I finished Resident Evil 5 a month ago, and I can't help but wonder if there can actually be a next RE game (Darkside Chronicles and other spin-off's of the sort are obviously not taken in consideration). Why is this? As a long time follower of this series, I saw this as an ending (though not a proper one) to the series, because, at this point:
- Umbrella is no more; RE:UC and RE5 have made that pretty clear.
- Wesker is dead; the man who had pulled every string from RE0 to RE5 has finally been killed. Although he really was all-powerful and had like a trillion viruses in his possesion, being shot with two RPGs while sinking in a volcano after being discharged with all the ammo Chris and Sheva could gather in Kijuju leaves ZERO possibility of him surviving.
- The fate of the important characters has been revealed: Chris and Jill will continue in the BSAA, Leon is at the service of the USA government, Claire is in the global rescue team for biohazard outbreaks.
- The secondary characters...well, have been long forgotten: Barry or Carlos were never seen after RE3, Rebecca after RE1, Billy after RE0. If they didn't take them into consideration the last 13 years (they have not even been MENTIONED), I don't think they can make revive them now.
- The RE series can't attract action or horror gamers anymore: there are games that have evolved from the survival horror/action since RE4 that make RE5 diminish in comparison (Dead Space or Gears of War). So, gamers who have played only RE4 or RE5 can be attracted more to a game with "better controls". And horror gamers can be more interested in more innovative games like Dead Space (since RE5 was not actually scary).
- And, all RE fans out there (I think) can't feel like another expansion to the story is possible, RE5 cleared many (to me, all) the mysteries or unanswered questions of the series and killed the two main villains for good (Umbrella and Wesker).
- With the whole Umbrella affair gone public, and surely the Tricell one, how more viral outbreaks and new viruses can exist?"
- The Agency" the mysterious rival of Umbrella ; I felt that Tricell was "The Agency", as Wesker seems to have been working with them for some time, and it would be stupid if it wasn't, after being mentioned in RE:Degeneration and featured in RE5.
I love this series, but I feel this has to be the end, of course there will be a RE6, but I don't think it can't come as a credible iteration. The only loose ends that could be used in a future game are:
- Ada Wong; the mystery woman made her return in RE4 after being presumed dead (much like Wesker did in RE:CV). Her fate and objectives have to be resolved.
- RE5, I felt, was vague with the whole "Wesker children" thing, while Spencer says that Albert Wesker is the only one left, his document in the same game says that most, but not all, of those subjects died after being injected with the unnamed virus Wesker had. This could be used, but I felt this was too strange and felt more like Metal Gear (with the supersoldier/humans project, with only one surviving) than Resident Evil.
- Tricell could become the new villain company, but the BSAA would eventually expose its actions, as Umbrella's were, and the government, BSAA and stockholders don't like that.
- There can be more outbreaks, with the T and G viruses (and who know what others) in the black market.
- And of course, there's Sherry Birkin, the character Capcom said would appear in RE5 and is obviously a very important one (being safe in Wesker's hands as "there's something about this little girl" as stated in Wesker's Report).
What do you think?
