Biohazard

Resident Evil 5
There is a certain train wreck quality in watching Capcom destroy one of its vaunted franchises. Resident Evil 5 is an inharmonious marriage of Resident Evil's methodical and deliberate horror mechanics and Gears of War's run and gun stupidity -- meaning that you can run and gun, just not at the same time. I don't understand how Capcom could have suffered such a crisis of confidence; Resident Evil 4 was perhaps the best game released on the GameCube. But just about every new detrimental addition feels like it was pilfered from the Gears series, right down to Chris Redfield's ludicrous roided biceps. The icing on the cake: Resident Evil 5 crops split screen play, making co-op all but unplayable. At least we still have the movie franchise...

Grade: C