Resident Evil 5 is the best couch co-op game ever and needs a remake

A reader argues that Resident Evil 5 deserves a remake, not only because it’s a good game but because its co-op mode is the best in gaming.

There’s been a lot of talk recently, about a new survey that showed the majority of people, especially older gamers, prefer single-player games to multiplayer. This has always been my experience and the only reason this isn’t reflected in the games that get made seems to be that publishers make more money off multiplayer, via microtransactions.

That makes sense, even if it’s annoying, but what the survey also reveals is that local co-op is much more popular than you’d imagine given the number of big budget games that are made with the option, which rounds down to basically none.

Why is an absolutely mystery to me and I’m certain that not including the option in the latest Halo is a big reason why it wasn’t the return to form that was expected. It seems mad not to consider the option important, because It Takes Two has sold over 20 million copies. 20 million! And it’s not even very good, or at least not compared to Resident Evil 5.

After the glory of Resident Evil 4, series creator Shinji Mikami left Capcom and at that point things were never quite the same again. Resident Evil 5 and 6 are generally considered to be the worst mainline games in the series and when it comes to 6 I think that’s absolutely fair.

If you think Assassin’s Creed is bloated then you haven’t played Resident Evil 6, which is so stuffed with plot strands, game modes, and characters that it almost seems like a mini-game collection. It’s also terribly designed, with bad combat, and is basically no fun at all. And that’s despite it having two-player co-op all the way through.

The reason it has co-op is because it was pioneered with the previous game, Resident Evil 5, which used it as its main selling point. Resident Evil 5 is not nearly as bad a game as 6. It’s much more focused, for a start, but it certainly does have the problem that it’s not scary, but then it’s not trying to be. It’s a pretty bad Resident Evil game but it is, in my opinion, a great co-op game.

Chris Redfield is the main playable character but in single-player the whole thing comes across as a fairly shallow and linear shooter. But play with a friend in couch co-op and it’s transformed into something completely different.

Part of the appeal is because the gameplay throws a lot more enemies at you in co-op and there’s no way you can take them all on yourself. You partner has to help out or you’re both doomed, so, since you’re both sitting on the same sofa there’s lots of arguing, strategising, and blaming each other – the classic elements of any good co-op.

There are some puzzles and situations which are different in co-op, than when you play on your own, forcing you to co-operate further, and it’s obvious that the game was always designed with two people as the primary mode. That is extremely rare for a big budget video game, both then and now, and that’s a real shame.

It annoys me that Resident Evil 5 is looked down as a lesser entry because while admittedly it’s not really a survival horror it is a really fun game. The portrayal of Africa is iffy, especially the bit in the village, and I’m not going to defend that, but it was also questioned at the time and could easily be fixed in a remake.

No matter the other problems, the gameplay is fantastic and what’s extra annoying is that Resident Evil 5 is still the best-selling entry in the series. Not 7 or Village or any of the remakes but 5, the one everyone thinks is a lame duck and whose main feature has only ever been used once more, in 6.

Add this to things like the sales of It Takes Two and you’ve go to ask why aren’t more Resident Evil games co-op? And why aren’t more games in general co-op? I really have no idea. I guess it’s because they don’t need microtransactions. Resident Evil 5 absolutely deserves a remakes so it can prove to publisher that couch co-op is a much bigger draw than they realise.

By reader Golem