Resident Evil 5 marks the first game in this "next generation" market where after an initial completion of the game I kept the disc in and spinning for another go-round. It's that addictive. Now I've always been a die-hard fan of the franchise, defending it's tank-like movements with my golf club of justice. So while Resident Evil 5 does indeed continue on the tradition of shitty controls there is so much here to like that the weak controls become a pretty small grievance in the grand scheme of things.

Resident Evil 5 is a lot like Resident Evil 4 when it comes to game-play. The camera is placed over the shoulder, there is no moving while aiming and shooting, and it has a heavier emphasis on action than puzzles. But where Resident Evil 5 does differ is that it brings one feature to the table that completely changes the experience: two player co-op. You are now allowed to log onto Xbox Live (PSN Network) or connect with a friend over system link and blow through all six chapters of the main story together, side by side. While the scare factor decreases astronomically because you always have a buddy right there with you, it does raise the fun factor up to 11. I've never had this much fun shooting zombies and the fact that I can share all these memories with friends of mine is a great addition to the Resident Evil franchise that I hope sticks around for further iterations (fingers crossed for a Leon/ Chris buddy game a la Bad Boy). And co-op is the way you're going to want to play Resident Evil 5 because the computer AI for Sheeva is extremely dumb. On my third play-through I let the computer control her and I would have been cursing at the screen if it wasn't for my infinite ammo rocket launcher and handcannon saving the day. So if you have a buddy on the fence about picking up the game, or trying to decide which system to buy RE5 for, go for the one where you know you can lock a friend down to play with you. You will have infinitely more fun with the experience.

The one turn off for a lot of gamers is that the controls of Resident Evil 5 haven't changed since RE4. Everything thinks Resident Evil 4's controls were amazing but they really weren't. For a Resident Evil game they were a vast improvement but they were still lagging behind the rest of the industry like a fast kid on the cross country running team. Therefore Resident Evil 5 looks even worse because it's now three years later and we are still using the same controls that were outdated back when RE4 released. The only "improvement" the designers at Capcom made to Resident Evil 5 is the ability to strafe. And only when you're walking. With Dead Space having launched and successfully proven that survival horror can be accomplished even with the ability to run and gun, it makes no sense that Resident Evil can't make the same enhancements to it's control scheme. This is by far the weakest aspect of Resident Evil 5 and something that needs to be addressed in coming sequels. I was fine playing RE5 the way it was but if Capcom continues to take this approach it's going to seem more and more stale and eventually it will become a complete turnoff.

Now as for features, Resident Evil 5 has a shitload. Once you finish the roughly 10-15 hour campaign you will unlock Mercenaries mode. Here you can join up with a friend or attack it solo in eight different levels where the goal is to survive and rack up as much points as possible to get higher ranks and unlock new characters. It is the most tense and suspenseful mode in Resident Evil 5 as you always feel like you're pushed to the edge. It's stressful but super fun and addictive. It's also your chance to try out Jill Valentine and Albert Wesker as they are two of the selectable characters in Mercenaries Mode. Resident Evil 5 also has 30 BSAA emblems to find, every weapon can be fully upgraded allowing infinite ammo for that weapon to be unlocked, and beating the game in under 5 hours unlocks a rocket launcher with infinite ammo. All around, Resident Evil 5 gives you a lot of incentive to revisit it. Like I mentioned, I'm already on my third play-through and still enjoying the game immensely. There are very few games currently coming out that hold my attention for this long. Resident Evil 5 is one of them.

If you can get over the horribly out-dated and often times frustrating control scheme there is a lot to love about Resident Evil 5. It has one of the better stories in the series--though still filled with campy villains and over the top monsters--and enjoying it will a friend makes it that much sweeter. Most of the time it's first person shooters with online multiplayer that receive this much playtime from gamers but Resident Evil 5 makes up for the lack of fragging with a great co-op campaign, an addictive survival mode in Mercenaries, and enough unlockable weapons to warrant multiple play-throughs. Basically, Resident Evil 5 is a must own. Go get it.

Crave Online Rating: 9.5 out of 10