Friday, March 27, 2009

Resident Evil 5 Review

So yea I finally picked up Resident Evil 5 despite how much the demo put me off, why you might ask well let me put it this way it was a Friday night our friends were suppose to come over... well it didn't work out so sitting there in our boredom my wife and I decided to get Resident Evil 5 to play coop, and let me tell you I have not regretted that decision yet.

First off if your no stranger to Resident Evil 4 you will be no stranger to the layout of the game, however if you have never played Resident Evil 4 or and Resident Evil game and you are looking for a shooter you might want to keep looking. Resident Evil 5 sticks to the formula of you having to stop to aim and shoot (No more two-piecing darn) I will admit at first this was one of my turn offs about the game however after playing the game for a bit I will admit being able to move and shoot at the same time would have made the battles way too easy, in a way having to stop makes you think more aware of what is around you and has to react sometimes out of fear.

Resident Evil 5 puts you back in the shoes of Chris Redfield and the newest edition to the series Sheva Alomar who is Chris's new partner in the BSAA which is an organization setup to stop bioweapons for getting into the wrong hands. In typical Resident Evil fashion things go from bad to worse the more you progress in the game, and the further you get the into the game the tougher the creatures get you fight. Here comes one of my biggest gripes about the game, instead of making more unique enemies Capcom decided to recycle a few from Resident Evil 4 and throw them into Resident Evil 5, ok I can deal with the Chainsaw guy and the El Giante but coming across the same Minigun guy made me think ok they honestly couldn't think of anything else? On the plus side they did add a few new creatures to the mix one of my personal faves the ever popular Reaver who can one hit kill you if you get too close.

Another thing I didn't like too much about Resident Evil 5 is the rehash of enviorments, not to say that they are the same from Resident Evil 4, and not saying that the previous Resident Evils didnt all feature a Lab of some sort, what I am saying is the overall path through the game feels very similar to Resident Evil 4, once you get to the ruins you will catch what I am saying.

New to the Resident Evil experience (without including Outbreak) is the addition of COOP, and let me tell you it feels so right in Resident Evil 5, you will find yourself working together to take down objectives and to keep each other alive. I remeber when my wife and I first fought the Reaver and we worked together to knock him into the furnace, it was just amazing how much you can do with another person, but it's not all fun and games you will find yourself at times having to save your partner when they are in the dying stage, this can be an annoyance if you are at one of the parts where you have to split up, thankfully Capcom included a pretty generous checkpoint system so you will never be retracing your steps too far.

Overall Resident Evil 5 is a solid game for coop, however its probably not one I would pick up to play singleplayer, it's better left played with a friend over live or via couch coop.

I give Resident Evil 5 4 out of 5 for solid coop play and and overall enjoyable experience despite a few gripes I have about the game.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Halo Wars Review

Ok yea it's been awhile since I have updated the old blog but that is due to cut in work hours, and me being up to other things.... like gaming.

This week I bring you my review of Halo Wars!


Halo Wars is set 20 years before the events of Halo and sets you in control of the crew of the Spirit of Fire a refitted colony ship that now serves as sort of a scout early base setup kinda deal. I won't get into much of the story or how the missions play out but after seeing the cutscenes it makes you wonder when the Halo FMV movie will come out, because the cutscenes are so crisp and clear and watching the Spartans in action is nothing short of awesome seriously feel my arm I have goosebumps.

Basically the game starts out with you reclaiming alpha base on the planet Harvest which humanity has just taken back from the covenant... or have they? Apparently the covenant have found a forerunner relic on the planet and its up to you the crew of the Spirit of Fire to find out what they are after. It's pretty much the typical Halo story only this time you are not just controlling one person.... you are controlling an ARMY!!!

For years RTS games have crept onto the consoles with little to no effect as coming off as a pleasing game that controls well with... well a controller. However Halo Wars is different it did not have to jump over the hurdle of going from PC to console, it was designed from the ground up with the 360 in mind, and let me tell you it shows Halo Wars is very easy to controll and you will find yourself zipping along the map commanding your units while managing your base in no time.

The graphics are really good as well for a RTS and Halo Wars goes the extra step of adding changes to units/buildings as they take damage, for example remember in Halo 3 when driving the ghost? when you took damage parts would fly off and you ended up with a jacked up looking ghost, well Halo Wars has that, it is these extra details that really make this game solid.


Prepare to be cleansed beeyotch!

Multiplayer is also a blast not only can you fire it up and battle people from around the world, you can also fire it up and have your friend(s) join your team a pit yourself against the AI which can be set to different difficulties depending on how saucy you feel.

Now let me say I don't care too much for Halo games outside of the story but this one gets a 5 out of 5 for not only being solid but also being the first true RTS on a console that works.