Resident Evil 6

Resident Evil 6, what positives can I take away from a game I was so desperate to see the back of. What hope is there that I can praise the very few moments of actual quality amid the flood of mediocrity and frustration. Resident Evil 6 is a bad game, let's just get that out of the way. But it's the fact that it's bad because of decisions made by Capcom's development choices rather than any technical or performance issues that makes it an even tougher pill to swallow.

The main campaign of Resident Evil 6 is split into four chapter, with each section covering the events from the different perspectives of the games four characters, these being Leon Kennedy, Chris Redfield, Ada Wong and Jake Muller, who wouldn't you know, is Albert Wesker's son (I know right, who saw that coming). Unfortunately this is where the problems start rearing their ugly head. Whilst the idea behind laying out the campaign in such a way might have sounded like an interesting idea at some point, in the end it comes across as a weak attempt to please those looking for Resident Evil 4 feel to those wanting the more action orientated feel of Resi 5 and everyone in between, resulting in a game that fails miserably to please any of those camps.

Leon Kennedy's chapter tries to reignite the old familiar Resident Evil feel with it's slower pace, though thanks to Resident Evil 6's more responsive control scheme it fails to thrill, scare or even remind you of what the franchise was once beloved for. Whilst Chris Redfield's campaign (by far the worst of the four) is a weak attempt to mix Resident Evil 5 with splashes of (dare I say) Call of Duty. Both Ada's and Jake's campaign sit somewhere in between, which does the overall campaign no favors whatsoever. There's niggling issues throughout, from the unnecessary use of co-op doors, fetch puzzles that are repeated under a different guise and boss battles that go on and on and on and on... god why don't they just end. At this point, you're probably getting the picture for why I was desperate to see the end. As stories go in Resident Evil games, there isn't much to say other than another virus breakout has occurred... yep, that's all. Of course co-op plays a role throughout all four chapters, with the key figures of the game being joined by characters new and old who don't add a whole lot to the story and basically come across as filler. Co-op isn't anything new or refreshing either, which is a shame.

It's not like it's even worth trudging through all this for the story anyway. Let's be honest, Resident Evil as always had a very B-movie feel to it, but at least been of some interest, pushing the story along. There are moments in Resi 6 that feel meaningful, but they are very few and far between. What makes it worse is that for the most part, Resident Evil 6 is a great looking game, especially on the PC. Cut-scenes are well produced (when they're not throwing QTE's at you) and there's a sleekness to the overall presentation that I rather admire, it's clear that great care has been given at least on the presentation side of things. Yes the over-exaggerated animations can be the death of you on occasions, but I'd argue they're part of what makes Resident Evil, Resident Evil. Just as animation priority is part of the charm of say Dark Souls. The PC version runs wonderfully to, with almost no slow-downs or technical issues to speak of.

There are other positives to, the reworked inventory system works wonders compared to what we at to deal with in Resident Evil 5 and the more responsive controls make it an easier game to pick up and play. Sadly that's where the praise ends. Remember the weapon upgrade system from Resident Evil 5? Well that's been replaced by skill sets similar to perks that can be purchased with skill points, picked up when you go shooting and kicking mutated bad guys in the face. It feels like a real downgrade from the weapon upgrade system because I couldn't help but think it was an afterthought and while it does require you to use all the weapons at your disposal instead of the investing time and money into only a few specific weapons, I couldn't help but miss the reward that came with slowly upgrading weapons till they were good enough to kill a boss with one shot, I dunno but there was something great about that.

Resident Evil 6 is a sad reminder of how lost the franchise is. One might argue that whatever Capcom did with this latest entry wouldn't be good enough to capture the love and passion fans had for the franchise back in the days of the PS1. That said, the largest faults and criticisms laid at it's feet are all developer based. It can't be blamed on technical issues or performance knocks, it's all down to choices made in development by Capcom, be it the decision to split the campaign into four chapters to the infuriating quick-time events which all too often catch you off guard. There are moments that might have redeemed it, but the flood of frustration running through my veins right now leaves me with one simple statement to say,

stay away from this one.