RESIDENT EVIL 5 / DEVELOPER & PUBLISHER: CAPCOM / PLATFORM: SWITCH / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Highly praised by critics back in 2009, Resident Evil 5 broke away from the series’ roots by focusing much more closely on action rather than survival horror, earning it a less enthusiastic response from hardcore fans who mostly hoped for a bigger and better Resi 4. Playing it today, you can see what those critics were on about – considering this was Capcom’s first attempt at breaking from the formula that made the series so successful, it’s incredible just how exciting some of the set pieces are. Certain sections are just staggeringly exhilarating, even compared to modern games, which speaks volumes for how good this ten year old game really is.
Arriving on Switch just in time for Halloween, RE5 might not look quite as shiny and smooth as its previous HD releases on other current-gen consoles, but it plays fantastically well in handheld and docked mode, without a single notable performance issue whatsoever through the entire game. And in news that is sure to be massively appreciated by those who moaned about the lack of gyro aiming in RE4 on Switch, motion controls are available, allowing players to aim weapons, swing their knife, reload and escape enemy grapples by waving the Joy-cons around. When enabled, gyro works alongside the game’s standard controls, so you can still use buttons for everything if you’d prefer. It certainly comes in handy though, especially to speed up RE5‘s notoriously slow aiming reticle.
The Switch edition contains single piece of content from current-gen versions of the game – two additional story expansions, additional costumes, online Versus mode and, always a favourite, The Mercenaries Reunited, which combines all of the high-scoring arcade time trial content from previous RE5 releases (the original Mercenaries and the Gold Edition’s Mercenaries Reunion), all available to play solo or in co-op (locally or online) and all now including the added bonuses of motion controls and portability.
The only slight disappointment is that your AI partner, Sheva, is still as irritating as ever. She’ll happily stand in your way, refuse to follow your instructions, use up precious ammo and healing items willy-nilly, and provide irritatingly chirpy soundbites that never really add anything of substance. But hey, at least she’s not Ashley from RE4.
