It is on my PAL 360 at least. But anywhoo if you're an... 'early adopter' I suppose you could call it, by virtue of buying a new copy of Dragon's Dogma, then you'll notice an option currently on the main menu of Dragon's Dogma to download the RE6 demo! Now downloading myself. I'm definitely.... curious just to see how this plays. Anywhoo, off to check the progress!

EDIT: OK, so... man, this game is fucking weird! The controls! They're certainly new... this isn't just another rehash of the RE4 style of gameplay, but now I kinda wish it was. The camera is a little too close to the character and since melee attacks are now always-available, no context required like RE4/RE5, a lot of my time was primarily just beatin' into dudes. Which is kind of ridiculous. Hell, it almost reminds me of a similar sort of tactic in Operation Raccoon City - always a bad sign for that shit to enter the equation. The inventory system is a hassle and definitely looks like it'll take some getting used to. The cover system seems completely arbitrary as well, and Jesus, Chris' segment was the worst. Just spongin' bullets as I falcon punch everyone.

But it's not all bad. I definitely liked the story set-ups (bitter, drunken Chris! Oh yes!), and Leon's part was a lot better than I anticipated. A lot of predictable scares, but I admittedly found the part when you meet the zombie-chowder, and then his daughter, pretty tense. I mean it's obvious they're going to turn, but it's waiting for that to happen that's captivating. Yet another callback to the infamous ''dog jumping out of the window'' with the barking was unnecessary, though. I mean you already nostalgia'd that in Lost in Nightmares! I overall really liked the tone and the aesthetic of Leon's in any case. ''Score points'' to replace currency it seems, and those blue emblems have returned. Das cool, I suppose. Jake & Sherry's was pretty eh... boss battle was ok, but it definitely hit home how finicky the controls are and will definitely take some getting used to once some actual challenge is brought in to things. Oh, being able to specifically say what you want to say to your partner is a neat touch, too. Also as far as I can tell, your AI partner is actually invincible. Which will certainly be a major plus for a lot of people.

What else... weapons have varying functions (like Sherry's burst-fire and single-fire modes / Leon's dual-wielding abilities), though I couldn't figure out how to use throwing items. At least you're able to heal yourself now with but the press of a single button.

I do like how there's a lot more options available, too. Like how you can actually play as whichever character from the get-go instead of having to unlock the secondary. Plus you can switch-shoulders now when aiming, which is an appreciative addition. There's even a ''classic'' control scheme, which... lol. It doesn't even work, not within the context of requiring to move n shoot -- or at least should such an occasion crop up; again, it was all so easy that getting the job done with your fists was the most effective. Though of course this also could be set on the easiest setting. The story I am undoubtedly still really looking forward to finding out more, but Jesus, the gameplay isn't feeling so hot. Hell, it's kinda bad if all I really need to do is melee everything in sight.

@Yummylee said:

It is on my PAL 360 at least. But anywhoo if you're an... 'early adopter' I suppose you could call it, by virtue of buying a new copy of Dragon's Dogma, then you'll notice an option currently on the main menu to download the RE6 demo! Now downloading myself. I'm definitely.... curious just to see how this plays. Anywhoo, off to check the progress!

Let me know how it turnsout enjoy!

A playable demo? How did I not know about this!! If it is I'll be very interested in hearing what it's like, I really hope RE6 can deliver.

Anyone who has played it, how is it?

EDIT: I watched the stream pandorasbox (below this post) posted, and it doesn't look all that amazing.

http://www.twitch.tv/yaka84 <- live stream demo

I played it, it's pretty cool so far. The Leon part was pretty spooky for awhile, and the Jake part sort of felt like a throwback to the old Nemesis days where he chases you around and stuff but it's a different type of Nemesis monster thing. The Chris part was all action though so didn't see anything too special about his part of the demo. The shooting didn't feel as good as a standard third person shooter though... it still has this wide spread so it doesn't feel very accurate. I think the demo shows a good variety of what you'll find in the game and i thought it was fun.

I'd totally forgotten this. Time to get my copy of Dragon's Dogma out! 
 
Does the demo feature co-op, like Resi 5's did? It might be a bit unorthodox, but I'm really looking forward to playing RE6 in co-op with a friend, like I did with 5. It'd be nice if this demo has co-op available too.

@Marz: Wow, already?? Mine's still bloody downloading! It's at 82% but, jeez...

@Yummylee said:

@Marz: Wow, already?? Mine's still bloody downloading! It's at 82% but, jeez...

it was available at 2am, so... almost 2 hours ago my time?

Oh man, it controls like shit. I'm so bummed out about the shooting/ camera. (an absolute nightmare in the boss sequence) played through all three sections. It looks nice and the cutscenes were cool, but this feels really dated. It felt almost a bit...shadows of the damned-ish.

Also, I know it's an early demo, but the cutscenes had an insane amount of screen tearing and a bit of jerky slowdown.

I had Dragon's Dogma but I traded in the game. I forgot all about the demo.

@Marz said:

@Yummylee said:

@Marz: Wow, already?? Mine's still bloody downloading! It's at 82% but, jeez...

it was available at 2am, so... almost 2 hours ago my time?

Hmm, well that makes sense. I figured it was actually worldwide, but I guess yet again the US (?) gets a 10 yard head start :P

@Yummylee said:

@Marz said:

@Yummylee said:

@Marz: Wow, already?? Mine's still bloody downloading! It's at 82% but, jeez...

it was available at 2am, so... almost 2 hours ago my time?

Hmm, well that makes sense. I figured it was actually worldwide, but I guess yet again the US (?) gets a 10 yard head start :P

He is not in the US. It's 7:29am in the US.

Damn, maybe I should go pick up Dragon's Dogma :P

How's the demo? I'm most skeptical regarding the controls than anything.

@mcderby4: It doesn't control as well as revelations (closest comparison with the moving and the shooting), It feels like the camera zooms far too close into your character when aiming. The Aiming in five felt better to be honest. The camera jerks all over the place, probably because of how confined all the areas are, even the more open rooftop sequence with Chris.

They've clearly gone full on action this time around and if your shooting isn't as good as say Army of Two or any other B-tier third person shooter you've got a problem. I hope to god this is a really, really early build of the game.

@pandorasbox said:

@Yummylee said:

@Marz said:

@Yummylee said:

@Marz: Wow, already?? Mine's still bloody downloading! It's at 82% but, jeez...

it was available at 2am, so... almost 2 hours ago my time?

Hmm, well that makes sense. I figured it was actually worldwide, but I guess yet again the US (?) gets a 10 yard head start :P

He is not in the US. It's 7:29am in the US.

last time i checked, Arizona was part of the US lol. it's 5:16am as i post this

Played it, loved the hell out of it!

@GunstarRed said:

@mcderby4: It doesn't control as well as revelations (closest comparison with the moving and the shooting), It feels like the camera zooms far too close into your character when aiming. The Aiming in five felt better to be honest. The camera jerks all over the place, probably because of how confined all the areas are, even the more open rooftop sequence with Chris.

They've clearly gone full on action this time around and if your shooting isn't as good as say Army of Two or any other B-tier third person shooter you've got a problem. I hope to god this is a really, really early build of the game.

I have to agree to this. I'm still really pumped for the story, but the gameplay is actually kind of a downgrade if anything. RE5 you could say was almost polarising for its stop-n-pop gunplay, but from what I've played in RE6, I'd take that sort of style over what we have here any day. Plus yeah, to no surprise, action is sprawled across the menu. Leon's was definitely much more slower-paced, but also annoyingly restricted and linear. You're not playing it like you would even during the survival-horror segments of Revelations; it was like a ride through a cheaply made ghost house with the ensuing 'scares' only barely concealed. The atmosphere is pretty alright, though. Good bit of lighting and all.

OH SHIT! SO FORGOT ABOUT THIS! Awesome!

These impressions kind of depress me. Please, Capcom, pull it together and make this as great as I want it to be

I really don't got to much interest in RE6. But I'm curious to see how it turnsout.

@GunstarRed said:

Also, I know it's an early demo, but the cutscenes had an insane amount of screen tearing and a bit of jerky slowdown.

Is it that early? It's only like 3 months before it comes out, doubt much will change between then.

@Yummylee:

Hmm, your first impressions of this game doesn't sound promising for this game. Is the demo currently only out for Dragon's Dogma players?

@Sooty said:

@GunstarRed said:

Also, I know it's an early demo, but the cutscenes had an insane amount of screen tearing and a bit of jerky slowdown.

Is it that early? It's only like 3 months before it comes out, doubt much will change between then.

Yeah, pretty much everything in the demo is surely set in stone at this point. There's a bit of screen-tearing here and there, which I'm sure could be patched up by release, but otherwise... this is it.

@Artigkar said:

@Yummylee:

Hmm, your first impressions of this game doesn't sound promising for this game. Is the demo currently only out for Dragon's Dogma players?

Yeah, and only on 360 for now. The PS3 version--again only for people who bought new copies of Dragon's Dogma--will be released on the 5th of September. I don't know if they'll be releasing them publicly.

@Ursus_Veritas And yes, the demo can be played in coop. No split-screen, though, I don't think. There's no option available in any case.

@Yummylee said:

Hell, it almost reminds me of a similar sort of tactic in Operation Raccoon City - always a bad sign for that shit to enter the equation.

I read up to here and literally started crying. Metaphorically speaking.

@Yummylee said:

@GunstarRed said:

@mcderby4: It doesn't control as well as revelations (closest comparison with the moving and the shooting), It feels like the camera zooms far too close into your character when aiming. The Aiming in five felt better to be honest. The camera jerks all over the place, probably because of how confined all the areas are, even the more open rooftop sequence with Chris.

They've clearly gone full on action this time around and if your shooting isn't as good as say Army of Two or any other B-tier third person shooter you've got a problem. I hope to god this is a really, really early build of the game.

I have to agree to this. I'm still really pumped for the story, but the gameplay is actually kind of a downgrade if anything. RE5 you could say was almost polarising for its stop-n-pop gunplay, but from what I've played in RE6, I'd take that sort of style over what we have here any day. Plus yeah, to no surprise, action is sprawled across the menu. Leon's was definitely much more slower-paced, but also annoyingly restricted and linear. You're not playing it like you would even during the survival-horror segments of Revelations; it was like a ride through a cheaply made ghost house with the ensuing 'scares' only barely concealed. The atmosphere is pretty alright, though. Good bit of lighting and all.

Well damn... From what I've seen, Leon's segments seem to be like a homage to classic Resident Evil with the tone and atmosphere but I'm still massively excited for the story.

@mcderby4: That's exactly what CAPCOM want you to think. But believe me, calling them 'homages' to anything to do with the older RE's is a stretch. It's basically just the slower portions of RE5 dipped in a moodier atmosphere is all. And I guarantee that it isn't very long before Leon's story catches up to the same sort of wavelength as Chris' and Jake's.

From what I've read and watched, Revelations--albeit temporarily--does a much better attempt at recapturing a lot of the spark of the older games.

I liked Resident Evil 5 but yeah the E3 didn't look very good , I would like to try the demo though, have they say when it will be playable on PS3?

@AngelN7: 5th of September, but still only if you bought a new copy of Dragon's Dogma. They may still release 'em publicly, though, but who knows when...

It looks rough.. Just graphics and animations don't look that great at all. I don't like where this game is headed.

@Phatmac said:

It looks rough.. Just graphics and animations don't look that great at all. I don't like where this game is headed.

Though I naturally can't say for certain, but it wouldn't surprise if part of it was down to them spreading their resources too thin across too much. They're trying to balance three campaigns (which they said could potentially total up to 30 hours... hype-baiting, but regardless, I still imagine there's a lengthy campaign leading the charge here), all of which are coop, and they've explicitly stated that they're trying to reel in the Call of Duty crowd and reach that amount of sales - which is bloody ridiculous all on its own. Then there's still the mercenaries mode and a competitive multiplayer mode, and there's also rumoured to be an unlockable fourth campaign starring Ada Wong. But even with that taken out of the list, there is a lot in here, and they're clearly trying to cater to a ludicrously broad market. Plus they've only apparently been working on this since 2010, but then they've also said that there's 600+ people working on this one game alone.

The development of this game could make for a highly intriguing news article in a few years time, it was no doubt a bloody riot. Too bad one will most likely never surface. And besides, RE6 is still going to sell very nicely. I just doubt that it's going to reach the sort of numbers they're evidently aspiring for.

@Yummylee: Oh god... Well it can't be any worse than the abomination that was Racoon City... Right?

@mcderby4 said:

@Yummylee: Oh god... Well it can't be any worse than the abomination that was Racoon City... Right?

Oh, Hell no. This demo alone transcends everything to do with Operation Raccoon City.

How similar does the combat feel to 4 and 5? I know you can move and shoot now, how different does that make it feel and what other changes did you notice? Was the demo only the Leon part? I am coming to this game as a huge RE 4 and 5 fan who does not care for the originals. Also I much prefer the combat in RE5 to that of the Dead Space games, so i'm a little unsure if i'll like 6.

@ImmortalSaiyan: There's a small segment for all three campaigns. Leon's mostly gives you the tour through slow-paced corridor crawl 101, eventually culminating in you killing a few zombies. They're super easy, btw. They all die really quickly and you can steamroll through them all just with melee attacks ironically enough.

Chris' is what plays the closest to RE5 - or rather RE5 once the soldier majini arrive during the ship-deck levels onward. The shooting... isn't very good. As I said in the OP, the camera is far too zoomed in on your character and the enemies are also cannon-fodder. Melee attacks, because you can use them whenever now, allow you to just run and wail on everything; bullets don't do a lot of damage to you and they're not particularly good shots. However, this could all be because it's purposely made easy for the sake of the demo, but it all feels very clunky all the same. The environments were tightly packed and they switch out having a handful of durable enemies, like in RE5, for a constant swarm of enemies who drop like flies one after another.

EDIT: Also there's a cover-system you can make use of, but it's incredibly arbitrary. Only time I ever took cover was by accident; far as I can tell, it's the sticky kind where you kinda just stick to whatever the game deems appropriate.

EDIT2: OK, you take cover by holding the 'aim' button, in this case the LT button, which automatically places you up against the wall or whatever and you pop out by pushing the analogue stick in that direction if possible. Taking cover amidst knee-high cover is a little more cumbersome, though, as you press, in this case, A. But A can also translate as the game thinking you want to vault onto the piece of cover instead - which to be fair is a common fault within most games featuring cover. Otherwise cover is still primarily useless from what I played as bum-rushing enemies seems the most efficient strategy to handle things. Though again, it could all well be because the demo is simply defaulted to the easiest setting to make the game appear even more accessible. Potentially because the game is actually a mess once it tries to become challenging and requires you pay attention...

Jake's first puts you through that chase-sequence from the Nemesis-wannabe. It's just a set-piece, though, as you run towards the screen. Then you face the thing. It can be a relatively tough battle, especially compared to the resistance you faced in the other two. He'll mostly charge at you, but the skewed camera and clunky movement can make avoiding him a little trickier than it should be.

TL;DR To put it simply, I think the combat is superior in RE4/RE5 from what I've played.

I am not going to go out and get Dragons Dogma just for the demo but I hope it comes out for real some time.

This game will bomb critically. Taking bets now.

@Yummylee: Not that I want a rehash of the exact same gameplay of RE5, but from what you describe, this sounds poorly thought out. As if all strategy from 4 and 5 is lost, do the enemy's even react to getting shot in different body parts, even if you can't melee them? I hope the only tactic is to aim and kill zombies in a couple of hits regardless of where they are shot. I understand wanting to mix things up, but the new melee system sounds like it was changed for changes sake. Why make it so you can melee whenever, that is what the knife was for. Maybe it does not translate well to being able to move and shoot - I dunno.

Combine that with the controls and general off feeling to the combat and I am worried about this game.

@ImmortalSaiyan: I think they're trying to turn RE6 into a fast-paced run n gunner. But it isn't nearly as smooth enough to function that way; it also doesn't look like it'll work very well as cover-based shooter, and survival-horror is clearly bankrupt over at CAPCOM so, like how I felt with RE5, RE6 looks to be the victim of suffering an identity crisis for trying to be too many things for too many people.

@Shookems said:

This game will bomb critically. Taking bets now.

I'm envisioning 3 stars from Jeff, or possibly 4 stars from Brad.

@Yummylee: Is the melee tied to some sort of resource? When I watched some E3 footage, I thought I saw a little square tick away on the HUD every time Leon melee'd something.

Honestly, I'm interested, and a little anxious, to learn how the new melee stuff affects the gameplay. In previous games you used to have to shoot dudes in very specific places to initiate a stagger, which was very methodical and satisfying. Leon roundhousing dudes was far and away my favorite part of RE4.

@Encephalon: Not that I can tell, and I melee'd a lot during the demo, played through it multiple times to try and pick up on any mechanics and such that I missed. Maybe it'll be added in for the full game? But yeah, I too prefer the more methodical approach of first shooting specific limbs of a guy to then get your chance; a melee attack felt earned, like it was apart of a grand strategy--it's still in there, it's just why bother when you can easily run in and initiate a little combo of your own no fuss no foul. From my time spent in the RE6 demo, it's more like I'm playing a 3D rendition of Final Fight.

Also, not to completely swarm the game with my pessimism here, so i just want to point out that the story looks pretty good. Chris' opening in particular is fucking brilliant. He's all drunk, haggard and tells a waitress that she's ''only there to look pretty'' and to ''shut her damn mouth''. And of all the years Chris has to turn into a sexist drunk, it had to be this one ;P The writing seems fine for what it is, and the voice-acting is pretty good across the board--I mean it better considering the amount of talent they've assigned to all of the characters. For fans of the fiction at least, I think RE6 is proving to be something to get excited about. But of course I'm also well aware that people like me who enjoys this sort of stuff are of a rare breed...

Still not available in NA? I have nothing on my DD menu.

@Demoskinos: Well sonuva.

Thanks! I never even noticed the token on the back of the manual.

@Encephalon: After checking again, you're right, characters have what is basically a stamina metre that depletes when you use melee attacks and 'quick-draw' attacks--which are basically quick-fire auto-aim firearm attacks. Quick-draw attacks take up a fair bit, though melee don't take up nearly as much, as you may expect. Hence why I never even picked upon it as I Jason Bourne'd my way through the three chapters. It's good to know that there is a penalty for it at least.

@Yummylee: The three campaigns are what have me worried. I watched the Leon and Chris stuff online and there's a mish-mash of styles here (though like you said they'll prob all meld into some kind of actiony soup eventually) and Cap is basically trying to appeal to every gamer ever. Never a good thing. Forced AI co-op is the real downer for me, though.

So I just finished playing all 3 of the sections and they go as such:

Leon - Walk, walk then walk some more then shoot zombies for 10 seconds

Chris - Shoot and punch dudes for a about 5 - 10 minutes

Jake - Run around and shoot the red barrels (dialogue indicates how much damage you've done to the boss)

I think while Chris's segment was the most action packed, it played the worst. It's very fast but the camera and animations really bog it down. The camera is just so close all of the time that you don't really get a sense of your environment so you're open for attacks on a regular basis which is why spamming melee comes in handy. I also don't really care for each character having a different UI as it just comes off as confusing. The demo is from E3 and i've the complaints I heard about it then are definitely true, I just hope that Capcom can sort some of these problems out before release. I loved RE4 but got tired of the partner stuff after only a couple of hours in RE5 as I bought the game fairly late and people that came into my game would simply quit out as I didn't have amazing gear and the AI was dumb as hell. Here though it doesn't seem so bad as you don't really need to baby sit them.

I enjoyed the demo. Chris' segment felt to fast paced for the controls though. Really enjoyed the Jake and Sherry segment and Leon's felt pretty decent (One problem I had was you could move a full speed and then the game makes you walk for no reason)

@mrcraggle: I kinda like the different UI styles as it adds some diversity between the different campaigns. I can understand why some may find it off-putting, though. They're not very clear to read at first. But of course in the full game they'd explain all of what represents what and the like.

And as far as I can tell, your AI partners are actually invincible.