There are always high expectations for sequels that have received positive critical reception, and those expectations have a long way to fall when some of them inevitably aren't met. Resident Evil 4 received nearly universal praise for breathing new life into an outdated series when it was first released in 2005. Four years later, the third-person shooters that RE4's innovations have inspired make it difficult for a sequel to have the same impact. Nonetheless, Resident Evil 5 tries to recreate the magic of its predecessor, only to stumble here and there due to excessive cloning of gameplay elements. That's not to say that Resident Evil 5 isn't a good game - it's just a poor sequel.

While Resident Evil 4 strayed from the main storyline of the series in order to introduce players to faster, more intelligent adversaries, Resident Evil 5 returns to the main plot and tries to wrap everything up with similar enemies known as Majini. Chris Redfield, one of the protagonists from the first game in the franchise, returns as a member of an anti-terrorism group attempting to prevent the sale of a biological weapon in a fictional African country. There, Chris teams up with Sheva Olimar, a local who is quick to embrace Chris as her partner. The two quickly find themselves caught up in a non-stop killing spree through villages, mines, swamps, labs, and military facilities, all to chase an incredibly weak lead revealed by a boss early on.

Resident Evil 5 is built around co-op, allowing a friend to jump in and survive the horror at your side.

It would be unfair to judge a Resident Evil title harshly for having a weak story, since the series has never seen fit to rise above campy B-movie dialogue and weak plot twists, but it's hard to tell if Capcom was trying to be serious with this game. Outside of a few predictable moments, the plot is practically non-existent, which makes most of the carnage seem a bit uncalled for. Overall, the narrative is pretty bad unless you're a rabid fan of everything Resident Evil.

The core gameplay introduced in RE4 has gone relatively unchanged in RE5. As such, tank controls have returned, meaning you'll have to stop and pivot to shoot. There have many complaints levied against these controls since the release of the demo, but most of them are unjustified. They're still quite functional within the context of the game and aren't much of an issue once you acclimate to them. There are also a few minor additions like the ability to strafe and a few more button layout options, but that's about it.

As in every Resident Evil game, ammo conservation is constantly on your mind as you progress. The fear of not having enough ammo to face stronger enemies in greater numbers creates a constant tension that fans of the series have come to enjoy. The most obvious difference this time around is the inclusion of a partner who is never too far away. Sheva can either be controlled by a friend (locally or online), or by the AI. Working together to take out zombies, collect supplies, and upgrade weapons is a welcome change to the series, but it's obviously not a possibility for everyone. In those cases, Sheva's AI doesn't always function how you'd like.

With the conservation of ammunition being such a major focus, it can be frustrating to see how much ammo the AI wastes plugging enemies in the chest from across an open lot. It can also be aggravating when Sheva still uses her pistol when she has a shotgun and a stockpile of shells stored in her inventory. Thankfully, she's not all bad. Sheva is quick to heal you, saving you the hassle of navigating your inventory, and she's also sure to hand over any ammo that you could use. She typically responds right away when you call for help, and performs quite well in the sections where it's necessary to split up. It's just a shame you can't give her orders more specific than to be defensive or aggressive. You'll often find yourself treating Sheva as your workhorse, leaving her to carry extra supplies and never really bothering to invest money into her equipment.

Oddly, Resident Evil 5 features a much smaller inventory than before, where each item has its own equal sized slot and everything must be accessed in real-time. You can map four items to the d-pad for quick access, but it's important to always have your inventory organized so you don't get overwhelmed in the middle of a fight. As always, herbs can be combined to make more potent healing items and save space, but Chris and Sheva can't combine herbs between their inventories if they're both full. You'll often find yourself executing a complicated series of trades, wondering which item to drop, or just leaving herbs completely because your inventory is too crowded. Other annoyances include single herbs taking up the same amount of space as a rocket launcher and having to devote slots in your inventory to protective vests, which you should technically be wearing and not holding.

Resident Evil 5 also often disappoints by lazily borrowing concepts from Resident Evil 4. Once again, you can collect and sell treasure to earn lots of money, but the interesting dynamic of waiting to combine certain pieces to make larger sums of cash is gone. Without it, managing treasure has become a needless excursion into an additional menu. RE5 does manage to improve upon a few things, though. Instead of having to track down a merchant, Chris and Sheva can buy, sell, store, and upgrade weapons before each chapter segment or every time you resume from a checkpoint. This allows you to make all the necessary adjustments you'd like before going into a tough battle. Being able to store items outside of your inventory lets you focus on a wider variety of weaponry than you could in RE4 since you're no longer confined to using whatever you can hold.

Chris and Sheva never seem to catch a break during their mission, encountering enemies everywhere they go.

Not long after the game begins, Chris and Sheva will find themselves fighting their way from one battle to the next, rarely with a break in between. Almost all of the fights seem to be triggered by crossing an invisible boundary, which makes it feel like all of the enemies have just been lying in wait. This is fine for playing the game in short bursts, but overall, this jumping from one battle to the next leaves RE5 feeling very linear and brief compared to its predecessor. There are no huge areas to explore comparable to RE4's village or castle, and the game's only puzzles are cheap filler in a poor attempt to break up the pacing. Fortunately, there is a good bit of replay value to remedy that.

The time-attack Mercenaries mode returns, which challenges you to string as many kills together as possible within a certain amount of time. There are more characters to unlock this time around, but they are only costume and equipment swaps of the four existing characters from the plot. Still, the greater variation in their weapons is a welcome change. You can also jump back into any chapter segment with your inventory intact (and at a different difficulty level) once you complete the game. There are several special upgrades to purchase for your weapons, some of which would be impossible to afford in a single playthrough.

It also helps that Resident Evil 5 looks and sounds incredible. There's an incredible amount of detail in the various set pieces, and lighting is used to great effect. One section of the game finds Chris and Sheva navigating a pitch-black mine, and a hand-held lamp provides the duo's only source of light. Several emblems are scattered across the game world, and if you want to unlock every last bonus in the game, you'll have to pay close attention to the detailed scenery to find them all.

From start to finish, RE5 is a shorter, sloppier take on RE4, but winds up being a lot of fun regardless. While the gameplay might be familiar, the addition of co-op, mercenaries, and more weapon unlocks provide reasons to keep coming back for more. That said, it may be difficult for those who never liked the series to jump aboard now, as not much has changed. If you can look past the innovations made in the genre these past few years, you'll find Resident Evil 5 to be an enjoyable action-packed experience.