But first, a short discussion of the demo format:
I detest the preview culture surrounding video games.
Multi-page galleries of screenshots and videos, early build reviews, demos and betas combine to spoil the surprise of a player's first time with the finished product. In no other medium is the degree of pre-completion access so startlingly deep. How many directors allow the press to view early edits of their films - and review them for the public with the filmmaker's tacit promise of altering their work based on the feedback? How many musicians (intentionally) release raw demos for an upcoming album and re-craft their songs according to the responses of fans and critics?
Yet game developers frequently open up the dialogue of their design process to not only the enthusiast video game press, but the readers of that press and the playing community at large.
The main reason for this departure from pre-release practices in other mediums is the interactivity that rules the game experience. Playing is a choice-driven activity that lacks the passivity of watching or reading. Thus it is more pivotal to the game design process that developers prepare for all possible choices and playing styles someone may bring to their product.
But that reasoning only shields preview culture from so much criticism. It doesn't restore the artistic integrity developers lose by appearing so insecure about the quality of their work. It doesn't excuse the ethically suspect closeness with which the game press works alongside game publishers. Nor does it relieve that press of the suspicion readers should rightly cast toward their all-access, more-strings-attached-than-a-guitar-shop coverage.
If I sound cynical about preview culture, it's because I'm still reeling from my own unpleasant taste in the form of the “Resident Evil 5” demo. Conscious as I try to be about the culture's pitfalls, I couldn't resist falling into one: I let the demo dampen my expectations. Affecting anticipation for a game - preferably in a positive way - is clearly the intention of publishers who release demos, or any form of game preview. Regardless, I'm always reluctant to judge, however slightly, the finished product by anything but.
That said, I paint my review of the “Resident Evil 5” demo as exactly that: a review of the demo. This evaluation of two story-deprived, out-of-context action segments of the game should not extend to the game itself. The most you can reasonably generate to “5” from the following review is the quality of the control mechanics, which will likely remain intact when Capcom releases the game on March 13. Otherwise, try not to scare yourself away.
The “Resident Evil 5” demo is chilling in no desirable way.
Capcom has swapped the gloomy Spanish countryside of “Resident Evil 4” for desert African shantytowns, which brown “5's” color palette as much as most big-budget games. The musculature of longtime “Resident Evil” hero Chris Redfield has been thickened to the same cartoonish extent as any mainstream game protagonist. And the third-person shooting feels as graceless and redundant as - you guessed it - every other Action Video Game.
In the absence of creative involvement from “Resident Evil” series mastermind Shinji Mikami, “5” seems poised to go down as just another shooter. In several play-throughs of the free demo, now available through Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, I never encountered the risk of running out of ammunition that birthed many a dreadful feeling during previous “Resident Evil” games. The shooting itself is simply attrition-based. Onslaughts of zombies - or Ganados, or whatever they are now - haunt Chris and his ever-present partner, Sheva, at every turn of the demo's two levels. The foes die after fewer bullets and somehow seem less reactive to the body part-based shooting system introduced in “4.”
Following the perfection that was “Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition's” motion-controlled shooting arrangement, the mapping of “5's” controls feels more painful than the human tank setups of “Resident Evil's” static-camera chapters. Players must hold the run button to turn; otherwise, pushing the analog stick left or right automatically sends Chris strafing.
Perhaps the most jarring change in “5” is its item management system, which makes weapon switching a real-time process instead of a pause menu of sorts. This arrangement would likely raise the suspense of combat if it wasn't so unnatural to navigate.
Players press 'triangle' to open a translucent on-screen item menu, use the analog stick to select an item, press 'X' to choose it and 'X' again to equip it - all while adversaries advance. In my first few attempts to switch from a pistol to a shotgun at the sight of brawnier zombies, I ended up passing items to Sheva instead.
Speaking of Chris' sidekick, the co-op friendly arrangement of “5” feels forced and unnatural to the series. Though Sheva provides Chris with cover fire, resuscitates him from near-death and supplies him with ammunition, at other times she requires this escort support from the player and the process feels chore-like. I hesitate to judge the fun of this experience any further until I play the whole game with a partner. But in the demo stage of “5,” the horror of “Resident Evil” is more real than ever.
David Wilcox
253-5311 ext. 245
david.wilcox@lee.net
Multi-page galleries of screenshots and videos, early build reviews, demos and betas combine to spoil the surprise of a player's first time with the finished product. In no other medium is the degree of pre-completion access so startlingly deep. How many directors allow the press to view early edits of their films - and review them for the public with the filmmaker's tacit promise of altering their work based on the feedback? How many musicians (intentionally) release raw demos for an upcoming album and re-craft their songs according to the responses of fans and critics?
Yet game developers frequently open up the dialogue of their design process to not only the enthusiast video game press, but the readers of that press and the playing community at large.
The main reason for this departure from pre-release practices in other mediums is the interactivity that rules the game experience. Playing is a choice-driven activity that lacks the passivity of watching or reading. Thus it is more pivotal to the game design process that developers prepare for all possible choices and playing styles someone may bring to their product.
But that reasoning only shields preview culture from so much criticism. It doesn't restore the artistic integrity developers lose by appearing so insecure about the quality of their work. It doesn't excuse the ethically suspect closeness with which the game press works alongside game publishers. Nor does it relieve that press of the suspicion readers should rightly cast toward their all-access, more-strings-attached-than-a-guitar-shop coverage.
If I sound cynical about preview culture, it's because I'm still reeling from my own unpleasant taste in the form of the “Resident Evil 5” demo. Conscious as I try to be about the culture's pitfalls, I couldn't resist falling into one: I let the demo dampen my expectations. Affecting anticipation for a game - preferably in a positive way - is clearly the intention of publishers who release demos, or any form of game preview. Regardless, I'm always reluctant to judge, however slightly, the finished product by anything but.
That said, I paint my review of the “Resident Evil 5” demo as exactly that: a review of the demo. This evaluation of two story-deprived, out-of-context action segments of the game should not extend to the game itself. The most you can reasonably generate to “5” from the following review is the quality of the control mechanics, which will likely remain intact when Capcom releases the game on March 13. Otherwise, try not to scare yourself away.
The “Resident Evil 5” demo is chilling in no desirable way.
Capcom has swapped the gloomy Spanish countryside of “Resident Evil 4” for desert African shantytowns, which brown “5's” color palette as much as most big-budget games. The musculature of longtime “Resident Evil” hero Chris Redfield has been thickened to the same cartoonish extent as any mainstream game protagonist. And the third-person shooting feels as graceless and redundant as - you guessed it - every other Action Video Game.
In the absence of creative involvement from “Resident Evil” series mastermind Shinji Mikami, “5” seems poised to go down as just another shooter. In several play-throughs of the free demo, now available through Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, I never encountered the risk of running out of ammunition that birthed many a dreadful feeling during previous “Resident Evil” games. The shooting itself is simply attrition-based. Onslaughts of zombies - or Ganados, or whatever they are now - haunt Chris and his ever-present partner, Sheva, at every turn of the demo's two levels. The foes die after fewer bullets and somehow seem less reactive to the body part-based shooting system introduced in “4.”
Following the perfection that was “Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition's” motion-controlled shooting arrangement, the mapping of “5's” controls feels more painful than the human tank setups of “Resident Evil's” static-camera chapters. Players must hold the run button to turn; otherwise, pushing the analog stick left or right automatically sends Chris strafing.
Perhaps the most jarring change in “5” is its item management system, which makes weapon switching a real-time process instead of a pause menu of sorts. This arrangement would likely raise the suspense of combat if it wasn't so unnatural to navigate.
Players press 'triangle' to open a translucent on-screen item menu, use the analog stick to select an item, press 'X' to choose it and 'X' again to equip it - all while adversaries advance. In my first few attempts to switch from a pistol to a shotgun at the sight of brawnier zombies, I ended up passing items to Sheva instead.
Speaking of Chris' sidekick, the co-op friendly arrangement of “5” feels forced and unnatural to the series. Though Sheva provides Chris with cover fire, resuscitates him from near-death and supplies him with ammunition, at other times she requires this escort support from the player and the process feels chore-like. I hesitate to judge the fun of this experience any further until I play the whole game with a partner. But in the demo stage of “5,” the horror of “Resident Evil” is more real than ever.
David Wilcox
253-5311 ext. 245
david.wilcox@lee.net
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