14 DAY TRIAL // Resident Evil 4 was a great game that pushed the boundaries of all the consoles it was launched on to new heights and set benchmarks for other titles that would appear on the GameCube or the PlayStation 2. It was met with very big critical acclaim having won numerous awards and praised for the creativity and the innovation brought to a very dull zombie shooter genre.
Now, Capcom will be releasing a new title in the series, Resident Evil 5, which promises to continue the story from the first title in the franchise and bring the game to the next generation. Although the creator of the fourth title, Shinji Mikami has left the development team, the producer of RE5, Masachika Kawata, recently talked with ComputerAndVideoGames about the major differences between the two games.
"First of all, and quite obviously, the graphics. Even the title screen of this couldn't have been done on PS2 or Wii. Online co-op as well; the number of enemies you can have on-screen at one time; destructible scenery, physics – we're using Havok this time. We can do more complex stuff with AI; the concern I had in the very beginning is that sometimes an AI partner can become very frustrating. Now she handles fine and you can play through the game without her becoming a frustration. When you see the new stuff you'll say "Oh my God, I can do this and this and this", but you'll probably get used to it quite quickly and then get into the story."
He then went on to discuss how the lighting capabilities of the new engine would affect the gameplay: "In the daylight, you can see your opponents very clearly, so the gameplay is very action-oriented. In the dark, you can't see your enemies nearly so clearly, so we utilise the power of the next generation consoles; particularly the sound abilities. The sound effects are quite incredible – if you have a 5.1 stereo system you'll hear your enemies moving around you even if you can't see them. We spent about three to four times more cash on the sound effects in Resident Evil 5 than we did in Resident Evil 4."
Quite a lot of praise for the upcoming game, which is set to hit the store shelves in Japan, on March 12 next year, with other territories, like the United States or Europe, getting it a day later. It has already gained the appreciation of many gaming industry analysts and it is definitely one of the most expected titles of 2009.