Resident Evil 6

Platform	OVERALL
Xbox 360	8.70

Overall

8.70

Resident Evil 6 has received the most confusing bipolar reaction from the media and public that I have ever seen from such a major franchise release. Some seem to enjoy it, others spew nothing but hatred. While I can understand why someone would not enjoy RE6 I don't see how they take the extra leap and start to classify RE6 in a category that includes games that are total garbage, sometimes broken. There is not a bad game in any shape way or form, it may have elements that certain players will not like but I personally feel that is different from a game that just flat out does not play well.

What RE6 suffers most from is a case of spreading itself too thin. It is like a guy that tries to hard to please everyone  and leaves you wondering who this guy really is. At its core RE6 is really a new kind of TPS; when it is trying to be a TPS it excels. When it tries to be MGS, or Mirror's Edge, or Heavy Rain it falls flat most of the time.

Depending on your tolerance for annoying things in gaming you may find RE6 extremely frustrating, especially during it's parade of QTEs in certain chapters. Instant deaths happen randomly at times; other times it occurs from a lack of a clear objective. Personally I have an extremely high tolerance so for the most part I enjoyed the reckless abandon that RE6 shows for any kind of consistency but there were a few sections where even I simply could not believe it got passed a developers meeting.

For the majority of the game you will be running and gunning; it is during these segments where the gameplay truly shines. In Capcom's infinite wisdom they decided not to include an instruction manual in what is easily the most complex RE game to play. The in game tutorial is one of the most inept tutorials I have played deciding to only focus on the most basic of actions that anyone could have figured out. To really enjoy RE6 unique blend of gunplay mixed with melee one needs to master all the slides, dodges, and counters you can perform.

If you approach this game like you do RE4/5 it would seem like a sloppy shooter where the hit detection doesn't feel as responsive, where enemies are more bullet sponges than ever before. The level design is not as intricately designed in such a way to make maneuvering around the area a priority. The reason for that is cause you don't need to use the environments in the way you did in RE4, your character has all the skills needed to avoid enemy attacks. The focus is not on precise placement of shots, it is more about inflicting the most damage while avoiding attacks. Where in RE4 it would be beneficial to stand back and take shots here a better strategy would be run dash into an enemy and engage in melee attacks until they die, then quick shooting an enemy that was trying to close in on you and performing a finishing move on them.

Melee is now every bit as important as firing your guns, this change is the key to making RE6 feel more intense than most TPS on the market. I enjoy games that give me options in combat, I loathe repetition. This game feels far more deep in terms of action mechanics when compared to other games, for instance a certain game where almost 90% of the time you simply fire from cover.  I believe the core gameplay mechanics of RE6 are better than most TPS on the market, this includes Gears, Vanquish even Dead Space. In its own way I enjoy it even more than RE4's formula, it is the rest of elements that hold the game back.

The camera is a major issue because most of the time it stays too close to your character and it is way to eager to spin quickly. Your first few hours with RE6 will leave you disoriented as you attempt to tame the wild camera while you wonder why this game couldn't have a camera as great as previous RE games or even Dead Space. I got used to it, to me I don't even notice it anymore so I can fully enjoy the combat. Others will not be so fortunate and if cameras have ruined your gaming experiences before this camera very well may make RE6 unplayable for you.

In case you have not heard, Resident Evil 6 is a gigantic game which is a blessing and a curse. The game has four different campaigns in an effort to please all kinds of gamers, though in the end it just serves to create a very uneven experience that doesn't fluctuate from full campaign to campaign but from chapter to chapter. Leon's campaign begins in a zombie infested city instantly bringing back memories of RE2. In some of the most spectacular moments of the game you battle your way through zombie hoards as you see a city fall apart around you. The variety never stops  sending Leon from a chase through a graveyard, to a puzzle filled church, to a boss battle. It's the kind of variety that made RE4 such a masterpiece. Then later in Leon's campaign someone decided it would be a great idea to take away the great setpieces and focus more on bad QTE event sequences and a never ending parade of boss battles. The flow just changes instantly with no warning, with no real build up, all of a sudden what you were playing just changed.

There are moments like that all through the game, across all campaigns. There are moments with Chris where it feels like an unfocused mess, requiring the player to play it more like a cover shooter which is clearly not this games strong suit. Then all of a sudden you enter creepy dark areas with great pacing making you wonder "woah why couldn't the whole game be like this". Then you end up in a horrible car chase followed by more creepy environments. I haven't even mentioned Jake's campaign which feels like the devs had a giant dart board of crazy ideas and for each segment of his campaign they threw a dart to see what it would be like. Jake covers the whole gamut of gameplay scenarios from stealth, to platforming and vehicle segments of every kind. Some work incredibly well while others can easily be classified as the worst segments of the game. Personally I loved the sheer unpredictability of it all, for a game that is nearly 30 hours long you better not repeat the same scenarios over and over. That said it didn't need to be 30 hours, it didn't need to be this unfocused; this game needed an editor.

The story is split between all characters, the final part is unlocked once all other campaigns are finished. Playing the game going from one character to the next does not allow for a proper build up. Once you reach the climax of one storyline you must start from the very beginning of the next. RE6 never feels like it has a proper game flow where it builds to a big finale, there is no true final boss. The gameplay never feels like it grows either because this game removed upgrading of weapons in favor of buying skills which you need to equip. The skills system simply does not allow for character growing as skills upgrade extremely slow and their skills enhance basic elements.

One area that needs to be commended is the enemy design and the volume of different enemies you encounter. About every 30 minutes or so you are going to encounter an all new monster, most of the time forcing you to come up with a new strategy to battle it. Not since the old RE days have monsters looked so interesting mainly due to a more T-virus influenced design. The monsters don't only look great but many have very different sets of skills and moves, the reason being that players can control these enemies and use these various attacks in Agent Hunt mode. Sadly for a game so huge as this the amount of bosses didn't really change. The bosses while epic in scale lack clear direction many times making many more frustrating than fun making the bosses one of the more disappointing areas for me.

Many complained about the forced co-op of RE5 because of your AI partner often got itself killed. All fears about a partner AI should be laid to rest as RE6 gives you an invincible partner that has it's own ammo. There is no exchanging of items and when playing online each player gets their own drops, no need to worry about sharing. Basically you can totally ignore the AI partner and play as you would a single player game. The only time you will need them is when you are hurt so badly that you are in a dying state which they can pull you out of. I would say the game is easier offline simply cause you never have to worry about anyone else, your partner can never die. That said the game works better when playing with others as keeping each other alive makes the game far more intense. The co-op works so well with drop in and drop out co-op. No need to restart chapters, or reach a checkpoint, simply pop in and out at will.

Online co-op is just one of the many excellent online features of RE6. As you play you enter moments where character campaigns cross over, during these segments the game looks for another player playing that exact moment as the other characters and joins your games together. This works seamlessly and makes those segments come alive compared to playing them offline with three AI companions. If the other player dies your game continues with the AI taking its place as if nothing has occurred. It works great and I wish it was used more often. Then there is Agent Hunt which allows players to invade your game as enemies. This only happens in certain areas but it increases the intensity of the combat by a huge margin as human opponents are far more relentless. You can play these modes with or without a co-op partner so even though you are experiencing the game alone you are still connected online to enhance specific moments and I recommend to everyone to play the game with these modes active.

The flip side of Agent Hunt is where you play as the invaders. The monsters controller awkwardly on purpose as to make sure the agents are far more powerful as they should be. Your goal is too simply kill them before they reach the exit of that area, you have infinite spawns and you will need to keep chipping away at them. The selection of enemies is pretty vast, but it all depends on which section you are invading. All in all it is a very fun diversion which you can easily get hooked on it. Then there is the hugely popular Mercenaries mode which returns with only three maps unlocked at the start, the rest will be DLC. The rules basically stay the same with a few minor tweaks but with the new gameplay elements it feels like a different animal. It remains as addictive as ever and I cannot wait to get more maps.

Graphically the game is just as uneven as the rest of it. Certain areas are visually stunning with lighting effects that are far more impressive than anything in RE5. Then there are areas where textures look bland and the backgrounds look bad. The voice over work is the best in this series, I know that is not saying much cause it is RE but I would say its some of the best voice work for any action game. Resident Evil 6 has one of the strongest musical scores in the series history.

This game is going to be a great case study for the effects of excess in development and how certain elements can drive some gamers to loathe an entire game. As gigantic as it is, as weird as it can get it, always maintains a high standard of quality. There are almost no glitches, the production values are through the roof and online modes work to perfection. There is not a single action game out there with more content, the value you get here is unheard of for a TPS. I loved how ambitious the project was but I understand how that is why it is not as great as an overall experience as the last two RE games. How much you enjoy the game will fall into what issues you prioritize as a gamer, some will find the flaws to glaring while others like myself will enjoy the game warts and all. I think Resident Evil 6 is one of the most interesting games of this generation and is a game where I still am hooked even 50 hours after starting.

Posted by Dvader Wed, 24 Oct 2012 05:22:24

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gamingeek

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 10:44:16

I wish you could easily find one uber review like this for every game. Then you wouldn't have to scrape around a million different reviews just to get the detail.

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