While Steve is on vacation, Erich breaks into the studio to record a podcast filled with rants and ramblings about not having time to play games and other side effects of getting old. He is joined by fellow old-timers Adam and Tim, who manage to calm gramps down long enough to talk about Halo Wars, Resident Evil 5, Alan Wake, and the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion.

Have your own list of games you own but haven’t played yet? Share it in the comments below, over in the DVD Verdict Jury Room forums, or by emailing feedback@pixelverdict.com.

Blast Processing theme song by Dan “String Vulture” Moore.

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Erich, Tim, and Adam take the podcast to strange new places this week, covering exotic topics like personal computers, friend codes, and whether modern video games are too complicated to attract new players. In the newly named (thanks to Tim) “Now Playing” segment, the boys talk World of Warcraft addiction, Resident Evil 5 woes, Mario Kart, Picross DS, and Tiger Woods 10. In News, Tim looks forward to Brutal Legend; Adam’s joy about potential PS2 backwards compatibility on the PS3 is dampened by a cynical take on Sony’s business model; and Erich fires back at the Wii “Demo Play” whiners. Dave may not be on the podcast this week, but he’s here in spirit thanks to his most bizarre Symposium Ad Nauseum topic yet: “Video game character you would least like to be trapped with in the boiler room of Bayside High during the senior prom.” Yikes!

Get in touch with us by emailing feedback@pixelverdict.com, commenting in this thread, or heading over to the DVD Verdict Jury Room forums.

You can listen to the show with the player below, download it here, or subscribe through iTunes or by adding our feed to your podcatcher of choice.

Finally got around to wrapping up the Resident Evil 5 single player run-through on Veteran mode.  As a mega-fan of RE4 but not someone who was plugged into the series before then, I had El Gigante-sized expectations for Capcom’s anticipated follow-up.

The short of it: I agree with everything that’s been said about its action-focus over horror, but man if it isn’t some primo action.  I love this game.

Spoiler-laden reactions after the jump.

I get the criticisms of the controls.  Yes, it is counter-intuitive to draw your gun and not be able to move, but that’s just how Resident Evil rolls, you know?  Having played RE4 into the ground, the transition to 5′s tank layout was easy, though stopping to load then taking a wrench in the face by a bad guy wasn’t super-enjoyable.

But I adapted.  The game compensates for that rooted-in-placeness, as the enemies often wait before attacking.  Just time your attacks and reloading right and you should be okay.  Really, about five minutes in, the controls were second-nature, so please don’t get scared off of the game because of non-strafing horror stories you hear.  If you do you’re missing out on a supremely cool action experience.

"Anyone here from out of town? You, with the shotgun and the biceps, are you trying to compensate for something? Hello, is this thing on?"

Stuff I Liked

1.  The boss fights. They truly are huge and varied and the solutions to them typically don’t involve just opening fire with your Magnum.  The giant smackdown with the tentacle thing at the end is legendary.

2.  The head shot-to-melee combo.  This is the bread and butter of besting your foes in RE5 and it’s half-a-loaf of fun.  Pop someone  in the face with a handgun shot, walk up and lay them out with a straight punch.  You can also chain melee moves in co-op or sneak around a kneeling enemy and snap his neck.

3.  The length. I’m pretty sure RE4 is longer, but RE5 isn’t brisk.  The chapters are long and the settings are varied.  You’re running through shanty-towns, laying waste to indigenous tribes, screwing around an oil refinery and laying siege to a battleship.  It’s a meaty, satisfying adventure.

4.  Sheva.  She’s a great AI construct.  Though I anticipate playing co-op with another human, Capcom hit paydirt with your CPU partner.  She doesn’t get in the way and is quick to heal you and give you stuff.  Yeah, she relies too much on her handgun, but then again she’s accomplished at those head shots, freeing you to walk up and let fly a beatdown.

5.  The tech. Just look at this game.  Wow.  And the music is perfectly suited to getting your blood pumping.

6.  The finale.  I can see how some players might think the ultimate showdown is drawn out, but this is Wesker and he deserves prolonged comeuppance.

7.  The story.  It’s not Camus-like, but what do you expect?  All we need is a coherent narrative to keep our heroes shooting dudes in the heads and though the madman-wanting-to-remake-the-world-in-his-image isn’t terribly original, it works fine enough.  No complaints from me.

Stuff That Didn’t Do It For Me

1.  The dogs.  Man I hated those dogs in the beginning.  They wrecked me.  Smoking the dastardly canines with my infinite shotgun ammo these days is cathartic.

2.  The dearth of puzzles.  Aside from one low-impact mirror-turning puzzle, there wasn’t anything to tease your brain.

3.  Scares are in short supply.  Another common criticism, but it’s valid, though hearing those barking dogs wasn’t a treat.

4.  Cant buy ammo from the store. This proved to be enormously frustrating at the end, facing mutant Wesker.  I was about ready to throw rocks because my ammo was so low.  Pro-tip: hoard Magnum ammo for the end boss fight.

5. “Chriiiiisssss!” We get it Wesker.  You’re not a fan.

As an action game junkie, I absolutely devoured this installment in the vaunted franchise.   The horror is most definitely derived from the “survival” aspect, as you’ll be relentlessly chased by all manners of bad guys and can’t run and shoot at the same time, but who cares: when a game is this polished and this fun, any shortcomings are easily discarded.

The Verdict: Not Guilty.  Commence chainsawing.

It’s a two-on-two showdown when Dave and Erich face off against Newfoundlanders Steve and Jon in an audio battle for North American supremacy. Actually, the boys just talk about gaming for an epic-ish hour and twenty minutes, including Resident Evil of the 4 and 5 varieties, the bloody good time that is Mad World on Wii, the casual awesomeness of Peggle on XBLA, Nintendo selling their 100 millionth DS, what Ninja Gaiden 2 going to PS3 means for fanboys everywhere, whether Resident Evil 5 DLC is worth it, and the possibility of fighting fans getting an update for Marvel vs. Capcom 2. They top it all off with an roundtable discussion of this week’s Symposium Ad Nauseum topic: cheapest bosses. Enjoy, and be sure to send all Steve Power hate mail to feedback@pixelverdict.com.

You can listen to the show with the player below, download it here, or subscribe through iTunes or by adding our feed to your podcatcher of choice.

You Don’t Have to Face Fear Alone

Opening Statement:

4 years after Resident Evil 4 re-energized the series and brought in an army of new fans, Resident Evil 5 is upon us. The name of the game this time around is co-op play, and the story is of the white-knuckle variety. There’s action, intensity and gore galore, but does it stand up to its now legendary predecessor?

Facts of the Case:

10 years have passed since Racoon City. The Umbrella Corporation lies in ruins, but their influence continues to be felt. Gripped in the fear of another worldwide biological incident, the World powers have formed the BSAA (Biological Security Assessment Alliance). With Umbrella’s stock in the toilet, and no Government bailout in sight, Chris Redfield, survivor of at least two previous Resident Evil games, joins up with the BSAA to stomp some more Zombies. His mission takes him to the fictional nation of Kijuju in Africa, where he will once again battle a horde of biological organic weapons (NOT Zombies), and he’ll hopefully tie up all the loose threads that have carried over throughout the series’ sprawling narrative. At his side is African BSAA agent Sheva Alomar, at his back is an old foe from games long past.

The Evidence:

Resident Evil 5 plays a LOT like Resident Evil 4. Most people will probably shout triumphantly at that bit of news. Those few who were hoping for the more puzzle-oriented experience of the first few games can keep moving on, it ain’t here. The gameplay is predominantly shooter-fare. You move from area to area, with a mini-map pointing you in the right direction, shooting whatever pops up in front of you. Occasionally some “on-rails” sections show up, and these are pretty great, and of course, you get some pretty creative Boss fights throughout. Where the game differs from other shooters, and indeed, one of the features that still makes this very much a Resident Evil title, is in the area of inventory management. Storage space is limited, allowing for the bare minimum of equipment to be carried. By the time you reach the third chapter, you’ll begin to realize that you can’t carry every weapon you pick up, and still manage to keep yourself in ammo and healing items. 

This is where your partner comes in. Make no bones about it, Resident Evil 5 is built entirely with co-operative play in mind. Sheva never leaves your side, whether playing split screen with another person on the couch (with the most bizarre screen setup i’ve ever seen), over the Playstation Network or Xbox Live, or with a CPU controlled partner. The Computer’s artificial intelligence is such that you won’t really have to babysit, but you will have to do a little more inventory management and item swapping to keep things running smoothly. You can also issue rudimentary commands that the computer can usually obey with little trouble. The ideal way to play is of course with a human driven partner, and the game gives you the ability to swap weaponry and items back and forth at your leisure. If one player decides to hoard all of the pick ups, you won’t get far.

The “gold for guns” and “upgrade my shootin’ iron” systems are back, though this time there’s no teleporting sexual deviant with a creepy voice hocking firearms around every corner. You get to purchase items when you load a new level, or when you perish. It works well enough, but you don’t get the same access to gear that you did in RE4, you also cannot buy ammunition for said guns, and running around bristling with small arms with no ammo to load in them definitely cramps your style. I’d also recommend using that hard earned gold for weapon upgrades rather than buying the latest and greatest, as basic weaponry does little damage, turning the vast majority of the bad dudes you’ll face into glorified bullet-sponges. Aiming for the head or neck helps, but not much. In split screen, both players share resources, while online players bring with them what they had from previous games they’ve played. 

What makes the lesser emphasis on firearms a little more confusing is the relatively high level of action present. Resident Evil 5 makes Gears of War look slow. Around every corner, over every wall, and in every room there are enemies to fillet and mutilate. And while one would think that would make the game considerably more difficult than RE4, the controls have been tweaked just enough to make things a little smoother, and the enemies are so tightly bunched for the most part that it’s impossible not to hit ‘em when you pray ‘n spray. This rapid pace carries over into the cutscenes, which also feature a ton of action, and a few scenes punctuated by extremely well implemented Quick time events . 

Resident Evil 5’s storyline is a decent effort. It does feel like more than just an excuse to throw copious amounts of lead at zombies, but at the same time there are definitely elements shoe-horned in there to suit the co-op nature of the gameplay. It’s great to see Chris Redfield again (last seen in the underrated Dreamcast outing, Resident Evil: Code Veronica), but there’s a subplot with his former partner, Jill Valentine (Of Resident Evil and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis) that just doesn’t gel well for me, though i’m told it actually fits into the main storyline, and comes from the utter crapfest that is Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles on the Wii. Flaws aside, I admire the efforts of the team to continue with the flavor of RE4’s gameplay while tying up the loose ends left dangling from the original series before RE4 took the narrative off the rails. This pretty much ensures that fans of both styles will get something out of Resident Evil 5. There are also some sudden, if not altogether unpredictable twists that occur and keep things moving. Sure it all boils down to cheesy melodrama, but it’s damn entertaining cheesy melodrama.

Technically, Resident Evil 5 is as good as it gets. It’s a stunning looking game on either console, with beautiful lighting and shadows, and suitably effective oversaturated colors. The character models are impeccable, the texture work is fantastic, and the environments are varied and show an insane attention to detail. The game uses the same “performance capture” technique used for Uncharted: Drake’s fortune, and the benefits of said method are easy to spot, giving the characters some amazing facial animations, and allowing for jaw-dropping cutscenes. It really doesn’t get any better than this. The sound is also solid, though it never quite reaches the same level as the graphics, fantastic orchestral score notwithstanding. 

Rebuttal Witness:

I’d love to say that Resident Evil 5 is the perfect game, but i’m a picky bastard. For one, the controls are a constant battle. Your character turns with all the speed of a water buffalo, and while you can adjust the aim speed in the menus, it never really reaches a level where you aren’t constantly correcting aim before you squeeze off a few rounds. This complaint is as old as Resident Evil 4, and is to be expected at this point. Sure it’s a stylish decision, but that doesn’t make it right. Also, the “no moving while shooting” rule has got to go! Got to! Sure it creates tension, but it creates equal amounts of frustration. There are also a few times where the camera gets a little hung up and all you can see in your field of view is Chris’s back, but these are few and far between. Then there’s the animation, which is great for the most part, but sometimes looks no better than RE4’s shambling.

Fans of the trademarked Resident Evil Boss Battle will have plenty to do, and some of the fights are pretty damn creative, but overall they lack the originality, and more importantly, the difficulty of Resident Evil 4’s often times truly EPIC encounters. Finally the sound effects are pretty much stock, and the firearms sound weak. Some more panning on the weapons, and maybe a little more volume on the bangs and booms would have been nice (though the exploding barrels are ok). As it is, they are often overpowered by the voices and ambiance. It’s far from a huge deal, but it bears mention.

Also worth talking about is the highly touted Collector’s Edition. This much more expensive edition includes a host of extra junk that is exactly that: junk! While the documentary is somewhat entertaining, it focuses entirely on making the cinematics for the game (which are directed by the same dude responsible for Wes Craven’s Pulse re-make from a few years back) and doesn’t really cover any other ground, the “Chris Figurine” is a little over two inches tall, and may or may not be in more than one piece, the iron-on patch and medallion are, well, an iron-on patch and medallion, and the “Tri-Cell” carrying bag is a flimsy piece of rubbish that may well have been made from zombie hide for all its durability. Unless you’re the hardest of the hard core, save the extra $20 to $25 bucks you would have to throw for the CE, and stick to the regular edition. Kudos To Capcom for putting together such a lavish set, but next time how about some better made swag.

Closing Statement:

Resident Evil 5 is a fantastic effort. In some respects it falls short of Resident Evil 4, it’s about half the length, and in other areas it soundly trumps it. Whether a fan of the series or someone looking for a good co-operative experience, this is your fix, and It’s a more cerebral game than Gears of War or Army of Two. It’s an adrenaline rush, and actually tells a decent story that pulls the curtain on the convoluted Resident Evil legacy. It’s not perfect, but Resident Evil has never been about perfection. 

The Verdict:

Platform: Microsoft Xbox360/ Sony Playstation 3 (Both versions reviewed)
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Release Date: March 13th, 2009
Rated: M(17+) for Mature.

Newcomers Steve and Tim join first-time host Erich and a sickly Dave for an hour of game-related chatter that includes hot-off-the-press impressions of Resident Evil 5, Ninja Blade, and Halo Wars, as well as belated Braid talk and the continuing obsession that is Street Fighter IV. The boys then perform a delayed autopsy on EGM, take on the expanding used game business, and blow their own blog-related trumpets, before winding down with upcoming games they don’t think anyone else is excited about. This podcast comes with a 7-day warranty. If you’re not totally satisfied, let us know at feedback@pixelverdict.com.

You can listen to the show with the player below, download it here, or subscribe through iTunes or by adding our feed to your podcatcher of choice.

The Charge:
Tokyo Under Siege! A Modern-Day Ninja For A 21^st Century Enemy!

Opening Statement:
From Software, purveyors of mecha-driven xbox360 gems like Chrome-Hounds and Armored Core 4, bring 360 fans an action experience that plays out like the twisted offspring of Ninja Gaiden and God of War. Heavy on cinematic action, big swords, huge bosses, crazy magic, and leather-clad uber-Ninjas, Ninja Blade has all the ingredients for a good time. But is this a tasty dish? Or is Ninja Blade better left to the Ninja dogs.

NOTE: This is a pre-release review. NINJA BLADE will be available on April 7

Facts of the Case:
Tokyo, 2015. Parasites known as alpha-worms have mysteriously appeared, unleashing a wave of human destruction as they rapidly spread. With the future of humankind hanging in the balance (isn’t it always?); an elite team of Ninja Commandoes is set loose on Tokyo. Their mission: eliminate the Alpha-Worm menace, or die trying. This should sound familiar to anyone who’s ever hoisted an Xbox or Xbox360 control pad after booting up a copy of one of Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden titles. From Studios have a few tricks up their sleeves however, and Ninja Blade winds up being a very different beast. You play as Ken Ogawa, a rookie Ninja learning the ropes in some kind of wacky Japanese government death squad that’s part Delta Force and part bad Sho Kosugi movie. From the opening scene, where your team of bad-ass Ninja killers dives from the loading ramp of an aircraft, minus parachutes of course, you’ll know that Ninja Blade is about three things, action, quick-time-events, and more action.

The Evidence:
One cannot look at Ninja Blade and not compare it to Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden series, its an impossibility. You are a Ninja, you have a selection of weapons and magic, and you do battle against a horde of demonic looking mutants. You are given all the tools and abilities you need to dart quickly from enemy to enemy, with rapid sword slashes dispatching said demons (sorry, mutants) with relative ease until you encounter one of the games many boss battles, wherein it becomes a game of figuring out attack patterns and whittling away at health bars while avoiding ridiculously powerful special attacks from behemoths the size of your screen. In that respect, Ninja Blade is just like any other game you’ve played in the so-called “stylish hard action” genre. Then comes the QTE’s, or Quick-Time-Events. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the concept, QTE’s are a way of involving a player in what is usually a very cinematic sequence of moves by flashing a prompt onscreen for you to follow, it’s basically a game of Simon, whereby you rush to slam the “X” button as it flashes on your screen before the extremely narrow window of opportunity closes. You act correctly, the QTE shows you something cool, and more buttons flash onscreen for you to press, and hopefully more cool things happen. These events pop up a lot in Ninja Blade, a whole lot, and if you are one of those people who hates this sort of thing, you will not be pleased with Ninja Blade, and you may as well close this tab now.

One of the game’s biggest strengths is definitely the control scheme. It’s not especially difficult to learn, and it’s nowhere near as punishing as the Ninja Gaiden series,  it could almost pass for Ninja Gaiden-lite if not for the amount of actions Ken is capable of executing. There’s a feeling of finesse to Ken’s acrobatic feats, and the speed of your attacks is pretty blinding, leaving little room for enemies to interrupt your flow once you get your groove on. Within an hour after starting you should have things pretty well mastered. You’ll have a healthy variety of weapons with varying attack speeds and power levels, and you should be more than capable of some “Prince of Persia” style wall runs, this is one instance where Ken feels agile and skilled enough to kick Ryu’s ass (Ken? Ryu? Waitaminute…). That’s not to say the shallow learning curve makes the game easy, it isn’t. There’s almost a platform feel to some of the action, where you spend more time jumping and climbing than fighting. These levels go a long way to breaking up the monotony of slashing through wave after wave of identical bad guys, and From software have definitely made a few good calls with the overall flow and feel of the gameplay.

Rebuttal Witness:
Ninja Blade definitely suffers in the presentation department. The unassuming box art pretty much captures the essence of the game’s visuals. There’s really not a whole lot going on here. It’s certainly not an ugly game, technically speaking, but from an art design standpoint it’s pretty stale. Doubly disappointing is that Ken Ogawa and the other central characters were designed by veterans at Capcom (Lost Planet’s lead character designer, Keiji Nakaoka, under the supervision of Resident Evil 5 producer Hiroshi Takeuchi). Let’s just say they won’t be winning any popularity contests anytime soon, Ken’s look is about as generic as his name. The environments, based on actual areas around Tokyo, also have a pretty monotone feel. This is a “grey” game, a lot of concrete and steel, and everything takes place at night. The framerate does remain rock solid, animation quality is more than adequate, and there are occasional moments where some very cool visual effects pop in, including a great view of the nighttime city skyline. Overall the graphical quality is hindered more than helped by lackluster art design, it definitely looks like a 360 game, but it won’t be turning heads.

The sound suffers from similar problems. Slashes and explosions of violence remain pretty stock, and while the script does have moments of razor sharp wit, the voice acting is pretty standard fare. The game does give you the opportunity to choose from Japanese, English, or a Bilingual track (where Japanese characters speak Japanese and vice versa) which is a great touch, but everything remains pretty pedestrian throughout. The music is much the same; it gets the job done without too much attention being drawn to itself, for better or for worse.

The plot is threadbare, which in itself isn’t much to complain about, and it definitely trumps the likes of the Ninja Gaiden series in that department. That said, it’s far from compelling, and while not complete rubbish, like the graphics and sound, it’s completely generic save for some witty one-liners from our hero protagonist.

These issues give the game a bit of a scattered feel. It doesn’t quite feel like a budget title, nor does it feel like something you should be paying full price for. There’s definitely polish there, it’s just been focused on the controls and gameplay rather than presentation (which im sure could be said to be a good thing). If it had been released a few years ago, I’m sure Ninja Blade could have been heir to the throne;  it’s worth playing, but other games out there have done it better in past years, even on older consoles.

Closing Statement:
Ninja Blade does so very much right. The action is great, and the pacing is blisteringly fast and relentless. It cribs from pretty much every other game in the genre, from Devil May Cry to God of War to (of course) Ninja Gaiden, and makes for a rather good time if you’re a fan of this particular genre. Hardcore Ninja Gaiden: Black/Ninja Gaiden: Sigma fans may want to give this a try to wash away the disappointment of last year’s Ninja Gaiden II. You’ll get some epic boss battles, and more than enough difficulty without the frustration. It’s a shame that From Software couldn’t have borrowed some of the character of these other games to go along with the solid gameplay to create a less generic Ninja romp. As it stands, it’s a great rental to burn a weekend on, and maybe a purchase for the hardcore “stylish action” gamers out there.

The Verdict:

Platform: Microsoft Xbox360
Developer: From Software
Publisher: Microsoft
Release Date: April 7, 2009
Rated: M(17+) for Mature.