Over the years, Resident Evil has slowly become a household name through not only its ubiquitous videogame franchise, but more recently, Sony Pictures' highly successful movie trilogy. The name is synonymous with zombies, disease, and ultimately, death by shotgun. As you can imagine, I was very excited to check out Resident Evil 5 within the confines of Capcom’s booth while at E3.

Capcom had one of the largest booths at the show due to the fact they were showing off so many titles, including Street Fighter IV. The row of RE5 consoles sat to the right and each journalist was able to sit in a gaming chair with incredible surround sound to fully be immersed within the experience.

There was really only one rule while playing and that was if you died, your turn was over. Nobody was allowed 2 opportunities to check the game out, so if you sucked at the game, you were pretty much out of luck. Fortunately for our faithful readers, I’m not too shabby at the RE series and held my own through both levels of the demo.

Now, I understand that some of the Resident Evil diehards were surprisingly disappointed with RE4. This was mainly due to the fact it really strayed away from the core Survival Horror aspects of the franchise and introduced a faster, more action-orientated experience. However, a lot of people - evident by the many accolades RE4 received - loved it. In the end, fans are likely to be divided in opinion after hearing that Resident Evil 5 is essentially its predecessor sporting a new coat of expensive paint.

The controls and camera style are identical to Resident Evil 4, so there isn’t even much to discuss in that area of play. As for new features that you can take note of? Well, the weapon selection wheel is pulled straight out of Warhawk in terms of being able to click the direction pad whichever way you'd like to select a specific weapon/item. The coolest part about the physical pop-up menu though is the fact that you can swap out weapons and items with your partner, Sheva, as you please. This is a great addition and adds a nice element of teamwork to the title unlike past releases. This also comes in handy when either of you are low on ammo or just prefer one of the secondary weapons your teammate is carrying.

To bring this feature one step further, Capcom has given Sheva the ability to support you when you need it most. By this, I mean she'll literally work her way over to you in order to hand you more ammo or healing items, which is particularly helpful for lengthy confrontations. Speaking of Sheva, it also needs to be mentioned that she isn’t completely useless. Battle hardened, Miss Alomar is more than capable of defending herself where necessary, and will also cover your back as you’d expect any human-controlled opponent would. This means you don’t have to worry about baby-sitting her while you’re trying to push forward, though there are times where she will get herself cornered and you'll be obliged to return the favour.

Although it goes without saying to anyone who has witnessed the game in action, the visual quality within Resident Evil 5 is absolutely stunning. The attention to detail is immaculate and watching dozens of enemies coming at you at a given time is nothing short of overwhelming, not to mention how great the particle and lighting effects look throughout the dusty village. Ultimately, fans should be more than pleased with what the game has to offer in this sector. Needless to say, the game has definitely earned a day one purchase from this humble journalist.

Outside of those new features that were displayed, the game is pretty much an enhanced, yet superior, version of Resident Evil 4. Though the same fighting tactics work and you’ll have no trouble kneecapping your enemies and then crushing them melee style, much like you could in the previous game; there is still a sense of accomplishment and excitement to the title. I know this sounds somewhat disappointing, but it isn’t. Resident Evil 5 adds enough innovation and new aspects to the title that makes it stand apart from RE4 and actually gives it a possibility for being the best Capcom has had to offer within the franchise.

Resident Evil 5 is due out on PS3 and Xbox 360 on March 13, 2009.