Then again, our sympathies for the exploited locals were tested by our hands-on time, much of which was spent bricking it as ammo clips ran dry to the sound of nearby chainsaws. The enemies here retain the unpredictable charging behavior of Los Ganados, stalking you one moment and swinging for the fences the next. And when you toss in new airborne enemies – big locust-type things that swoop down from the rooftops – you end up shooting anything that moves.

This was all in co-op, of course; our wingman tasked with guiding Sheva through exposed buildings and tight alleys while we (Redfield) miserably failed to assist. Any skepticism as to the whole co-op thing, though, was pretty much dispelled by the smart back-and-forth of objectives, opportunities and peril. Smart level design means you’re often forced apart, relying on your partner to, say, unlock a door while you snipe the foes around them. Your own safety, meanwhile, is threatened by thuds and shouts from nearby rooms, with neither player given a free ride. As one player runs out of ammo, the other typically finds some; for every first aid spray you give, you’ll later need one in return. The need for cooperation is constant.

Actually, this shanty town level isn’t the best showcase of the game. It does some great things with its terrain: the pathways are crooked both horizontally and vertically, winding up and around the ramshackle houses. But the small gaggles of enemies, whose heads occasionally pop to make way for thrashing tentacles, are similar to those of RE4, suggesting that ‘angry local’ is the new zombie.

New to the TGS build was an alternate control scheme designed to ease newcomers into the action. Perhaps we’ve grappled with tank controls and general Resident Evil weirdness for too long now, but it seems a mite unnecessary. One control scheme feels as effective and intuitive as the other; the claims of Gears of War-style immediacy misleading. A far tougher sell is the continued lack of strafe abilities while aiming; an unrealistic hangover from the Resident Evil games of old.

Nov 21, 2008