I was looking for a new game to pick up this week and I decided to pickup Resident Evil 5 and see what all the commotion was about.  When RE5 was first shown off at E3 last year there was a vocal group calling the game racist.  The trailer shows a white man in a military uniform gunning down black men running at him with sickles and machetes.   The environment was a run down shanty town which most believed to be Africa.  Most people arguing the game was racist felt the game played on the long removed concept of the "savage black man." 

Now I've played through the areas shown in the trailer and have completed the first half of the game.  The game to me so far is not racist, it is just taking place in run down poor city in Africa.   To be honest it feels like a combination of Blood Diamond and Black Hawk Down, portraying a savage area of the world.  All the inhabitants have been infected with a virus and are attacking you because your part of an anti-terrorism task force sent to neutralize the threat.  It is very clear everyone you are attacking is infected and they are the aggressors in this case.

It feels really weird to have to write those first two paragraphs about what is a very good game.  I've never played a Resident Evil game before but I have seen all the movies.  This time around it's not exactly a zombie infestation but more like body snatchers.  You see early on a man being held down against his will being forced to digest a host and then being transformed and/or possessed by the thing.  This is by no means your typical zombies like the ones in the movies. 

So far the game play is a bit slower than most action games but has some enjoyable encounters so far.  In RE5 you are not able to shoot and walk at the same time.  You must take a stationary position then fire at the infested attacking you.  Most of the infested aren't too fast but some will rush you and you aren't given endless amounts of ammo.  So far running out of ammo hasn't been an issue.

A new feature in RE5 is you are now given an AI partner, Sheva.  This AI partner is a native that works in the same organization as you do.  The partner was added to create a viable co-op partner so that you can can play online with a friend.  The AI so far has been very good.  I'm able to manage both characters inventory so I'm able to give Sheva the machine gun and the healing items.  This allows me to store alternate weapons and ammo on Sheva so I don't have to worry about inventory.

Resident Evil 5 has been a great experience so far for me.  I'm enjoying the game's story as well as the games combat and boss battles.  This game is by far the best game I've played in a while and is a front runner for game of the year.  The game is absolutely beautiful in HD and has had no technical issues at all.  I can hardly keep the controller down long enough for me to type this up.  If you have a Xbox 360 or PS3 I recommend this game.