Who cares if the control system is a bizarre idiosyncrasy in this age of spoiled gamers expecting to be able to run and shoot at the same time? What matter is it that this is really Resident Evil 4.5 in terms of narrative, enemies and inventory interface? Resident Evil 5 is superb fun and it's doing the business in terms of retail performance - four million shipped in the first week on sale and four million downloads for the PSN and Xbox Live 360 demo. I wonder if that's the same four million people?
The success is despite some reserved reviews and the controversy surrounding Capcom's decision to release a competitive multiplayer mode as paid-for downloadable content. Online functionality is now generally considered a staple feature of modern console titles, not something to tack on later and charge for.
Capcom has defended its decision, claiming that multiplayer is, "above and beyond the initial scope of Resident Evil 5". However, the company should perhaps have learned from the whole Battlefield: Bad Company 'weapons for cash' debacle. Last year, Electronic Arts planned to provide dedicated players of its FPS with extra downloadable weapons - the catch was, you'd have to pay for them. Cue vociferous criticism on the games forums, and a quick back-track from EA.
Gamers are clearly attempting to draw a line in the sand for publishers who - quite naturally - want to squeeze as much revenue as possible from their Triple A fare. It will be interesting to see what happens when the DLC is released: do internet forums speak for the majority of purchasers, or will consumers happily shell out a fiver for the ability to blast other Chris Redfields online?
