Resident Evil 5 Gameplay

Resident Evil 5 is an action game with an over-the-shoulder perspective.^[4] Players can use a number of weapons (including handguns, shotguns, automatic rifles, sniper rifles and grenade launchers) in addition to melee attacks. Wounding an enemy with a firearm often causes them to stagger; if the player is in close range, an icon will appear with the option of a melee attack such as an uppercut or a somersault kick. Players can make quick 180-degree turns to evade enemies.^[6] Many of the game's cutscenes and boss battles involve quick time events.^[7]
Like its predecessor Resident Evil 4, although players cannot run and shoot at the same time they can upgrade weapons with money and treasure and heal themselves with herbs.^[7] New features include infected enemies with guns and grenades,^[6] the ability to upgrade weapons at any time from the inventory screen (rather than finding a merchant) and the equipping of weapons and items in real time during gameplay.^[7] Each player can store nine items (unlike the previous games, the item size is irrelevant; an herb or a grenade launcher each occupy one space), and four items may be assigned to the D-pad.^[4]
Resident Evil 5 supports two-player co-operative gameplay.^[7] The first player controls Chris Redfield, and a second player can control Sheva Alomar. If a person plays alone, Sheva is controlled by the game's artificial intelligence. When the game has been completed once, there is an option to make Sheva the primary character.^[7] Two-player mode is available online or split-screen with a local player. A second player joining a split-screen game in progress will make the game reload the last checkpoint; the second player joining an online game will have to wait until the first player reaches the next checkpoint (or restarts the previous one) to play.^[4] Split-screen mode presents the game in two windows with the wide-screen proportions of one-player mode, rather than splitting the screen in two, and the entire screen is not utilized.^[6] Players are separated at points during gameplay; if one player has critical health, only their partner can resuscitate them. Players can trade items during gameplay, although weapons cannot be traded with online players.^[4]
A version of the Mercenaries minigame which debuted in Resident Evil 3 is included in Resident Evil 5.^[8] When the game was released the minigame multiplayer mode was offline only, but a release-day patch gave the game online multiplayer modes.^[9] Mercenaries unlocks when the game's story mode has been completed. This minigame places the player in an enclosed environment with a time limit. Customised weapons cannot be used, and players must search for weapons, ammunition and time bonuses while fighting a barrage of enemies^[7] to score as many points as possible within the time limit