JBoc924In tonight’s DailyVania we’ll be pitting two games from Capcom’s Resident Evil franchise against each other. On one side, we have the much praised Resident Evil 4, originally for the gamecube, with the Wii port being the version discussed. Then on the opposite side we got Resident Evil 5,a multi-platform release, with the PS-Move Edition being looked at. Basically, we got a game that’s referred to as a pure masterpiece, and the game everyone loves to hate. Thanks to motion controls, we can now pit these two in a battle to see which game reigns supreme. The winner shall be determined in two separate categories, one being, as a Resident Evil game, and the other being as an overall package. Let’s begin.
First up will be Resident Evil 4. We all know it’s critically acclaimed and considered as being one of the gems of this decade, but is it a faithful Resident Evil game?
Resident Evil 4 brought Leon back under the spotlight and placed him, and the series, in unfamiliar territory. Free from the confines of killing infected city-folk, now he was aiming for country folk. In a remote village in Europe to be exact. As for the series? Well, gone were the fixed camera angles and the tank-like controls. They were replaced with a behind the should camera view, with an emphasis on action, gameplay-wise. The original Gamecube version was superb, obviously, but the eventual Wii edition just made an already masterful game even better, if that’s even possible. All thanks to motion controls.
Quite simply, motion controls gave the game new life and enticed players to revisit Leon and his save-the-president’s-daughter-turned-save-the world adventure. It also enhanced the experience players had when playing the now series-staple Mercenaries mode. High scores were surely expected for those who’ve upgraded to the Wii version. And for a game that relies on the player being immersed into the atmosphere, the new form of play really got the job done. Now if only Capcom got this game on the Playstation 3, with Move support, akin to this game’s opponent!
Fans reading the title of this article may not even need to delve into the actual writing itself, they’ll probably just declare Resident Evil 4 winner by default. But, stay with me! Let’s give it’s sequel a chance now, shall we?
Resident Evil 5 is available on the PS3, 360, and PC. A later-released Gold Edition served as a Game of the Year Edition for a game that, sadly, didn’t receive such accolades. But Capcom went on and released this anyway, at least it brought all the DLC for the game in one tidy package so who’s to complain. Resident Evil 5 was already an extremely action-focused title. So when Sony announced the patch, exclusively, for the Gold edition of the game, gamers knew this might be the game to get with the peripheral’s launch. Core gamers at least. It’s no lie that having Move controls may not change the mind of the masses who believe this game to have run the series to the dirt. But the motion controls do go a long way to make this even more replayable and simply, more than it originally was.
Seeing as how just merely adding a new control scheme can’t fix the problems people seem to have with this game, it should at least entice them to replay it. And for the first time, especially RE veterans, actually appreciate the game for what it is. A good ending to the the main arc that’s been running through the series since it’s conception. Sure it’s told in an action-packed style, but it’s still following the main narrative, with the series villain Wesker even showing up with a lot of screen time.
So which game wins? In regards to being a superb stand-alone experience. It’ll have to go to Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition. Why? Well for starters, the game is already extremely replay-friendly, especially due to the co-op in the game, that may have ruined the whole survival horror essence of the franchise, but it made the experience all the better when shared with a buddy online or off. Resident Evil 4 doesn’t have this. No, not the co-op, but just the whole replayability aspect. Sure you can go through multiple runs of Leon’s adventure until it starts getting a little stale. Obviously this doesn’t harm the game’s original impact on players and as thus they’ll still consider it a masterpiece. But Resident Evil 5, honestly, continues to deliver a fun experience. It may be the online, or it may just be the level design, with the emphasis on pure action. And that’s what motion controls are made for, immersive experiences that really pit the gamer in the action taking them one step closer into the world the developers have made. So yeah, Resident Evil 5 wins in terms of just being a better package that can still be enjoyed at this moment. But how about as a Resident Evil game?
I might get a lot of heat for this, but Resident Evil 5 takes the win again. It truly felt more like a continuation of the franchise’s plot whereas Resident Evil 4 just felt like a side-story that happened to star one of the series’ most popular faces. Hell, no plot threads were actually resolved in Resident Evil 4, sure we found out how Umbrella “fell” but that’s it really. We didn’t get any further development on aspects of the story that may have been unanswered. Instead we were introduced to a new form of BOW, along with new faces in a completely different location. Resident Evil 5, on the other hand, felt like a straight-up sequel to the original three games. It gave us more insight into how the T-Virus was conceived, where it was conceived, and for what purposes. We also got see Spencer, Yes we finally got to see Spencer. Oh and it doesn’t hurt to mention that Chris and Jill were in the game as well.
Resident Evil 5 may be a complete alienation of what made the series popular, survival horror, but it’s still a Resident Evil game because it successfully puts a cap to the story and even sets up a potential new threat. That we may actually see in the upcoming Resident Evil Revelations. I’m pretty sure we’re not gonna see a continuation of the plot threads relating to Saddler’s cult anytime soon.
