Yes, it is, only a fanboy would say it isnt.

Initially the demo bugged me, but I got a bit used to it and it was fine.

The full game? Having a blast. A BLAST! I just finished level 2-2 I believe, so I still have a long way to go. But so far its really fun. Its not as creepy yet as RE4 (thus not as creepy as the others either), but its slowly coming. There is an overall sense of dread as things keep getting worse and worse. Sort of that Apocalypse Now kind of dread.

Anyway, as others have said, if you loved 4 and have someone fun to play with co-op, then you will have a unique and rewarding RE experience.

It is really really good.... but I'm wondering... if they were going to completely do away with puzzles, why don't they just change the name of the game?

yes. not everyone agrees, but yes it is.

It's decent, but not great. It's caught in a strange inbetween land where it is neither here nor there and thusly isn't particularly great at anything. For a Resident evil, it's pretty terrible. There is no atmosphere, no intensity, an abundance of ammo, no puzzles whatsoever, a straight path of killing rooms. even RE4 managed to retain some of it's RE-ness to some extent even if it went in a more action game type direction.

As an action game it's pretty terrible. The controls suck compared to GeOW or Dead Space, or just about any other third person shooter. The enemies are slow, stupid, and non threatening and make no sense. The weapons are generic and boring, it contributes nothing to the action game genre and actually takes a couple steps back from modern action games.

But if you ignore that it's a bad RE, and a bad action game and take it as a weird evolutionary stage of RE that is neither quite an action game but not quite a RE game it can still be enjoyed for what it is. But if you look at it under the lense of one or the other, it's an awkward soulless failure.

You should try it on Veteran.  There, the fear, intensity, and ammo conservation are there in full force, trust me.

I'm really digging the game. Yes, it's far better than even its good reviews give it credit for imo. I think reviewers under-rated it a bit because it came off RE4. Overall, excellent. Most people who don't like it, probably hated it at its inception, and not because of the actual game.

you hit the nail. i believe resident evil 5 is more of a resident evil game than resident evil 4.

RE5 is a game that is very much like DMC4

It's an uninspired attempt to continue on the seires in the absence of the the directors and tallent who once made the franchise great. Its a sign of Capcom struggling to follow in the greatness they gave us last generation.

It's not a bad game, its quite decent actually. But it basically just recycles elements and enemies from the previous game to make a remix compilation with questionable enemy AI and a system that in many gamers opinions is hopelessly dependent on Co-Op.

Academically it does everything right, but there is odd sense of something missing and the game very much feels like its an artificial attempt to replicate RE4's glory.

Hopefully they will have most of the issues fix'd by the time that it comes out on the Wii's next console (assuming they're smart enough to do another RE4 Wii type remake). But all in all many fans consider the series ending with 4 as was Mikami's declaration. I'm jealous its not on my console of choice but I'd be lying if I said I was ever looking forward to playing it if it ever were.

It's really not a great game, its an okay game that glosses over many of its flaws with pretty graphics that are more than enough to satisfy many who claim its great. It's luke warm but playable and with little else out to play its worth a try.

To expand on that, its similar to the effect of many games that have come out this generation, excessive praise will be sung to it in its first few months than in six months time people will fast forget about it. I don't know if its the games or this generation, but game titles have no staying power in the hearts of gamers these days. MGS4 and GTA4 are perfect examples.