So I startled myself the other night. I had been looking at a lot of content about Resident Evil 5 out there in internet land and worrying that this game may be portraying Africans in a negative light. Then a debate started between my roommate and I about “What’s the difference between killing white people and killing black people?” And I think I’ve figured out the answer…not a thing.

There is very little out there that should make me feel any different about Resident Evil than say FEAR2. Except for the fact that in RE5 you’re killing people to “survive” and in FEAR2 you’re just kind of killing people. I don’t even know why. Sure they are arguably just pixels and such and such. But are these not representations of people? Maybe they have representations of wives and kids waiting for daddy to come home (that’s when I’m probably over-thinking it). But FEAR2 seems distasteful, trying to be serious for a serious audience.

They claim to gear the game towards a mature audience. An audience that is grown up enough to know when killing something is “wrong.” Arguably my beloved Saints Row 2 is similar, but Saints 2 is supposed to be violent and humorous, like Evil Dead. The over the top antics in that game are meant to be enjoyed because they’re so ridiculous. It gets the M-rating for its ridiculous violence. FEAR 2 is supposed to be serious, grown up killing for big, strong, grown up men. Which leaves me confused. Why am I killing these characters? What’s the point? Why is it trying to be serious about this? If its for an adult audience then it should have adult themes, a story, beyond just “kill the baddies.”

So I’m somewhat disgusted by the whole thing. Shouldn’t death serve a purpose (the stylized beauty of it in Kill Bill, the drama and harshness of it in The Godfather, the impossible waves of blood in Evil Dead 2, the insanity of it in American Psycho)? And it seems like video games frequently see violence as an easy way to make a game fun and interesting, without purpose…Serious…mature

Wow… opinions were quite varied on this game.. And while I’ve been told that I’m the only one in the entire free world that could have a shred of doubt when it comes to this huge release, I’m gonna have to stick to my guns. So here you have it, both Keith Stidham, and I, Tom Webster duke it out over what RE5 is and could have been. Seriously people, blood is everywhere from the fist to cuffs!
Tom:
Resident Evil… when the first game came out, it revitalized and changed the way people looked at Survival Horror games, essentially breathing life into this gigantic genre that we all know and love. What Capcom did with this amazing game is recreate it. Not to say it wasn’t enjoyable, I liked RE2, I played through it, it was enjoyable. But it was basically an expansion pack for Resident Evil. Same graphics, animations, concept. This happens more often than not in this industry. Well, that game was remade and released countless times under various numbers and subtitles until that one glorious day: Resident Evil 4. At one time a true Gamecube exclusive, Capcom took up their sword to retrieve their fallen kingdom. They once again reigned as champions of a genre, truly recreating what “Survival Horror” meant to video games. Sadly enough, though, it seems this once righteous king has slipped back into his old ways.
Capcom has once again capitalized on their huge success with Resident Evil 4 and we all should have seen it coming. I was worried when I first saw the trailers of RE5, noticing that Capcom chose to use the exact same animations that were in RE4 for this new game. I threw these worries away thinking, “Ok… its just a trailer, a tech demo, a teaser, they used the same content from 4 just to show off what they have been working on… they’ll change it by release.” Needless to say, I was completely wrong. Not only have they recycled animations, but they’ve recycled all of Resident Evil 4. I’m not saying this is a crime against humanity, I loved Resident Evil 4. I love Leon kicking ass and not bothering to take names, I liked the new creatures and how everything was very do or die, but when I see “Resident Evil 5″, I expect something different. Sure, take the same concept, the amazing balls-to-the-wall run and gun action, take the terrifying “Fast Zombies”, but do something different with it. Capcom has instead chosen to re-skin Leon and make an expansion pack that adds co-op. Now I love co-op as much as the next guy, and its quite a nice change to have a computer-controlled partner behave intelligently, but the game is just Resident Evil 4 with a makeover. I don’t mind the core gameplay being the same, I think they really hit on something good with 4, but I do have a problem with reusing the same animations, voice clips, and enemy AI as the previous game in the series. It seems lazy to me. If you’re going to call this game Resident Evil 5, it should be more than a cosmetic change, there should be something fundamentally better about RE5 than RE4. Capcom should give me a reason to buy this game other than “Umm.. its in Africa (among other place), looks, smells, plays, and feels like RE4.. and LOOK OVER HERE CO-OP!”
With this demo, and that’s just what it is, a DEMO, Capcom has once again let me down. Granted: Its not a finished product. The current release date for this game is March 26, 2009. Other than basic bug testing, the game is done, they can’t change the game enough to differentiate itself from RE4 by that date. Unless Capcom pulls a Nintendo and pushes the release back another six months, don’t expect another Resident Evil game, expect an expansion pack, because that’s exactly what it is.

PS- I’m a little bitch and I take it in the butt everyday, but I use Vaseline so I only have a small rash.

Keith:

Here it is! We’ve got a special guest this time around, Jesse (sorry.. no links here..)! Another thing you should know, the live stream and chat for this episode worked perfectly! Hop onto our Ustream Channel! We’re working on downloadable episodes, but if you want a video podcast in addition to the audio and live stream, let us know at fanmail”AT”seventytwopinconnector.com. Also just to let you know, you can access the main site through our ‘mini-link’ 72PC.com, so throw that around next time you have a chance. Other than that, enjoy the cast!

Seventy Two Pin Connector Podcast: Episode 022 – I see you in my Dreamcast