Zero Punctuation: Resident Evil 5
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
- Start date
The truth is all that you've said is false. Alone in the Dark started the Survival Horror genre FOR REAL as you said, Resident Evil came as competition that just simply had a bigger boom. And the context sensitive battles? Ohhhh you mean Quick Time Events, that's the term you're looking for, they were invented back in 1999 in the game Shenmue, that's where it all started. And no, RE5 is not RE4 better, all the opposite in fact. It's shorter, annoying and it has the easiest boss battles and the most unsatisfying ending since Karate Kid for the NES. Can't believe how much of a joke the end game battles are. It's not scary, it's frustrating and halfway into chapter 5 you're wishing it's over and done with. Maybe my view on this also comes from the fact that I stood from 6:00 pm to 9:30 am playing this game with a friend and we're both trying to forget this dreadful experience.Ishinken said:
Funniest one in a month or so. You didn't so much hit head on the nail of the hammer at the end, as skullfuck the hammer. I truly believe Capcom wasn't be intentionally racist, they're just, well, not very smart. It often feels like they were trying to make "Black Hawk Down: The Game (with zombies [that aren't technically zombies])", even down to the soundtrack.
Here's a thing. Picture a poor clueless newb stumbling into a forum and happily posting something like "I just played this game called Final Fantasy VII and I really liked it! Are there really six others? Do they have Sephiroth in them? I loved him, he was awesome!". He's new. He doesn't *know* the topic that he just discovered last week has been discussed for years. People have very strong opinions about it. Other people have equally strong, *opposing* opinions about it. Flamewars have raged for months. Friendships were broken forever. It is a fucking touchy subject. The post is not unlike stirring up an angry hornet's nest, assuming it doesn't get ignored as a troll in the first place.
Usually by the time you manage to explain all this to the newb, he tries to defend himself with "Well I didn't *know*, geez. Lay off already." You know what? No. No, the entire fucking population is not going to magically forget all the baggage attached to the topic just because you're a delicate little flower who couldn't spend five fucking minutes with an FAQ. If you come late to the party and start spouting obviously ignorant shit, you're going to get your ass toasted.
And the same applies even moreso if you get into a topic that actually has real fucking relevance, like racism. And ten times as much if you're a large gaming company instead of a random shlub with a keyboard and modem.
So no, "lol we didnt mean to be racist" is not a fucking defense, Capcom.
Usually by the time you manage to explain all this to the newb, he tries to defend himself with "Well I didn't *know*, geez. Lay off already." You know what? No. No, the entire fucking population is not going to magically forget all the baggage attached to the topic just because you're a delicate little flower who couldn't spend five fucking minutes with an FAQ. If you come late to the party and start spouting obviously ignorant shit, you're going to get your ass toasted.
And the same applies even moreso if you get into a topic that actually has real fucking relevance, like racism. And ten times as much if you're a large gaming company instead of a random shlub with a keyboard and modem.
So no, "lol we didnt mean to be racist" is not a fucking defense, Capcom.
Meh, I like the game, the AI isn't the best, but it isn't as bad as Yahtzee bitches about... And the inventory system isn't bad at all, it is much quicker and easier to use without making the game piss easy... like in 4... and there is no infuriating tetris minigame to play when you purchase a new gun...
I guess I'm not the only one who's upset over the removal of the inventory grid from the previous game (RE4). While it may seem "metagame"y, I thought the attache case was more logical in depicting space than just random slots, not to mention more manageable.
Not to forget that discarded items in RE5, unlike 4, disappear for good.
Not to forget that discarded items in RE5, unlike 4, disappear for good.
I have the game but have been playing other things mostly.
I will say that I don't think Capcom are "idiots" really, they are oddly one of my favorite development houses. Resdident Evil was supposed to be kind of goofy. Also I honestly do not see what the problem is with showing Africa as Africa. I guess it's not poliically correct, but has nobody that talks about this game bothered to look at a National Geographic? Mud Huts, Loincloths, Spears, etc... it's all accurate to some parts of Africa just as the town at the beginning is. I mean cripes, I thought all kids were supposed to look at this stuff in old issues of National Geographic for the bare boobies of the primitive women.
Also if you watch much "strange but true" stuff on TV, there are still tribes out in Africa that do things like insert increasingly large discs into their lips to extend their mouths to ridiculous proportions, or put metal rings around their necks to extend their head up like a giraffe.
So really, I fail to see the whole point. About the only complaint is that they didn't have the protaganists visit any of the rare bastions of un-impoverished civilization in the region with tons of tourists and safari tours and all that stuff. Still it was accurate to probably like 99% of the region taken as a whole, the guys in mud huts aren't everywhere, but they most assuredly are down there.
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Otherwise Yahtzee is correct on like 99% of what he said, and even the bit I disagreed with him on was still funny. From a game design perspective Resident Evil 5 needed a lot of work, Sheva is just kind of borked, and while I understand the logic of the inventory management (to make the game more challenging by limiting what you can carry) it struck me as being a bit of a pain.
The problem is that they sort of turned Resident Evil into a shooter franchise, and honestly I'm kind of cool with that, since it makes sense as an evolution to the events in the series where the protaganists aren't helpless/shocked/out of their league anymore since this stuff is getting to be old hat to them. BUT if they are going to make the game a bloody shooter, why do they need to use draconian inventory of a sort designed for a whole differant style of gameplay. It worked in earlier Resident Evil games where you were supposed to be like avoiding the monsters and such, and carrying key items at the expense of vital supplies was part of the deadly charm. But when your like fighting 50 guys at the same time like in an 80s action movie, I expect to carry unrealistic amounts of armament in response to the unrealistic odds.
I will say that I don't think Capcom are "idiots" really, they are oddly one of my favorite development houses. Resdident Evil was supposed to be kind of goofy. Also I honestly do not see what the problem is with showing Africa as Africa. I guess it's not poliically correct, but has nobody that talks about this game bothered to look at a National Geographic? Mud Huts, Loincloths, Spears, etc... it's all accurate to some parts of Africa just as the town at the beginning is. I mean cripes, I thought all kids were supposed to look at this stuff in old issues of National Geographic for the bare boobies of the primitive women.
Also if you watch much "strange but true" stuff on TV, there are still tribes out in Africa that do things like insert increasingly large discs into their lips to extend their mouths to ridiculous proportions, or put metal rings around their necks to extend their head up like a giraffe.
So really, I fail to see the whole point. About the only complaint is that they didn't have the protaganists visit any of the rare bastions of un-impoverished civilization in the region with tons of tourists and safari tours and all that stuff. Still it was accurate to probably like 99% of the region taken as a whole, the guys in mud huts aren't everywhere, but they most assuredly are down there.
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Otherwise Yahtzee is correct on like 99% of what he said, and even the bit I disagreed with him on was still funny. From a game design perspective Resident Evil 5 needed a lot of work, Sheva is just kind of borked, and while I understand the logic of the inventory management (to make the game more challenging by limiting what you can carry) it struck me as being a bit of a pain.
The problem is that they sort of turned Resident Evil into a shooter franchise, and honestly I'm kind of cool with that, since it makes sense as an evolution to the events in the series where the protaganists aren't helpless/shocked/out of their league anymore since this stuff is getting to be old hat to them. BUT if they are going to make the game a bloody shooter, why do they need to use draconian inventory of a sort designed for a whole differant style of gameplay. It worked in earlier Resident Evil games where you were supposed to be like avoiding the monsters and such, and carrying key items at the expense of vital supplies was part of the deadly charm. But when your like fighting 50 guys at the same time like in an 80s action movie, I expect to carry unrealistic amounts of armament in response to the unrealistic odds.
Why didn't you do more anti-racism-ness, I mean, I'm hardly Ghandi but this game made me feel embarresed, I'd played it for about 5 minutes and there where hundreds of, well I wouldn't call them zombies, more like angry black people were chasing me, and I wanted to kill my Latin sidekick, Not black LATIN, fools at capcom wouldn't know the difference between Morgan Freeman and salt... yes salt...
All I'm saying is it's either angry Spanish, angry Blacks with the odd white guy thrown in, or their next game in Japan, that's my speculation. It's a KKK field day.
What happened to maddness fun from Capcom like the completely un-racist Dead Ris-Ohh wait Latin American super evil Genocidist.
Sorry, I ramble, BUT just get Capcom to be a little less racist and a little more fun based.
All I'm saying is it's either angry Spanish, angry Blacks with the odd white guy thrown in, or their next game in Japan, that's my speculation. It's a KKK field day.
What happened to maddness fun from Capcom like the completely un-racist Dead Ris-Ohh wait Latin American super evil Genocidist.
Sorry, I ramble, BUT just get Capcom to be a little less racist and a little more fun based.
That was one of Yahtzee's best. I was rolling on the floor throughout the whole thing.
... Though my dislike for RE after 4 might have something to do with it.
... Though my dislike for RE after 4 might have something to do with it.
Fucking hilarious. I love it when games have annoying little flaws for yahtzee to pick at. On a note actually related to the game, 9 Inventory spaces? really? I would be totally screwed.
Great review, as always.
I think that inventory screen is to force the "survival horror" tag. You can only have so many healing items, ammo, etc. Therefore you have to use items carefully, a fact they probably dangle over your head with hoards of shuffling undead...things.
Edit: And HA! to your "din-din" comment. Haven't heard that one in ages.
I think that inventory screen is to force the "survival horror" tag. You can only have so many healing items, ammo, etc. Therefore you have to use items carefully, a fact they probably dangle over your head with hoards of shuffling undead...things.
Edit: And HA! to your "din-din" comment. Haven't heard that one in ages.