I have serious reservations about the game now that I've played the demo.  None of the control schemes quite feel right... I actually miss the Gamecube's giant A button for this game.  The inventory system is a mess - I never even felt I knew what I had, let alone how to get to it when enemies were piling all over me.  It would be really nice to just pause for a second and switch to my shotgun.  The partner thing was also really irritating... her death ended my demos more than anything else, getting herself into situations where I couldn't quite help her.  She also felt like she was just getting in the way.  Split screen is rather annoying with the two offset small windows instead of the whole game filling the screen.

Something about it just felt... off.  I guess I'll have to wait and see on the retail product.  I'll be extremely disappointed if I end up not liking the game, since RE4 is one of my all time-faves.

You're absolutely right. The scene in the new trailer where Wesker is doing that Matrix Bullet-Time cliche' is a pretty good indication in itself.

And it also looks a lot like the stuff they were doing in the trailer for that 'PUSH' movie, too. I wonder which company thought of it first?

Just played the demo on PS3 and.. ugh.. not liking it that much.  Controls are awkward (nothing will beat RE4 Wii Edition) and it's just straying further and further from the survival horror roots of the series.  The whole co-op thing is pretty lame too.  The only reason I would die in the demo would be due to Sheva going off somewhere and getting killed without giving me enough time to rescue her.  She may have an important role in the story but as far as gameplay is concerned, she just gets in the way and confuses things more, yuck.  The graphics are pretty average for a current gen title too, and the whole engine just looks like RE4 with slight improvements here and there.  Plus on top of all that, the dude in the helicopter said the F word!  In a RE game?  I'd expect that in a generic American-developed FPS game but.. in the RE series I know and love?  Baaaad.

-Mike

heh, I'm glad top hear that others also are not fans of foul language in games
Some might argue it makes it more realistic, but hey if I wanted realism I wouldn't be playing these games! A little swearing might be alright, but definitely not excessive... show some class I say!

cheers,

-avatar!

ps Do people really swear a lot in real life? I've been watching a little bit of 6ft Under, and every other word is "f-u" or "f-that"... which is really annoying! Otherwise, quite an entertaining series (thus far).

Yeah, I was surprised by that, too.  That said, I've been playing GTA4 and that game has more use of that word than any other game ever made *combined.*  Also, yes, people do use bad language that often.  The stuff I hear walking into the hallway at the school where I work is pretty cringe-worthy.  :\

I just finished the PS3 demo also.  I have mixed feelings.  My biggest beef is that it feels too much like they just took RE4, put it in HD, and made things more complicated by forcing you to manage two characters at once.  I think the idea of having a co-op RE game is great (and doubly great that you can do it both online and offline), but it'd be nice not to have to deal with Sheva if you're playing alone.

The controls are ok, but the increased action and need to run around more makes them feel cumbersome, especially since you can't turn very well when running.  I felt like I was just running to an empty part of the screen, turning and squeezing a few rounds off, and then running past the enemies to another empty part of the screen and repeating.  The addition of being able to look/turn with the right stick while move/strafing with the left is nice, but aiming is confusing since you have to go back to the left stick to move the aim cursor instead of continuing to look with the right stick while aiming.

It's also pretty lame that bullet impacts on bare enemy flesh are so inconsequential.  With these advanced graphics, it seems really out of place that after I shoot someone in his bare chest, all I see is a little spatter and there isn't even a mark on the flesh!  I'm not saying it needs to be super gory, but it just feels really off when the rest of graphics are so detailed.

I'm still definitely getting the game, but it's clear that this won't be the revolution that RE4 was.

To the folks playing the PSN demo -- is there really framerate issues happening like others have said?  There seems to be little to none on the 360 version.

Also, Neogaf's got a comparison thread going on.  From the looks of it, the 360 version's looking slightly better in the texture and lighting department:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=351123

From those pics, I see the difference in the texture details, but not any lighting differences.

Oh, and IMO it's funny to see the controls FINALLY getting bashed, hasn't the entire SERIES had these same akward controls this whole time??  (Slow movement, turn only from a standstill, stop to shoot, etc..)
I played parts of the first game and thought it was too cumbersome to continue and haven't played any of the others since...

Like I said: "The argument being that one of the key aspects of the RE series was its stop and shoot gameplay - a mechanic introduced from the very beginning for adding that element of horror and suspense.  Which, of course, worked well back when you had, at most, three or four zombies lumbering slowly toward you with their only means of attack is to lunge.  Now, when the screen is littered with nearly a dozen rushing enemies at a time, with far more means of attack (including swift melees and projectiles), the feeling becomes that you too should have better finesse to meet this higher demand in action."

Continuing to play devil's advocate, if the zombies in RE5 would be just as slow-moving as in RE1 then all would be forgiven again?   I find it really odd that people were charmed by that "key aspect" up until now and then all of a sudden finally notice it sucks.

XLord's quote of  "I felt like I was just running to an empty part of the screen, turning and squeezing a few rounds off, and then running past the enemies to another empty part of the screen and repeating." was how I felt right off the bat playing RE1, so this is hardly a surprise for me.. 

Were the slow zombies really enough to make everyone overlook the controls that were there since day 1?

Few people totally overlooked the control issues, Carl. "Clunky" was a word that appeared over and over in any RE discussion. But the different setting and scenario, pretty empty mansions with slow zombies, combined with an auto-aim (after the first release of RE1) meant the controls weren't much of a handicap to the game itself. You'd find few people arguing that improving them wouldn't have been a good thing though.

I haven't played RE4 beyond a very quick go back on the GC but the controls were drastically different to RE1, 2, 3, CV, REmake and RE0. This isn't same old, same old. And, in my opinion, the series had been so stagnant for so long, not just in controls, and then finally jumped and improved things so it looked like RE was going to move with the times.

But now, three (almost four?) years on, it looks like that isn't the case.

So I think it's unfair to go back to 'day one' because the controls simply weren't like this from day one.

But now, eh let's call it 'day now', the controls are a problem and, yes, the change in game design makes a massive difference to that. It is very clear from the way everything is set up that these are supposed to be fast-moving 'infected' and they run at you in large groups and then... slow to a crawl. Yet with the same animation. To me, that says they had to cripple the enemies and the gameplay to compensate for the poor controls - controls that, day now, 2009, are outdated and don't suit what the game seems to be trying to achieve. And that is actually more of a run'n'gun than ye olde survival horror.

So, yeah, slow moving zombies make all the difference and made the old controls workable, though there was always serious room for improvement. Fast zombies and this control system just don't go together.

I apologise for the long-winded post. I can't help feeling I could have summarised that in a couple of sentences...

I would have hoped that even the play testers noticed these things and would have given the same reviews you and Angie did, Jay...  That is, unless the producer and dev team were too stubborn to listen.  Afterall they've sold millions of copies of this series with clunky controls the whole time, so maybe they secretly thought they've been right all along.

I think you'd be surprised how unbelievably many games get through playtesting with crappy controls, Carl.

I tried the RE5 demo on Xbox360.  I have to agree with some others here that it is a "RE4 with better graphics" and "greater number of zombies onscreen."  The RE4 controls were different from the previous RE controls from earlier games, and it's generally an improvement.  However, with the greater emphasis of action in the RE5 demo with faster-moving and acting zombies, the RE4 control scheme is not holding up too well.  I tried control Type D, which is supposedly the Gears of War control style, but it doesn't work very well.  The action in GoW is different than the action in RE, and I found that control scheme giving me some problems too.

If this game used the RE4 Wii controls, the game would be more playable from a shooting and aim context.  Those controls worked really well, and I kept thinking about the RE4 Wii controls when I was playing the RE5 demo.  Yes, it does make the game easier, but the zombies act and move quicker too.

The partner AI is adequate, but I would definitely prefer going through this game with a friend.

I also noticed that they went back to a traditional inventory system (9 slots per person) rather than the attache case style, which will make inventory management more difficult.  (i.e. an herb takes the same slot as a rifle?!)

In anticipation for RE5, Gametrailers has the first part of their "Retrospective" series up.  Haven't watched it yet, but if it's as good as the Metal Gear one they did, it should be worth the watch:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/45114.html

I didn't notice any framerate problems, but I wasn't really looking for them.  Also, to Carl, I was one of the biggest haters of the pre-RE4 RE control scheme.  Because of those old controls, RE4 is the only RE game I've finished.  The controls in RE4 and RE5 are light years better than the old games.  It's just that, in RE5, they're pushing the action farther than the RE4 controls seem to be suited for.

Just tried the demo and I'm with pretty much everyone else. The controls are awkward, the battles are frustrating because of said awkwardness (running from one empty space to another to have enough room to shoot isn't my idea of a good time) and having to babysit Sheva is a pain in the ass. This is a rental at best.

The designers would be better off checking out "Dead Space" to see how this genre SHOULD be handled.

I don't know about RE5 being worse off with what it has or whatever, but it IS nice to see Dead Space finally get some love around these parts. I thought it was really, really good!

I'm honestly not that far in it. I've had it for three months and the first three levels scared me so badly that I'm afraid to play more.

Hey guys,

Had the chance to play the game at Capcom for about 3 hours and typed a preview of it. If anyone is interested in reading it then here is the link.

http://www.blueherogaming.co.uk/?p=119

IWhen comparing it to the demo the controls feel more natural starting from the beginning and it's really long, for those that like to explore everything.

Pretty solid write-up.  The bit about how the shop system is interesting, and it's good to know the controls are shaping up.  Let's hope the campaign is at least as lengthy and well-paced as RE4.

By the way, Gametrailers has the second part of their excellent Retropective series up, which covers RE2 and RE3:

http://www.gametrailers.com/game/10620.html

Resident Evil 2 really was awesome..... I'm hoping they eventually release it over here on PSN, as I'd love to play through it again.

I am glad you enjoyed reading it and hope it didn't give away any spoilers. I never finished number 2 but what I played was fun. Also it introduced one of my favorite characters and her own game which is my favorite from the series.

The latest '09 trailer.  The orchestral prowess of the score appears to be on full display.  Once again, potentially mucho spoilers: 

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/45534.html

The cliffhanger reveal..... quite the way to end the trailer.  But yeah, I think we all know who it is now. :D

On friday I got to a point in the game where it definetly gave me some huge clues about who that was.

I am pretty sure that it is who your thinking that it is and hopefully this is not confusing at all! Dont worry though as I wouldnt even dream of  ruining the drama that is a Resident Evil's story.

I'm doing my best to work hard on coursework and revision to make sure I deserve the game come next month.

Retropective Part III is up, covering Code: Veronica and Zero.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/45682.html

Zero was an absolutely gorgeous looking game, but I don't think I ever played it to completion.  The item management system drove me crazy, what with the constant meticulous juggling between Rebecca and Billy.  RE5's item system looks to be cut from the same mold, and that worries me a tad.

This trailer is giving me a serious Star Wars vibe for some reason...

The music, perhaps?  There's definitely some Williams-like strains in there, especially in the brass sections.

Probably a combination of that and the scene with all the colored lights in the wall.

GT's Retropective Part IV is up.  I wasn't very knowledgeable about the handheld or Gun Survivor series, so this was a particularly interesting episode for me:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/46068.html

Also, as a heads-up for those picking up RE5 at launch, Toys R Us is apparently offering a $20 gift card with the purchase of the game.  The deal's only good for that Friday and Saturday, 3/13 and 3/14 respectively.

A deal this good hasn't come around since..... Super Mario Galaxy. ;)

GT's Retropective Part V -- Resident Evil 4, baby. (And, to a lesser extent, the three films and Degeneration.)

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/46330.html

It was interesting to learn of RE4's unsteady beginnings in development.  The paranormal angle looked pretty cool, actually.

Also, check out the footage at 6:45 - they show a quick in-game scene where it apparently shows that Ashley had died, lying on the floor - and her face is melting!  I don't remember her deaths being that graphic..... or was that simply a well-timed glitch where one of the regular Ganados are 'melting' after their death, and she happened to be overlaid on top of it?

Her face is definitely melting. The only other on-screen enemy is an Iron Maiden, and if you look at the ground before Ashley takes the fall there's nothing there. But that makes no sense, because if you watch the footage she gets impaled by the Maiden's spikes and then her face starts to bubble. Probably a glitch/bug or early footage.

You should also look into RE2's development, they actually made the game twice before it came out. Hell, if they didn't go back to the drawing board Claire Redfield might never have existed.

Hey guys,

I went to play the PS3 version at Sony in the weekend if anyone is interested in findout out about it. There are some very tiny changes like enemy actions and control methods but otherwise pretty much the same game.

http://www.blueherogaming.co.uk/?p=123

That's a great deal, but I already took off of work on Friday so I can pick up the game at the midnight launch at my local GameStop.  Plus, I don't have to go to my second job this weekend, and (wait for it) my girl is traveling this weekend, so I get three whole days of ResEvil!  Woo-hoo!

Sweet.  I had a GS preorder too, but switched it over in lieu of the TRU gift card.  Since the gift card expires on April 30th, I know exactly what I'm putting it towards: Rhythm Heaven on April 5th. :) 

By the way, XLord, I recall you being a fan of the MGS4 Official Guide.  You might be interested in the upcoming RE5 book as well, since it's also being written by the excellent folks at Piggyback Interactive.