Resident Evil 5 is a radical departure from any previous games you may have played in the franchise's history. Capcom incorporated a few new game play mechanics this time around; chief among them is a new co-operative mode which is integral throughout the entire game. The A.I. partner is fairly competent if you must play with it, however, nothing can truly replace another human player. And it is this sole dependence that RE5 puts all of its eggs in one basket. What I recommend to anyone interested in this game: Make sure you have another person at the helm of that second controller. Not only is communication more effective, but coordinating and watching each other's backs becomes a lot easier which is something you will find yourself doing quite a bit in this game if you wish to minimize dying.
Taking place in a fictional country in Africa, you will travel to all manner of locales and fight all manner of nasty beasts and monsters. The core experience is noteworthy if it were not held back to a degree by the archaic control scheme that hearkens back to the first RE games (i.e. stop-to-shoot). Long gone are the slow, shuffling zombies of games past; instead replaced with more agile and nimble enemies which slightly throws off the balance of the stop-to-shoot mechanic. By no means is it a game breaker, but it is rather awkward until you get used to it. Other than that minor grievance the game is beautiful to look at with spot on sounds and effects, and turns out to be a rewarding co-op experience.