On March 13 2009 Japanese video game developer Capcom will release the latest instalment of their long running survival horror franchise, Resident Evil 5. The game is the first entry in the series to be situated in a sub-Saharan location and little did they know that with their teaser trailer, released in mid July 2007, they would ignite a storm of criticism for the possible racist content of their game.

When Resident Evil 5 protagonist Chris Redfield walked into an African shanty town in the first glimpse fans were given of in-game footage, they were nothing less than astounded at how incredible the game’s visuals were. What they were not expecting however, was the unavoidable feeling that what they were watching rode the fine line of acceptable content for a video game.

The trailer made viewers watch as a rallying group of African men and women cheered and taunted as a man, of what appeared to be north-African ethnicity, was brutally executed by a large, hooded ‘zombie’ wielding an axe. The group then focused their attention on the player’s character, Chris Redfield, and proceeded to storm the building in which he assumed himself concealed from view. Chris opened fire on the violent mob, and this is where the controversy arose.

The imagery of a white man entering an African village and gunning down its impoverished inhabitants is approaching bad taste in any context but the prospect of letting a person actually take control of such actions raised some eyebrows in the online community. Black video game journalist Ngai Croal was one of the first commentators to be openly outspoken about his uneasiness with the trailer’s content and many followed suit.

In addition to the colonial imagery of the trailer, another concern was that, in a game about ‘zombies’, the villagers did not appear in the traditional ‘brain-dead’ sense of the word. Instead, these were fast moving, communicating foes that attacked in swarms, apparently goaded on by their leader who carried a megaphone to issue commands. The ‘zombie’ status of these infected villagers was intended to be conveyed by their glowing red eyes, though throughout much of the trailer it was hard to exactly determine the level of consciousness of the attackers.

The confusions can in fact be explained by the game’s story. Fans of the series will know that the latest version of the infection (there are multiple viruses in the game’s universe) results in a more capable form of enemy, akin to a hyper-aggressive human-being but concealing a monstrous inner form. This evolution is, in part, responsible for the controversy, as the line becomes blurred between the clearly defined ‘slow-moving evil’ of the older games and the more human foes of the latest release.

With such blurry distinctions however, the trailer could easily be taken as an ignorant portrayal of Africa as brutal and barbaric, though onlookers were quick to point out that in many real locations within Africa, this level of barbarism is an unfortunate fact; they needed look no further than Darfur or Zimbabwe for their examples. Regardless, the ambiguity of the imagery led Capcom to produce a second, edited trailer shortly after, containing additional males of White and Hispanic ethnicity; this is now the state of the final release.

The argument against the trailer’s imagery was indeed strong but it is important to remember that Capcom did take steps to add different ethnicities and was also quick to point out the ‘multicultural development team’ behind the game; and the biggest factor is yet to be mentioned: Chris’s partner in the game, the optional player for the cooperative experience the release offers, is a highly capable, intelligent African woman. She counterbalances the mindless aggression of the hostile villagers with her own shining characteristics and stands as the closest thing to a role model to be found in the game.

The issue has now, for the most part, died down and with the game being a mature release (persons are required to be of at least eighteen years of age to purchase it) it is to be hoped that the dispute is settled and the players are old enough to understand the importance of context; but it does raise once more the importance of education and clear distinctions surrounding such sensitive subjects so often missing from our entertainment industries.