I remember being really excited seeing the initial teaser, showing a very worn-down "What a fucking week, and it's only Tuesday" look on Chris' face as he points his gun towards an oncoming mob of infected locals. I remember also loving all the survival aspects they had planned for the game, like sun exposure, hunger, etc.

Too bad literally everything I was excited for got removed/replaced LOL. At launch, I despised everything about this game, and I still think it's kind of shitty now. Granted, it plays about as well as Resident Evil 4, perhaps even a bit better with a handful of new options. It's the experience itself that offers nothing very unique or interesting.

I never looked that deeply into the production, but I imagine adding co-op is what overhauled much of the game's design, demanding it be simpler for a full 2-player experience. And that's a big bummer, despite co-op being fun enough with a friend.

The story itself starts off okay, but careens off a cliff about halfway through into absolute ridiculousness and terrible writing. Some of that is still fun, but overall it's very forgettable. Slapped together with unbelievably boring environments and awful monster designs, Resident Evil 5 remains as a mostly-disappointing experience.