Resident Evil 5

[patsu]

Are horror games worth my time ? I have asked this question before but am not fully convinced. I played RE Zero on GameCube and gave up in the second chapter. The controls were too awkward and it's time consuming to salvage ammos to survive.

What are the great ones ? RE1 and 2 ? I know RenegadeRocks and Kittonwy like Siren. Is there a horror game that doesn't require long build up, and also easy to control ? Do all of them rely on slow control to increase the fear factor ?

 

[llcoolkm]

Are horror games worth my time ? I have asked this question before but am not fully convinced. I played RE Zero on GameCube and gave up in the second chapter. The controls were too awkward and it's time consuming to salvage ammos to survive.

What are the great ones ? RE1 and 2 ? I know RenegadeRocks and Kittonwy like Siren. Is there a horror game that doesn't require long build up, and also easy to control ? Do all of them rely on slow control to increase the fear factor ?

Dead Space, definitely. One of the scariest game I've ever played. Controls are pretty good, kinda slow but not too slow.

 

[RenegadeRocks]

Yep, Dead Space is an Americanised Jap concept , in the sense they have preserved the sensibilities of Jap horror, but added American Action on top. A very very well made game, if u ask me !

But, I still don't understand ur question !

Are horror games worth my time ?

If u don't like to play horror games , u don't have to ! Its worth ur time if u like the fear of te unknown and mystery stories, basically. Its just an emotion of fear, that you play with. If u like to take that in a game world, they will be worth ur time, if you dislike such situations, they won't be worth ur time. Horror games take more time getting used to as you have to learn the mechanics and limitations of that world, as the game eases you in slowly to a point where you start believing in it. The controls are different from the ususal, to make you uncomfortable in that world and the situations that arise. New/different controls means you will panic more if an enemy suddenly shows up in front of you. You need to feel a "Ah! Get away from me ! ". The limitations in movements and actions are built around that philosophy, if done well.

Try Dead Space, for a start, if u wish. But true bliss lies in Silent Hill 2 and 3. That is what sucked me so deep into the world of Survival Horror, that now its a pleasure to get scared !

No two minds think alike, neither have ever two people gone through the same experiences in life, therefore no two minds can ever feel the same emotions from a particular incident. Concieving and then succesfully implementing a good Horror story in a game is a trick that can't be documented. The game designer has to work on subliminal levels of our thinking. SH does it really good, moreso because of Akira Yamaoka's music. Give it a try, it won't kill you in real life !

 

[I.S.T.]

I just recieved RE5 a few days back , and I played with some randomn guy from US, and that guy was so powerful(I was playing the first level) that he killed everybody off I had nothing to do !

Since then, I have been playing SP.
The concerns voiced by Nesh are True. It isn't Survival Horror anymore. The game starts exactly like RE4, you enter a village, at first only one zombie attacks. They even tried to recreate the scene where everybody vanishes after hearing a Siren (Gong in RE4), but utterly failed, as it did not register at all.

The sunlight kills the mystery. There is no mood of finding out whats wrong. To me , personally, it feels as if everything is happening in this broad daylight, and everybody in the world can watch it from above. There is no feeling of an isolated mysterious village with stuff going on that nobody knows of. They should have not gone with sunlight, there is no mysterious lighting, no scary shadows, low view distance, or fog anymore. Its more of Left 4 Dead than RE, but even L4DE has night to complement the setting.

I am still at the beginning of the game, so things could change, but that is how I feel as of now.

The game does have its moments, when Zombies attack from all sides, its frantic and fun !

RE5's color scheme is all over the place. Only the first two chapters are bright as hell. The later ones take place in swamps, at night or underground.

 

[I.S.T.]

I finished Resident Evil 5 a couple of days ago and Resident Evil 1 today (probably for the fifth time since years ago).

The difference between what defined Resident Evil as a survival horror game then compared to now is unbelievably huge.

But first here are my impressions of 5. Visuals were superb. If I didnt know it was a game and someone presented me the cut scenes as a CGI video I might have believed him. I often got the impression that it looked on par or better than the recent CGI resident evil movie. Capcom did a great job on that.

I also loved the reappearance of a certain monster enemy from the old

Now here is what I didn like.

I have said this before. The animations were the same from 4. The problem isnt just the fact that they are outdated and limited compared to other games but the fact that they best fit for an action game than a survival horror.

Having played Resident Evil 1 again I now know better what is going on with 5 in terms of controls. It is the fact that the controlled characters perform powerful moves, the fact that the game presents fast paced quick time events and that it presented very destructive reaction moves.

It brakes the sense of realism that the old games had.

But wait I dont think it started with 4 either. The problem started with Nemesis. After 2 Capcom gave to the player the ability to dodge attacks and threw more ammo and more powerful weapons.

In the original the sense of survival and horror was larger because weapons exposed tangibly their weaknesses against enemies. Moves were as many as that of a real person in a horrific dangerous situation. You had to think of your ammo and health supplies. Like it would have been in real life. And they were either too few or enough based on the player's patience to search and avoid danger.

If you wanted many ammo you had to go pass through many monsters in order to search and/or kill as less as possible which exposed you to danger. The other option was to use your ammo on them to reduce them and have less (ammo) for later which also exposed you to later danger from a different angle.

If you didnt do things right you might have reduced your chances to survive for the later parts of the game in general. This added realism.

From nemesis and later on I didnt worry much about ammo even if I wanted to. There were plenty to find in many areas. Especially for powerful weapons.

Then capcom also choose to make Resi more linear. You mostly move from one area to the next, therefore the design of the game changed which meant putting enough ammo in each area to move to next new one. Resident evil wasnt divided to levels originally.

It also started to partially predict/read your ammo status to drop you what you need. It gives birth to unlimited ammo now

Unlike 4 and 5, in 1 and 2 you had to find and discover the special places that had ammo and use them accordingly in order to survive.

Extra ammo hidden in places feel more like a bonus this time than an essential asset. I also didnt like the fact that I can play a single stage multiple times and pile up with treasures that tend to reappear in the same places and inside the same enemies. If you die you start the stage with the money, weapons and ammo you gained before you died. So the game often becomes easier and easier each time you die.

But even if I try to have as few ammo as possible and have only the gun and shotgun in my menu it still doesnt feel scary. It feels like a shoot em up where I make my life harder to kill targets in order to move forward.

It also pisses me off that the game progresses like this: Walk a bit, cut scene with enemies, shoot and kill, take key, open door to next area, cut scene with enemies, shoot and kill, take key etc etc. Surprisingly this is how Gears progresses too.

Which is bullshit and repetitive.

And now lets go to the sound effects.We dont need too much sound effects to create atmosphere. Resi 1 (not the director's cut version) and 2 succeeded because they had the right amount of effects. Silence created suspense too in some specific areas. In others the environment sound effects were enough. And in others there was a sense of a sinister presence and mystery in the music.

They replaced this with action packed soundtrack.

Why?

And why do I have to face enemies with guns so much?

And although I welcome co-op, having a partner that is as powerful as chuck norris (which happens to be as powerful as my own character) in a game that is supposed to be a survival horror makes it even less scary.

I miss narrow spaces with enemies that arent affected much by guns.

What difficulty are you -playing on? In easy, much of what you say applies for much of the game, but not all. You will run out of ammo at the worst times even in that mode. Switch up to Normal(Which I frankly cannot play without already upgraded equipment due ot sucking at life), and things will get much harder. You WILL have to ration ammo because enemies take too many shots. I played through Easy rationing ammo up until the fourth chapter or so, and I imagine if I played through normal I would have to do it up until the very end.

Against the final boss, I nearly ran out of ammo with the useful weapons(The best handgun one can get in the normal course of the game won't do shit to him in either form.). Again, this is on Easy. On normal, which requires a lot more shots into things?

I would say the game plays like an action game on the easy setting, a mixture of action/survival horror on the ones above it. On Professional, which must be unlocked, unless you have armor on nearly every hit kills you instantly. How's that for survival horror?

 

[Nesh]

What difficulty are you -playing on? In easy, much of what you say applies for much of the game, but not all. You will run out of ammo at the worst times even in that mode. Switch up to Normal(Which I frankly cannot play without already upgraded equipment due ot sucking at life), and things will get much harder. You WILL have to ration ammo because enemies take too many shots. I played through Easy rationing ammo up until the fourth chapter or so, and I imagine if I played through normal I would have to do it up until the very end.

Against the final boss, I nearly ran out of ammo with the useful weapons(The best handgun one can get in the normal course of the game won't do shit to him in either form.). Again, this is on Easy. On normal, which requires a lot more shots into things?

I would say the game plays like an action game on the easy setting, a mixture of action/survival horror on the ones above it. On Professional, which must be unlocked, unless you have armor on nearly every hit kills you instantly. How's that for survival horror?

I never play my games on easy

No matter the difficulty setting 5 will play like a harder shoot em up.

I finished 4 in the hardest difficulty setting (I think it was called professional mode?) and I didnt find it any scarier than the other modes. This should apply for 5 as well.

Btw regarding the final boss, it is easier to use your knife on his weak spot placed on his back than shoot it with your gun. i didnt try my knife when it reappears on his chest though so I am not sure if its a good idea then. But works like a charm behind his back. I am talking about the fight scene after your partner joins you on the rock.

The trick with 5 is to hit enemies on weak spots (head or knee) to stun them and then press then reaction button to melee them. Saves up ammo, sends all surrounding enemies away from you, and causes more damage than your handgun.

The other monsters (I dont want to mention their name due to spoilers) are easy to beat once they are shot on the ground and their bellies face upwards. Instand knife kill

edit: btw one thing that made Resident Evil scarier in the past was that guns didnt feel effective against enemies and yet they were the only option we had. Ok we could kill enemies with them, but they didnt react to bullets. I remember the first time I played resident evil, and my first encounter didnt feel pain from my knife or my bullets. He kept moving forward until he got me. The main characters were people thrown in a unique situation where they discovered that their skills and guns werent as effective. Now enemies react to bullets. They feel pain and the main characters have the ability to stand against any crazy situation. Even if thats a flesh eating monster with claws, or a giant. They can perform unbelievable evasive moves, stab monsters, do somersaults,brake necks etc etc. Thats the concept of shoot em ups.

If we consider the scariest horror movies, it was the protagonist's inability to kill the thread that made these movies scary. Thats why the first Alien movie was probably the scariest of all. One thread that looked unstoppable and different than anything else encountered. The same applies for many other movies of a similar kind. This is what Resident Evil 1 and 2 managed to replicate

 

[RenegadeRocks]

Yep, Dead Space is an Americanised Jap concept , in the sense they have preserved the sensibilities of Jap horror, but added American Action on top. A very very well made game, if u ask me !

But, I still don't understand ur question !



If u don't like to play horror games , u don't have to ! Its worth ur time if u like the fear of te unknown and mystery stories, basically. Its just an emotion of fear, that you play with. If u like to take that in a game world, they will be worth ur time, if you dislike such situations, they won't be worth ur time. Horror games take more time getting used to as you have to learn the mechanics and limitations of that world, as the game eases you in slowly to a point where you start believing in it. The controls are different from the ususal, to make you uncomfortable in that world and the situations that arise. New/different controls means you will panic more if an enemy suddenly shows up in front of you. You need to feel a "Ah! Get away from me ! ". The limitations in movements and actions are built around that philosophy, if done well.

Try Dead Space, for a start, if u wish. But true bliss lies in Silent Hill 2 and 3. That is what sucked me so deep into the world of Survival Horror, that now its a pleasure to get scared !

No two minds think alike, neither have ever two people gone through the same experiences in life, therefore no two minds can ever feel the same emotions from a particular incident. Concieving and then succesfully implementing a good Horror story in a game is a trick that can't be documented. The game designer has to work on subliminal levels of our thinking. SH does it really good, moreso because of Akira Yamaoka's music. Give it a try, it won't kill you in real life !

Well, I just realised that u could start with BIOSHOCK ! its a regulaer FPS as far as controls go, and it has a good story and atmosphere, the most important ingredients of a Horror title !

Anyways, Ur question intrigues me even more, patsu!

Are horror games worth my time ?

Well, I play horror games not for the scares, but for the stories they have and the feeling of being in a very uncomfortable, hallucinatory world. Its the story that keeps me going in Survival Horror games, not the scares or mechanics. I had given up playing SIren earlierby the time I reached Episode 4. The game felt boring, and the only mechanic was stealth. but when I picked it up again, and the story kicked in from Episode 5 onwards, I was hooked ! The horror aspect of SIREN is feeling of CLaustrophobia hat the camera and controls thrust upon you.

With me , it has always been about stories in Horror games. The hook in Silent Hill for me was the , again, the hallucinatory world, where ur own emotions get manifested into creatures, etc. Its a psychedelic trip which itches onto different parts of ur psyche.

I had compiled some videos of the Making of Silent Hill 1 and 2 on my blog. You can check them out to see the philosophy behind it:
http://renegaderocks.blogspot.com/

@ IST: Yes, I have just been through the mines, but have come back into the sunset area now. My concern is that if they were hell bent on using sunlight, they could atleast have added something to it, like if you look directly into the sun, which can happen while shooting those flying things, your eyes can get burnt for some time, making it difficult to see, or could have added the heat of Africa as a gameplay mechanic rather than just saying that "look ! we have Sunlight in RE now !" Sunlight as a horror mechanic was what was promised earlier, it could have been implemented. Just like flash bangs blind u temporarily , direct sun could have done that too !

 

[patsu]

Argh, Bioshock is not scary. It's atmospheric and tense for sure. Heavy Rain is also labelled as a horror game by the interviewer and developer in the other thread, but I can't place Bioshock and HR in the same category as RE and Siren. My entire family and extended family screamed in a particular scene in RE Zero. I heard Silent Hill is a great horror series too.

I'll give DeadSpace a try then. It's like the Aliens movie yes ?

RenegadeRocks, I don't buy horror games because I can't believe the current level of 3D graphics is say... as scary as Sadako in the movie, The Eye. Also, I play in short cycles... so may be by the time it gets scary, it's time for me to go.

I follow RE5 reviews and posts rather closely because I'm intrigued by the horror genre but have always been on the fence. I always end up buying something more familiar as a gaming experience.

 

[RenegadeRocks]

Argh, Bioshock is not scary. It's atmospheric and tense for sure. Heavy Rain is also labelled as a horror game by the interviewer and developer in the other thread, but I can't place Bioshock and HR in the same category as RE and Siren. My entire family and extended family screamed in a particular scene in RE Zero. I heard Silent Hill is a great horror series too.

I'll give DeadSpace a try then. It's like the Aliens movie yes ?

RenegadeRocks, I don't buy horror games because I can't believe the current level of 3D graphics is say... as scary as Sadako in the movie, The Eye. Also, I play in short cycles... so may be by the time it gets scary, it's time for me to go.

I follow RE5 reviews and posts rather closely because I'm intrigued by the horror genre but have always been on the fence. I always end up buying something more familiar as a gaming experience.

That is the problem with any horror game that gives u power. If u, as a player, are powerful, then there is little that can scare u. That is why I said , concieving and making a succesful horror title is very difficult. The west focuses too much on power. Japs understand the psyche behind fear. SIREN and SH both have a weak protagonist, but a strong story to still keep u moving along.

But then, I don't play SH for fear, as I said before.

 

[nightshade]

Well Weak Teenage Japanese Girls in a haunted mansion always works when it comes to Horror. And so does creepy little girls. [ala Onryo ]

The west focuses too much on power.along.

RE is a japanese product, hehe
The problem is that since RE4 the horror factor has gone downhill.
In RE4 it was because of power [as you explained] & in RE5 it was because there never really was a time when horror was supposed to be in the game, I believe that devs made that game with a sole purpose ie. to make an action game.

 

[Sigfried1977]

Yep, Dead Space is an Americanised Jap concept , in the sense they have preserved the sensibilities of Jap horror, but added American Action on top. A very very well made game, if u ask me !

I give you the very well made part, but I fail to see the Japanese concept and especially the Japanese sensibilities behind it. The game is a loud, insanely gory, non-stop action romp that relies on jump scares, has never ever heard of the world subtlety and leaves absolutely nothing to your imagination. It also features a silent and totally uninteresting dude with the most badass weapon loadout in any horror game ever created.

It's pretty much the polar opposite of Asian horror (regardless if we're talking about games or movies)

 

[joker454]

RenegadeRocks, I don't buy horror games because I can't believe the current level of 3D graphics is say... as scary as Sadako in the movie, The Eye.

I'd say it's more about the ambiance than the graphics themselves. The scariest game I've played to date is the first Condemned, they just nailed the creepy ambiance, it actually had me looking around while playing it in the dark late at night. The Mall level much later in the game was particular well done. The sequel to Condemned though lost that scary feeling, it just wasn't as good. Dead Space is not bad for ambiance as well. Having a 5 speaker setup really helps as well since these games rely on audio a lot for the creepiness factor. Resident Evil 5 isn't the least bit scary to me, it's just a regular action game.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

I give you the very well made part, but I fail to see the Japanese concept and especially the Japanese sensibilities behind it. The game is a loud, insanely gory, non-stop action romp that relies on jump scares, has never ever heard of the world subtlety and leaves absolutely nothing to your imagination. It also features a silent and totally uninteresting dude with the most badass weapon loadout in any horror game ever created.

It's pretty much the polar opposite of Asian horror (regardless if we're talking about games or movies)

Nod, Dead Space is solidly following traditional western horror. Buckets of blood splattered everywhere = horror.

Regards,
SB

 

[RenegadeRocks]

Nod, Dead Space is solidly following traditional western horror. Buckets of blood splattered everywhere = horror.

Regards,
SB

Well, u guys are right ! I guess naming the ship "Ishimura" fooled me ! I dunno, but I think Dead Space still has a little better sensibility of horror than other Western Titles.

@nightshade: I wasn't talking of RE there. It was a general comment, regarding Western games.

 

[Phil]

Well, I picked this one up from Amazon for about 10 £ a few months ago and finally got around to play it this weekend.

Turns out I made it to around half way through the game and my feelings are very mixed. The graphics, although I've only been playing splitscreen co/op, are very nice, even though the actually size of the 'splitscreen' is quite a bit smaller than I would have hoped. The framerate isn't the best, but that was probably to be expected with splitscreen co/op. The good thing is though, it's very well playable and is to my surprise a lot of fun to play this in a team from scratch to finish.

We've only progressed to about half way through and I have to say there are some very nice and epic boss fights that we've encountered so far.

Unfortunately, there's also a lot that I don't like, but that isn't exactly a surprise since I knew that the game continued up on exactly those things that I didn't like since Resident Evil 2. More zombies, more zombies and even more zombies. And not enough ammo.
Maybe I'm not really efficient at killing them, but the entire suspence has gone out the window since there are just too many of them. This is quite a bit different in the original Resident Evil where every encounter with a zombie was one that you wouldn't forget as easily.

After unsuccessfully trying to kill every single one of them, we soon realized it was actually more convinient to ignore them completely. Despite being quite quick on the run, once they reach you - they're pretty much useless in inflicting damage (at least in the beginning) and it's quite easy to run through even hordes of them.

Which brings me to the next point that I'm not to fond of - the controles are just a pain in the ass. First of all, you can hardly hit anything with the stupid laser pointer thingy when trying to shoot zombies at a distance. Then, when you have quite a few zombies around you, for some reason, when you pull up your gun to aim, my character something will just turn around and look in a completely different direction. WTF? This got me killed numerous times and I still couldn't figure out why.

Then, you obviously can't aim and walk at the same time. If you want to shoot, you come to complete standstill. I suppose this is to enhance the 'fear factor' but it's not done very well. It just feels even more old.

The game also reminds me a lot of the original Uncharted. You practically go from one sandbox to the next with some puzzles thrown in between. This actually wouldn't be such a bad thing if you had the ammo and intelligent zombies - which it isn't of course. On just every level, it feels even more outdated. And just like the original Uncharted (IMO) - going from one sandbox to the next with hordes of zombies gets tiresome after a while, especially when you realize you never have enough ammo (even on amateur difficulty) to even fight them and have to dodge them anyway.

Which brings me to another point: You can buy weapons, but why the f can't you buy ammo? I bought a nice revolver/magnum but simply can't use it because I can hardly find any ammo for it. What's the point of that?

I like the surroundings, the level design so far is quite good though and some of the boss fights so far were quite something. Despite all its flaws, I'm enjoying the co/op aspect. Without this, I probably wouldn't have played it at all so far. It's IMO not a bad game... it's just not a good Resident Evil which I think sums up my feelings about it so far.

 

[RudeCurve]

Well, I picked this one up from Amazon for about 10 £ a few months ago and finally got around to play it this weekend.

Turns out I made it to around half way through the game and my feelings are very mixed. The graphics, although I've only been playing splitscreen co/op, are very nice, even though the actually size of the 'splitscreen' is quite a bit smaller than I would have hoped. The framerate isn't the best, but that was probably to be expected with splitscreen co/op. The good thing is though, it's very well playable and is to my surprise a lot of fun to play this in a team from scratch to finish.

First of all I'm glad you finally got a chance to get and play the game in coop mode. Now to the issues you bring up. Yep playing coop with a human player is much more fun than playing with the AI partner. Especially fun if you have a mic and can talk/coach/fool around etc.

Unfortunately, there's also a lot that I don't like, but that isn't exactly a surprise since I knew that the game continued up on exactly those things that I didn't like since Resident Evil 2. More zombies, more zombies and even more zombies. And not enough ammo.
Maybe I'm not really efficient at killing them, but the entire suspence has gone out the window since there are just too many of them. This is quite a bit different in the original Resident Evil where every encounter with a zombie was one that you wouldn't forget as easily.

Yeah RE5 is basically the same as RE4. Capcom did give us gamers a taste of what playing RE5 in the style of RE1 is like with the DLC mansion level.

After unsuccessfully trying to kill every single one of them, we soon realized it was actually more convinient to ignore them completely. Despite being quite quick on the run, once they reach you - they're pretty much useless in inflicting damage (at least in the beginning) and it's quite easy to run through even hordes of them.

Yep you could easily run through the fodder zombies but killing them is how you get most items/ammo.

Which brings me to the next point that I'm not to fond of - the controles are just a pain in the ass. First of all, you can hardly hit anything with the stupid laser pointer thingy when trying to shoot zombies at a distance. Then, when you have quite a few zombies around you, for some reason, when you pull up your gun to aim, my character something will just turn around and look in a completely different direction. WTF? This got me killed numerous times and I still couldn't figure out why.

Haha I guess you fall into the group that hate the controls. I'm not sure how the PS3 version controls but on the Xbox version I don't have much problems hitting zombies from a distance with the laser. Maybe you're not used to the controls and need to practice more? Some weapons have very limited range so the laser only goes so far. With that said the basic handgun is pretty easy to aim and even get headshots. Try adjusting the aiming speed in controller options.

The game also reminds me a lot of the original Uncharted. You practically go from one sandbox to the next with some puzzles thrown in between. This actually wouldn't be such a bad thing if you had the ammo and intelligent zombies - which it isn't of course. On just every level, it feels even more outdated. And just like the original Uncharted (IMO) - going from one sandbox to the next with hordes of zombies gets tiresome after a while, especially when you realize you never have enough ammo (even on amateur difficulty) to even fight them and have to dodge them anyway.

RE has always been about conserving ammo. IMO RE5 gives you just enough ammo required to complete each level. If playing coop you need to tell your partner to conserve ammo too because you two have to share whatever ammo available. You are aware that you can request ammo from your partner right? There are ways to fight them if you're really low on ammo, you basically shot them in the right spot and when they're stunned/staggering you run up to them and do a melee attack and if they're on the ground you can also do melee attacks so in reality you only need 1 or 2 bullets to kill a zombie.

Which brings me to another point: You can buy weapons, but why the f can't you buy ammo? I bought a nice revolver/magnum but simply can't use it because I can hardly find any ammo for it. What's the point of that?

Hehe I think you used your money unwisely. On a first play through you'll be able to find the magnum and some ammo but it's very limited. I think this was done so that players don't cheat themselves. Given that the magnum is very powerful it's only natural that you're only given enough ammo to use on the big bosses. What would be the point of being able to buy a bunch of ammo for your super powerful magnum so you could kill everything with one shot? Wouldn't that make all other weapons obsolete?

I like the surroundings, the level design so far is quite good though and some of the boss fights so far were quite something. Despite all its flaws, I'm enjoying the co/op aspect. Without this, I probably wouldn't have played it at all so far. It's IMO not a bad game... it's just not a good Resident Evil which I think sums up my feelings about it so far.

I've never played coop in split screen mode and from what I've seen it's just too small to be able to appreciate the game fully. I've always played coop in full screen online and it's very fun even with strangers. Having a whole screen to yourself I think makes a huge difference.

 

[Phil]

Thanks for taking the time to reply RudeCurve.

Yeah, I haven't yet come around to liking the controls yet - which is somewhat surprising since I'm one of the few that loved the original Tomb Raider controls (and still do) and can therefore also appreciate the similar controls in the Resident Evil series. Maybe it's not the controls that are necessarely the problem, but perhaps the style of game that has changed?

I used to think that the controls were perfect for the style of game it was - few zombies, impossible camera angles, limited ammo etc. With RE5 however, the zombies are just too many. They're quick and there are many - if you're not careful, you'll end up surrounded by all of them. Maybe the controls also feel outdated because the 3rd person shooter genre (IMO) has been lifted by Uncharted 1 & 2 (I'm only a PS owner) and this in comparison feels so much more awkward.

In the earlier games, you had to kill most zombies because you always faced them in very narrow corridors and thus had little options other than to kill them or take damage. In RE5 however, the level is quite wideopen which gives you plenty of options to evade them - or if you're not careful, for them to sneak up behind you.

The controls - they do work. But you're right in guessing I didn't yet pefect the melee attack combos. Most of the time, I'm just too clumsy to run up to the zombie after shooting it. And if I do - 9 out of 10 times, I'm either to late for the quick-time event or it doesn't come at all. Interestingly, I thought the melee attack is dependant on how the zombie is facing you. Sometimes, I would shoot it and the zombie would then turn his back towards me and I'd be faced with the option to pull off a melee attack. However, if you run up around the zombie until you are facing his back, you will not have that option available - so it seems melee QTE attacks are only granted after stunning a zombie through a shot by your weapon. IMO, this is a huge wasted opportunity. It would have been great if you had a few moves (CQC style ala MGS4) if you are close to a zombie. They could have even limited it to the back only of a zombie to not make it too easy.

And as I said - sometimes it's just very frustrating if for some reason, my character will turn by 180° after going into aim mode. I think this may be because I may have pressed the fire button to early (R1 also marks where your partner is) and you may face that direction.

I guess to sum this up - I'm just not playing the game right. In fact, I'm always half dead and the only reason we've progressed so far is because my partner and me have been reviving each other - well, when we're not killing or on the run that is. And thus, I don't find much enjoyment out of the "fight all zombies in the next sandbox area" setting. In Uncharted - you had to kill them to progress - and you always had enough ammo to meet every playing style. Because the AI was also quite good and challenging, there was some enjoyment to get out of the whole sandbox battle. In RE5, with my playing style, I'm not quite seeing it. Now if we had drastically more ammo... then yeah, it be a lot better for sure.

Haha I guess you fall into the group that hate the controls. I'm not sure how the PS3 version controls but on the Xbox version I don't have much problems hitting zombies from a distance with the laser. Maybe you're not used to the controls and need to practice more? Some weapons have very limited range so the laser only goes so far. With that said the basic handgun is pretty easy to aim and even get headshots. Try adjusting the aiming speed in controller options.

Good point, maybe it is indeed that distance is too large. Then again, my main problem just seems to be that the laser beam is hardly visible and tends to go under in the very vibrant surroundings - especially in later parts of the game where you're in the canyon in bright daylight and the red beam sort of gets lost in the orangy/brown backgrounds. I tried adjusting the brightness in the game, but it didn't help much. I guess another reason for that is me playing the game in splitscreen Co/Op. The screen is just so small that the laser beam is hardly visible. I guess this wouldn't be a problem playing the game in single player mode or Co/Op over network...

RE has always been about conserving ammo. IMO RE5 gives you just enough ammo required to complete each level. If playing coop you need to tell your partner to conserve ammo too because you two have to share whatever ammo available. You are aware that you can request ammo from your partner right? There are ways to fight them if you're really low on ammo, you basically shot them in the right spot and when they're stunned/staggering you run up to them and do a melee attack and if they're on the ground you can also do melee attacks so in reality you only need 1 or 2 bullets to kill a zombie.

Good advice - I will try that. So in other words - I just have to get more efficient at killing zombies? My point was always - the chance of the zombies droping ammo were quite slim - so I thought I'd be better off evading them all together and saving up my ammo for the kind of enemies that you have to kill (i.e. bosses). Even on amateur difficulty - I'd use up all my ammo to kill of zombies and would be lucky if I'd be able to pick up half the ammo I just used to kill them in the first place. :S .. not efficient enough.. not efficient enough... yep, I get it. :smile:

Hehe I think you used your money unwisely. On a first play through you'll be able to find the magnum and some ammo but it's very limited. I think this was done so that players don't cheat themselves. Given that the magnum is very powerful it's only natural that you're only given enough ammo to use on the big bosses. What would be the point of being able to buy a bunch of ammo for your super powerful magnum so you could kill everything with one shot? Wouldn't that make all other weapons obsolete?

Good point. Actually, I didn't buy the magnum. I bought a sub machine gun since I had about 15'000 of whatever stashed away and I thought buying weapons is a central part of the game. Am I right to assume that the better bet is to just upgrade my weapons that I found during the game?

 

[Scott_Arm]

Resident Evil 5 is all about using the 180 degree turn to run like a coward and using melee as much as possible. That's pretty much the best advice you can go. Oh, and if you're playing single player, take away the AIs pistol. Give her the weapons you don't like to use. A good choice is to give her the sniper rifle. She'll rarely miss and won't eat through a ton of ammo.

 

[nightshade]

A good choice is to give her the sniper rifle. She'll rarely miss and won't eat through a ton of ammo.

AND keep her on suppress/defense whatever its called mode...cause keeping her in attack mode means waste of ammo

 

[RudeCurve]

Thanks for taking the time to reply RudeCurve.

Yeah, I haven't yet come around to liking the controls yet - which is somewhat surprising since I'm one of the few that loved the original Tomb Raider controls (and still do) and can therefore also appreciate the similar controls in the Resident Evil series. Maybe it's not the controls that are necessarely the problem, but perhaps the style of game that has changed?

I used to think that the controls were perfect for the style of game it was - few zombies, impossible camera angles, limited ammo etc. With RE5 however, the zombies are just too many. They're quick and there are many - if you're not careful, you'll end up surrounded by all of them. Maybe the controls also feel outdated because the 3rd person shooter genre (IMO) has been lifted by Uncharted 1 & 2 (I'm only a PS owner) and this in comparison feels so much more awkward.

In the earlier games, you had to kill most zombies because you always faced them in very narrow corridors and thus had little options other than to kill them or take damage. In RE5 however, the level is quite wideopen which gives you plenty of options to evade them - or if you're not careful, for them to sneak up behind you.

Have you perfected the 180 turn move? It's the only effective avoidance move in the game other than slowly walking backwards which isn't very useful for avoiding enemies.

The controls - they do work. But you're right in guessing I didn't yet pefect the melee attack combos. Most of the time, I'm just too clumsy to run up to the zombie after shooting it. And if I do - 9 out of 10 times, I'm either to late for the quick-time event or it doesn't come at all. Interestingly, I thought the melee attack is dependant on how the zombie is facing you. Sometimes, I would shoot it and the zombie would then turn his back towards me and I'd be faced with the option to pull off a melee attack. However, if you run up around the zombie until you are facing his back, you will not have that option available - so it seems melee QTE attacks are only granted after stunning a zombie through a shot by your weapon. IMO, this is a huge wasted opportunity. It would have been great if you had a few moves (CQC style ala MGS4) if you are close to a zombie. They could have even limited it to the back only of a zombie to not make it too easy.

I do know that 99% of the time if you shoot the leg of a zombie, it will get stunned and grant you a melee attack if you reach it within the alloted time window. The "staggered" posture is easily recognizable and is different from the other "that didn't hurt" pause postures.

Other parts of the body that will do similar things are the head and arms. You could also pull off the melee attack when the zombie's back is facing you while stunned. It's one of the most rewarding QTEs because most zombies will not turn their back when stunned.

And as I said - sometimes it's just very frustrating if for some reason, my character will turn by 180° after going into aim mode. I think this may be because I may have pressed the fire button to early (R1 also marks where your partner is) and you may face that direction.

Yeah I think you're hitting another button or something because when you draw a weapon your character should not turn in any way.

I guess to sum this up - I'm just not playing the game right. In fact, I'm always half dead and the only reason we've progressed so far is because my partner and me have been reviving each other - well, when we're not killing or on the run that is. And thus, I don't find much enjoyment out of the "fight all zombies in the next sandbox area" setting. In Uncharted - you had to kill them to progress - and you always had enough ammo to meet every playing style. Because the AI was also quite good and challenging, there was some enjoyment to get out of the whole sandbox battle. In RE5, with my playing style, I'm not quite seeing it. Now if we had drastically more ammo... then yeah, it be a lot better for sure.

Haha I think I have the solution for you, you need to unluck infinite ammo for one of your weapons. I'll explain how to do that just read on.

Good point, maybe it is indeed that distance is too large. Then again, my main problem just seems to be that the laser beam is hardly visible and tends to go under in the very vibrant surroundings - especially in later parts of the game where you're in the canyon in bright daylight and the red beam sort of gets lost in the orangy/brown backgrounds. I tried adjusting the brightness in the game, but it didn't help much. I guess another reason for that is me playing the game in splitscreen Co/Op. The screen is just so small that the laser beam is hardly visible. I guess this wouldn't be a problem playing the game in single player mode or Co/Op over network...

Yeah I think that's the problem, it sounds like the split screen mode is preventing you from being able to see the laser beam properly. Also keep in mind that some weapons like the SMGs have lots of recoil so are not ideal for precise shots unless you fire in single shots which I often do if I have more SMG ammo than handgun ammo. It's not as fun shooting a SMG in single shots but sometimes that's what you have to do to balance out your ammo stock.

Another thing is when you upgrade the ATTACK RANGE stat of a weapon, you'll be able to aim farther with the laser.

Good advice - I will try that. So in other words - I just have to get more efficient at killing zombies? My point was always - the chance of the zombies droping ammo were quite slim - so I thought I'd be better off evading them all together and saving up my ammo for the kind of enemies that you have to kill (i.e. bosses). Even on amateur difficulty - I'd use up all my ammo to kill of zombies and would be lucky if I'd be able to pick up half the ammo I just used to kill them in the first place. :S .. not efficient enough.. not efficient enough... yep, I get it. :smile:

Yes that's one way to do it but in your case I'd recommend upgrading a single weapon so that it could do more damage per shot which means less ammo used per zombie which I think is what's going on. Your weapons are too weak so you have to use more ammo to kill them. Try upgrading the FIREPOWER or PIERCE stats of your weapon. Also when you upgrade the capacity of your weapon you get free ammo. This can be very beneficial if you know how to take advantage of it.

Wait until you are out of ammo for a particular weapon before upgrading the CAPACITY stat for that weapon.

Good point. Actually, I didn't buy the magnum. I bought a sub machine gun since I had about 15'000 of whatever stashed away and I thought buying weapons is a central part of the game. Am I right to assume that the better bet is to just upgrade my weapons that I found during the game?

It's probably better to use your money to upgrade them instead of buying them because all of the weapons that are available for purchase can also be found in the game for free. After upgrading a particular weapon to its max abilities you're then given the option to unluck infinite ammo for that weapon only. This option however is not free as you'd need to trade in your acquired "game points" to enable this. You get points after completing each game stage.

Now with that said even if you are only able to unlock infinite ammo for a single weapon, that's really all you need to be able to play without worrying about conserving ammo. This in itself will likely make it less frustrating for players like yourself. What this also means is you are now able to easily take down enemies which in turn drops items/money/ammo. You then could take the money/ammo and use them for whatever upgrades/weapons you see fit.

The game is designed so that you could go back and play any chapter to stock up on ammo, money or missed weapons to prepare you for the later chapters.