Resident Evil 5 features similar gameplay to Resident Evil 4, with context-sensitive controls and dynamic cutscenes also making a return.
The player can control Chris Redfield or Sheva Alomar in a similar fashion to Leon S. Kennedy in Resident Evil 4,[13] with the same over-the-shoulder perspective.[14] Once again, the game's environment plays a significant role.[13] The Mercenaries minigame, featured in previous Resident Evil games, is present in Resident Evil 5.[15] At launch, the multiplayer in the minigame was offline only, but a launch day patch gave the game online multiplayer.[16]
The game features new types of enemies called "Majini", meaning evil spirit in Swahili.[17] Furthermore, they are different from the previous Ganados.[13] The number of weapon variations has been greatly increased compared to the previous games in the series; there are now several varieties of the handgun, shotgun, submachine gun and rifle to choose from.[18] Like inventory systems in previous Resident Evil titles Resident Evil Outbreak and Resident Evil Outbreak File 2, the player can only equip weapons and items in the midst of gameplay, as opposed to accessing an inventory menu by pausing the game.
The game features some online elements.[19] Resident Evil 5's main story mode can be played with two players, in a co-operative online mode. The feature will allow players to enter or leave anytime during the game. Players will not always stick together, and can be separated at points during the gameplay.[15] An offline co-op mode is also in the game with the same co-op experience offered by the online co-op mode, only with two local players controlling the action in split screen.[20]
[edit] Synopsis
[edit] Setting
The setting of Resident Evil 5 has a similar feel to the film Black Hawk Down.[10][21] Takeuchi added that the development team is composed of staff members who worked on the original Resident Evil.[10] The game is a direct sequel to the Resident Evil series,[10] and continues chronologically after Resident Evil 4.[22] The player characters and protagonists are Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar,[13] and the game takes place in 2009, eleven years after the events of the original Resident Evil. The story explores Chris' life during the decade between the two games. During the game's events, he is a member of a group known as Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA), and sent to investigate a terrorist bio-organic weapon (B.O.W.) threat in an African desert area in Kijuju, that serves as the game's setting.[13] The antagonists of the game include Albert Wesker, a returning antagonist to the series, and Excella Gionne, a relative of the founder of the Tricell Pharmaceutical Company who operates the company's African branch.[23] Ozwell E. Spencer, the founder of Umbrella Corp. and a key figure in the background story of the series since the original Resident Evil, is also included in a flashback.[24]
[edit] Plot
The game begins as Chris Redfield is deployed to Kijuju, Africa, to join Sheva Alomar in the apprehension of Ricardo Irving, who is attempting to sell a bio-organic weapon on the black market. Along the way, they witness a local being fed a parasite, which quickly takes control of his body, turning him into a Majini. As they progress, almost all Kijuju locals seen by Chris and Sheva have been turned into Majini. While moving to the location of Irving's deal, Chris and Sheva find Alpha team dead, except Captain DeChant, who gives them a hard drive containing data about Irving before he dies. Shortly after, a friendly helicopter is downed, and all nearby BSAA units are ordered to go to the crash site. At the crash site, Chris and Sheva are ambushed by Majini on motorcycles, but are then saved by Delta team. Among Delta team is Josh Stone, Sheva's mentor who gives Chris data from a hard drive that contains a picture of Jill Valentine, his old partner, who was presumed dead after a confrontation with Albert Wesker. Chris does not tell Sheva about the image and they continue. They eventually confront Irving and during this confrontation, a hooded figure arrives to aid Irving's escape. Irving leaves behind files which indicate that an oil field in the Marshlands, which was used to test out bio-organic weapons, is the deal location. The previously suspected location is discovered to be a hoax to slow the BSAA while the actual deal was taking place. Chris and Sheva report this to headquarters and then attempt to regroup with Delta team. Upon arriving at the rendezvous point, they find that Delta team has also been killed by a bio-organic weapon, but Sheva cannot find Josh among them. After defeating the bio-weapon, Sheva suggests reporting back to HQ, being that they are the two sole survivors. Chris refuses, admitting to Sheva his true reason for participating in the mission, and expresses his determination in finding out if Jill is still alive. After a brief argument, Sheva concludes that they are partners, and she will help him all the way. They continue on to the Marshlands, eventually finding Josh alive. They pursue Irving on a boat, but he escapes again and the oil field is blown up while the two escape on a speedboat with Josh. The trio locate and catch up to Irving's boat, and Chris and Sheva board it. Irving confronts the duo, and then injects himself with a virus, which causes him to mutate into a gigantic beast. Chris and Sheva defeat the mutated Irving, who is detached from the gigantic beast body, and upon death, he tells Chris that he will find answers to his questions in a nearby cave.
Upon arriving in the cave, Josh leaves the pair in order to report to HQ. The cavern leads Chris and Sheva to the underground kingdom of the Ndipaya tribe. As they explore, they find an underground base, one of the first to be set up by Umbrella, but currently operated by Tricell. Chris and Sheva find evidence and documentation that the Progenitor virus, which is the component in both the T and G-virus that controls a subject's body, was found and manufactured here. The Progenitor virus was manufactured from a plant residing in the Ndipaya kingdom, called the Stairway to the Sun. The plant was used in Ndipayan ceremonies, but Ozwell Spencer took interest in it, and drove the Ndipaya out to build a base and study the plant, which eventually yielded the Progenitor virus. Chris and Sheva progress through the underground laboratory, and find a massive chamber with thousands of capsules containing human test subjects. The facility is documented in one of the hard drives, so Chris searches the computer database for an entry about Jill. The elevator takes them to the capsule in which Jill was being held. The bio-organic weapon, U-8, attempts to stop them from going up, but Chris and Sheva defeat the weapon and continue. They reach the capsule and open it to find it empty. Excella Gionne then appears on a computer screen and warns them to leave. Chris and Sheva later intercept a radio transmission of Excella talking to Wesker, indicating Wesker's survival. They confront Excella, but she infects a test subject with the Uroboros virus, which turns him into a bio-weapon. After killing the weapon, the two pursue Excella, eventually catching up to her. When interrogating Excella, Chris and Sheva are attacked by the hooded figure who aided Irving's escape. Wesker then reveals himself and unmasks the hooded figure, Jill, who is hostile and fights alongside Wesker. After a short fight, Wesker escapes leaving Chris and Sheva to battle Jill. They spot a device on Jill's chest, which they remove, and she regains control of her body. She apologizes for her actions and urges Chris and Sheva to pursue Wesker. Chris, who is reluctant to leave Jill, grudgingly agrees.
Chris and Sheva emerge on the surface and spot Wesker and Excella boarding a cargo ship. They pursue them and board the ship. They find Excella but she escapes, dropping a case of full syringes, which Sheva collects. Meanwhile, Wesker reminisces about a confrontation with Spencer, who tells Wesker that he is the only surviving subject from the "Wesker Plan," which was an attempt to create the ideal human being for Spencer's envisioned utopia. Spencer fantasizes about being the god of this utopia and Wesker impales him, declaring, "The right to be a god? That right is now mine."
Chris reflects on what he's fighting for in the game's final cinematic.Meanwhile, Chris and Sheva find a pile of corpses with Excella among them, alive but in pain. Wesker, over the ship's intercom system, implies that Excella has been infected with Uroboros. Suddenly, Uroboros erupts from Excella's mouth, consuming her body and absorbing the corpses. Chris and Sheva escape, regroup, and use a satellite laser on the cargo ship to defeat the giant Uroboros monster. They continue to pursue Wesker, whom they spot over a surveillance monitor about to board a bomber that, if shot down, would infect the entire world with the Uroboros virus. Jill then calls Chris and tells him that Wesker's strength is the result of a potentially unstable virus and that he must regularly inject a serum in precise amounts to maintain his power. Before losing connection, Jill suggests that an overdose of this drug, which Excella always carried in a suitcase by her, would likely act as a poison. Sheva then discovers that the serum is in one of the syringes she collected from Excella. The two find Wesker, restrain him, and inject him with the serum. He escapes onto the bomber, and they pursue him. After a short confrontation with Wesker, Chris deactivates the bomber, which plummets into a volcano. Before they crash, Sheva shoots Wesker off the bomber into the volcano below. Chris and Sheva, now in the volcano, discover that Wesker survived and he infects himself with Uroboros. They defeat the infected Wesker, who falls into the lava. A helicopter appears over the horizon, manned by Josh and Jill, and Chris and Sheva board it. As it attempts to fly away, Wesker tries to pull it down into the lava with him. Chris and Sheva kill[25] Wesker with two rocket-propelled grenades, and the helicopter is freed. In the helicopter, Chris ponders whether it is worth fighting to preserve humanity. He looks at Sheva and Jill and then decides that it is worth fighting for.
[edit] Development
Capcom officially announced Resident Evil 5 on July 20, 2005.[26] Jun Takeuchi, the director of Onimusha and producer of Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, took over producer duties from Hiroyuki Kobayashi. Keiji Inafune, who served as promotional producer for Resident Evil 2 and executive producer for the PlayStation 2 version of Resident Evil 4, oversaw the project.[27] In February 2007, members of Capcom’s Clover Studio were also called upon to help develop the game. However, many developers from the studio moved on to work on the Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, which debuted for the Wii.[28][29] Several staff members who also worked on the original Resident Evil were involved in development. Takeuchi announced the game would utilize the same gameplay model introduced in Resident Evil 4, while implementing thematics from the original Resident Evil.[30]
On January 21, 2009 D+PAD Magazine reported that Resident Evil 5 would be released with Limited Edition Xbox 360 box art,[31] pictures of the Limited Edition box claiming to allow 2–16 players to play offline via system link.[citation needed] Capcom initially responded stating that their "box art isn't lying", but refused to give any more details.[32] However, soon after, Capcom issued another statement that contradicted their original response stating that the information on the box art was an error and that the correct number of players supported by system link is only two.[33]
[edit] Music
The music for the video game was composed by Kota Suzuki, whose previous works include Onimusha 3: Demon Siege (2004) and Devil May Cry 4 (2008). His score was electronic, but includes 15 minutes of orchestral underscore, which was recorded in Los Angeles at the Newman Scoring Stage at 20th Century Fox Studios with a 103-piece ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony. Additional orchestral arrangements were composed by Wataru Hokoyama, who conducted the orchestra.[34]
Capcom recorded in Los Angeles because they wanted a Hollywood-style soundtrack that would increase the game's cinematic value and global interest. The game’s soundtrack features an original theme song as well as live orchestral music compositions, a first for the game series. The theme song is composed by Kota Suzuki and sung by Oulimata Niang.[35]
