"That Within Blood Ill-Tempered"
Where do we start? Resident Evil 5 was a genuinely solid effort with a considerable amount of thought and development put into it, but Resident Evil 5 Versus is flawed on so many levels that it resembles Lost Planet in all the worst ways. Why? Because Ranked multi-player matching isn't random with locked entries to prevent boosting and cheating. As it stands now, all rooms are displayed and players can move in and out freely. This ruins it from the start; most hosted matches are traps made by "elite" players who camp-out for unsuspecting newcomers. Most players are dead in the water before the match even begins. What an absolutely terrible system. Whose idea was it, anyway? Choosing teammates is meant for Player Matches, not Ranked Matches.

Ironic how those who have demonstrated the worst sportsmanship (rage-quits, taunts, corpse-raping) I've played in RE5V were the competitive players. Veterans are disgusted by their hard-up nature, and once-interested newcomers are immediately turned-off by their behavior. Beginners never want to play Versus again after that, and it's no wonder why; instead of getting more people into the game and making its fan base bigger and more enjoyable, they ("pros") use their elitist mentality to keep it closed and exclusive. It's already hard for me to win as it is, and the few times I actually do win, I either get disconnected on or find that my teammate is the opposing team's friend and sabotages the match because he/she cannot allow me to win. Too bad it's mostly these guys who have the open Ranked Match rooms.

"Your Call Cannot Be Completed As Dialed"
Disconnecting (affectionately referred to as "rage-quitting") is another, all too common issue in RE5V. "Competitive players (in my opinion) has given the re5 versus community a bad rep since all you hear really is trash talk and people rage quitting toward the end of the match." This was a post made by a Capcom forums user, and it's accurate; they know there are no penalties for throwing matches and/or disconnecting. In their negligence, Capcom has allowed dirtbags to reign freely and ruin the game for everyone else. The same Capcom forum user posted that "The "Elites" in Versus are just a bunch of douchebags who rarely leave their house and make sub accounts for God knows what reasons...just for that mode. It's sad really." Yet another valid RE5V point.

"The Main Issue At Hand"
Even without these online issues, though, Capcom ruined RE5V by dumbing-down RE5's evolved gameplay. They completely omitted the incredibly-useful, fully-functional cover and quick-time hand-to-hand combat systems that made RE5 so immersive! This makes as much sense as making sub-accounts for the game; why would anybody do this? Why in God's name would pivotal aspects of the gameplay be taken out? It makes no sense when you look at all the ways the inclusion of these systems could have evened RE5V out. The cover system would have made it more strategic and fun. Quick-time hand-to-hand combat events could have really bridged the ridiculous balance gap to level the playing field between Wesker (S.T.A.R.S.) and/or Sheva (Tribal) and everyone else.

True, the huge disparity between Wesker (S.T.A.R.S.) And Sheva (Tribal) to Chris (S.T.A.R.S.) And Sheva (BSAA) is enough to warrant complete re-balancing, but button or command prompts like the Wesker quick-time hand-to-hand combat events (in the campaign) could have helped it a lot. Sure, Wesker's destructive weaponry still has obvious advantages, but onscreen button prompts for dodging and/or evading (both near and far) attacks could have easily made battles a test of reflexes over sheer gun power and/or luck. There's no reason why RE5V has to play as stiff as it does when everything was already there from RE5. Manning turrets, cannons, and a variety of other heavy weaponry was also taken out for reasons unknown, which is funny because it also could have been a lot of fun (kinda like the VS ones in LP2). Lame.

Wasted Chances
The only thing worse than the fact that RE5V was allowed for release with such obviously glaring flaws is the fact that Capcom has made no effort to fix it. Pathetic, really, considering how much easier it is to update nowadays. A Reunion upgrade would present an opportunity for Capcom to go back and actually undo ruin; they could implement random matchmaking, disconnect penalties, the RE5 cover and quick-time event systems, heavy weapons, and balance. Because as it stands now, RE5V has the capability to make the average calm, levelheaded player into a livid wreck. RE5V adds insult to injury, pours salt in your wounds, and encourages players to do the same through its ridiculously-flawed system. RE5V's not really bad, but it's not really good, either.

Fake It 'Till You (Don't) Make It
Capcom really has no idea how much they lose by allowing this to happen; when a similar mode arrives for another game down the road, people will remember the sour experience they had with RE5V and pass on the purchase (even if the product is better). The sour taste RE5V left behind can be a potential revenue killer for similar products in the future. And who'd want to buy anything like RE5V (again)? It's one of the most incomplete, busted, infuriating games Capcom has ever made. A sad state of affairs, considering their reputation for quality control and gameplay; two attributes absent in titles of Mr. Takeuchi's production reign...

- BAD -