The folks at Capcom got themselves into a bit of a pickle when they announced that the Resident Evil 5 Versus Mode DLC was coming to Xbox Live Marketplace. There were many reasons for this. First, the arrival of the content was set to be very close to the game's initial release date. A lot of gamers felt like the content should have simply been playable on the disc in the first place. On that note, I have seen and read about all kinds of negativity concerning the Versus Mode. Although I'm not entirely sure of the whole truth behind the matter, I have read that the content was actually just locked away on all the retail copies. Perhaps that might explain the puny file size of the download (it's less than 2MB and takes seconds to download). If that is the case, then it is clear that Capcom wanted RE5 fans to pay 400 Microsoft Points ($5) for the magical key that unlocked the new Versus Mode. Some of this was defended by a Capcom spokesperson, whose forum posts targeted the nay-sayers, responding that Resident Evil 5 – even without the Versus Mode – is worth every penny of its sticker price, and people should just be happy that there is more content to play at all.
Regardless of personal opinions and Capcom's defense, it is probably a safe bet that the release date and price of this add-on feature created one of the most heated and contested reactions from the gaming community, at least as far as premium content is concerned. I don't completely agree or disagree with the Capcom rep, but that is irrelevant. I personally believe that the $5 required to purchase Versus Mode is a reasonable price to pay for new competitive multiplayer content. People are fine with paying $5 or $10 for other Xbox Live content, like Halo and Call of Duty map packs. What's so bad about doing the same for Versus Mode? At least it's out there for the people who want it. While certain connection and lag issues may keep it from reaching the staggering popularity of games like Halo and Call of Duty, at least Capcom stuck to their guns and released Versus Mode for the hardcore fans of the Resident Evil series. After all, it automatically adds on quite a bit of replay value to one of this year's earliest Game of the Year contenders.
Regardless of the controversy, the big question remains: is Versus really worth your Microsoft Points? Should you support Capcom's decision to charge for additional content that many believe was simply locked away on the disc? Hit the jump for our review of this human-hunting, Majini-killing DLC.
The content found in RE5's Versus Mode should be familiar to anyone who completed the storyline and played with the unlockable Mercenaries Mode. I would like to warn those who haven't beaten the game - there are minor spoilers found in this review and in the accompanying screenshots, so if you haven't completed the game (which is foolish! Get to it, chap!), you are now officially warned. For the most part, the Versus rules are the same. You can play four different modes; Slayer, Survivor, and Team versions of them both. These games can be played 1v1 or 2v2, and they are pretty straightforward. Slayer rewards you with points for chaining together kills and focusing on the mindless Majinis, while Survivor includes the Majinis but also demands that the human players cause as much damage as possible to the opposing team within the time limit. The most destructive team or player wins in Survivor. Of course, you can kill your opponents in either game type; you earn extra points and can even extend your combo by doing so. These new modes are not very unique by any means; for instance, Slayer is basically just a competitive rehash of Mercenaries. Perhaps some sort of Capture the Flag game type would have worked out well in Versus, but there is nothing of that sort included in the content. In these games, you are simply tasked with getting high scores and massive combos by killing as many Majinis and human players as possible before the timer runs out.
The entire cast of characters from Mercenaries is playable in Versus, from STARS Chris to Tribal Sheva. Also, all of the levels from Mercenaries are featured in Versus - Public Assembly, the Mines, Experimental Facility - all of them. Unfortunately, there is an obvious and annoying lack of balance when considering the different characters and their personal inventory of weapons. If you haven't unlocked the better-equipped characters, you will always have to work with lesser weapons. For example, despite his trusty shotgun, “Regular” Chris doesn't really stand a chance against Wesker's magnum or even Sheva's sniper rifle. I never played around with machine guns in the main game, but they seem to be quite devastating in Versus. Even worse, Tribal Sheva's longbow (which comes standard with infinite ammo) is so powerful and quick that it is incredibly challenging to stay alive if you find yourself going up against her.
Wesker is so busy trying to fend off Jill that he is about to be bear-hugged by a Majini.
As a result of this character/inventory imbalance, utilizing the strengths and being aware of the weaknesses of each character is something that dedicated players are almost demanded to do when playing Versus. While I consider the imbalance to be a general flaw, I also feel like it is a forceful push toward learning how to use each character effectively in the game. Of course, there will always be jerks out there who stick to wildly throwing frag grenades and shotgunning everyone down, but there is certainly room left over for the players who utilize a little bit of technique and skill.
Chris is most likely about to become a punching bag for Sheva and Wesker's bullets.
There are some issues that arise from having shooting matches with other people. When you think about how Resident Evil 5's basic gameplay mechanics work, you might understand what I'm getting at. First of all, the player to raise his or her weapon first in a gun fight is usually the victor - unless, of course, you find yourself staring at Tribal Sheva and her barrage of arrows. Also, a human opponent that comes at you from behind will almost surely kill you before you can retaliate. The clumsy, tank-like movements of the characters that actually helped to make the single-player campaign such an intense experience isn't as tolerable in Versus. More than anything, it just leads to a lot of frustration. Sometimes you can't always react quickly enough or get away when you really need to. Rather than being an acceptable mechanic, like in the regular game, it is nothing more than a pain in the ass when playing online. In my review of the original game, I personally dismissed the endless complaints that most people held against RE5's stop-and-shoot gameplay, but this “traditional” control style simply doesn't work as well in Versus. It is just a little too hectic and feels sluggish when you are trying to fight for your life against swarms of Majinis that distract you from the human opponents who are often busy taking advantage of your diverted attention by locking onto your head and filling it with magnum rounds and shotgun shells.
Human players are usually more effective at killing you than the Majinis are, but the Majinis are always around to pester anyone who loses focus or spends too much time trying to get away from other opponents. In 2v2 matches, any player who finds himself or herself stuck in a corner or separated from their partner is forced to deal with a deadly disadvantage. Teamwork was the name of the game in the co-op campaign, and in the Team versions of Slayer and Survivor, it remains the most effective way to succeed. Unfortunately, my lone wolf style of play was usually the cause of countless deaths and some of my frustrations with Versus. It is especially hard to get by on your own when you consider the fact that there is a marker above every character's head, letting all the players in each match know your location at all times. The mini-map radar in the top-right of the screen also gives away your position, which I believe makes it too easy for human players to target you and disregard the Majinis. I would have preferred if there were no markers or icons on the radar so that Slayer and Team Slayer matches weren't so full of people finding and killing each other rather than taking out the rabid Majinis. It would be more exciting to stumble upon a human opponent and fight your way out of it rather than hunting them down with the help of the radar and the icons above their heads.
There are a few too many battles against humans for my liking. There should have been a bigger focus on killing off the Majinis.
Of all the flaws found in Versus, the most unfortunate problems involve simply getting into a match on Xbox Live. For me, it was nothing less than a painstaking chore to start a game. In my first attempts with Versus, I tried more than a dozen times to get into different matches and I had absolutely no luck joining one. Perhaps it was my Internet connection that kept me from getting into games hosted by others, but I have never experienced so much difficulty in joining matches on any online multiplayer game. Most of the time the lobbies would be “canceled” or the party would fill up just before I got a chance to join. The most annoying part about being rejected from a match is that you are immediately taken back to the Versus menu screen. Basically, when this happens, you have to go back through all of the game options search options to find another match. Alternatively, you could go at it with another angle: the best method to solving this connection problem is hosting your own matches. The downside to this is waiting on other players to join, like any time you host a game online. It takes a decent amount of patience to wait for other people to join, and I personally lack the divine discipline of patience. I can only speak for myself, but I personally prefer a quick and speedy matchmaking process. I often complain when Halo matches take a lot of time to load up, but I have never had so much trouble finding a game or getting people to join my game as I did with Resident Evil 5's Versus Mode. In the end, hosting my own games was the only way that I ever got a chance to do anything with the Versus DLC.
Learn to cope with this menu screen; you'll see it every time you are rejected from a game or a lobby closes.
On top of Versus Mode's problematic match-making issues, many sessions were plagued with occasional lag that can really ruin the experience. Not only does the game sometimes slow down into a sloppy mess with a choppy frame rate; Majinis and human opponents could get cheap hits on me while I struggled to deal with the lack of smoothness. That's just not very much fun, if you ask me. When you are busy attempting to control tank-like characters and you are also trying to avoid being killed by everything that is running rabid around the map, fighting with lag and a stuttering frame rate is unnecessary and incredibly annoying.
With that said, Versus isn't all dysfunctional and backward. I don't want anyone reading this review to get the impression that I think Versus Mode is a big flop - at the very least, it's a fun multiplayer experience. At its best, it is a lot of fun and also somewhat addicting. Even with its flaws, competitive multiplayer isn't exactly familiar to the Resident Evil series and it is nice that Capcom gave it a shot. The hardcore Resident Evil 5 fans out there might really enjoy getting into this kind of multiplayer experience, particularly if they are the type who avoid fast-paced shooters like Halo. As I said, Versus is basically just a rehashed, refitted Mercenaries with more people involved in each match. If you liked Mercenaries, there is a pretty good chance you'll like Versus. It's that simple.
If you ever wanted to prove your Resident Evil skills, Versus gives you plenty of chances to mow down your friends and other players online.
There is a little bit more content included in the Versus DLC: a fresh set of Achievements, focused entirely on the new game modes. There are Achievements for earning high scores in Survivor, winning 30 matches in each game type, and even melee-attacking 100 human opponents to death. New Achievements are always a nice way to usher in players who sought after all of the original Achievements, and surely they will be an incentive for the Gamerscore farmers to pick up the game again and earn more points. I wanted Capcom to include some off-the-wall Achievements that could be found in the story mode, but these new Achievements are specifically designed for only Versus games.
Overall, Resident Evil 5's Versus Mode is difficult to recommend to everyone out there - even some of the people who enjoyed the original game. If you are a fan of fast-paced shooters, this isn't a multiplayer experience that is best suited for you. However, if you can work with the slower movement and stop-and-pop action found in all the Resident Evil games, you shouldn't have much of a problem fitting into the Versus Mode. It is mainly there for the hardcore Resident Evil fans who aren't already tired of Mercenaries and haven't already moved onto other games. So if you really enjoyed Resident Evil 5 and its Mercenaries Mode, you will most likely enjoy Versus Mode. I said it already; it's really that simple. The devoted players can probably cope with its handful of issues, like the total lack of character/weapon balance, the difficult and inconsistent lobbies and game connections, and the occasional lag. At any rate, Versus is a solid effort and I enjoyed it more than I denounced it for its flaws. As I mentioned earlier, it probably won't reach the popularity of Xbox Live heavyweights like Call of Duty: World at War and Halo 3, but it certainly should entertain the people that it was made for.
Final Score: B-
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