By Neil Schneider
Introduction
Resident Evil 5 is clearly one of the most hyped games of 2009. A modern zombie shoot’n kill (for good, this time) thriller, RE5 has been specially optimized to work with NVIDIA’s GeForce 3D Vision. Optimized, yes – limited, NO!
DDD Tridef Ignition 2.4.3 Beta 2
We also tested the game on iZ3D and DDD solutions, and the results may surprise you!
As the name implies, Resident Evil 5 is a sequel to Resident Evil 4. You play Chris Redfield, and are partnered with Sheva Alomar. You are (hot and sexy) members of the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA) and have just been deployed to Kijuju, Africa. Your timing couldn’t be better because the whole city has quickly become infested with zombies!
Not the demonic kind, mind you. That would be too easy! These zombies were created by modern science! Zombies whose heads explode and have tentacles coming out, zombies that throw grenades, and…the worst kind of all…zombies with chainsaws! Yes! This time, the zombies chase YOU with chainsaws!
When you are deployed, your job is to apprehend Ricardo Irving who is attempting to sell biotechnology, and find out what the heck is going on.
The graphics in both the DirectX 9 and 10 modes are stellar. There is nothing cartoonish about this game, and the attention to detail is unmatched. The environments are rich, the enemies are varied, and the adventure seems more like a movie than a video game. It is fair to call this a technical success.
iZ3D 1.10 Release Driver
RE5 doesn’t play out like a regular shooter where you just pick up a gun and start blasting away. You need to conserve your ammunition because it is limited. Your character is just like the rest of us and can’t do more than one thing at a time. When you run out of ammo, you may not want to reload right away because while you are trying to shove those bullets into your gun, a few zombies can hack you to bits.
Fortunately you have a hot sexy partner to back you up, so you won’t be fighting the zombies off alone. RE5 eventually becomes an exercise of sharing ammunition, healing one another, and most importantly, covering each other’s bum.
As with other games, your arsenal increases as you advance. While you will occasionally find bigger guns, most of the advancing is done with money. You will find all kinds of treasures that you can sell. Most are found when you take out bosses, zombies, and break open vases, barrels, and chests. Keep an eye out for healing plants and herbs – you will definitely need those!
iZ3D 1.10 Release Driver
The story was a bit too complicated for me. This is the first Resident Evil game I have played, so gamers who have been following the series will probably connect with it more.
I did find the interface and movement controls both unnatural and clumsy compared to other first person shooters. It took awhile to get comfortable with them. The game was also disproportionately difficult at the beginning versus the end – so much so, I had to look up an online walk-through to get through the first level.
Finally, while I know it’s a zombie killer video game, and there is no gentle way to kill a zombie, I think some of the violence was both uncomfortable to watch and unnecessary. I really didn’t need to watch a guy get executed with an axe to the head at the beginning of the game, for example.
All this added together made playing RE5 feel more like work than fun…at the BEGINNING!
NVIDIA 195.62 Stereo Driver
Once you get out of the first city, the environments get much more interesting with all kinds of nasties to worry about. Restless spear-toting natives, hungry crocodiles, and lots of gruesome monsters! What starts out as an urban first person shooter gradually becomes a modern Indiana Jones with machine guns, sniper rifles, and rocket launchers. I would say the game starts slow and cumbersome, and after about two hours of committed play, it becomes much more intricate and interesting.
So now the golden question. How does Resident Evil 5 perform in stereoscopic 3D?
Go to the original YouTube video to view in stereoscopic 3D!
NVIDIA Stereoscopic 3D Findings
NVIDIA specs:
Maingear X-Cube
Intel Core I7 Processor 2.66GHZ
6GB RAM
2 X GTX 275 (SLI)
Windows 7 64 Bit
NVIDIA 195.62 Stereo Driver
NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision / Samsung 2233RZ Monitor
First, NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision had a lot of advantages to work with. Not only did NVIDIA have pre-release copies of the game, they had the opportunity to work with Capcom to ensure it was well optimized during development.
NVIDIA 195.62 Stereo Driver
What were the results? When we learned that one reviewer is reported to have reached orgasmic climax and suffered three simultaneous strokes from the game’s menus alone, we just had to see what all the excitement was about.
The first plus is the game runs in DirectX 10, and according to NVIDIA, the only required setting reductions are blur effects. Normally NVIDIA drivers require far more eye candy reductions than this, so it’s good to see a fuller DX10 experience with this game. As Resident Evil 5 is one of the more graphics intensive games on the market, this is a welcome sight.
RE5 also handles the cross-hair properly by having dynamic left and right views according to what is being aimed at. This means there is no need for an add-on S-3D cross-hair by NVIDIA’s stereo driver. You will also find few if any visual anomalies to speak of.
RE5 boasts about having specially designed S-3D cut-scenes versus the traditional 2D clips most game developers put in. While this is true, the separation levels are locked down in such a way that it is impossible for them to be further reduced for those who need it. The separation isn’t high enough for divergence, but it’s more than enough to be uncomfortable for some.
NVIDIA 195.62 Stereo Driver
The final issue is that the GeForce 3D Vision settings are locked so the gamer cannot control how much of a pop-out experience they want with RE5. This definitely opens a can of worms. Is it appropriate to criticize a game developer if they choose to lock down certain settings for artistic purposes? What if they want their game to look a certain way? Who are we to question technical flexibility if everything is artistically deliberate and intended?
According to the Resident Evil 5 press release put out in mid-July of this year:
“Fans that pick up the PC version will be the first to experience stereoscopic 3D out of screen effects as their living rooms are transformed into the world of Kijuju. Infected Majini coming at players from every angle, dust flying in and out of screen and the scariest bosses to date are taken up a notch. Resident Evil 5 PC is a whole new level of fear players will never forget. The game also supports Stereoscopic 3D in all of its cut scenes – an industry first.”
NVIDIA 195.62 Stereo Driver
According to a separate NVIDIA press release put out in mid-September:
“To heighten the festivities, NVIDIA will showcase its award-winning 3D Vision(TM) stereoscopic 3D technology and give attendees a chance to play this year’s hottest horror game, Resident Evil 5, to experience what it’s like to have crazed zombies pop out of the computer screen.”
While the RE5 S-3D experience is a very positive one, the result is not in line with Capcom’s official artistic expectations.
With the current NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision implementation of RE5, few out of screen effects exist. There are very minor pop-out samples which the gamer has to look for with the naked eye (by seeing where the convergence point is), but nowhere near the lengths being promoted through official media press releases.
Actually, there is one exception! The game’s menus have out of screen effects (seriously)!
The iZ3D System Specs Include:
AMD Phenom X4 9850 Black Edition Quad Core Processor 2.5Ghz
Patriot Extreme Viper PC2-8500 4GB RAM
EVGA GTX285
Windows 7 64 Bit
Zalmon Trimon 22” Monitor
iZ3D drivers 1.10
The NVIDIA/Capcom implementation was a double edged sword. At first, Resident Evil 5 had compatibility problems with the other driver developers. We know firsthand that iZ3D’s development team had to pull long hours to get the game to run shortly after the product hit store shelves. Fortunately, once the compatibility snag was solved, NVIDIA’s optimizations ended up helping everyone.
iZ3D 1.10 Release Driver
In the case of iZ3D, their drivers don’t support DirectX 10 just yet, but the DX9 experience is almost on par – especially since it’s not necessary to reduce any graphics settings.
iZ3D also has the advantage of offering complete flexibility for depth and out of screen experiences. The cut-scenes can also be adjusted for comfort, and there are few noticeable anomalies. We did find some minor shimmering on the water reflections, but that’s about it.
iZ3D 1.10 Release Driver
Unlike the NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision, the crosshair does not behave the same way. However, iZ3D has its own dominant eye left shift or right shift option so an added S-3D crosshair is not needed.
The DDD System Specs Include:
AMD Phenom X4 9850 Black Edition Quad Core Processor 2.5Ghz
Patriot Extreme Viper PC2-8500 4GB RAM
EVGA 285GTX
Windows 7 64 Bit
Zalmon Trimon 22” Monitor
Tridef Experience 4.1 Package (with 2.4.3 Beta 2 drivers)
Similar to iZ3D, DDD had to take similar measures with their Tridef Ignition Drivers to get RE5 running. Once set up, the game has the same flexibility to have combined depth and pop-out experiences.
DDD Tridef Ignition 2.4.3 Beta 2
The only caveat is the in-game crosshair is no longer accurate. Instead, you need to use their add-on crosshair to aim your weapons properly. It’s not a big deal, but it would have been nice if Capcom’s optimizations translated to this driver solution as well.
Also, similar to NVIDIA, you need to turn the blur effects off. It would be good to see this fixed with a profile or driver update – we shall see.
NVIDIA and Capcom took on a big responsibility to optimize this game to be stereoscopic 3D compliant. They did a great job, especially since they were working in DirectX 10 rather than 9.
DDD Tridef Ignition 2.4.3 Beta 2
In our opinion, it would have been even more beneficial had Capcom opened similar doors to additional driver developers to maximize sales and ensure compatibility for everyone. In the case of RE5, it wouldn’t have added much to the game’s overhead to do this. Even offering pre-release copies of the game a week in advance would have made a world of difference.
As it stands, all three driver developers offer excellent RE5 experiences. If you can get through the first hour, Resident Evil 5 is a worthy adventure of mayhem and zombie killing. Oh yeah, the menus aren’t bad either!
The updated DDD drivers will be published later today. Share your thoughts in our discussion forums! Be sure to sample more pictures in our Resident Evil 5 gallery.
Game Play
7/10
Sound
7/10
Presentation
8/10
Immersive Nature
7/10
How Memorable Is This Game
8/10
Stereoscopic Effectiveness NVIDIA
7/10
Stereoscopic Effectiveness iZ3D
8.5/10
Stereoscopic Effectiveness DDD
8/10
NVIDIA Overall Rating:
7.33/10
iZ3D Overall Rating:
7.58/10
DDD Overall Rating:
7.5/10