PS3, Reviews, Xbox 360 — January 3, 2013 at 2:00 pm

So Many Zombies, So Little Time: Resident Evil 6 Review

by
Resident Evil 6

Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
ESRB Rating: Mature

Fans of the survival-horror genre hold the Resident Evil franchise in great regard, and this could be one of the reasons why Capcom has made Resident Evil 6 such an ambitious title. So does this ambition lead the franchise back to prominence atop the survival-horror genre, or does the emphasis on action take too much away from the franchise? Get a hold of some tasty brains–it’s time for the review.

More Like PRESIDENT Evil…6…Am I Right, Or Am I Right?

Resident Evil 6′s story starts off with the President of the United States ready to reveal the events that took place in Raccoon City when a bio-terrorist attack causes him to become infected with the C-Virus. Leon S. Kennedy and Helena Harper put him down and escape to Tall Oaks Cathedral to seek both sanctuary and Helena’s sister, Deborah. From there, the story is broken up into four parts revolving around seven characters. Each character has 5 chapters each, with a few moments that intersect with other characters in the story. Each campaign is about five hours long, so there is a good amount of content in the game, but with each chapter lasting about an hour, it does feel a little short.

Chris and Leon in a tense standoff

Each campaign has a different story, but the player learns why things are happening and the motives behind each character. During the story, the plot twists and turns keep the story somewhat entertaining, with most of the story’s questions answered by playing through other campaigns. Although the appeal of seeing certain moments in the game play out through different perspectives is nice, eventually it loses its luster and becomes repetitive. The problem rears its ugly head during some of the boss battles, because those must be played out and beaten in the same way.

It’s Like A Raccoon City Reunion

As this is the sixth game in the series, many characters have made a return, but rather than show the depth of the character, the story just tells or shows what the character has been up to since Resident Evil 5. RE6‘s brand new character is Jake Muller, the son of the infamous Albert Wesker. Jake is played off as an edgy character learning about his father, and that he (or rather his blood) is the key to humanity’s survival and the cure to the C-Virus.

Between Me and You, You Should’ve Asked For More Money

With the exception of a couple things, such as the clumsy cover system and the lack of emphasis on melee-based attacks, RE6’s controls are both easy to work with and responsive. The game places a heavy emphasis on shooting–every character carries a standard handgun in addition to another weapon. More weapons are picked up during each character’s campaign, and each character has a specialty gun only they use (such as Chris Redfield’s grenade launcher or Jake Muller’s Elephant Killer magnum).

With such an emphasis on the guns, the developers overlooked the melee-based combat in some areas. This is especially disappointing when some characters are shown beating the infected with relative ease when they’re unarmed. The biggest problem is during melee combat the player is usually allowed to hit the infected once to gain some distance, stun, finish off the enemy while they’re on the ground, or fight them if the player is trying to conserve ammo.
Jake Muller and one of the bosses in the game; Ustanak
Another troublesome aspect of the game is the lack of reward for accurate shooting. Every enemy might take more than a perfectly placed head shot, no matter how powerful they are. On the same side of the coin, every major boss battle doesn’t feel rewarding, as they’re always shown coming back again and again after taking impossible amounts of damage from both the player and in the cut scene showing the “finishing” blow.

No, Not The Bees, Not The Bees! AAAH They’re In My Eyes! AAAAHHHH!

The creatures created for the game are definitely high points in Resident Evil 6. The standard zombies make their appearance, but the game fits in a range of creatures from which nightmares are made. Some combine insects with zombies and others hatch out of cocoons to make the player think about strategy in either taking it down or avoiding it altogether.

Redfield vs Napad

Environments range from a war-torn European town to a newly-attacked Chinese metropolis. Areas within the levels vary in scope as well, with wide open spaces when fighting off the larger enemies and closed-in spaces for the bosses. Most of the environments are dimly lit, attempting to give the game the horror aspect that fans expect from the series.

Happy Birthday Ada Wong

Where Resident Evil 6 falters is in the repetition in the later campaigns and the arbitrary damage given to enemies. Also, RE6 shows off great power and abilities for some characters in cut scenes, but those powers are seemingly nonexistent during gameplay. At times, the camera doesn’t capture the scope of the player’s surroundings, which will lead to them getting ambushed by zombies that the player never even saw. The most important flaw, however, is that despite the fact this is a Resident Evil game, it’s just not scary.

This isn’t to say Resident Evil 6 is a bad game. Resident Evil 6 isn’t your traditional survival-horror, but as time goes on, the series has evolved into what is presented here today. Core fans of the franchise might label RE6 as an action game littered with quick time events and annoying mini-games. As a whole, the game works well as an action game and features the ability to drop in and out of a co-op campaign seamlessly. The game also creates a handful of tense moments, and has a few nice surprises in each campaign.

Final Verdict: Resident Evil 6 gets 7 Leon S. Kennedy Haircuts out of 10

Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 

This review is based on a retail copy of the Playstation 3 version of Resident Evil 6 developed and distributed by Capcom.

Did you like this? Share it:

Comments are closed.