June 3, 2008 - Chris Redfield is headed to Africa. The new Resident Evil 5, shown for a glorious 10 minutes at Capcom's '08 Gamers' Day, sees Redfield hunting down the origins of the Progenitor Virus. This is the RE that promises to give definitive answers. Yes, you will know the secrets behind the origin of the Progenitor Virus by the time you complete RE5.

Now 60% complete, Resident Evil 5 appears on track for an early 2009 release on both PS3 and Xbox 360. Capcom showed off one of the early sections of the game, which sees Chris Redfield in a small town surrounded by hostile villagers. It's an obvious parallel to the first town in RE4, but serves as a way to easily note some of the contrasts between the two titles.

For one thing, this area is four times the size as the village from RE4. And more importantly, it showcases the high level of destructibility in the environment. When the demo begins, Redfield's safehouse is being infiltrated by villagers. After a short time fighting them off, we're introduced to a new enemy -- an axe-wielding behemoth who smashes through one of the walls of the house. As Redfield dashes to escape, the axe-wielder swings wildly, obliterating villagers and smashing through the environment.

Though the demo showed little of how you will use the environment to your advantage, RE5 Producer Jun Takeuchi promised that you will be able to set traps for enemies. But or in the case of our axe-wielding friend, can simply smash through a carefully laid trap or any other obstacle in his way. And when he catches you, expect either a head-crushing hammer down swing or to be grabbed by the throat and throttled.

Though RE5 uses similar gameplay mechanics as the previous iteration, there's definitely more mobility this time around. As Redfield attempted to escape the mob, we saw him climb to a roof, leap onto a broken down bus, and eventually take sanctuary in another building. While nothing about RE5 says "run-and-gun" there does appear to be a slightly faster pace, more ways to approach enemies, more places to hide and more room to maneuver.

And you will want to maneuver, because the AI has grown smarter. If you have a laser sight on your shotgun, for example, and aim it at an enemy, they will dive out of the way. So while the laser sight helps with aim, it finally has a penalty -- your enemy knows when you are aiming at his junk. Whatever you do, don't let the villagers grab hold of you. Their slack-jawed faces burst open with a venus flytrap-like mouth that attempts to devour Redfield.

At least you have some defensive abilities. Aside from just pushing people off, Redfield now has a modest set of melee moves to kick and punch enemies that get too close. Of course they won't get close to you if you set them on fire. Rather than place bright red explosive barrels in the village, Capcom placed bright red incendiary barrels. Shoot one and it sets the area ablaze. The gorgeous fire spreads and sets enemies alight. Editor's note: Fire doesn't seem to bother the axe-man much.

What's impressive is the level of detail in RE5. Chris has a knife in a scabbard strapped to his back that bounces with his movements. You can see strands of hair moving as he turns his head. When injured, you'll see blood trickling down a sleeve or Redfield's forehead. Even the enemies, who could be primetime players in the latest House on Haunted Hills Have Eyes of a Stranger slasher flick are beautifully grotesque in their detail. You can see far into the distance if you get atop one of the buildings and, as we said before, there's a lot more packed into the environment. Gears of War 2 and Killzone 2 are going to have some competition for best-looking game of this generation.

Now give us a kiss!Takeuchi isn't trying to reinvent the series with RE5. In fact, he doesn't see much from RE4 that needs fixing. He's simply hoping to improve on the formula that produced one of the beset survival horror games of all time. So while there may be some new wrinkles, those who played RE4 should be able to jump right in with no problem.

The new trailer Capcom unveiled today hints that we may see more of the Quick Time Events from RE4. Takeuchi admits that there will be something similar to QTEs in RE5, but that it may take a slightly different form than what we've seen previously.

Of course, the big reveal from the trailer is the introduction of a new female character. This woman, who remains unnamed for the time being, welcomes Chris Redfield to Africa. "I may not be as big as you," she says, "but I can hold my own." Takeuchi doesn't deny the enticing possibility that this character may be playable in a cooperative mode, but says only that all will be revealed at E3 2008.

Let's hope if this mysterious woman isn't a playable character that the AI can at least hold its own in assisting Redfield. Takeuchi promises that RE5 will be harder than RE4, a game which wasn't exactly a walk in the park.