Resident Evil 6 Review
The formula for Resident Evil has gone through major changes in its lifetime; going from survival horror – to – horror – to – action with the last game, Resident Evil 5. The controversy of the change from fans to non-fans and everyone in between (me) has been really loud; wanting Resident Evil to go back to its roots of horror, to move away from the action aspect they have been taking the last couple of titles. With Resident Evil 6, Capcom partially listened to us. They crafted a game that caters to every single fan of the series out there; horror, survival horror and action; crafting a game that has three separate yet connected story lines. Each one plays differently for better or worse, and makes and, at the same time, breaks the game.
The story, broken into three sub-campaigns that take place at the same time, follows the tail of a new virus being released into the world; changing everyone that comes in contact with the smoke could into dead flesh-eating, or worse, creatures. The campaigns will cross each other at certain points giving you the true feeling that you are apart of a giant war. During those times when your story crosses into another character’s story, be prepared to replay that same mission when you decide to play another story line. As great as the story told in Resident Evil 6 is, it is the having to replay the same section multiple times that gets annoying. Yet, never really knowing the full story until you complete all the stories is a great piece of game development that Resident Evil 6 does; making every story a requirement to play if you want to get the full visual of what is happening.
If you get lucky, during those moments when campaigns cross, you can actually join into someone’s game. I started off playing as Helena in Leon’s campaign and about 3/4 way through, I joined in with someone who was playing Chris in his story. We never really crossed each other’s path during the time, but I could see him and he could see me. This wasn’t something that made my Helena play through any better since we never really interacted; but it was a good touch and hopefully in future titles they build on that feature.
Throughout my 20-something years of playing video games; I have a lot of moments that will never be erased from my mind. With scenes like; being attacked by a mutated human turned into dinosaur, battling with a naked woman spider-thing and crashing a 747 in the middle of a busy city street – Resident Evil 6 has become the one game to add the most memorable moments. They will stick with you for the rest of your gaming lives. Those moments have taken seats next to; Uncharted 2′s beginning, Medal of Honor’s survival mission in the middle of the desert and even my first hiding experience with the Burger King in Sneak King…yes, Sneak King.
Gameplay wise, Resident Evil 6 is a jack of all trades as each story has different characters that play differently. Leon’s story is slower and more horror-sentric than the other three. You spend your time walking through dark hallways and creepy sewers as you make your way to the end; it is definitely classic Resident Evil 4 horror/survival horror. Chris plays just as he did in his last outing during Resident Evil 5; like an action game. Full of semi and full automatic weapons; Chris’ campaign isn’t really scary which lends itself to being the weakest of them all. Jake’s story is all about running for your live and driving vehicles. Here Resident Evil tries even more to instill a sense of survival horror as throughout the campaign you are being chased by the never-dying Ustanak.
Visually Resident Evil 6 is stunning. Giant set pieces, huge/grotesque monsters all around you; you would be forgiven if you turned your lights on while playing this game. Every location you enter is crafted to bring a mood, mainly fear, and boy do the artists deliver. In reality, Resident Evil 6 is a colorful game; having shades of all colors from bright to dark, but the overall mood when those colors are working together is down right horror. Character models look gorgeous and move naturally.
The character control decent enough; mainly the lacking one is when you play in Chris’ story. The controls never felt tight enough for my liking even after adjusting the sensitivity as much as I could. There is also the inclusion of a cover system which you will use during Chris’ missions, but it is wonky and can be annoying to learn as with the same X button you will either go into cover or hope over said cover.
Brought to the franchise in Resident Evil 5, full story co-op returns and is a lot more polished this time around. Through a pre-game start, a menu pops up allowing you to select if you want your story to be open for people to join or not. If you decide to leave it open at any moment another player can join you without stopping or interrupting gameplay. I was in the middle of a boss fight when another player joined my game making that boss a cake walk.
On top of the better co-op experience Resident Evil 6 does offer a competitive multiplayer; the Mercenaries Mode returns from RE5 where you fight through waves of enemies and need to be watchful of the round clock. Once you have finished playing a round in Mercenaries Mode, you will gain skill points that can then be turned and spent on your single-player character to level them up with certain skills. A new addition to the multiplayer aspect of the game is very interesting and sounds fun, yet the actual implementation left me wanting more. In the new Agent Hunt Mode; once you have completed just one campaign you will be given the option to jump into the role of a creature and invade someone’s game to hunt them down. Sadly the controls and camera are so annoying and unplayable that you should really just pass on this mode.
Overall Resident Evil 6 is a must play; at least for those people who want a good scare. Even through its downfalls, Resident Evil 6 stands above most other horror games and is one of the best for the franchise; offering great scares and a good, compelling story.
