Hi, hopefully this will be a short one, but I've been thinking about DLC for RE5, and wondering what I think would be awesome. The first thing that popped into my head was an option to make the campaign take place at night, since darkness would make many of the decent scares into terrifying ones. But, as usual, that's not really the thing I'd like to focus on.

I wanna talk about integrating Jill.

Jill Valentine Is my favorite RE heroine. While Rebecca was my FIRST (I played RE0 first, silly me) Jill manages to surpass her because, while Becky is certainly cool and the "cute" one, Jill is the one who kicks the most butt. And though having her "die" and (SPOILER!) get Brainwashed and betray you (END SPOILER) has compromised her invincibility a little in my mind, she still manages to be number one for me, anyway. (I still think It was the Beret in RE1 that did it.)

So I really wanna play as her in RE5.

And I know what you'll say, "Mercs Mode", but that's not a story, just a little competition. You could ressurect any member of S.T.A.R.S. you want and stick em in there, but it wouldn't count for story now would it? I want a Jill story.

Now I know a lot of people are saying "Seperate Ways" on the boards, but do you realize how BIG a whole new Campaign would be? Tons of work, new cutscenes, some new settings; it could be really complicated. And I'd be stuck playing as "Blonde Jill". Any Jill is better than no Jill, but I get tired of how popular Blondes are, which is one of the things I always liked about the RE heroines; the big names aren't blonde. So, I'm not against "Seperate Ways" but I had an Idea that I personally find more intriguing.

Parallel Universe Campaign.

"Huh?" you say? It's Simple, take the campaign you got and add a little "What if?" to it. namely:

"What if Chris had been the one to get knocked out the window instead of Jill, that fateful night at the Spencer Mansion?" So now we have, as in the original Resident Evil, the "Jill Version" of the main story. Cool, huh? (I think it would be funny if Jill and Sheva DON'T get along the way Chris and Sheva do. It could lead to some entertainingly awkward moments!) Sure, you'd have to make some new cutscenes, and record new dialogue, but it still seems like it would be less work then a whole new campaign. She could wear her BSAA costume (well, maybe a couple others would be nice, too; same number as Chris please!) and she wouldn't have to be blonde! Everyone wins! (Well, I win anyway.)

But if you think even that is too hard, I could almost settle for the option to Re-skin Sheva as Jill. Still Sheva. But, ya know, it looks like Jill.

Am I pathetic? Maybe, but I'd still really like to see ol' Jill getting some kind of story related attention. Come on Capcom, please? You threw her out a window for goodness sake! We all deserve a little something to make up for that. Heck, SHE deserves something to make up for it. Sure she's not real, but who says fictional people can't have feelings?

Well. That's all I have to say, as weird as it was. Hope you enjoyed it!

Of course there is only one Wesker. As the primary villain of the Resident Evil series, Wesker is at once one of the most recognizable and complex villians in video games; the puppeteer and mastermind of many of the devious plots of the series. After all, what would Resident Evil fiction have been if he had not sabotaged the Arklay Lab way back in June/July of 1998? An interesting point for speculation, but ultimately not what I'd like to talk about.

What I'm here to talk about today are his many incarnations; Resident Evil, Code Veronica, Resident Evil 4, and Resident Evil 5 all see Wesker in a different outfit and with various subtle differences in his manner and behaviour. But which is the BEST one? I don't really think you can say there is factually a "best Wesker", but I'd like to throw out my opinion for which one gets my vote:

S.T.A.R.S Wesker.

Why? The thing I love about the original Wesker, at least as I saw him in the GCN "RE-make" was his simplicity and realism. Here's a man that has commanded the loyalty and trust of S.T.A.R.S. since the beginning, and suddenly, out of nowhere, he betrays them, and on top of it he had never been planning on doing anything but. There's something particularly sinister about that. Also the fact that he was just a "regular guy", but an unbelievably dangerous regular guy, commands him respect as well.

To me a normal person who is extremely dangerous is extremely impressive, and it's one of the things I believe appeals to people about comic characters such as Batman or others of that type. The minute a character gains "Super Powers" it pushes them out of the realm of believability, so even though they become more dangerous in their talents, they no longer seem like "real" people and so lose some of their mystique.

When Wesker returned in Code Veronica, he wore that kind of "black ops" costume that was in many ways reminiscent of the sort of S.T.A.R.S.-type outfit he wore in RE1, so aesthetically he still had much of that original "Wesker Cool". I missed the Blue Hi-lights of his Police costume, but to a degree his switch to all black seemed symbolic of his shedding his Good Guy ruse. Unfortunately, though he was also suffering from some kind of "Post 'Matrix'" action sequence syndrome that led to us getting a Wesker with super strength and the ability to run on walls. I Remember when I saw him remove his glasses to reveal Zombie Eyes as I played CVX, a little piece of what I had thought was cool about him kind of withered up and vanished; he had been cast out of a believable role and into more of a "Comic Book Villain" one.

In contrast to CV Wesker, the Resident Evil 4 Wesker comes closest to what I liked about RE1 Wesker. When he returned again in RE4 he had undergone another redesign, wearing something of a "Business Casual Villain" suit, and though this almost James Bondesque appearance seemed a little odd, it did seem fitting, having a kind of puppeteer CEO/ "entrepreneur of biological weapons" feel that fit the role he was filling at the moment. The thing about this incarnation that regained the most respect from me however, was the way he handled in Mercenary mode. His abilities were, though greater than those of Leon, not as obscenely greater as they seemed in Code Veronica. Sure, he had the "Wesker Power Punch" but ultimately his abilities seemed more like.... Captain America: a man whose physical prowess had been developed to just beyond the peak of normal human capability. Though exaggerated, his powers seemed rather believable in terms of what genetic manipulation may be possible in the future.

Resident Evil 5 Wesker on the other hand just goes right out the window of realism with abilities that are almost silly. In a cut-scene we watch him move fast enough to dodge bullets and knock Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine around the Spencer Mansion like rag-dolls; it's entertaining to be sure, but somewhat ridiculous. His appearance also seems to reflect this mentality, having him in a long black overcoat more than a little reminiscent of "NEO" from "The Matrix". His face has also been redesigned to be more rough, whether due to age or a desire to make him more realistic is uncertain and I'm not sure what I think of it, and they've replaced his nice dark shades with shiny mirrored ones, which don't go with all the black he wears at all. I suppose their argument could be that he's "Upgraded" himself over the years, and I suppose he still looks like Wesker, but this version is by far the least like the one I thought was cool back in the day.

So in conclusion: The original Wesker gets the biggest points for being both creepy, believable, and sinister, and dressing practically (ya know, except for the sunglasses, but those are just plain cool so it's okay!). Resident Evil 4 Wesker comes in at a close second for having a believable level of extra "Power", in spite of the fact that his costume bears possibly the least resemblance to the original (it was appropriate, so who am I to argue?). Code Veronica Wesker looks most like the original but is hampered by a lack of believability. And Resident Evil 5 Wesker hits all the right points for a "text book villain" costume, but his powers have developed to the point that it's difficult to take him seriously anymore.

Well, that's all I have to say about the different versions of Mr. Albert Wesker, if you read this far you must have enjoyed it; it was pretty wordy! I don't see how I could have offended anyone, but if I did I welcome any constructive counterpoints to my arguments. Thanks for reading!