Resident Evil 5 shouldn't be remade but the next game has to be co-op

A reader insists that Resident Evil 9 should focus on co-op, and that remaking Resident Evil 5 would be a major mistake.

There’s a massive trade in rumours and datamining and hacking within video game fandom, where everyone’s looking to get the next big scoop and prove they alone know everything that’s going on but, really, you don’t need an uncle that works at Nintendo to work out most secrets. Want to know what unannounced game is coming up next? That’s easy, just ask yourself what sold well just recently.

The Resident Evil 4 remake did great and it was critically very successful so there’s no question: more is to come. In fact, you don’t even need to make that small logical leap, a Capcom director has already said they want to do more. But which one? That’s the real question.

The problem is that they’re now all out of classics, especially after they said they won’t do Code: Veronica. Your only options are Resident Evil 1, which has already been remade once; Resident Evil Zero, which isn’t that great; Resident Evil 6, which is terrible; and Resident Evil 5, which is… problematic.

Whatever your view on how Africa was portrayed in Resident Evil 5 the fact is it was a public relations disaster the first time round and Capcom should count themselves very lucky they got through that unscathed. It’s not for me to say whether it’s racist or not but what I can say is that it wasn’t a very good game. Its wasn’t as bad as Resident Evil 6 (few things are) but both games were a massive step down from Resident Evil 4.

When series creator Shinji Mikami left Capcom it created a massive hole, that wasn’t really filled until Resident Evil 7 over a decade later. Resident Evil 5 tried to copy 4 but everything it copied ended up being worse, in terms of the action, the puzzles, the set pieces, the pacing… everything was the same but not as good.

What saved the game was the co-op, which I thought was amazing. It’s not much fun on your own but I played it with my mate at uni and we loved every minute, despite secretly knowing the game itself would never have seemed as good if it was just standard single-player.

You’d have to remake Resident Evil 5 from top to bottom to both make it a good game and to ensure no-one is offended by it, and it’s just not worth the effort. Especially as you then end up doing all the games except 6, which will seem very odd. (I’m sure they’ll get round to another Resident Evil 1 remake eventually, maybe next gen or in VR.)

What I propose though is that the focus of Resident Evil 9 be co-op. It was the best thing about 5 but Capcom went so over-the-top with it in 6 that they threw the baby out with the bathwater and decided not to do co-op any more in a main game (they did it again in the Revelations series and it was really good there).

So, I suggest that Resident Evil 9 have two-player co-op, somewhat like Resident Evil 5, but that it concentrate on having better set pieces and pacing, and work out how to make it scarier – because having someone else along with you naturally makes that harder. My suggestion would be making it so your partner can be infected and then they have to eat your brains instead of helping you, but I’m sure Capcom can think of something better.

As for the next remake, just pick one of the spin-offs. Outbreak or Revelations 2 would be best or, heck, turn Game Boy Color game Resident Evil Gaiden into a full-blow 3D adventure. Or, just as good, remake Dino Crisis. Whatever happens next it has to involved co-op but I don’t think that should mean Resident Evil 5 again.

By reader Crosscut

he reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.

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