The slightly burnt folks over at CrispyGamer have a two part preview up covering some playtime through Resident Evil 5. Done co-op style, the preview talks about each person's perspective in their own going battle against zombies, zombies with flaming arrows, zombies with bags on their heads, and of course zombie dogs.
The preview focuses on some of the game's highlights including some escape style moments that sound eerily similar to Left 4 Dead's final four sequences. Overall they seemed impressed, and found the game a nice change of pace, though it may be too slow for people. Thankfully there are some control options to tweak things up. Inventory plays a big role in surival, so hopefully there's a way to share or trade items between players. Keep reading for some highlighted excerpts.
Fischer: As soon as we're back on our feet, the concerns about pacing fade into the background, and skills recently honed in Left 4 Dead come to the fore. Mastrapa and I are standing right next to each other, so there's no lag as we call targets, stridently note incoming dangers and briefly confer about strategy, which mostly boils down to making sure we've used every possible object to barricade doors and windows. I appreciate the flashing notifications that serve as "partner in trouble" alarms, and we quickly see some of the close combat maneuvers that a tap of the "B" button will unleash when near a pinned teammate.
Of course nobody likes to be alone.
Mastrapa: I feel a nagging sense of anxiety when parted from Sheva. Nobody has my back; I'm alone with these mindless monsters and I don't like it. I'm inside a narrow, multi-story building, with a locked gate on the bottom floor and a set of stairs. Before I'm reunited with Sheva, I move cautiously into a sort of bathroom. In the last dirty stall there stands a single villager -- just waiting for me. He lunges and grabs me. I grapple with the fiend, but it's no good. Luckily Sheva has found me. She frees me from my entanglement and we fill the monster with lead. I'm not entirely sure how Sheva found me, but I'm glad she did
Of course there's the infamous boss battles, no co-op-ified.
Mastrapa: Our second run at Baghead is much more organized. Fischer and I learn to stand close and swap ammunition. I pass him all the machine gun shells I come across, and he makes sure I'm up to my elbows in rifle shells. We make our way through the various obstacles with ease and prepare our strategy for taking down Baghead. We notice that flammable cans line the alley. Our plan is to fall back once we encounter our enemy and burn him good before he gets a chance to slice us up again. And our plan works like a charm. I run all the way back towards the gate that Sheva had unlocked earlier, and take aim with my rifle. When I'm not triggering explosions, I spend my time ventilating Baghead and his many minions. It takes a while for us to chip away at this powerful creature. But soon he falls.
You can find Part 1 and Part 2 at CrispyGamer.