Genre: Action

Reviewed on: Xbox 360

Available for: 360 & PS3

Publisher: Capcom

Developer: Capcom

Rating: 18 (BBFC)

Multiplayer: Split-Screen, System Link and Online

The Resident Evil series has evolved dramatically since it first showed it’s grotesquely zombiefied face back in 1996. Gone are the cheesy one liners and poor script writing and gone are the crude polygon blocks and awful character movements. Admittedly the game was good back then, as all games suffered from these problems, but things have moved on – and so has Resident Evil.

Playing more like the action heavy Resident Evil 4 rather than its predecessors, players take the fight against bio-terrorism to Africa in the role of either the veteran Resident Evil hero Chris Redfield or newcomer Sheva Albmar. It would be easy to think that an African backdrop could get boring, after all it could just be a load of dust and dilapidated buildings. But Capcom’s beautiful fictional country, Kijuju has stunning visuals that vary greatly from chapter to chapter and are brought to life with incredible in-game graphics and breathtaking cinematic cutscenes.

Capcom have done something that most survival horror developers have never dared before – they set most of Resident Evil 5 during the daytime. But because of the concoction of hi-tension music, chilling moans and furious shouting paired with the fast paced, deformed creatures that will stop at nothing to kill you – it’s far scarier than the dark could ever be.

Players can go solo, having the incredibly clever AI control their partner or they can go online and team up with a friend to thwart the evil that has now taken residence on their console.

Although the controls can initially seem clumsy, it’s simply because the game plays like no other. But give it a short while and the button presses will start to flow smoothly with grace and confidence.

The selection of weapons is plentiful but the ammo is often sparse, forcing players to often get up-close and personal with the enemy. Expect a challenge, expect gore and expect brown underpants – they’re all sure things here.

It’s clear that Resident Evil 5 will be huge amongst the series fans and huge amongst gamers in general. In our opinion it’s the best game to have been released so far this year and is easily going to be one of the highlights of 2009. This is not a game to be missed.

SCORE: 9 / 10