Resident Evil 5 co-op details

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

Due out for Xbox 360 and PS3 on Friday the 13th March 2009.

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/888/888777p2.html

Click the link for videos and pictures

July 14, 2008 - Resident Evil 5 is doubling up the tension with the addition of cooperative play. Announced and debuted at Microsoft's E3 Press Conference, co-op play will be available throughout RE5 on both Xbox 360 and PS3.

We spoke with RE5 Producer Jun Takeuchi to get the full details on how co-op play will work. Is it hop-in/hop-out play? How is death handled? And just who is this girl Sheva? We get these answers and more.

IGN: Does the co-op work from start to finish or do you have to reach a certain point in the story before someone can join?

Jun Takeuchi: There is no limitation to the story mode in terms of co-op play. It will allow a player to participate in the other's game as his partner at any time [but] the host will always be Chris. Unlike NPC controls, [the AI] will actively identify the partner and take appropriate actions. There will be no change in story elements, but attack routes will probably change.

IGN: How does co-op work? Is it hop-in hop-out co-op or do you have to start a mission together?

Takeuchi: It's going to be a hop-in hop-out anywhere, free system, but the functionality might be made unavailable at a certain sections of the game.

IGN: If I join someone else's game, do I earn anything that I can use in my own game later on?

Takeuchi: Yes.

IGN: Are there going to be any Achievements/Accomplishments tied to co-op play?

Takeuchi: There will be some Achievements that can be only gained through co-op play. The details will be revealed later.

IGN: What can you tell us about the girl who joins you in the campaign?

Takeuchi: Her name is Sheva Alomar. She is a B.S.A.A. agent from Africa and will appear as Chris Redfield's partner. She is adept with firearms and hand-to-hand combat. Her moves can even overwhelm Chris.

IGN: If you're not playing with anyone else, will Sheva still be around? And how different do you think she'll react with AI controlling her rather than a human?

Takeuchi: Sheva will be controlled by AI as an NPC in the single player mode. Her performance will improve when she is controlled by a human, but it'll depend on the player. It will make an especially important difference in phases where communication between gamers plays a big role.

IGN: There are quite a number of Resident Evil characters that could have joined Chris Redfield. Why create a new character and not just use someone gamers are already familiar with?

Takeuchi: There was a long list of characters that came up as candidates. Every one of them had strong enthusiasts amongst the team. Satisfying all of them would require us to line up all the characters and create a variety of stories corresponding to each of them. It was just impossible to create such a volume of work, and that would also make it difficult to establish the story line we had planned. Additionally, staging within a new location required us to bring in a local guide, one who is familiar with the region. All of these factors convinced us to use a brand-new character.

IGN: How are those quick time events going to be different in co-op? Will both players be required to repeat the commands that pop-up on screen? If your friend goofs, will you both pay for his mistake?

Takeuchi: Unfortunately, one of the players' mistake will be both the players' responsibility.

IGN: Rescue moments (or whatever they may be called) allow players to save their companion from certain doom, can you explain what the basics of how this system works and what are some situations in which they can be used?

Takeuchi: The basics of it is to overcome obstacles through cooperation. Rescue dramas will enhance trust between the partners in a survival situation.

IGN: How are you handling death in co-op? If my co-op partner dies is there a way to revive them and if not, when will they be able to rejoin?

Takeuchi: The game will be over if one of them dies, but the players will be allowed to rejoin at a pre-determined checkpoint, rather than with a typewriter.

IGN: The RE series has always required you to conserve your ammo/items. Will there be more items available in co-op or will you have to be really careful with resources this time around?

Takeuchi:This time too, the players should be careful with ammo. However, since the partners can freely share items, they will be able to utilize more resources than before if they can coordinate resource handling.

IGN: Will there ever be areas in the game that require simultaneous but separate actions from both players to advance (a two-part puzzle, for example), or is the primary function of the partner to help you destroy everything in site?

Takeuchi:Destroying an enemy is not enough, so there will be points that can only be cleared together with the partner. Some of them might be very hard to clear.

IGN: Will RE5 allow players to customize their aiming options?

Takeuchi: There will be several customized options. This will be a major change for the franchise.

IGN: Are there technical differences between the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions? PSN and XBL work very differently, has this affected how co-cop works?

Takeuchi: The differences would not affect RE5 as a whole, but there will be some small differences based on platform.

IGN: Will there be split-screen, single-system co-op in addition to online?

Takeuchi: We have really focused on pushing the graphics to incredible heights so far, and that hasn't allowed us to explore split-screen, single-system co-op yet. It's at the top of our list.

IGN: As good as the game looks, one of the most common early criticisms of RE5 pre-release is that it looks like an upgraded RE4; besides the new co-op feature, what else separates the game from its predecessor?

Takeuchi: We took the comment simply as an initial response. It seems to be reasonable, based on the limited information provided. In fact, to be evaluated as an upgrade of the great previous title is really positive feedback. In reality however, we have developed the most progressive RE title in the entire series, so the criticism is not accurate. It doesn't follow the lead of the previous title, but instead develops into an unimaginable story. As soon as you get your hands on it, you'll recognize the difference.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

I'm playing RE4 right now. The game has quirks that annoyed the hell out of me at first, like not being able to strafe, no shooting and running at the same time, you can't crouch and shoot and you point your gun at an angle and Leon's head takes up a chunk of the screen. I've gotten used to it all, but I wonder about the improvements in RE5. It should be good, but I always hated the resource crap with ammo.

Imagine some newb jumping into your game, picks up all the ammo drops, wastes his shots everywhere and then kills himself by accident with his own rocket launcher causing you to restart at a checkpoint.

Imagine that possible bullshit. X'D

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

But the controls are a vast improvement over the previous option for the series. They make them that way so you're not too powerful against the freaks. From what I've read, the mechanics are pretty much the same for RE5, but the melee has been improved and expanded.

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some co-op goodness

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[Sledgstone 8,672]

Thanks for posting those vids. That looked pretty impressive. The fact that Sheva played on the right side of the screen set me off at first, but it only makes sense. When they're in each others screen it prevents some of the overlap of the two characters. It looked like they had ducking abilities and that was nice. But holy shit, did you see the amount of ammo they were unloading on the enemies? Thats what always pisses me off with the game, you could run out of ammo so quick or you could die much faster because you get overwhelmed. With two people in the game and when either one dies you have to restart at a checkpoint, I hope they make the characters at least take less damage or have green herbs growing everywhere. I'd hate having to restart constantly. *has fingers crossed for this one*

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

I do think that it kind of stupid. You should be able to heal them with a herb or something. I like the evolution of RE into the modern, but health bars are kind of outdated as more shooters move to the regenerate method. (screen turns more red until you die if you take too much damage, and slowly clears up if you avoid harm for long enough). Gears of War and Army of Two have demonstrated partner healing, so it is possible to put into this game... Capcom needs to step up and modernize, its not like it would be easy to heal your partner while zombies and freaks are swarming you.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

With all the biological things covered in RE, you'd think they'd cover that ability by having the main characters given some sort of regenerative inoculation or something.

BTW, do you think they'll actually have someone selling ammo in the game? RE4 had that merchant with every weapon in the game, but the bastard wouldn't sell a single damn shotgun shell or TMP ammo. You could only get ammo off an enemy kill or finding them somewhere in the game. But if you sniper a enemy, you have to run to get the damn ammo drop or it'll disappear. And with no real enemy respawning, you couldn't never go back to another area with weaker enemies just to try and harvest some ammo. Annoys the hell out of me.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

With all the biological things covered in RE, you'd think they'd cover that ability by having the main characters given some sort of regenerative inoculation or something.

BTW, do you think they'll actually have someone selling ammo in the game? RE4 had that merchant with every weapon in the game, but the bastard wouldn't sell a single damn shotgun shell or TMP ammo. You could only get ammo off an enemy kill or finding them somewhere in the game. But if you sniper a enemy, you have to run to get the damn ammo drop or it'll disappear. And with no real enemy respawning, you couldn't never go back to another area with weaker enemies just to try and harvest some ammo. Annoys the hell out of me.

I doubt it . Thats RE's mainstay, limited ammo that you have to use wisely. He did refill your gun with ammo if you upgraded it, thats about as good as it got. They should at least make a mystery bag of ammo or something. You could buy it and it would contain random types of ammuniton.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

Yep, I bought the ultimate shotgun uprade for the striker just so I could get the 100 shells.

They could always offset the ability to buy ammo by having more enemies to compensate for the increased ammo supply. With the inventory space so f*cking small, purchasing ammo wisely could be another aspect of the game.

Did you notice in the videos it looks like they strap the weapons on their backs instead of storing them in an attache case? Maybe that will help clear up alot of the inventory storage problems of having two or three guns taking up 3/4 of your case.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

Yep, I bought the ultimate shotgun uprade for the striker just so I could get the 100 shells.

They could always offset the ability to buy ammo by having more enemies to compensate for the increased ammo supply. With the inventory space so f*cking small, purchasing ammo wisely could be another aspect of the game.

Did you notice in the videos it looks like they strap the weapons on their backs instead of storing them in an attache case? Maybe that will help clear up alot of the inventory storage problems of having two or three guns taking up 3/4 of your case.

Yeah, they must have taken cue from Mass Effect and Rainbow Six Vegas on that aspect. I'm not sure if it will save space in storage, but it will save a lot of pause time changing weapons. I think MGS4 had it best, where you had 5 slots in you weapons menu, 8-10 in your items menu, and you could choose what goes in those slots from you inventory from the start menu. The difficulty setting determined how much ammo and heath restore items you could carry in your inventory. It was an overhauled and vastly improved backpack system from MGS3.