Sure,
The abundance and locations of items in the JPN and US demos are different.
- In the JPN demo, I know there are 4-5 separate herbs out in the open than can be picked up. You just have to find them yourself, of course that may be difficult the very first time if you're being chased. Similar things can be said of ammo/grenades. There's enough herbs/ammo lying around to get you thru the demo if you're not wasteful -- enough to let you try out different options and strategies. There's also a number of breakable boxes/containers which randomly hold ammo/herbs/money/or nothing at all. Additionally, enemies will randomly drop money/health/ammo depending on how(method) and how well(were you hurt?) you defeat them, so there's the potential to fill your inventory with lots of great stuff -- and thus more gory blasto fun for you.
- In the US demo setup in GameCube kiosks, the locations of all the plain-view items were different, except the shotgun. There seemed to be less free herbs lying around.
Being caught offguard from different directions is largely up to the player. Where you decide to stand and aim, what weapons you use, and how well you can clear a crowd of crazies factor into this. If you stand in the middle of the town, where you can at least have 5 meters (radius) of space all around you, they'll definitely try to approach you from your blind spots. One time, I stood between a narrow strip between 2 houses and I focused my aim at a group closing in from one opening. Sure enough, another group approached from the opposite end in an attempt to make a Leon Sandwich. They're like the raptors from Jurassic Park. The enemies in your view "stupidly" tend to slow down once they're fairly close to you, sort of inviting you to shoot them. What they don't want you to know is their brothers and sisters are running at you from behind so they could drive an axe into your back while you're busy paying attention to Uncle Jorge -- it's a subtle example of misdirection and teamwork on their part, and usually unfolds in a matter of seconds. So, some nice RUSTY STEEL surprises can be derived from your positioning and your ability to keep track of the enemies. Whether you wish to constantly run-stop&shoot-run, or back into a dead end to create a "divide & conquer" scenario, its apparent the Village was designed to let you try a variety of strategies.
I'm usually not caught offguard because I can hear them coming: I can hear them shouting, I can hear them stepping (great audio, btw), tho that doesn't mean I always had time to react.
The enemies weren't countless, tho it can feel that way. There's enough for a nice shooting gallery, or enough to tell you your ass should RUN. In the demo, the flow of incoming villagers seemed constant.