The same amount of care evident in nearly every zombie attack in RE4 has been replaced with hordes that simply mob you at every turn. Whereas a typical RE4 encounter might entail several zombies ambling toward you down four walkways in a large room, RE5 generally sticks every zombie directly in your path, rarely affording you many interesting combat choices. In RE4, I felt like each monster was placed in the world with care; in RE5, I feel like most were dropped onto the ground without much thought.

All of this amounts to a surprisingly lazy design. Even the bosses are sloppily placed in the world. At one point, I found myself entirely pinned against a wall by a boss with no way to escape. I sat in horror as it stared at me, attacking every few seconds, until I died--only to be consistently revived by my partner, over and over.

It was the scariest scene in the game.

Controlling Interest
The buzz surrounding Resident Evil 5 has gravitated around two rather dissimilar talking points: the game's control scheme, and its treatment of race.

I'm not going to say much on the fire alarm that is the latter. I will note that, as charged as the imagery appears in a trailer or a screenshot, while actually playing the game I was never conscious of race in the same way that I am with other blatantly racist works. Maybe that speaks to a powerful form of subversive, violent entertainment--or maybe it speaks to an overblown topic that couldn't seem any more out of place in a juvenile industry.

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Either way, the game's control system is a far more interesting issue for gamers. For whatever reason, control systems have always been controversial in Resident Evil games. Resident Evil 4's was largely seen as an upgrade over the tank-like, spin-and-thrust movement of the PlayStation era. Its stop-and-shoot solution kept things just rigid enough to keep the tension high, and the series feeling more like an action-adventure game than Quake.

But as much as I had hoped that Capcom would carry over the mechanics from Resident Evil 4, I found myself understanding the opposition to it by the end. It's not that I find these controls frustrating in this day and age, but rather that Capcom has shifted the series to a place where that scheme no longer makes any sense.

When all you have to deal with are ambling, dim-witted, snot-for-brains farmers and the occasional chainsaw-wielding sackhead, the stop- and-shoot method works wonderfully. But when having to cover your teammate from afar while dodging enemies nearby, it becomes a little frustrating. When zombies bend backwards to dodge bullets like Neo undead, it might be time to consider a change.

When zombies are shooting at you with laser-sighted AK-47s and chaingun turrets, it's time to loosen up the damn controls.

Cooped Up in Co-op
The focus here is on co-op action, and in that respect, Resident Evil 5 is still somewhat of an effective action game. Despite the fact that the weapons mostly amount to re-skinned versions of Resident Evil 4 guns, I did enjoy using them to take down infected Africans. The combat scenarios aren't as nuanced, but the act of shooting zombies in this setup is still a working formula.

However, the co-op component is another mixed bag. There are very few moments where the co-op itself matters in a meaningful way, and most often the situation involves turning a crank to open a door. Unlike Gears of War, there aren't often paths to "flank" enemies, or incentives to do so. From a cooperation perspective, it's as much about getting out of the way of your friend as it is in truly cooperating. And in singleplayer mode, the co-op AI turns out to be one of the clear-cut failures of the game.

It was certainly ballsy of Capcom to include an AI character that stands that chance of dying while entirely out of your sight. That speaks to a certain amount of faith on the part of the design team--faith that the character was smart enough to defend herself, and faith that you'll care enough to rescue her consistently.

That faith was misplaced, for Sheva makes a poor virtual girlfriend. Throughout most of the game, Sheva is merely an average AI squadmate--rarely covering you when you need it, often wasting ammo on distant shots and blowing healing herbs at the worst times.

But the first time she dies while separated from you, knocking you back to a checkpoint for something that you didn't do, she becomes an instant burden. Because of this, more than anything else, playing with a friend will be preferable.

Even seemingly harmless systems, like the new shared inventory, are made obnoxious by her existence. Having to hand her ammunition--or point it out on the ground like you would food to a dog--becomes annoying, and moreso when you find that she's been holding out on you, hoarding ammo for your weapon. After a while, perhaps out of sheer animosity, I found myself using her as a mule more than an actual squadmate, loading her up with extra ammo and herbs before setting off.

The levels themselves are full of typical tasks, and very few require actual teamwork. There's an emblem to insert here, a crank to turn there. A mirror-reflecting-light puzzle stood out as one of the few that required actual thought, but I immediately ruined the moment by setting Sheva alight with a laser beam and getting kicked back to a checkpoint.

It was worth it.

Monster Mash

By the time I was ducking behind boxes, popping up to snipe at rifle- wielding zombies, I had seen enough. Resident Evil 5 attempts Gears of War-style combat, but without a decent cover system or tactically-minded AI of that game. It gives you the combat mechanics and basic enemies of Resident Evil 4, but not the nuanced scenarios or environments that made them special.

And beyond all of that, it offers little else in the way of new gaming experiences. A Mercenaries mode is fun enough, and upcoming multiplayer DLC might be an incentive for some--though the latter seems a particularly egregious form of priced content. For my part, none of it will wash away the average aftertaste of the actual campaign.

The RE4 fan in me hopes this will stand as merely a diversion in the series. That this isn't the start of a trend toward action-packed mediocrity. That Capcom learns from this experiment, and at least crafts a less confused Resident Evil 6, no matter the direction. I'd buy it at a high price.

Resident Evil 5, on the other hand, I won't pay for.

Resident Evil 5 will be released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 tomorrow, March 13.