Those that have an Xbox 360 AND an Xbox LIVE Gold membership were rewarded Monday with access to the Resident Evil 5 demo.
The demo includes two levels of the game for users to play through, and includes both single-player and co-op play.
Even though we were looking at a demo, the game so far looks simply amazing! Chris Redfield is back, and badder than ever, and Sheva looks nice enough that I don't think anyone will be complaining that they have to play the girl in co-op mode.
Resident Evil 5 also features a new controller scheme, so that you can use the standard controls that Resident Evil fans have become accustomed to, or you can change them out to something a little more mainstream, similar to Gears of War.
While it sounds great in theory, and we like the option, the controller schemes could be more flexible. Having the ability to click down on the right-stick to melee an enemy, or click the left-stick down and hold it to run, ala Call of Duty, would be great.
What did we like?
Headshots: We were able to pull off a few headshots, and no matter how many times we do this, or how many games we're able to do this in, it just never seems to get old.
Graphics: The graphics were amazing. Not only do Chris and Sheva look great, but the enemies/zombies look great as well. The hooded executioner was particularly scary.
Animations/Affects: Pull off a headshot, or better yet, grab the shotgun and see how the enemies react to taking a few rounds. Blood and gore galore!
AI: This may seem a little odd, and to some trivial, but one of the things we liked the most was the AI controlled Sheva. We discovered this quite by accident, but it really impressed us. When aiming your gun, if Sheva is in front of you, she's actually smart enough to move out of the line of fire. I can't tell you how many times I wish the AI in other games was smart enough to get out of the way while you're trying to pump the Locust Horde, I mean the enemy, full of lead.
Melee/Attacks: We like the ability to modify your controller scheme, but even more than that, we like the options for helping your team-mate. When they're in trouble, and you're close enough, a button will appear on screen that you can hit to knock the enemy off of them. You're also prompted in the heat of battle to hit a button to punch or kick enemies as well.
Finishing Moves: Color us surprised when we were prompted to "Stomp" an enemy after we had downed him to finish him off. As if that wasn't cool enough, we were even more surprised when we saw Sheva finish off an enemy by seperating his head from his shoulders after she downed him.
What we didn't like
Really, there was only one thing that we didn't like about the demo, and that was the controls. Unlike other recent entries into the Survival Horror genre, like Dead Space, the controls for Resident Evil 5 feel a little clunky and outdated. The laser site on the guns is nice, but it's not intuitive enough and makes aiming your gun feel a little off-center. I'm sure after a few levels we'll get used to it, but the two demo levels weren't very long.
I guess that brings us to another thing we didn't like. The two levels were too short! We were able to run through both levels in under 20 minutes!
If you haven't done so yet, make sure and download the demo! While it's short, it should at least help tide you over until the game is released.
For those without an Xbox 360 or an Xbox LIVE Gold membership, the demo will be released for everyone next week on Xbox LIVE, and a PS3 version will be available on the Playstation Network.
If that's not enough for you, make sure and check out our Resident Evil 5 pictures area for tons of screenshots and artwork, as well as our Resdient Evil 5 wallpaper area for both official and HolyFragger.com exclusive wallpapers!