Resident Evil 5 Guide - Version "Haymaker"

This Resident Evil 5 guide has become so much more than just a simple dropkick to the face or shotgun stinger. It's an absolute-

Well, ok, let me set this up for you:

Pretend for a moment that I am the second player and you are the third player.

My Chris Redfield has just shocked you with a few years worth of anticipation leading up to Resident Evil 5's release.

I reel back my fist for the punch and what do I deliver?

One incredible punch with all my might. Over two months of built up effort in a single strike. A blow that will leave an impact on my reader. I want to simply knock you out with intense detail and tons of Resident Evil love.

I deliver upon you, a Haymaker.

Literally,

"Arggghhhhhh!" *Haymaker*

As you get up off the floor, you will remember one thing...

A Berserker always leaves his mark!

Resident Evil 5 FAQ Version "Haymaker"

by Berserker

Was perfection achieved?
Was it all worth writing for?
That'll work?
Poor performance indeed?

That's for you to decide. All I know is that this has been the biggest task I have ever performed while writing for a video game and it was an absolute blast! There were times where I had a lack in motivation due to how long this guide was taking me, but I kept at it and now everything is in place. And I'm not done yet. Even with a version labeled "Complete", I'll still keep adding more.

I have blown off and completely neglected many friends now for over two months regarding invites to Resident Evil 5. I'll be suprised if my Xbox LIVE players even still know my name anymore. Anyway, the majority is behind me now and it's time to play (Pinhead voice)!

Here's the form that the rest of the updates will arrive in:

Kick = Extremely minor update
Hook = Minor update
Straight Punch = Moderate update
Uppercut = Big update
Back Hand = Major update

Thanks to all readers that have commented and all friends that have helped me out! Big thanks to Haoran (Lev) for the pics above also!

First Knockout [Back Hand] (5/22)

When I originally set out to write this guide, I said "It's going to be like a dropkick to the face, I assure you" but after first releasing the guide, I considered it to be more of a "shotgun stinger" to my readers. I've decided to name the complete version after my favorite tag team melee since the guide is now done. It's a Redfield Haymaker, baby!

From the previous version, the Basics section received a number of fixes and changes in overall formatting. It was basically REmade in many areas. A few other sections were redone a bit as well, especially when listing tips. Speaking of which, a tips section was added to Versus.

Everything that I have set out to do is now done. Expect more updates to come though. Even when declared finished, for Resident Evil 5, I will continue to make this guide the best I can.

I'm going to go much more in-depth with The Mercenaries within the next few weeks. You can basically consider what is already there as "framework" for me to build upon for the time being. I'm going to make up a separate guide for The Mercenaries mode as well.

Second Knockout [Uppercut] (5/26)

The "Treasure By Chapter" section received a complete overhaul. The treasure boxes were removed and the entire section has a more simple appearance now. Emerald (Marquise) was added to the normal treasures section and I added in some treasure descriptions. Updated the walkthrough section for Chapter 6-1 regarding the cage drop and Topaz (Marquise) dropped from the two Base Majini on the crane. A few typos were corrected here and there.

I added more about the AI partner in the General Basics section as well. More about how to equip your AI partner is listed now. I added a few more tips to the Mercs section based off my recent plays as well. More Mercs info is coming later in the week. It's time to get hardcore with the Mercs mode now that all other sections are basically done!

Third Knockout [Straight Punch] (5/29)

Added some co-op tips in the walkthrough here and there since I've been playing online co-op a bit more now on PSN. If you're on PSN or Xbox 360 and find some form of BerserkerKev in a username then that is most likely me.

All Chris sections under the Mercs section have a bunch of additions. Ways to achieve melee kills, single player information and even a rather nice video that I found on youtube for Chris BSAA. If anyone could possibly find or make a video of the other Chris types exploiting melees kills for a high score then please tell me and I'll link to it. I'll accept multiple videos so do another Chris BSAA run.

Fourth Knockout [Uppercut] (6/3)

The remainder of the Mercs section has now been filled out with melee kills and other information for Sheva, Jill and Wesker types. Be sure to give it a look since the melee setups are composed of some very time consuming methods from yours truly. A few additions were made to the walkthrough here and there based off my co-op runs.

I'll be working on a separate Mercs guide in the coming days. It will basically be the same as the Mercs section only it will have about 2100 less KB and a nice little flashy ASCII logo. I'm still not done with Mercs at all. There are too many new ideas emerging from online games!

Fifth Knockout [Hook] (6/5)

Many tips were added to the Mercenaries section and many of the stage portions now have extra info. A separate Mercenaries FAQ by yours truly is now available as well. It will be updated along with the information in this guide.

Resident Evil 5 Mercenaries Guide by Berserker

Sixth Knockout [Kick] (6/7)

Added some tips here and there to the guide, most notably the tip for skipping out on the battle in the conveyor belt room of the 1st Floor Missile Area in Chapter 5-2. Some of the Mercs info was changed a bit as well.

Seventh Knockout [Back Hand] (6/10)

Alright, I was only considering an S-rank guide before, but over the weekend and the last few days, I decided to go ahead and write it up. This addition basically brings the main game portion of Resident Evil 5 to a close for me. Enjoy and thanks a lot to the readers that recommended the guide on GameFAQs and thanks to the readers that have actually emailed me with feedback or other info. You guys and gals are the reason why I do stuff like this and with Resident Evil 5, it was my deepest pleasure to do so.

The Mercs section was updated a bit. It will be updated quite a bit more within the coming days and weeks now that the S-rank guide is done. There was also a very cool little exploit regarding the locked door in Shanty Town that was added to the Pro mode and is included in the S-rank guide. It's even better than tossing a hand grenade from the second floor. The demo days are over fellow RE fans!

Eighth Knockout [Hook] (6/12)

The Mercenaries section was updated a bit after some online duo games. The maps for The Mines, Village, Experimental Facility and Missile Area now have some extra enemy spawn points listed. Experimental Facility now has Licker spawn points listed. Much more Duo content will come later, including better stage strategies.

Ninth Knockout [Hook] (6/15)

Public Assembly and the Experimental Facility now have a duo walkthroughs in each of their sections. A few tips were added to the Mercs section as well. I'll categorize the tips in a later updates since they're getting quite numerous.

Tenth Knockout [Hook] (6/19)

Added some new methods (with videos) of approaching the chapter 5-3 second boss mainly for Professional and for the S-ranking section. There is also a mention of data corruption to your save file and a reminder to save your game added to the basics section and at the beginning of the walkthrough section.

Item Duplication was added to the Basics section. There is also a mention of using Wesker's dash for melee kills on weak enemies and melee kills with his Rising Knee in the Mercenaries section. A few typos in the Mercs section were fixed as well.

Eleventh Knockout [Uppercut] (6/22)

Added an "Immediate Rocket Launcher Blast While Aiming With Another Weapon" technique to the Advanced Basics section. This was also added to the section for Safari Chris under the Mercenaries section and the Versus section. Big thanks to BossVirgo (Leon) for telling me about this little exploit.

All names in the Mercenaries section were reversed, so instead of "Chris BSAA", I now have the more common "BSAA Chris" in its place... I'm sure that drove all of you up the wall, didn't it? The Mercs section for Ship Deck now has a Duo Walkthrough based on Dark Dreamer RD/Dreamer RD's and my stage approach when we play Mercs together. Some videos have been added for BSAA Chris, BSAA Jill and Battle Suit Jill.

Twelfth Knockout [Back Hand] (6/26)

Cleaned up the Public Assembly portion of the walkthrough a bit. Need to look at Shanty Town now. Both stages are demo remnants so those two chapter segments will always be tons more in depth than other stages. Added Cutscene button taps to the Professional mode section. The Egg Hunt trophy/achievement was updated a bit with a new way to obtain it. The Professional mode walkthrough was updated a bit and made into a separate guide. Slashing the final boss is possible and the method for doing so is listed now thanks to a reader.

Resident Evil 5 Professional Mode Guide

by Berserker

Updated the maps for Ancient Ruins and Experimental Facility. All Licker spawn points are now listed on the Experimental Facility maps and the Ancients Ruins maps now have a title like the rest. A new duo strategy for Experimental Facility was added. It will most likely give players a higher score, but it's very dangerous. There is also a new Duo strategy for the Prison.

Also added a new melee kill method for the yellow outfit Gatling Gun Majini for STARS Chris. A new melee combination for Midnight Wesker was added and the importance of the handgun when dealing with Wetland Majini for BSAA Sheva and BSAA Jill was mentioned.

Thirteenth Knockout [Straight Punch] (6/30)

Updates the mention of using electrice rounds on the locked double doors in Shanty Town for the S-rank and Pro mode guides. A mention of how the jeep's health recharges before the Ndesu fight was added and a mention of how to zoom the camera in and out during the Ndesu fight was added to the normal mode walkthrough section.

New Mercs duo strategies for The Mines and the Village were added. Updated some details of BSAA Chris' Uppecut melee kill a bit and added some more details about Majini with cocktails and dynamite to each of the Wesker Midnight and STARS Chris team mentions under both characters. Every Chris type now has a mention of his Stomp head crush on undamaged fallen Majini.

Fourteenth Knockout [Hook] (7/3)

Added a mention of the Fireworks trophy/achievement in Shanty Town and in the Mining Area in the main walkthrough. Added several videos for BSAA Chris and BSAA Jill and one video for Tribal Sheva and Midnight Wesker. Videos for each character will follow eventually. If you play well with a certain character and would like me to post up the url to your video then let me know. I'd prefer them to be solo for now.

Fifteenth Knockout [Uppercut] (7/10)

Added a section for S-rank Professional Videos by Sairento27/Silent_Zone7 in the Professional Mode guide.

In the Mercs section, info about killing a chicken with Wesker's dash was added to his section. Leaderboards info for the PS3 version is now in the basics section. Leaderboard info for the Xbox 360 version will follow next week. Also added an extra question to the FAQ section. More videos by SeitengrateZero were added as well. There is one for BSAA Chris in Missile Area and one for Midnight Wesker in the Village.

Sixteenth Knockout [Uppercut] (7/17)

All character's partner assist melee attacks were renamed to match the actual in-game name displayed on the command in Survivors while performing a partner assist melee attack on an enemy player. Information about extra dialogue between Chris and Sheva at the Civilian Checkpoint was added to chapter 1-1. Added a mention of how Popokarimu can knock a player off the side of the mountain during the chapter 2-2 boss fight.

Updated several sections of the Mercs guide. STARS Chris' and Tribal Sheva's sections were updated with a method to obtain melee kills on frozen Lickers. STARS Chris' section was also updated in a few other areas such as a mention of how it can be hard to obtain leg stuns or ground enemies with his SIG 556, especially on Base Majini. Electric round and flash round melee kill setups were also added to the STARS Chris section. A mention of spike traps was added to the Village stage section. The Mercs tips section was also categorized since the tips were beginning to get a bit too numerous for an uncategorized list.

A separate beginning strategy was added to the Mines section for the Duo Walkthrough for Player 2. Several videos were added to various characters section under Mercs. Each character now has at least one video except for BSAA Sheva. Extra tips were added the Melee tips section.

In the professional mode section, a mention of using eggs instead of herbs and first aid sprays was added to the tips section. The walkthrough section was cleaned up a bit as well based on some random reading of it while attempting to beat Veteran mode on the Xbox 360 version. Yeah, I still haven't finished everything for the main game on the Xbox 360 version yet. Too many Mercs games... ;D

Seventeenth Knockout [Hook] (7/24)

Added information about each weapon to the Professional guide. Leaderboards for Xbox LIVE are now up in the Mercs section. Added several extra tips as well. New vides are added to the each character section and there are also a few duo videos under some stage sections (Public Assembly, Ship Deck, Prison).

Eighteenth Knockout [Hook] (7/31)

Videos for Safari Chris in Public Assembly, STARS Chris in Public Assembly, BSAA Chris on Ship Deck and Midnight Wesker in Ancient Ruins were all added under the videos section for each character. Big thanks to xUmbrellaCo, Dreamer RD and Seitengrate for those! Also the leaderboards for the Xbox 360 and PS3 version were captured on video thanks to Seitengrate and the url for those can be found in the Leaderboards portion of the Mercs basics. Several new tips were added to the Mercs section as well.

Nineteenth Knockout [Straight Punch] (8/7)

A glitch that deals with a disappearing Majini was added to the Back Alley section of Chapter 1-1 (near the dog carcass) - been meaning to add this for a while. A tip about tossing hand grenades at the Giant Majini near the sky emblem was added, a tip about standing on the platform in chapter 4-2 while a partner solves the puzzle was added and a tip about shooting Licker through the small opening near the ceiling in chapter 5-1 was added.

Videos for Midnight Wesker in Village (Dreamer RD), STARS Wesker in Public Assembly (BigKahoona22) and BSAA Chris in Prison (SeitengrateZero) were added to the Mercs section. New updated leaderboard info for both consoles from SeitengrateZero were added as well. Also added an easier method for defeating the Reaper in The Mines section thanks to bobo273 on youtube.

Also added information about using STARS Wesker in Experimental Facility and information about the bad head stun hit detection for a Base Majini in Experimental Facility. Added notes about the bad Base Majini head stun hit detection in Ex Facility and also added information about a time glitch after hitting the first time bonus in Ex Facillity. A new incendiary grenade + dash melee kill was added to the STARS Wesker secton - keep forgetting to add this. Information about knife slashing a weak Majini's legs with BSAA Chris and STARS Wesker was added to their melee kill sections. A few new tips were added here and there as well.

Added a url link to Frinkie's Fresh Professional mode guide in the Pro mode walkthrough section. Be sure to take a look at it on GameFAQs!

Also, be sure to check out the new RE5 Mercs forum right here.

Twentieth Knockout [Kick] (8/14)

All Mercs updates!

Added Midnight Wesker videos for Prison by Dreamer RD and ROGERROCKMORE and added a Tribal Sheva video for Public Assembly by Matreezaz. Added some extra tips to the tips section. Made some changes to the STARS Wesker section regarding the discarding of his weapons. Added a Big Man Majini melee kill combination for STARS Wesker. Xbox 360 Leaderboard update videos are now linked to in the Leaderboards section for 8/13/09 thanks to SeitengrateZero.

Twenty-first Knockout [Hook] (8/21)

Added a mention of a glitch where a person can walk through the background in the Train Station portion of chapter 2-2 - check that section. There is also a video that shows off the glitch in its listing. Added a link to a video that showcases all of the BSAA emblem locations and I went through and set up the list to match the video by listing the exact minute in the video in which each BSAA emblem can be found. Big thanks to Big Kahoona 22 for doing this video for me! Also added a tip for avoiding the Licker fight in the hallway of Chapter 5-2.

Added Mercs PS3 leaderboard videos for 8/14/09 thanks to ROGERROCKMORE. Added new duo videos for Missile Area and Ship Deck. A duo strategy is now up in the Missile Area section. I only have the duo version of Ancient Ruins to go then I might go back and redo a few duo and solo walkthroughs. New tips were also added to the Mercs tips section.

Twenty-second Knockout [Kick] (8/28)

Added Mercs PS3 leaderboard videos for 8/24/09 thanks to ROGERROCKMORE. Several more tips were added to the Mercs tips section. A new red chainsaw Majini melee kill is listed for Midnight Wesker. More melee kills were added to each Chris section for the Gatling Gun Majini. The Missile Area duo strategy was changed a bit.

Twenty-third Knockout [Kick] (9/11)

Yeah, I was lazy and didn't update last week. I know, I know. A video that shows the Diamond (Pear) location in chapter 2-1 is now in the walkthrough. Added new Mercs leaderboard video links for PS3 and Xbox 360. Also added links to the rest of Seitengrates SS-rank BSAA Sheva runs. There is also a new STARS Chris solo play video by Big Kahoona 22 in the STARS Chris section. Be sure to check that out! A new Ship Deck solo video by Dreamer RD is linked to in the Midnight Wesker section. New Missile Area and Village videos by Big Kahoona 22 are now in the Missile Area and Village sections as well.

Twenty-fourth Knockout [Kick] (9/24)

Added a few Safari Chris solo videos from youku.com and a Mines and Village solo Midnight Wesker run by Big Kahoona 22. A few extra tips were added for Mercs.

Resident Evil 5 Guide

It's going to be like a dropkick to the face, I assure you.

Resident Evil 5 FAQ by Berserker

It's late, it's late, I know, but as I've said before with another FAQ: Killing slow is the way I conquer. Make sure to check out the intro. I think the last sentence says it all. And it's so very true. I've never anticipated a game so highly. Ever.

The guide is still in incomplete form at the moment. Sure I could label it complete and get more views and attention on GameFAQs but, when it has the full circle, I want it to be more than just a dropkick... I'm going for a shotgun stinger and it's going to dethrone a certain other FAQ of mine as the largest and most in-depth FAQ I've done. It's so close to being bigger than FFXII right now, and it will be in due time. A bunch of things will change before its completion.

Just the walkthrough portion alone took me three weeks. I've spent a total of about 3 - 4 days on the rest of the guide. In a way, I rushed through it to get something up while the game was still new, but now I'll spend time fixing some of the rush job.

Big thanks again to all the people that helped me or provided some type of support. Without it, there's no way I could have come this far with RE5. There were times when I had my doubts, but a friend would eventually show up to give me the extra little push with the slightest words of support, whether that person knew it or not.

Now, I'll spend the rest of my time making the following statement a reality:

...this RE5 guide is going to blow everything else that I've done up until now out of the water.

Hey, you know I always keep my promises.

Update (4/13)

And so it begins. The first in the line of many updates to come. Here's what's new.

Proofread up to chapter 4-1; several error were corrected and I'm sure several still remain. Added quite a bit to the chapter 5-3 boss section including the function of Chris' Entreat command and many other moves and extras for both boss fights. Chris (BSAA) and Wesker (Midnight) sections were filled out under The Mercenaries.

The Chris BSAA melee strategy with his handgun has caused me to get a 320,000 score with a fellow online gamer! I was trying things yesterday and stumbled across the handgun technique with him.

Update (4/14)

Final Fantasy XII FAQ by Berserker= 1444 KB
Resident Evil 5 FAQ by Berserker = 1427 KB

Proofread some of Chapter 4-1... meh, not enough to mention. Added Chris (Safari) and Sheva (Clubbin') sections under The Mercenaries sections. The rest should be done by this week's end.

Update (4/15)

On this day of April 15, 2009, this Resident Evil 5 guide is now my biggest FAQ yet and I couldn't be happier! I never really intended for it to outdo my Final Fantasy XII guide in length when I originally started. That "blowing everything else out of the water" phrase was really only meant to mirror my thoughts toward making it good at that time. This is just... fantastic! :D

Proofread some more of Chapter 4-1. Added a Jill BSAA and Jill Battle Suit section under The Mercenaries section. Updated/Corrected Wesker's dash move with some very interesting finds.

Wesker players should really check out the new details under Wesker's dash. I was performing constant dashes yesterday while playing alongside a fried over PSN, and it was quite a showcase with two players that know how it works since the partner can get a tag team attack off a Majini that has been hit with two dashes.

Here's an example of the way the dash can be controlled for those that don't know how to control it well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dZngR95jGQ

The full controls are now listed (and corrected) in the guide.

Update (4/16)

Added Sheva (BSAA) and Wesker (S.T.A.R.S.) to the Mercenaries section. Some tips for Mercs were added and I also started filling in character partner commands, character assist commands and character responses for each character as well. Sheva (Tribal) will be up tomorrow and I'll get to work on other sections.

Update (4/17)

Sheva (Tribal) is now in the Mercs section, which brings an end to the Mercs character strategies (though I might go back and add some enemy strats for each character at a later date and, of course, I'll add info on new findings). I'm still deciding on the setup for Mercs stages at the moment, so for the next update I'll probably be working on the Weapons or Enemies section. Versus information will come in time.

Character responses for each character were also added to the Mercs section, though I'm still lacking Jill's critical headshot responses at the moment, which will be added over the weekend. A trick for gaining the magnum in chapter 3-1 without setting off the trap is now included in that section as well. Also added a Ruby (Square) location for Chapter 3-2 near the entrance to the oil field refinery after passing the camp with the Tricell tents.

Update (4/20)

Added a few notes about the Chainsaw Majini and his berserk mode in Chapter 3-2. A new Jewel Beetle location was added to Chapter 3-2 at the Oil Field - Refinery and two new Jewel Bangle locations were added for Chapter 3-2.

The weapons section is now done for the most part and a good chunk of the enemies section is now done. The "About Me" section was updated a bit as well. I'd say about a good 70+KB was added to this guide over the weekend. Yeah, that feels about right.

Update (4/21)

Proofread Chapter 5-1. Enemies section has been basically finished. Still needs a bit of work though with a few details as does the weapons section.

Update (4/22)

Added the Public Assembly stage to The Mercenaries section. Updated The Mercenaries section a bit as well. Added a quote to both the intro and the About Me section. The quote in the About Me section is actually a quote that I got while playing online with a fellow gamer in the RE5 demo. It still sticks in my mind.

This FAQ is now labeled as complete on GameFAQs since I would most likely never label it as such at the rate that I'm going. I've still got the rest of the Mercs stages and Versus and possibly Professional to cover... and I will probably think of something else after that.

Nothing is too complete for Resident Evil 5. Nothing.

Update (4/23)

Added The Mines stage to The Mercenaries section. Maps for Public Assembly were edited slightly with details on items. Made a few corrections in the Basics section as well; I'm going to reformat and edit the Basics section eventually... too many demo remnants.

Update (4/24)

The Infinite Rocket Launcher and many other unlockables are now listed under the "Unlockables - Main Game" sections under Lists. Added "Sway Backward" up under Wetland Majini exclusive actions in the Enemies section.

The Village stage is now up in the list of Mercenary stages.

Check out my Resident Evil 5 Versus review also!

Update (4/27)

Ancient Ruins is now up in the Mercs section. Proofread Chapter 5-2 over the weekend and made some pretty big adjustments and additions based off a Veteran mode playthrough for that chapter.

Experimental Facility and Missile Area should be arriving within the next few days along with the rest of the Mercs stages.

Update (4/28)

Experimental Facility is up in the Mercs section. Missile Area will be up tomorrow and the rest of the stages will come later in the week. Prison might take a bit longer than the previous.

Update (4/29)

Missile Area is now up in the Mercs section. I also completely redid the intro and moved some of the old intro to the special thanks section.

Update (4/30)

Ship Deck is now up in the Mercs section. There are also ranking tables at the beginning of each chapter in the walkthrough section along with a chapter ranking list in the Lists section.

Update (5/1)

Oh yeah! I didn't think I could do it all in one day, but Prison is now up and the Mercs section is now finished. Where shall we go next? Pro or Versus? I say Pro, myself... and myself agrees with me, so the majority wins and a Professional mode guide is coming next.

Update (5/4)

Professional Mode Walkthrough has now been started. Check below the Mercs section. Chapter 5-3 was proofread and a few things were added here and there... most notably a mention of using flash rounds and flash grenades against one of the Chapter 5-3 bosses.

Update (5/5)

Professional Mode Walkthrough is now up to Chapter 4-1. The Chapter 3-3 boss caused a slight delay. The little bastard...

Update (5/6)

Professional Mode Walkthrough is now up to Chapter 5-1. Proofread all of Chapter 6-1 in the main walkthrough and added a Topaz (Oval) location to Chapter 6-1 as well as corrected a treasure mention for that chapter. I had all of the Topaz's labeled as Topaz (Marquise) when they are in fact Topaz (Oval) for Chapter 6-1. Also added the Topaz (Oval) to the treasure list in both treasure sections.

Update (5/7)

Added a tip about how effective flame rounds are against Uroboros Mkono in Chapter 5-2. The Professional Mode walkthrough is now up to the boss fight in Chapter 5-3.

Update (5/8)

The Professional Mode walkthrough is now up to the first boss fight in Chapter 6-3.

Update (5/11)

The Professional Mode walkthrough is now complete. I SO want to just put at the top of this guide that it is fully complete, but a part of me still says that Versus has to be discussed, so until then...

I'm also thinking up some other kind of section to add at this very moment... Damn. These voices...

Update (5/12)

Started on the basics for Slayers for Versus mode. Survivors is coming soon. The Survivors portion will be much more detailed since Slayers is basically a four player Mercenaries.

Update (5/13)

Survivors basics added under Versus mode. More Survivors info to come later.

Update (5/14)

All Survivor weapons are now listed in full detail in the Versus section.

Update (5/15)

Added a few extra (and very interesting) bits to the Survivors sections under weapons. It turns out that all handguns and machine guns take off the same damage in Survivors when used against enemy players among other nice finds. Thanks so much silent_man if you're reading this!

Update (5/18)

A characters section is now up in the Versus section. This includes a character description for both Slayers and Survivors. Since I started playing the Xbox 360 version more this weekend, the walkthrough received a bit of updating such as trophy/achievement details being mentioned here and there for easier methods that I found to gain each accomplishment. There is more to come on this in a following update. Maps for Public Assembly were updated also. One (very obvious) spawn point was added to the list of spawn points for Public Assembly.

Also for anyone that happens to actually read all the updates that I place in this post, here's a very sweet pic from a friend that I have met online:


Thanks to Haoran for emailing me the pic and Dot50Cal from The Horror for the screen capture.

If you've bought the Resident Evil theme online, then you'll see ^that pic on your "Games Library" menu once you pull it up.

Update (5/20)

The Versus section is now complete for the most part. I'll go back and add a few things at a later date, but the overall framework for the way that I envisioned the section is now up. I've also started redoing and touching up the Basics section since the majority of it is basically from the RE5 demo FAQ, so it needs some more work to go along with the full game better.

Really the guide is now complete in a way, but there are still a few things that I'd like to add before deeming it as such at the top of this guide.

Resident Evil 5 Versus - Review

This review originally posted on Gamers' Temple.

Player(s): 1-4
Extra Features: Online play through PSN or Xbox LIVE, Leaderboards

Resident Evil 5 was the first game in the main Resident Evil series to bring in online play and it did so quite well with its online partner feature for co-op play. Even this single player purist was floored at the results of the online portion in Resident Evil 5. Now that new aspect has been expanded greatly with the new downloadable mode known as "Versus" that is up on both the PlayStation Store and Xbox LIVE marketplace for $5.00 or 400 MS points right now. I never have once considered the idea of a Resident Evil deathmatch to be much fun, but Versus has caused me to change that anti-online play attitude once again now that I have given it a shot.

Versus comes complete with four modes of play. The two main modes are Slayers and Survivors. Each of them can be played with four players that are all individually against each other or they can be played as a team game with two players on each team battling it out. So the complete list of modes is Slayers, Survivors, Team Slayers and Team Survivors. Players can choose from the same characters that are in the normal Mercenaries mode, though some have to be unlocked through the Bonus Features menu. All stages are taken directly from the Mercenaries mode.

Slayers is basically a four player version of The Mercenaries. Players battle it out individually to see which one can get the highest score based on chaining enemy kills and fighting off big boss enemies for a high score. All time extenders and combo bonuses are still in place like in the normal Mercenaries mini game. As a twist to the normal Mercenaries mode, players can now kill off each other. Killing off another player will award 1,000 points to the victor and subtract 1,000 points from the player killed.

Unlike avoiding attacks in The Mercenaries mode, in normal Slayers, there is no way to seek invincibility from another player's attacks. For instance, climbing a ladder or reaching down to pick up an item does not grant a player invincibility from another player's gunshot, but it does grant invincibility from a normal enemy's attack just like it did in the Mercenaries.

The hits from player to player affect the characters much like having the attack reaction in the main game of RE5 turned on. The players don't stagger unless they are about to enter dying status. Once a player enters dying status, that player can be finished by approaching the player and pressing the action button for a melee attack. The opposing player can be finished off with a gunshot also but the sheer power of these melee attacks can take out surrounding enemies and even send another unlucky nearby player into instant dying status, so is quite helpful to finish off a player with a melee attack as opposed to a normal gunshot.

Team Slayers works much like normal Slayers except that the game is played with two teams of two players. The objective still stands the same: defeat the enemies and chain kills. The main difference here is that one player can help out the other in obtaining enemy kills or while fighting against the other team. When a team member enters dying status the other player on that team can resuscitate or heal the player much like in duo Mercenaries, but when the player resuscitates the other player on that team, both player are completely invincible to all attacks during that resuscitation sequence. I have seen several games where a resuscitation can be triggered around 7 times in a row before one team finally kills off a player.

Both Slayer games are quite fun, but I can't help but feel that there should be an option to turn off player kills for Slayers. The game is so much fun with simply killing off normal enemies while four players are on the screen. Why can't we just kill them off without the need to battle amongst other players? I have seen several games where players simply ignore each other while chaining enemy kills and only attack other players when attacked.

Having a good knowledge of The Mercenaries mode can be extremely rewarding in Slayers since players can easily camp near enemy spawn points and kill off enemies as they appear. Sometimes there is an overall lack of enemies in an area however and sometimes the enemies seem to focus on one player more than another and seem to follow that player, which allows that certain player the ability to rack up kills rather easily.

Enemy bosses are worth the most points and finding them and then disposing of them can easily drive up a player's score, which is kind of unfair in a way. For instance, the Red Executioner is worth a whopping 15,000 point by himself, which can easily put a player in the lead if that player manages to defeat two of the Red Executioners. A lot of the point totals can be based on luck rather than skill at chaining kills. A character with a high chain total could easily fall to another player that luckily finds several bosses in a row and manages to kill them off. To even-out the scores a bit, a score multiplier of two times the normal score per enemy is put in place for the person in last place to help that person keep up with the other players, which is a rather nice touch for any player that is barely holding on.

In both Slayer modes, some of the characters have way too good weapons for boss disposal, while some have only weapons that are mainly good for support purposes. Try comparing Wesker STARS to Jill BSAA and you'll find that Wesker STARS seems a bit overpowered when it comes to fighting off a boss enemy. He can literally make mincemeat out of any boss with his Hydra shotgun.

Survivors mode pits four player against each other with a limited weapon variety for each character. A character comes equipped with a standard weapon such as a handgun or machine gun along with a healing item and some type of grenades. The players must scout the area for extra weapons. Extra gun weapons consist of rocket launchers, rifles, shotguns, magnums, and grenade launchers, all of which are high-powered and of course a player can pick up grenade and proximity bombs along the way. All stages now have random items and weapons lying around and the enemies are still present as well. Killing off an enemy in this mode has little significance other than getting it out of your way. Boss enemies tend to drop weapons and items, however.

A player can easily crowd an inventory full of high-powered weapons then fight off the opposing players with a big arsenal. A big arsenal doesn't immediately win the game though since several tactics can be used to trick another player. Any type of weapon that stuns a player for a set amount of seconds can be greatly taken advantage of. When a player stuns another player with an incendiary grenade, the attacker can quickly bring out a high-powered weapon such as magnum and shoot the staggering character until that character falls.

Traps can also be set with Proximity Bombs, which can be placed strategically over a map. For instance, a proximity bomb can be placed around an immediate corner or on the other side of a door or bottom of a ladder to get another player to accidentally step on it. It's quite fun to have a look at all the options available to players through the various items and weapons that one can gain.

Team Survivors is basically a team deathmatch. Unlike normal Survivors, a team member can rush in to help another player when that player reaches dying status. The same amount of invincibility that was present in Team Slayers during a resuscitation is present in Survivors as well, allowing players to stay right next to each other for support. Even though this may seem too helpful at first, a player with good timing can still kill off a character in dying status with rapid shots from a machine gun and handgun no matter if the partner sticks near that character or not. Someone will soon mess up on the timing somewhere.

Some of the stages in all modes have a tendency for slowdown on both the Xbox 360 version and the PS3 version. The slowdown isn't all that common but whenever the game does hit a drop in framerate, the onscreen action can became pretty choppy as the game struggles to maintain the overwhelming amount of movement on the screen. Like I said, it's not a very common issue, but it is more common on certain stages such as Public Assembly and the Prison. The Xbox 360 version has an extra system link option and the match can be set to player or ranked match. The PS3 version has only one match type by default. Both versions have leaderboards where scores can be posted up once gained. Even though the modes are usually four player games, they can be toned down to two or three players as well.

Overall, Versus is a good step in the right direction for a Resident Evil deathmatch-type mode. Slayers is my personal pick of the modes, even if I do deem it as problematic at times. Playing with a friend while playing either team game is a total blast and adds a new competitive feeling to the usual Mercenaries gameplay. Versus is very much worth the asking price of $5.00 or 400 MS points for any player that wants to extend the life of Resident Evil 5 more than it already can be with the included Mercenaries mode. It will have you coming back for more!


The Good:

+ Good value that is easily worth the asking price
+ Four player deathmatches in Resident Evil style!


The Bad:

- Framerate issues on both versions that can get rather choppy at times
- No option to turn off the killing of other players in Slayers or Team Slayers
- Slayers can feel unfair and based on luck at times


8.0/10

Ready for a Resident Evil style deathmatch, partner? Are you locked and loaded?

Resident Evil 5 - Review

This review originally posted on Gamers' Temple.

Player(s): 1-2
Extra Features: Online play through PSN or Xbox LIVE, Leaderboards, Download Content

Ever since the trailer shown at E3 2005, Resident Evil 5 has been the center of attention for many hardcore Resident Evil fans. E3 2006 basically set the standards for what to expect from this new Resident Evil and the following gaming conventions added the introduction of a new lead character along with the main character and co-op play. A vast majority of new trailers and gameplay videos have been surfacing for the past few months along with some very clever marketing schemes by Capcom dealing with building up hype for Resident Evil 5's release.

The trailers do not lie one bit about this Resident Evil having a story suited for hardcore fans of the series. There are some things you will find out about the series' past that will completely blow you away while answering some of the more elusive story aspects that were only hinted upon in the older games. Resident Evil 5 does a very good job of pulling together aspects from Resident Evil 4 and the more classic Resident Evil games. Las Plagas (Resident Evil 4) and the Progenitor virus (pre-Resident Evil) are the main focus of the story along with a few new additions.

It also showcases the return of a few older fan favorite characters such as Albert Wesker and another very popular character that has been missing from the Resident Evil storyline for far too long. One of the most elusive Resident Evil characters of all time is actually given a face and a voice in Resident Evil 5 as well. The reoccurring theme of "partner" is one of the major story elements in Resident Evil 5's narrative and it succeeds in bringing in some pleasing emotional depth to the overall story. I've always deemed Resident Evil: Code Veronica X as my personal favorite Resident Evil because of its overall story and characters, but Resident Evil 5 comes close in dethroning it from a story aspect.

The first major change one will definitely notice about Resident Evil 5 when compared to its predecessor is the impressive overall leap in graphics. This game is overflowing with high production value in many ways but the high resolution appearance is quite a sight to behold. The character models are all life-like and detailed. Even though we all know Chris Redfield has near perfect genes, you can see minor skin imperfections such as freckles if you look closely at his arm while controlling him. Character outfits are detailed enough to show stitching in the fabric from close range.

Backgrounds showcase some impressive lighting effects throughout the game as well. There is one sewer area in particular that gradually gets darker as your character moves toward the middle of the tunnel then slowly gets a bit brighter as an opening is reached. Shadow effects are lifelike as well such as seeing realistic character shadows as they move by an area with sunlight peaking or simply seeing the shadow of a crow that is flying overhead.

Resident Evil 4 had some pretty impressive battles, but Resident Evil 5's boss battles blow them out of the water. The boss battles about midway through the game onward are quite a sight to behold. Some of them are more shooter-based than normal but all of them feel unique and left me really excited throughout the battle. Being a hardcore Resident Evil fan, there is one boss fight in particular that left me extremely giddy throughout the whole battle since I couldn't believe what I was seeing unravel before my eyes.

The overall game plays much like Resident Evil 4 for the most part. It has plenty of newly added melee attacks that can be performed on an enemy by shooting and stunning it in a certain way. Resident Evil 5 even changes some of the melee attacks depending on the side of the enemy that your character is facing. There are even some tag team melees that require teamwork and these can be fun to try for while playing with a partner.

With melee attacks and many other actions, Resident Evil 5 still uses Resident Evil 4's button prompt command system where a button will appear in order to perform a certain action depending on the object, obstacle or enemy in front of your character. This works pretty well for the most part but there were still times where I'd accidentally perform a command that I didn't want to because my character stepped out of a certain detection area for a button prompt command. This is still only a minor issue though, just as it was in Resident Evil 4.

Slightly early in the game, a button prompt cover system is introduced where a character can stick to a wall with a tap of the action button. The cover system plays out much like it was in a certain part of Resident Evil 4 where Leon could take cover from enemies that tossed dynamite at him. Resident Evil 5 greatly intensifies the need to take cover as the game progressed however and the slight cover feature in Resident Evil 4 is given much more emphasis making its flaws more showcased. When your character takes cover behind a wall, that character cannot move along that wall at all, which can be a slight annoyance when you just want to simply move to the other side of the wall to get better aim. With that said, the button prompt cover feature matches the gameplay setup that Resident Evil 5 still maintains from its predecessor but a slight bit of enhancement over the old feature would have made it feel much better.

The game still uses the classic Resident Evil tank controls but loosens them just as much as Resident Evil 4 and provides the player with the same over-the-shoulder view perspective that we are now familiar with. Resident Evil 5 has four different control setups. It uses the classic Resident Evil 4 control style and a new style with a sidestep, a shoulder firing button, and the use of the right analog for turning. The two other control types blend these two together for a mix of the two controls. If you're starting this game right after having played Dead Space then Control Type D is most likely going to be the one for you, but if you're entering the game after having just played Resident Evil 4 then you'll most likely want to continue on using Control Type A's more traditional setup.

In Resident Evil 5, you play the main game with one completely controllable character and a partner. The AI partner in single player is both a blessing and a curse. My main gripe with the partner system in single player is the limited amount of control you have over your partner. Only two commands can be issued to a partner - Attack and Cover. Under the "Cover" command, your AI partner sticks close to your main character and equips the least powerful weapon in the partner's current inventory. When in "Attack" mode, the partner will equip the most damaging weapon in the character's arsenal and the AI will be more aggressive and go off on its own to do battle with enemies or find items. Thankfully, whether online or offline, you can keep track of your partner through a mini map which can be displayed on the side of the screen.

The only way to stop your AI partner from attacking is to request all firearms from your partner, but even then your partner will still try to attack enemies with the knife. There really should have been some sort of "Wait" command for the single player mode to keep your partner from acting at all. This would have been such a nice feature for the single player mode especially in some areas where the partner blows your cover by taking a shot at some unsuspecting enemies. There were also plenty of times where I would fire at an enemy's head for a head stun then rush toward the enemy to perform a melee attack that would knock him down along with the crowd that surrounds him, but the AI partner would mess up this chance by shooting the stunned enemy which immediately brought the enemy out of the stun and made it where I got assaulted by the whole crowd thanks to the lack of the melee command that I could have gotten if the AI partner didn't "help out".

Even with the complaints about the AI partner however, the single player game still gave me the feel of playing with a team. Your AI partner will conveniently help out quite often by healing your main character or giving your main character ammo when needed. Despite the slight flaws in the partner AI, it really is a lot more helpful than annoying. Experimenting with the partner AI and leaning how it works is quite a fun challenge. If only there had been some sort of "Wait" command to cancel all partner actions, the partner AI would have been a lot more memorable to me.

Playing the main story online or in split screen with an actual human player breathes new life into the team experience. The game gives you a set of partner commands that can be issued to your partner by holding down the assist button and tapping a direction with the d-pad - Go, Come On, Thanks, and Wait. The "Thanks" and "Wait" command are exclusive to co-op gameplay. There are also partner responses that can be activated after specific actions have been performed. For instance, whenever a partner heals your character or gives your character an item, you can tap the assist button to have your partner respond to the character to show gratitude.

It's amazing how such a simple communication system can so easily remedy the need for voice chat. You can request an item or ammo from your partner by pulling up their inventory and selecting request. All the other person has to do is equip the item then walk toward the partner for a "Give" command to appear. I use voice chat over Xbox LIVE to play alongside a few friends and we still use this partner communication system even then. It's a very simple yet effective communication system that fits in very well with the team aspect of Resident Evil 5.

The inventory system can only be pulled up in real time now, just like in the Resident Evil: Outbreak games. Press the Triangle (PS3) or Y (Xbox 360) button to display the menu during gameplay. Even though cycling through the inventory while action occurs on the screen takes some getting used to at first, it brings a whole new level of depth and strategy to the usual pause in gameplay to select from the inventory. For those willing enough to explore advanced techniques, the inventory menu can be brought up during the middle of a melee attack or many other character animations while your character is invincible. You can literally arrange your inventory while climbing a ladder. Yes, the game still gets that tense.

Resident Evil 4 introduced reloading animations to increase the tension. Leon could only reload in real time. RE5 brings back reloading through the inventory menu by combining the ammo with the gun. If you can master when to pull up the inventory during gameplay to take advantage of inventory reloading then you'll never have to witness another reload animation again and this will improve your play-throughs significantly. The real time inventory system really opens the door to a whole new level of planning while experiencing the usual tension of Resident Evil 4 style gameplay for those willing to experiment and tinker with it.

The Mercenaries mode is back once again. It is unlocked after the main story is finished on any difficulty. Just like in Resident Evil 4, you can select a character with a predetermined weapon list and your character will enter a stage full of enemies where your goal is to get as many kills as possible before the time runs out. Players can collect time bonuses to extend the timer for more killing time and chaining kills all within a certain amount of seconds can raise the overall score.

Everything about the Mercenaries mode is bigger and better this time. More stages can be played and there are more unlockable characters. But that isn't even the best part. The most fantastic part about this mode is that it can now be played with two players, so you can join up with a friend locally or online and work together to get a high score. It's absolutely amazing how addicting this mode can be with two people and really shows off how the overall Resident Evil 4 style gameplay still holds up.

When comparing the Xbox 360 version and the PS3 version there are some slightly noticeable differences once they are placed side by side. The Xbox 360 version suffers from some noticeable screen tearing at times and its darker areas tend to lack as much of a realistic appearance as the PS3 version. In contrast, the PS3 version's jagged edges on the characters are more noticeable than on the Xbox 360 version, the framerate doesn't always move as smoothly on PS3 (it's only slight) and some environmental effects are watered-down on PS3.

Regarding environmental effects, there is one part of Resident Evil 5 where a truck falls over and slides while still moving toward the characters. The Xbox 360 version has more noticeable sparking effects during the slide and has a thick layer of smoke protruding from the bottom of the truck after it comes to a complete stop. The PS3 has the same effects but they are much less noticeable. Environmental effects such as the dust at the Pubic Assembly are not as noticeable on PS3 either. All of these issues are rather minor, but they are still noticeable when playing both versions.

The Xbox 360 version still has the usual achievements and the PS3 has its trophies. The PS3 version has some unlockable features for PlayStation Home as well. The PlayStation Home Kijuju portion also has some unlockable features that can only be accessed by those that have a copy of Resident Evil 5.

If you're a hardcore Resident Evil fan then you'll be able to overlook the minor flaws in Resident Evil 5. The game is every bit what this hardcore Resident Evil fan was hoping for and then some. The new co-op gameplay greatly intensifies the replay value with providing a new experience each time the game is played. You won't be putting this one down for months to come. The differences between the two versions can be a slight factor when deciding between them but, overall, I think the controller that you are most comfortable with and the available friends that will play alongside you on each console should be the major concern.



The Good:

+ Overflowing with high production value
+ Blends Resident Evil 4 style gameplay with a story and characters that will likely please hardcore Resident Evil fans
+ The entire main story can be played solo with an AI partner or with a friend through split screen or online play
+ Good overall enemy variety along with some extremely good bosses
+ Online Mercenaries mode!
+ A bunch of replay value through the harder difficulty levels and The Mercenaries mode is back once again


The Bad:

- More control over the AI partner's actions would have been appreciated
- The cover system feels mediocre


9.5/10

Resident Evil 5 digs deep into the series' origins with its overall story and slightly enhances the overall addicting gameplay that left its mark with Resident Evil 4.

Resident Evil 5 Community and Berserker +1

Taking a chance...

You know, back on February 6th, when I first posted up my gamertag and PSN ID in my RE5 demo guide along with the "ok" to add me (as long as you sent me a message), I was really biting my tongue then because I didn't know what to expect based on the attitudes of some gamers that I have witnessed during online play. Not knowing what to expect and being fearful of it is the story of my life actually and is the reason why I haven't done some of the things that I want (or actually need) to do today, so i went ahead and took a chance rather than sit back and wonder what would have happened if I did but didn't.

Success...

With that in mind, you guys and gals have been SIMPLY FANTASTIC! Oh man, I have met some of the greatest people online because of my RE5 demo guide - a fun person from the Netherlands that likes to set off explosive barrels near me, a very talkative British gal that got me hooked on critical headshot responses, two very excellent young partners on both consoles (one for each, haha), an RE fan that rivals me in obsession with the series (he knows that I win though :p) and several other awesome gamers.

There is one person that I played alongside and talked him through how to take down the Executioner during gameplay - I showed him how to deal with him based on my usual run. The experience was great. I've also had numerous gamers that have wanted to see the tag team melees. Needless to say, our games were full of Chris' yell before a Haymaker or Back Hand. Those Majini didn't stand a chance, I'm afraid.

It's also been fun to make friends just based off chance meetings through the demo search engine - you know who you are. Without a certain Boss, I wouldn't be opening up the inventory to reload. There are about 8 friends that can't speak English that well, yet through the power of partner action commands, we still get things done! There is one Korean gamer that doesn't know any English at all basically, yet we bounce around just about every Majini in Shanty Town with ease.

I'll be removing my gamertag and PSN ID and the offer of playing online with me most likely tomorrow since the full release is just around the corner. Don't use my gamertag as a raincheck for the full release please unless you intend on playing the demo with me.

Looking ahead...

I'm definitely going to play alongside readers online for the full guide. I might just make Resident Evil 5 a full half year worth of dedication (or maybe longer)since there is nothing else on the horizon that I really care for (besides Bionic Commando). Let me get through with the majority of everything that I want to record for single player and then it's all online from then on, on both systems. Based on the demo, online play is the most important part to learning different tactics.

Considering I'll just be getting started sometimes after this coming Friday, I wouldn't expect anything from me until about late March or sometimes in April. I've been avoiding everything for this game outside of demo because I don't want anything ruined for me more than it already is, so the majority of the game will be new. The only portion that I have started on for the full guide up till this point is the achievements/trophies.

Tearing Through RE5...

I hate to make promises, but to be simply direct to anyone reading this, this RE5 guide is going to blow everything else that I've done up until now out of the water... with the limit of text of course. It's going to be like a dropkick to the face, I assure you. As you may have read before, I'm the type of person that is really never pleased with anything that I do. I feel that I can always do better, but I plan to do the best I can here as always. As a Greek friend on Xbox LIVE has said before in his gaming profile, that I very much agree with, "Strive for perfection".

"In my point of view you should strive for improvement through every day to become the best you can. It's the way to perfection and to the feeling that you are actually accomplishing something."

- FiOth

Berserker +1...

Also, as of today, March 8th, I am a year older. 29 years old and even more of a hardcore gamer than I was in my earlier years!

My day has been great so far. Along with the anticipation of things to come, it's been super!

The best Friday the 13th ever...

With all of that explosive joy and ranting out of the way... ONWARD TO FRIDAY! :D:D:D

...and back to the RE5 demo he goes.

Resident Evil 5 Demo FAQ

As if it needs one. Haha.

This shouldn't come as any surprise that this guide covers the Japanese release of the Biohazard 5 Xbox 360 demo at the moment, but it will be promptly updated on Monday, January 26th if Capcom changes anything for the North American release and I plan to update it again on February 2nd for the PS3 demo. In all honesty, the only difference I am expecting for the North American release is for the Executioner bug to be fixed - he stops randomly and stands still in the Japanese demo.

Resident Evil 5 Demo FAQ by Berserker

This RE5 demo guide has been quite a while in the making and it should serve as an excellent starting point for a full RE5 guide if the majority of this carries over to the full game. I've been looking forward to writing for this game ever since 2005 and hopefully it will show. Anyway, feel free to look over it if you want. The only real spoilers are in the actual walkthrough.

I've gone extremely deep with this one, even managing to highlight beneficial frame cancellations that I've found - now I just hope Capcom doesn't consider these techniques as "game bugs" and strips them out of the NA version. A word of advice: Learn to play with Type B or Type D controls if you want to perform some extremely useful techniques that I highlight in the guide.

Update (1/21) - Everything is finished, but all of this still needs to be confirmed for the North American demo.

Update (1/22) - Updated a few areas of the guide here and there. Some item descriptions were detailed a bit more.

Update (1/23) - Added some extra tips for the Chainsaw Majini miniboss. A few more tips were added in certain areas along with a game bug in Shanty Town. Some typos were fixed as well. The Intro was enhanced a bit - I'm going to spend more time on it next update though.

Update (1/26)- The walkthrough is now fully updated for the North American Xbox 360 release. [SPOILER]They are both nearly the exact same except for some dashboard adjustments.[/END SPOILER] The PS3 version update will follow next week.

Added an Enemies section and added many little extra tips here and there in the main guide. There is now a Co-op mention under Basics since I can now actually get online with the demo again! The differences between the North American demo and the Japanese demo are now at the top.

I'll most likely go back to update Sheva's sections with better info in the next few days now that I can actually play her again without the need of a second controller - I've been playing two-player, one-player if you catch my drift. There's plenty more info to follow in this guide in the coming weeks. I'm not completely sure what that'll be, but I'll most likely think of something else to add.

Update (1/29)

- Each of the four secret co-op melee attacks that must be done off of a Majini bounce, now have a youtube video link accompanying them.

- A new youtube link from Yama at www.biohaze.com for knifing enemies as well as other advanced tips can be found in the tips section (last tip).

- I've started listing the various comments for when the assist button is pressed during certain instances as well.

- I added a new animation for the staggering animation when a Majini is shot in the back of the arm - they lean forward and grab the wounded arm.

- The hidden "shiny stone" in Shanty Town was renamed as a "BSAA medal", since that's most likely what it is and will be in the full game.

- I tried to better format some areas. I'll clean this guide up completely once I'm through with everything that I would like to do for it.

Update (1/30)

- Added more controls to the Controls portion of the Basics section. It should cover every command now. There is an unmentioned alternate run by holding down on the Left thumbstick while holding forward while Type C or D controls are chosen that I didn't know about until a few days ago. I'm still more of an A button runner myself.

- Hazardous Objects and Items/Item Drops section was added under Basics.

- Quick Side Turn Aiming was added to the Advanced Techniques section.

- Added a mention of loading through your inventory in both the basics and advanced techniques sections thanks to BossVirgo19. I also put a separate topic on reloading through the menu while firing that I wanted to emphasize.

- Added some exploitations in the Executioner's AI and Chainsaw Majini's AI that can be taken advantage of at the bottom of the boss fight description for each.

- Beefed up the Major Tip for the Executioner battle a bit regarding the newly found inventory reloading.

- Cleaned up the item display tables in the walkthrough. I still need to make these look better really...

Update (2/2)

--> GUIDE IS FULLY UPDATED FOR THE PS3 VERSION

Oh yes, the time has come for PS3 fans to take a piece of the action. On Feb. 2nd in the morning hours, the demo of Resident Evil 5 was placed on the Japanese, Europe and North American PlayStations Stores, in that order. The demo clocks in at 942MB total, so set that demo to download and read on.

- Added "Taunting" in the Basics section. It was also added in the Advanced techniques section since it rather useful and its usefulness is not always well known. It can actually change the focus of an attacking enemy to the taunting player. Big thanks to BossVirgo19 for this.

- Added more to the info about shooting an enemy in the upper arm.

- Added a tip on "Performing Chris' Co-op Attack in Single Player" below his list of melee attacks. I've been fiddling with this for the longest and finally found a way! It's not easy, but it's fun to try.

- Changed "Reloading Through the Inventory Menu during a Gunshot" to "Reloading Through the Inventory Menu during a Gunshot or Melee Attack" because both are just as important and are now described in full detail.

- A really neat glitch that gives you infinite time on the Public Assembly was added to the portion just before the Executioner breaks the gate. Big thanks to JillSandwich123 for this impressive find.

- Added a "Maximum Aggression Method" for defeating the Executioner extremely quick.

- Added a "First Floor Metal Door Lock Glitch/Exploit" to the Shanty Town stage. Basically you can bounce a grenade off the building next door from the second floor of the building with the locked door to break the lock and get out of the building early. Big thanks to Adoboros and Mullet Wesker for this.

- Added a tip about tossing grenades over to the BG Production building while playing as Chris and attempting to provide cover for Sheva.

Update (2/6)

- Added my gamertag and PSN ID for people to join up with me online. Please respect my preferences as listed in the guide. See the new "Joining Up With Me Online" section.

- Under "Playing Online" in the Basics section, added info for the PS3 demo.

- Changed Chris "Uppercut" melee attack for a Parasite partner action to "Upward Knife Slash". I didn't notice the knife in Chris' hand before.

- Added "Pointing with your Gun's Laser Pointer" to the Partner Communication portion of the Basics section.

- Added a few more Shanty Town tips (jumping through the window to knock down the first Majini, kicking the wooden door into the Majini from the back portion of the outside of the Slaughterhouse and knife slashing the Majini in the stall).

- A caution about healing while near the Chainsaw Majini was added to the Chainsaw Majini boss fight in Shanty Town.

- Added a co-op strategy for the Chainsaw Majini boss fight.

- A Majini Behavior/Exploits section was added under the Enemies section for Majini.

Update (2/10)

- Added the Minimap to the basics section. I haven't even noticed how important it is until playing online - keeping up with your partner.

- Added "The Ultimate Way to Perform Chris' Co-op Melee Attacks In Single Player" to the Basics section. Works like a charm!

- Updated the Co-op melee attacks for each character with several new tips as to obtaining them including tricking online players into helping you!

- Removed Healing from the Invincibility Frames portion of Advanced Techniques since I have been hit one too many times while attempting it. Could have sworn that there some sort of invincibility frame there though.

- Stressed tossing a grenade at the gate in Public Assembly for the first wave of Majini in the tips section for not using barricades.

- Added a Maximum Aggression method for defeating the Chainsaw Majini with Chris and Sheva or both together. It's more like a complete trap with Chris actually.

Much, much more to come in the next few days!

Update (2/13)

- Renamed "Character Comments" as "Character Responses".

- Added more detailed info regarding critical headshots to the Character Responses portion and added an additional mention of a response during a co-op melee attack. Both characters can actually respond during the middle of a co-op melee attack sequence.

- Added more invincibility frames to the Advanced Techniques section. Here's the full list now:

- While grabbing an item
- While jumping from a platform/vaulting over an object
- Giving an item
- Performing a melee attack
- While recovering from an attack
- Resuscitation
- While grounded
- While on fire (burning animation)
- While holding up arms to block debris from an explosion
- While performing a partner action (hoisting animations)
- Door kick animation
- During a hold, when your character is winning/losing the struggle
- During the game over screen

- Updated the bookcase trick for defending the building in the Public Assembly. A person online showed me that you can actually do it with both entryways!

- Added the Recovery Swing attack to the Executioner's move list and updated his Berserker Rage just a bit.

- Added a warning about healing in front of the Executioner shortly listed after his move list.

- Added a Maximum Aggression Method for Sheva to the Executioner boss fight and also added co-op strategy for beating him.

- Added a tip for shooting the red explosive barrels while your partner is next to them for the Chainsaw Majini fight. I'll probably receive some hate mails about that one, but hey, it might just save your ass.

- During the Chainsaw Majini fight, added information about running all the way back to the building where the partner action command of hoisting Sheva can be performed - this keeps the Majini off of Chris most of the time.

Update (2/17)

- Added the Majini with the sunglasses and megaphone to the list of Majini that can be gotten in a co-op melee attack sequence.

- Added "While electrified" to the Invincibility Frames portion of Advanced Techniques. Removed "During the Game Over" screen. I know, I know. You didn't notice that useless mention anyway, did you? DID YOU!?

- Under "Giving Items", added a note that you cannot give weapons during co-op play as well as a mention of the amount of the ammo given per give command.

- Added some extra info under the Reloading through Inventory section and Taunting an Enemy section under Advanced Techniques.

- Added tips about slashing Majini that stand on the car or hop over the gate at the Public Assembly and also added a tip about shooting a Majini while it has climbed to the very top of the fence.

- Added the "Turning Swing" to the Executioner's move list. He doesn't perform this move all that much.

- Added a "If your partner hits the Executioner/Chainsaw Majini with a melee attack early" tip to both boss fights. Each of us has our own playstyle, so this is a good way to add some more heated aggression to the more common approach of attacking them.

- Added a tip regarding shooting the Majini in the legs while on the second floor of the BG Production building in Shanty Town. I've been using this method for the longest but am just now adding it

- Added a tip about using hand grenades to intensify the damage while the Chainsaw Majini is stunned.

- Added a Majini Glitch underneath the Majini Behavior portion of the Enemies section. Basically it lets you attack them while the parasite still protrudes from their mouth if done correctly.

- Added a Flying Parasite Behavior/Exploit portion underneath the Enemies section.

- Added a mention of my full guide below. It's almost as if I'm already one fourth of the way through it already.

Update (2/24)

- Added a tip about performing a melee attack again for a missed melee attack.

- Added a mention of performing a co-op melee after a partner assist melee attack.

- Added an extra tip for setting up a co-op melee with another player dealing with the partner commands.

- Added a "partner melee attacks an enemy that you have knocked off the partner with a partner assist melee attack" response mention to the Character Responses section.

- Added a mention of a game bug associated with Sheva's critical headshot response.

- Added quite a bit more to the "Pulling up Inventory During Character Animations" section. Here's the full list:

- the moment when your character tosses off or receives a hit from a grappling enemy
- after sustaining a hit
- while climbing a ladder
- while vaulting over an obstacle/jumping/jumping through a window
- while quick turning (NOT INVINCIBLE)
- in between gunshots (NOT INVINCIBLE)
- during a melee attack, ground melee or partner assist melee
- while reaching down to pick up an item
- while healing (NOT INVINCIBLE)
- during reloading animations (NOT INVINCIBLE)

- Added "Herb Combining during Green Herb Use" to the Advanced Techniques section.

- Added an extra tip about pushing the bookcase in front of the window to the "Tips for taking on the Majini outside the building" section of Public Assembly.

- Updated the "Game Plan (Summary of Owning Him)" for the Executioner boss battle. Added a mention of reloading through inventory during a melee attack while hitting the Executioner.

- Added some more tips to the Flying Parasite portion of Shanty Town, edited the walkthrough in some areas of this portion to provide extra info.

- Added a Glitch/Fun Stuff section.

Update (2/27)

- Added a quote to the intro based on an IGN user's response to my RE5 demo info.

- Added the max ammo per inventory slot for the Shotgun (30).

- Added a Shanty Town Knife Run section. Public Assembly may follow - Executioner knifed.

Update (3/2)

- Added a tip about how your character will look in the direction of an enemy to the Tips for Both Modes section.

- Added a mention of sniping the Majini with the megaphone while playing as Sheva.

- Added a mention about swapping ammo right around the time that Chris contact Kirk at the Public Assembly.

- Added a note about how a grenade will disappear if thrown directly before the cutscene where the Majini break through the roof in Public Assembly.

- Added a note about how the Executioner is sometimes invincible to a stun under his attack list in the Public Assembly section.

- Added a Public Assembly knife run section.

- Updated the Chainsaw Majini knife slashing section with a better method.

- Added "Grabbing" to the Majini enemy section.

- Updated the Item Glitch a bit.

Update (3/11)

- Updated the mention of double teaming Majini in Public Assembly. I have actually run across random Majini in that stage that can be bounced around.

- Added in a "Major Tip for Performing a Response" - basically, press and hold the assist button during every response. This works wonders for critical headshots to keep your from saying "Come on".

- Updated the grenade exploit in Shanty Town and the Character Freeze after Resuscitation glitch.

- Added "Immediate Melee Attack after Slashing With Knife" to the Advanced Techniques section.

- Added more tips to both barricading and fighting the Majini outside while near the first building at the Public Assembly.

- Added another Chainsaw Majini exploit dealing with the transformer that he might continually run into.

- Added a "Recommended" method for defeating the Chainsaw Majini and labeled the others as "Alternate".

Dead Rising CtyD Interview

The Bionic Commando Top Secret File podcast that I mentioned in my previous Dead Rising post was done yesterday and it has a most interesting interview with producer/director for Dead Rising Chop Till You Drop, Minoru Nakai in it.

Top Secret File 031 podcast (w/Dead Rising interview)

The actual interview begins 15 minutes and 35 seconds into the podcast. The full interview is a little over 25 minutes. Here's my personal favorite highlights:

25:30 - Differences (this part is fantastic! A list of additions is actually read through)
36:40 - New weapons, extras

It really sounds so much more interesting than what I had envisioned. Instead of a watered down port with Wii controls, it sounds like a complete remake of what we knew from Dead Rising on X360. Knowing so little about the game based on the shallow previews that I've read thus far, it was really good to get some in-depth information this time.

Also, for the some Resident Evil 5 related news, the Europe PS3 demo for Resident Evil 5 is supposed to be up on the PlayStation Store on February 2nd according to Eurogamer. This probably means that the US will get it on the same day as well, approximately one week after the NA Xbox 360 demo release.

Update: US PS3 RE5 demo confirmed for February 2nd on the North American PSN. Official word from Sony - bottom paragraph.