, we wouldn't be surprised if some walked away from the demonstration with the impression that Resident Evil 5 currently looks like a really polished Resident Evil 4, but we understand there's still plenty of work to be done and plenty that we haven't seen (we're told that the team's shooting for a 20-hour game), so we're no less excited.

By the way, we saw the game on Xbox 360, but were told that the PS3 version of the game is coming along well.

The biggest surprise of the day actually had nothing to do with the walkthrough, but rather in the new trailer, during which Chris is joined at the very end by an African woman packing a pistol. Takeuchi and the rest of Capcom are staying mum with regards to her for the moment, though he admits she's probably going to be a bit more useful to have around than Resident Evil 4's Ashley.

"But," he says with a sly grin, "Ashley didn't have a shotgun."

Perhaps just as notable is what we didn't see at Captivate 08. There was no mention of online co-op, nor a rumored cover mechanic. But, Takeuchi says, there's a whole gameplay system that has yet to be shown, leaving us hopeful that we'll understand Resident Evil 5's mysteries a bit better after E3.

Dark Void, Resident Evil 5, Bionic Commando and Spyborgs: check out all our coverage from Capcom's Captivate 08 event!

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Resident Evil 5 devs 60 percent done, aim for more than 20 hours

Justin McElroy — 2008-06-03T08:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

Like all thinking people, we're anxiously awaiting the release of Resident Evil 5, if only to learn more of the back story of coat-opening shop guy. Though we don't know when we'll finally get our hands on it, after last week's Captivate 08, we at least know that things are progressing.

"Right now, in the development process we're about 60 percent of the way through," producer Jun Takeuchi said through a translator. "We're figuring that the total play time in the game will be over 20 hours. As you can probably see from the trailer there's a lot of different content and materials in the game for you to enjoy." How's that 60 percent looking? Look for our impressions later in the day.

Gallery: Resident Evil 5 (06-02-2008)

Dark Void, Resident Evil 5, Bionic Commando and Spyborgs: check out all our coverage from Capcom's Captivate 08 event!

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Resident Evil 5 trailer whets our appetite for 'zombie' destruction

Griffin McElroy — 2008-05-31T10:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

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.

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GameTrailers TV to debut new Facebreaker, Resident Evil 5 footage

Ludwig Kietzmann — 2008-05-29T11:59:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360

Whether you're in it for the pugilistic spectacle or gratuitous undead hostility, we think there are a few good reasons to catch this Friday's episode of GameTrailers TV on Spike. Not only will we see the character creation mode in EA's cartoonish boxing game, Facebreaker, we'll actually get to see show host Geoff Keighley and EA's Peter Moore break each other's faces. In the game.

If you prefer your violence to be dispensed with the pull of a finger (and not the swing of a fist), the episode will also feature new gameplay footage of Capcom's controversial Resident Evil 5. Add a trailer for world-warping shooter Fracture and in-game footage of Golden Axe: Beast Rider, and you have yourself a decent bit of entertainment. You'll find a trailer for the episode, which airs on Friday, May 30th, at 1AM ET/PT, after the break.

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Rumor: Resident Evil 5 features co-op and cover system

Alexander Sliwinski — 2008-05-23T12:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Adventure

ShackNews reports that a Resident Evil 5 preview, originally posted by GamesRadar, stated the game would feature online co-op throughout the campaign and that a cover system had been added to the franchise. Sadly, we can't report on this information directly from GamesRadar because the article has been removed. We blame the Umbrella Corporation. We always blame the Umbrella Corporation.

The preview allegedly revealed that there would be also be a dodge mechanic (using the right analog stick), a mercenary mini-game and a challenge mode. In the co-op campaign, players would be able to drop in and out at any time, with the AI taking over when there's no pesky human with yummy brains to control the second character. RE5 is expected sometime before the next decade and follows the possibly racist Chris Redfield as he indiscriminately kills all of zombie-kind between him and his goal.

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Newsweek's Croal on RE5: 'Wow, clearly no one black worked on this game'

James Ransom-Wiley — 2008-04-11T13:52:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360

Usually, an early glimpse of gameplay from a high-profile title stirs gentle butterflies of excitement. But after perusing Capcom's newly translated Resident Evil 5 video interview this morning, more than a few of us were feeling uneasy; not fluttering, but squirming, like worms in our guts. It's the same feeling some of us had when we watched RE5's first trailer (and again when it was extended). It's the same feeling that burst into a heated discussion about racism, about how RE5's imagery relates to historical and contemporary issues of race -- even if these African villagers are more "zombie" than human, like the Spaniards in RE4. Newsweek's N'Gai Croal argues, "It's not as simple as saying, 'Oh, they shot Spanish zombies in Resident Evil 4, and now black zombies and that's why people are getting upset.' The imagery is not the same. It doesn't carry the same history, it doesn't carry the same weight. I don't know how to explain it more clearly than that."

MTV Multiplayer has published some important commentary on the first RE5 trailer by Croal, whose first reaction was simply: "Wow, clearly no one black worked on this game." Croal is not proposing censorship, but a need for context and an understanding that the imagery in RE5 is not just a palette swap. "This is why it is important to whoever works in the American office of a company like Capcom to be able to show this is the history, this is where this comes from, this is where we need to be more sensitive. I'm not sure they've done that yet."

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Takeuchi talks Resident Evil 5, confirms African setting

Justin McElroy — 2008-04-11T09:50:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

If we were making a game as hotly anticipated as Resident Evil 5, we'd hope our publisher wouldn't say anything about it until it was done. We'd just pull up in our sleek Lamborghini (which all game designers drive) throw a disc into their mail slot and go cash a check. We're too afraid of ending up like producer Jun Takeuchi who has to be pulled away from making what we can only assume is a triumph of interactive entertainment to tell us newbs how work is going. It's like we're leaning over his shoulder as he toils, our Philly cheesesteak dripping grease onto his documents.

You've seen a bit of this before, but now it's in English. So, what'd we learn from the translation? Well, apparently the graphics system is all up and running and the team is now focusing on the "game system and balance." Oh, and the game is definitely set in Africa. Plus, if you're a complete geek, there's a discussion of light that's as fascinating as anything you're likely to hear today.

Gallery: Resident Evil 5

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Check out some brief Resident Evil 5 footage

Scott Jon Siegel — 2008-03-26T07:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

Resident Evil 5 has been off our radars for a while, but some brief gameplay footage has floated our way, courtesy of a Capcom 25th Anniversary DVD packaged with the latest issue of Famitsu. The gameplay is shown amidst shots of character models, and an interview with producer Jun Takeuchi.

What can we glean from this footage? The protagonist Chris Redfield is still seen in the same setting as the last (somewhat controversial) trailer, walking amongst irritable villagers who are still hard to distinguish from the series' trademark zombies. Redfield also has ridiculously huge muscles, making us wonder if we'll get to do a bit more wrassling this time around (probably not, though).

Check out the brief, off-screen footage after the break.

[Thanks, Mark]

Gallery: Resident Evil 5

Update: Turns out that Capcom had officially confirmed that the buff protagonist is in fact Chris Redfield, and not merely a Chris Redfield impersonator. Appropriate change made above. Thanks to everyone for the heads up.

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Fable 2, Alan Wake and more confirmed for 2008

Ross Miller — 2008-01-07T17:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Adventure, RPGs, Strategy

Microsoft Games chief Don Mattrick has confirmed (or, in some cases, reaffirmed) via a memo a handful of exclusive titles to arrive on Xbox 360 in 2008. The list of assuredly not canceled titles include Halo Wars, Too Human, Fable 2, Alan Wake, Splinter Cell: Conviction and "several exciting yet-to-be-announced titles."

Following the list of 2008 exclusives, Mattrick continues to say that "Xbox 360 will be home to the next versions of great franchises like Grand Theft Auto and Resident Evil ... Madden and FIFA." We're not sure if he meant to imply Resident Evil 5 is due out this year, but it's certainly a suspicious line. Other than this year, no schedule was given as to the release of these titles, although we now get a sense of what Microsoft feels will keep gamers happy in this post-Halo 3 world.

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