The 7s are not expected, you can see this coming a mile away with all those whining about the controls and it being like RE4.  

What bugs me is not the scores, its when reviews completely get things wrong like the CVG review:

You're also in control of the items she holds via a fiddly menu. Up, down, left and right on the D-pad serve as quick select buttons. But you can only organise which items (usually guns) go in these four slots during mid-mission menus - a pointless restriction.

Uh no. You can move things in your inventory at any time by pressing square...

Context-sensitive melee attacks are rubbish - you should be able to batter an enemy in the face whenever you want, but you can only do it when the game randomly says so.

Its not random at all, there are very specific actions that allow a melee attack.

Paths are constantly blocked by obstacles that, in real life, would pose no problem to the average man, let alone muscle-man Chris Redfield.

Its a damn video game.

What is this crap, how do they get such simple gameplay actions totally wrong.

EDIT: Oh this beauty

Downers

  Too much like Resi 4

Oh no, its too much like one of the greatest games ever... oh noes... lol.

9/10

Gamesradar-review here

Really random 3 page goliath review.

Extracts:

It can’t set a new standard for third-person action as it so closely apes RE4 that it’s almost the same game with amazing new visuals and a few enhancements. In other words, kind of like what RE3 was to RE2 – a technical improvement but lacking in imagination.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I donts likes RE3.

There’s no fright, no jump scares, no sense of terror whatsoever.

Combine this streamlined interface with enemies that are even more active than RE4’s bloodthirsty Los Ganados, and you quickly forget you’re playing Resident Evil.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

If it looks like Gears, has occasional cover like Gears and has the same one-button partner revive like Gears.

Double grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Playing alone, RE5 is a great game, not an exceptional one. Fellow BSAA agent Sheva Alomar is hardly the best AI combat partner we’ve seen, and the whole game feels like it’s too scared to do anything but replicate RE4 with a fresh face. On the other hand, grab a friend to chew through the campaign together, and suddenly RE5 becomes a whole new experience, and in our eyes, the only way it should be played.

The levels are built around two people playing together, with Sheva usually wandering off to open a door or to pull a distant switch in tandem with Chris.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuccccccccccccccck!!!!!

Stranger still is what the split screen actually looks like. Take a gander:

Above: Wha?

Several other PS3 games offer split screen play, but none we can think of shrink the screen and present each player in an off-center window. It’s a little distracting at first and doesn’t make any sense at all, but at least it’s not horribly distracting.

What?

From top to bottom, RE5 is a copy of its groundbreaking predecessor. The enemies animate similarly, some of the bosses are clearly one-upped versions of RE4 favorites and the weapons are pretty much identical. Trouble is, the moments meant to pay homage to RE4 lack weight, because there’s no mystery, no suspense at all.

Sonofabeech!

CLOSING COMMENTS

Resident Evil 4 taught the industry so much, and in turn we expected RE5 to at least learn from what others have since added to those accomplishments. Instead, it jams the series full of gasoline-enriched testosterone, keeps outdated inventory and control ideas and refuses to admit the franchise is now more action-adventure than survival horror. Don’t let the negatives fool you though – it’s still one of the best balls-to-the-wall co-op excursions you can buy.

Sounds good, 9/10 so why do I feel like I was being punched in the gut reading it?

SteelAttack said:

I'll have to rent this game. I can die play coop with Archie on 360, and then die play coop with dvader on PS3.

Save yourself the trouble and just die.

Gamecentral-review

Review by David Jenkins – It seems almost impossible that this could have gone so badly wrong after the magnificence of Resident Evil 4.

Previously Capcom had completed the most successful revamp of a long-running series gaming has ever seen.

Or rather Shinji Mikami did. His departure from Capcom has left them apparently unable to replicate the formula, let alone refine it further.

This feels uncomfortably like a fan-made project trying to copy Resident Evil 4, but only demonstrating just how well the original was crafted.

The basics are near identical, as you control a newly Hulk-like Chris Redfield and his new partners Sheva in search of Las Plagas in Africa.

We're not getting into the racism debate again, but while not offensive there is some peculiarly naive imagery.

Apart from the accusations of racism the most controversial aspect of this game is its control system.

In theory it's perfectly fine, the most flexible option allowing you to strafe easily and turn relatively quickly.

You still can't fire and move at once though, which is a problem when the game spends so much time pretending to be a half-hearted clone of Gears Of War – quite unlike the previous game.

The problem here is not the mechanics, despite other minor issues such as the revamped, but still awkward, inventory.

The problem is the game lacks the two factors that made the last sequel such a success: imagination and variety.

Resident Evil 4 enjoyed endlessly inventive set pieces that never outstayed their welcome but this is the opposite, as you fight the same old enemies against mostly bland backdrops.

The co-operative mode is the only important new feature, even if it (and the fact most levels are set in broad daylight) kills any sense of fear.

Except on the highest difficulty level the computer controls Sheva very intelligently and with a friend you can almost forgive the game all its faults.

Even so the game's only unequivocal success is the revamped Mercenaries mode and its freeform score challenges.

In a few instances the magic of Resident Evil 4 shines through, such as a spelunking section where one player has to direct a lamp for the other or a well orchestrated reintroduction of an old series foe later in the game.

For most of the time though it's just going through the motions.

It took ten years for the original Resident Evil formula to get old, this time it only took one sequel.

IN SHORT: An unsatisfying facsimile of Resident Evil 4 with none of the style or excitement, just more bugbears.

PROS: The co-op mode works well and Mercenaries is excellent. Occasionally inspired set pieces and enemies.

CONS: The control system no longer suits the game. Awkward inventory system and repetitive encounters.

SCORE: 7/10 Out: Now (13/3)

darthhomer said:

Dvader said:

Good lord its so split. I am sure I will like it cause I loved the big action moments in RE4 and this game is like all of those strung together.

Would you still ike it if all the big action moments were EXACTLY the same as RE4's?

Well its not going to be the exact same game, come on. Its already got co-op, its going to have new weapons and areas. And nothing in RE4 was like a bike chase or a fight with a gigante while on a jeep.  

darthhomer said:

Dvader said:

darthhomer said:

Dvader said:

Good lord its so split. I am sure I will like it cause I loved the big action moments in RE4 and this game is like all of those strung together.

Would you still ike it if all the big action moments were EXACTLY the same as RE4's?

Well its not going to be the exact same game, come on. Its already got co-op, its going to have new weapons and areas. And nothing in RE4 was like a bike chase or a fight with a gigante while on a jeep.  

Haha, sorry Vader.

Thought I'd troll just a little bit

I have seen so much better trolling.

Dvader said:

darthhomer said:

Dvader said:

Good lord its so split. I am sure I will like it cause I loved the big action moments in RE4 and this game is like all of those strung together.

Would you still ike it if all the big action moments were EXACTLY the same as RE4's?

Well its not going to be the exact same game, come on. Its already got co-op, its going to have new weapons and areas. And nothing in RE4 was like a bike chase or a fight with a gigante while on a jeep.  

Ugh, I've posted videos of both those moments and they look devoid of gameplay to me and woefully uninventive.

This is what bothered me most about one of the reviews:

"The problem is the game lacks the two factors that made the last sequel such a success: imagination and variety.

Resident Evil 4 enjoyed endlessly inventive set pieces that never outstayed their welcome but this is the opposite, as you fight the same old enemies against mostly bland backdrops."

That's what I thought about RE4, the pacing is incredible and it is constantly pushing inventive setpieces consistently throughout the whole game. That is all I wanted out of RE5 and instead the reviews I'm reading are saying that it's a poor copy made with co-op in mind.

These 7/10 reviews hold more weight with me because of where they come from, I even have met one of the reviewers and I know how these guys think being cynical and British. I will be like them playing this, thinking "why am I playing this when its the same as freaking RE4 but not as good, what a waste of time". It's the same reason I steer clear of identikit sequels.

Moreso, Capcom is pissing me off right now so I'm going to rent or get their games second hand from now on. My cash is not going to them.