Torn limb from limb - Resident Evil 5

Resident Evil – 1996 - PlayStation

RE 5’s dev team is not short of quality. The project is being overseen by Keiji Inafune, the Dead Rising maestro who also worked as promotional producer on RE 2 and executive director on the enhanced PS2 RE 4 port. The producer, Jun Takeuchi, is not only extremely experienced (Onimusha and Lost Planet are some of the projects he put to bed) but also intimately familiar with the series. He worked as motion director for RE 2, and, most intriguingly, character design for the original. Additionally, most of the “underlings” worked on the original Resident Eviltoo.

It’s fairly obvious that the original RE’s Chris Redfield is the main character in 5 - instead of denying, Capcom giggles when we ask them this - and with online play confirmed, we wouldn’t bet against Jill Valentine or even his sister Claire making a high-def return. But of more interest is this team’s pledge to return to the thematics of the original game - RE 1 was an altogether more claustrophobic affair, shepherding you down endless labyrinthine sewers and tunnels, and if the heat in RE 5’s setting is as searing as the early trailer makes out, expect Chris to head underground sooner rather than later.