Resident Evil 5: Development Critique

[marcusray]

Directors: Kenechi Ueda Games Credited Yasuhiro Anpo Games Credited
Screenplay: Haruo Murata Games Credited
Stage Production: Yoshizumi Hori Games Credited Tori Arikawa Games Credited
Character Direction: Makoto Fukui Games Credited

I haven't seen a discussion of the RE team so I think this will be fun especially with the RE veterans. I'm suprised that Capcom has let two newcomers take the reins of their cash cow. Yasuhiro Anpo has engineering/programming experience only but something I'm pleased with is that he has been there since Biohazard 1. Kenichi Ueda resume consists primarily of character creation but what he is credited with is excellent. REmake has amazing enemies and the Drain Deimos from RE3 were one of the best enemies in the RE cannon so expect to see some amazing bosses and enemies with this guy in the team.

Haruo Murata is helming the screenplay and apart from Outbreak he's only RE experience is RE4 some people liked the story while others thought it was run by the numbers 'boy saves girl' and was bland. Personally I'm withholding judgement as he has very little writing experience it's hard what to expect. Yoshizumi Hori has some excellent background work and as for Tori Arikawa I have not played any of the games he has done background work for. He is credited with the Omnishua games and Dead Rising and also Lost Planet so the members here can chime in on how good the backgrounds were like in those games.

Makoto Fukui is in charge of the character direction and I have not seen any of he's work so again you members will have to chime in. He's work consists of character design and motion direction. My take is that I think it's shaping up to be a great game while the directors are inexperienced they have considerable RE background especially Anpo being their from RE1. They seem like two really talented guys but I guess Capcom didn't have a choice as Mikami left Capcom. I'm sure some of you members can fill in the blanks for instance "I played Dead Rising and the backgrounds were spectacular" etc just so we can get a small picture of what the game may turn out like based on it's working personnel.

Note: This developer list came from the most recent trailer so it is accurate.

[JcFFx]

I like how the guy doing the script mostled works on fighting games and then RE4... >_>

*expects crappy dialogue*

[Guest]

mh... I see... I don't know much about the directors and stuff, I mean, when I read the credits from previous RE's I bearlly payed atention to the directors and people, so I'm not the indicated for giving my opinion. But, my RE duty tell's me I have to tell you that: Dead Rising backgrounds were good, pretty tham good, not excelent or spectacular, but they were really great, it had the atmosphere of a real shopping-mall. And I'm not nervous about the backgrounds of RE5, for what we've seen they look SPECTACULAR! but remember: if you liked RE4 you will LOVE RE5 (because of the up-graded graphics, the "closing" story and the up-graded AI), if you sort-of-liked RE4 you will like RE5 (better graphics, better AI, "closing" story); AND if you hated RE4 you will bearly like RE5 (the "like-part" will be for the "closing" story it will have). Weeeeell! this is just my opinion, if you don't think so... just say so

P.S.: I think the last part did'n go here, but still, there it is

[BLSR1]

*expects crappy dialogue*

Welcome to the Resident Evil games.

[marcusray]

Jun Takeuchi (the guy in all the interviews) keeps telling us that the dark areas will be used for horror and daylight will contain the action sequences which makes it obvious that Capcom listened to the community regarding the lack of horror in RE4. Jun Takeuchi was also an original RE1 member so I don't think it's just the community that influenced them to bring back the horror it was also probably the significant presence of RE1/2 team members. That would be perfect...the dark brooding/unsettling atmosphere of the early games combined with the excellent game-play mechanics of RE4.

[JcFFx]

*doesn't expect improvement in dialogue*

better?

[marcusray]

*doesn't expect improvement in dialogue*

better?

From what i've seen Chris sounds quite average and I'm not someone who has high standards when it comes to voice acting. It's actually something I look forward to hahaha...

"No thanks...bro"
"Your right hand comes off?" etc

[Helegad]

God, I hate gangsta talk for people that can't do it.

*BLARGH!*

[The Dude]

Never play Yakuza then :p

[marcusray]

Just watching some RE4 clips on youtube during some of the escort sections made me realise why they included Sheva. Capcom knew the fans loved the escort sections of the game with Ashley infact many fans said they were the best parts of the game. Jun has stressed that the Sheva A.I will be top notch and i'm not so much worried about co-op anymore because while it's risky if they get Sheva right it will be amazing.

I also think there will moments similiar to RE4 where Ashley was captured and you were on you're own again so people that do not want Sheva tagging along start till end will be relieved. They have kind of gave it away...looking at the trailers with the snippets of gameplay showing Chris by himself most times.

[Darkmoon]

It is possible that in single player you'll be left alone...but I suspect the game play clips where Chris is alone are mostly the older ones, before Sheva was announced. Simply put I don't think they'll have the time and effort to make essentially two games, one where you do the co-op and one where you have AI. And you can't claim the game is co-op and then have the second player forced to sit lare portions of the game out.

And personally I hated the escort bits in every game, mostly because Ashley was so damned useless. "I can't run away, nor can I even try pointing a gun and firing. I can scream 'Help me LEON!' A lot!' Sheva should be a massive improvement over Ashley, but that's because she's gonna be, in single player, an AI controlled gun platform.

RE5 is going to rely heavily on the AI in Sheva getting a bump, along with the attack patterns of the enemies being modified from the granados. Given how big a role they both have flaws in either is gonna be a major problem. Sheva looks fairly solid already, from what I've seen, but the not-ganados in RE5 still need tweaking in my opinion, as they still have the stupid run/stop technique in RE4.

[marcusray]

Good points...it will be tricky to accomplish and now that I have thought about it i'm swinging the other way. The way Jun is explaning it is that she will be with you 100% because as you said if there are points in the game where you split up and you are playing with the A.I it just won't work you will miss the portions of the game that are to be played with a buddy.

I guess it basically confirms that she will with you start until end if not i'm not sure how they will implement it. Knowing the talent at Capcom and the time they have left Sheva's A.I will be top notch and Jun has mentioned it is a high priority to get it right...it's such a critical aspect of the game if they can't get it right they would probally delay because if Sheva is with you 24/7 and the A.I is horrible it would be game breaking.

[GNR8218]

It is possible that in single player you'll be left alone...but I suspect the game play clips where Chris is alone are mostly the older ones, before Sheva was announced. Simply put I don't think they'll have the time and effort to make essentially two games, one where you do the co-op and one where you have AI. And you can't claim the game is co-op and then have the second player forced to sit lare portions of the game out.

Actually guys, about 2 weeks ago, a few days after E3, I saw an interview with Jun and they asked him about the whole splitting up element. He responded by saying " There will be points in the game where you and Sheva will be back-to-back fighting monsters. Other times you will be split up, such as one person providing cover for another. (like the E3 demo) Also, there will be times when the two will be completely split up and have to navagate solo. It will be the balance between these 3 elements that will make this game something special." He also said that based on who your playing as, you'll get some different experiences. This isn't exactly what he said, but from what I remember. If I can find the link, I'll post it up.

[marcusray]

Actually guys, about 2 weeks ago, a few days after E, I saw an interview with Jun and they asked him about the whole splitting up element. He responded by saying " There will be points in the game where you and Shiva will be back-to-back fighting monsters. Other times you will be split up, such as one person providing cover for another. (like the E demo) Also, there will be times when the two will be completely split up and have to navigate solo. It will be the balance between these 3 elements that will make this game something special." He also said that based on who your playing as, you'll get some different experiences. This isn't exactly what he said, but from what I remember. If I can find the link, I'll post it up.

Don't bother finding the link I believe you. Jun done huge amounts of written/video interviews around E3 time...probally wouldn't be a bad idea to watch/read them again as I have forgotten allot. Still though if you are playing with Sheva as A.I you are going to miss those portions of the game were you are completely separated. Meaning if you want to get the full experience you will need to play co-op with a buddy as there has been no mention of Sheva being a selectable character with her own scenario when you are playing single player.

It would be frustraing when Sheva is alone controlled by the A.I and dies thus ending you're game or maybe she is immune during these sequences but my guess would be if you're playing alone if the paths branch you will finish Chris's portion then take control of Sheva thus playing both sequences this way you get the full experience even if you don't have a partner. Anyway more questions than answers and they probally have much more to reveal on how Chris/Sheva will interact.