Our demo started with S.T.A.R.S. team member Chris Redfield in a crude cabin, watching as an angry, infected horde of locals passed by bearing clubs, axes and machetes. After the initial shock of seeing Resident Evil 5 being played for the first time, on an Xbox 360 we should note, it became clear that anyone familiar with Resident Evil 4 will feel right at home with this chapter.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, mind you, just that if you're looking for a revolutionary step forward in the gameplay department, a la RE3 to RE4, you might be left wanting. But we digress...

While the majority of the enemies Chris was battling were of the disposable villager type, he was being regularly harassed by a much larger hooded character wielding a giant hammer. Analogous to the giant ax-bearing Ganado from 4, it would knock down walls in houses and swat Chris to the ground like an insect. It's clear that Capcom knows that there was plenty to like about RE4 and doesn't appear to be mucking around with the new formula, from familiar enemies to a recognizable HUD.

What else is returning? When we talked to Jun Takeuchi later that day, he confirmed that the next Resident Evil wouldn't do away with the "quick time events" that peppered the successful fourth entry in the series. In fact, he said that we should expect more in the way of frantic button pressing, not less.

While Chris had the height advantage, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, Kawata lobbed grenades—of the concussive and fire grenade type—showing off some of the graphical candy the team must be proud of. There's little to complain about in the visual department, as RE5 looks to favor stylized realism over gratuitous flash. Even with a relatively drab setting, the game doesn't suffer from too much brown, with blue skies and green tones making things pop.

Our brief time with a hands-off playable certainly kept our interest in Resident Evil 5 piqued, as Capcom seems to be wisely sticking to much of the gameplay conventions set forth in RE4. Everything looks better with a new-gen coat of paint, with cool tweaks like a more kinetic over-the-shoulder camera and smoother animation—we especially liked seeing Chris swap out the numerous guns strapped to his back and hip—keeping our eyes entertained.