I played the third level of "Resident Evil 5" today in an unusually opulent hotel room. I spent my time there enjoying a short piece of the the third level of the game.
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I went to a fancy New York City hotel at noon today and played the end of level three of Capcom's "Resident Evil 5."
I played it co-op, controlling Chris Redfield, while two Capcom reps and an MTV colleague took turns playing the co-op partner character, Sheva, on a second TV.
We were doing this in one of the fanciest hotel rooms I've ever been in, one located right past a nude bust (of course!). The room didn't just have a nice couch and chairs, it had an old-fashioned desk set up next to framed pictures of U.S. presidents, a bar, canopied beds, a bathroom with a bidet -- and the room service served only served filet-mignon burgers.
An "RE5" sign had been sent outside the room. I wonder what the other guests thought.
None of this fanciness had any bearing on "Resident Evil 5" other than to make for an odd setting.
The section of the level I played (this would be a spoiler?) involved Chris and Sheva motoring down a river on a boat, past docks bearing angry virus-infected African men. These men shot guns, threw flaming objects and, thankfully, stood next to giant explosive red barrels. The shooting from the boat was on-rails. There was occasional action off the boat and a boss battle. (this would end the spoiler!)
I played the game at normal difficulty. The action was intense; the explosions were big. It wasn't very scray, but it was exciting in an action-movie way. And if I played it well I think I could have cleared the whole thing in about 10 minutes.
I asked one of the Capcom reps what I should make of the length. He told me I had just played a small piece that completes the first third of the game. But, he added, the levels in the first third of the game go by briskly. The subsequent levels are far longer. (The XBLA/PSN demo, by the way, apparently has just pieces of the "RE5"'s first two levels, just as what I played is part of the game's third level).
The other "Resident Evil" games I've played, "Resident Evil" (GameCube remake) and "Resident Evil 4" were full-sized games, lasting at least a dozen hours each -- double that, if my memory of "RE4" is correct. So I don't expect "RE5" to be short. But today's demo suggested that the action-movie pacing may move the game along more quickly than expected in its opening levels before settling into a more conventional pace.
"Resident Evil 5" ships for the Xbox 360 and PS3 on March 13.
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