One week after Capcom’s highly successful release of the Resident Evil 4 Remake, it looks like the series will be continuing the remake trend and counting to “5” - with a logo for “Resident Evil 5” spotted online and sporting the same font as the other remakes beginning with RE2, RE3, and recently RE4.
What could this mean and why was Code: Veronica skipped? Click on the jump to find out!
It's almost been a year since I played and finished Resident Evil/ Bio Hazard 5, and even as a devoted fan of Capcom's signature Survival Horror game franchise, I wasn't too impressed with how things turned out in the game. Besides the controversy surrounding the game's location in Africa and racism issues stemming from the main characters fighting the locals there, the game just wasn't much of a thrill to me compared to the last installment, Resident Evil 4, which reworked the genre and took it to a new level. Gone was the element of surprise and suspense, replacing it was the world of "Survival Action", opting for an over the shoulder, "Gears Of War" style combat and adrenaline rushing gameplay that just made the game different, yet fun to play. RE5 followed suit with that system, and tried to liven the experience up a bit more by introducing a renewed Partner system with co-op gameplay. It was an interesting concept to ponder on at first, but as more information revealed itself, things drifted from the norm too much already, along with the fact that RE creator Shinji Mikami was not involving himself in the project whatsoever. Still, I held my resolve to play Resident Evil 5 upon its release, and now almost a year later, I still find the game "meh". Gameplay was pretty much a chore all over again, and while I enjoyed it at the time, there were a few nitpicks I didn't like, which involved the partner and inventory system in particular. Characterization wise, Chris and Sheva were fine, but Wesker's was just downright disappointing and a waste of a good role. That shouldn't have been the way to wrap things up, but with all things said and done, that's probably it for RE5 already. But then, now comes RE5 Alternative/ Gold addition, promising two new scenarios and a plethora of extras fans of the series will enjoy playing. What exactly are these extras? Here's a quick round up of what was announced.
To be released as DLC in mid February/ early March and in disc form on March, RE5 Gold Edition will feature two extra scenarios - "Lost In Nightmares" and "Desperate Escape", new costume packs, and new characters for the retitled mercenaries mode, "Mercenaries Reunion". The Lost In Nightmares scenario will take place in 2006, in which Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine infiltrate the Spencer Mansion in Europe, coming to an eventual confrontation with Wesker himself. The second scenario, Desperate Escape, will chronicle the events where Jill teams up with BSAA member Josh Stone, as they make their way to assist Chris and Sheva. For the costumes, Chris and Sheva get cool and mean looking new looks to wear in the main game and such. Finally, the Mercenaries Reunion adds new 8 characters to the line up. Rounding up the 4 slots are Chris and Sheva's new outfits, while the other two vacancies are for Josh Stone and Wesker's female partner in crime in the game, Excella Gionne.
The last two slots were originally a mystery, but Kotaku just posted some hopeful and nice news longtime fans will be happy to hear. Old School Resident Evil characters Rebecca Chambers and Barry Burton have been revealed as the final playable characters in the latest issue of Famitsu, meaning that the remaining original members of S.T.A.R.S are all in Resident Evil 5!
Now there's a small but sweet incentive for those who played the game before to play again, and those who haven't even started can now acquire the whole game and these new extras once Gold Edition comes out in disc form this March! Looks like RE5's Director's Cut approach got my curiousity pirked again, hehe.
