E3 '07: Resident Evil 5 Trailer Impressions

At Microsoft's E3 07 press conference, the upcoming installment in Capcom's marquee horror franchise, Resident Evil 5, was on display in a short trailer. While the trailer was quite brief, it gave us an intriguing look at just what you'll be fighting in this latest sequel.

The setting for the trailer was a dusty desert town that seemed reminiscent both in architecture and color palette of the Somalian village from Black Hawk Down. Throughout the trailer, mass chaos seems to have taken hold of the town. Villagers are fighting with soldiers, and the crowd is seemingly in the throes of a riot. It isn't until we see the eerie red glow of one villager's eyes that we finally realize what kind of force these soldiers are up against.

So what does this mean? It looks like Resident Evil 5 will most definitely be veering more toward the action-heavy gameplay found in Resident Evil 4. The "not-zombies" seen in this trailer use weapons much like the enemies in RE4, and frighteningly enough, these new enemies seem fast. As if RE4's enemies weren't intimidating enough at their generally slower pace, taking on faster not-zombies is a truly scary prospect.

This all-too-brief trailer definitely has us excited about what's in store in this latest Resident Evil installment. Alas, Peter Moore reiterated at the end of the demo that Resident Evil 5 was the one game featured at Microsoft's conference that we won't see on shelves in 2007. Nevertheless, we'll bring you more on the game as it becomes available.