Capcom Shakes Up Resident Evil 5

The series' new director wants to hang onto the survival-horror franchise's celebrated past but still grasp the future.

Do you tire of being funnelled down a predetermined path, only meeting the enemies you're supposed to in a world devoid of choice? So does Jun Takeuchi. The director of Capcom's Resident Evil 5 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 says that with games about to enter the next generation it's time gameplay did likewise.

In a recent interview with Japanese magazine Famitsu, as reported by GameSpot, Takeuchi hinted that he'd like to push the next Resident Evil game along the same road as Valve's hit PC shooter Half-Life 2, where the story was an organic element that gained life as you made decisions in the game, rather than see it carry on the shoot-zombie-open-door-see-movie-clip trend running through the series.

But while the director was keen to talk about how the story should ideally unfurl, he was less ready to divulge specifics about the main character seen in the recent video footage released for the game.

Many have taken it as fact that it is the original Resident Evil's Chris Redfield, but Takeuchi would only say that the character is a favourite of his development team, which is comprised of several members of the original creative outfit.

One element returning from the successful series' past is the feel of the most recent instalment, Resident Evil 4. While Resident Evil 5 is set to follow on from the story begun in the first three games, gameplay inspiration has been taken from its direct predecessor.

Don't' expect the game for a while though. Resident Evil 5 is Capcom's top priority and the team is determined to get it done properly.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games