I’ve been a Resident Evil fan since the beginning, back in PlayStation One era, and it is safe to say the franchise has had its ups and downs throughout the years.
It has been loved and slated, failed and redeemed itself and has also evolved which is something we have all got to come to terms with whether we like it or not.
Only remnants of the horror survival aspect remain with much of the game play now an action packed turn of the shoot-em-up variety.
Developers and Publishers Capcom have taken the gameplay elements of Resident Evil 4 and 5, combined them together and tweaked them significantly to make Resident Evil 6.
The story is separated into four campaigns, one of which is unlocked after playing through the first three, which eventually weave together to one satisfying conclusion.
It follows seven protagonists, returning RE veterans Leon S Kennedy and Chris Redfield and new to the franchise Jake Muller who is son of the late Albert Wesker.
The story is standard Resident Evil. A powerful virus capable of turning people into bio-organic weapons exists within the world and our heroes while fighting their own wars eventually come together to erase it from existence.
Each campaign clocks in at around seven hours making this the biggest Resident Evil yet.
The story is cleverly written and other characters pop in at just the right time to drive the story forward.
The three starting campaigns each have two characters to choose from or a friend can join in locally or online co-operatively.
The graphics are outstanding, every location in the game is oozing with detail which really helps bring the game alive with beautiful sunsets to snowy mountains and dark dank subways to scary deserted mid-town shopping establishments.
The zombies, newly added enemies J’avo as well as the bosses and main characters are superbly detailed and move extremely realistically.
It’s this attention to detail that help make RE6 one masterpiece of a game.
The voice acting is second to none with movie like dialogue that gives the biggest blockbusters a run for their money.
The gameplay has been refined and fine-tuned and now characters move freely with one control stick controlling the character in all directions and the other stick controls the camera.
Zombie killing has never felt so good with the newly added melee attacks, adopted by the right trigger, with characters able to pummel with their bare hands (or feet) and finally deliver devastating finishing moves.
These moves are also location and enemy specific, meaning if you perform a finisher next to a wall, your character will use the nearest wall to finish them off and enemies with weapons sticking out of them or if they are carrying one, your character will use it against them.
Resident Evil 6 is littered with quick time events and explosive set pieces that make this game unlike any other.
The quick time events keep the player involved with the cut scenes and action sequences while the set pieces differentiate the game play mechanics.
Each character controls differently but only slightly, Leon is faster moving and agile than powerhouses Chris and Jake and their campaigns caters for this.
It’s not all plain sailing though, the overall experience is pulled down slightly by the constant battling with the camera and surprises that can easily catch you off guard but thankfully this game is forgiving and checkpoints are a plenty.
The inventory is no longer shared between you and your partner so you no longer have to babysit like in RE5, which is a godsend.
New to the franchise is the health tablet system where you find herbs which can be transformed into health tablets that can be freely used as and whenever needed.
Summary
Capcom have refined and mastered the game play elements of the previous two games making this the most enjoyable and accessible yet.
The outstanding visuals and set pieces that plague this game makes it the best looking and most explosive however the constant battle with the camera can be a bit of an annoyance but it does nothing to bog the game down.
Clocking well over 20 plus hours of game play makes this the biggest Resident Evil adventure yet.
Resident Evil 6
Developers: Capcom
Publishers: Capcom
Xbox 360®
Playstation 3®
PC
Genre: Action
Release date: 2nd October 2012
Story – 4/5
Graphics – 4/5
Gameplay – 4.5/5
Overall – 4.5/5
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