Resident Evil 6 Remastered Review
A Drunken Spider’s Web of Horror
Capcom’s chilling zombie outbreak shooter/ soap opera series Resident Evil turns 20 this year. Just in case you forgot to buy a gift, a remastered version of Resident Evil 6 can now be purchased for PS4 and Xbox One. Back in 2012, when Resident Evil 6 initially released, I got the chance to play a small portion of Chris’s campaign at my buddy’s house. I remember having a good time, but a few days later that same friend of mine decided to return the game. Having previously beaten most main entries in the series, I knew I’d eventually return to busting zombie knee caps, only now I get to in 1080p at 60 frames per second.
After an introduction sequence with Leon that left a stale taste in my mouth, I’m given the option to select which campaign I’d like to play first. Oh choices, choices, choices. Highlighting each campaign teases me with shadows of what to expect; shambling zombies for Leon, a man transforming into a monster for Chris, a giant mechanical claw for Jake, and a spider spinning a web for Ada. Unable to get Leon’s words out of my mind from the introduction cliffhanger, “Back for more?”, I decided to start my adventure off with him. Little did I know of the horrors that were store for me.
Gameplay:
As fans of the series know, prior games forced players to explore the environments from fixed cameras angles and rooms were separated by loading screens of opening doors, but ever since Resident Evil 4, players now utilize an over the shoulder targeting system. Using left stick to move, right stick to aim/look around, L2 to ready your weapon, and R2 to fire I feel big improvements on control. Rarely did the camera angle go awry, or my character become stuck on a wall or random box. In fact it was too easy for my character to run past a zombie or accidentally slide over a counter. Controls do feel hit or miss when trying to use command buttons to activate switches, open doors, and traverse the environment, as characters must stand in very specific spots. Way too often did I circle my character around till the button command appeared on scene again. This almost wasn’t an issue, because of the fast pace my character can move. I was just barely fast enough here:
Switching weapons with a simple touch of left or right on the d-pad, I had a ton of fun laying waste to the endless amounts of monstrosities Resident Evil 6 throws at you. There was a huge variety of infected enemies alone. Some held wine bottles, others threw axes, and some even fired guns in true zombie arm-flail fashion. These aren’t boring zombies who just stand around mouth open in the rain either. They will run, crawl, climb, spit and lunge their way into your veins. Running up to each of these for a melee battle (pressing R2), players can pull off devastating elbows drops, brain splattering head stomps, and crowd clearing roundhouses. Fighting up close may leave you with a few bumps and bruises, but not doing so you’ll miss out on some creative counter kills. Almost all enemy wielded weapons can be used to your advantage, dealing kill shots like the axe cleaving below:
I did experience many glitches where zombies would flash from one spot to another, or change actions mid-animation, but I’m not sure if some of those issues arose from bad connection and bad coding. I sometimes had issues reviving downed players as well. If your health reaches zero, your character falls to the ground and must prevent themselves from being hit again until a “healing” bar is filled. Your support character or other multiplayer can come revive you sooner and sometimes provide health. If the tables turn and you suddenly must help them, you are first made aware of your partners peril by an extremely pestering game-halting flash across your entire screen. You can see examples of many zombie glitches and of how annoying the flash can be below:
I would like to add, the game feels very much like a wave-clearing game at times. Players, very early on in the game, will notice Resident Evil 6 is not afraid to surround you with a horde enemies. If only you had Michoone’s katana to mow a path, instead of scrambling around for ammo.
Design:
With more emphasis on multiplayer than previous entries, there has been many major changes to help make playing together run smoothly. The first improvement comes when you go to host a campaign. Players are given these options:
Its options like “Here for the story” that allow players to link up with others with similar gameplay styles, and options like “Looking for emblems” that can match players with specific goals in mind. If you don’t feel like hosting, there are plenty of sessions that you can join. Connecting was quick and easy for me; immediately I joined a gentleman mid-game who was hosting from the UK. We did run into a few instances where we were disconnected, but both our internet connections weren’t good to begin with. I would imagine having the same issues with him on any game. You also have the option to play split. Playing split screen with my wife is fun and exciting, but I do wish they would have figured out a way to do full split screen instead of the format below:
Like all Resident Evil games, players will have to juggle inventory space to find room for various health items, ammo, and explosives scavenged from defeated enemies or broken boxes. I could be wrong, but I think you have more inventory space than the last few games as well. I’m able to hold onto over six weapons and there ammo, while still having room for a few explosives and healing items. To help account for the speed of multiplayer play, the menu system is fast and easy to scroll through, but may take some getting used to. Whats strange about about Resident Evil 6’s inventory screen is it’s design changes from campaign to campaign. I appreciate the variety and effort to make each campaign unique, but it was an uncomfortable experience first opening Chris’s inventory after completing Leon’s campaign. My eyes now had to adjust to a different color and position on screen.
An interesting new skill system has been introduced with this game. As players kill creatures and bust open crates, they will find skill points (represented in tiers by chess board pieces). Instead of the classic gun upgrade purchasing system, players purchase skills between chapters or in the main menus:
I haven’t purchased very many different skills, but I feel the increase in power. I’ve been mostly upgrading overall attack, defense, and critical hit chance stats to ensure I make it through the growing ever more difficult story. There is a big variety of skills to fit every play style, and even more covered with “??????????????” awaiting discovery. It excites me to see if skills will pass on to Resident Evil 6’s many over game modes: Agent Hunt, The Mercenaries, The Mercenaries No Mercy, Survivors, Onslaught, Predator, and Siege. Capcom also provides the player with a customizable dog tag, in which new designs, titles, and emblems can be unlocked for by completing various tasks.
Presentation:
The graphics and sounds are lackluster, though environments are well laid out. There were many instances where the graphics would go in and out a focus or lighting would change incorrectly:
I’ve completed Leon’s campaign, and two chapters of Chris’s story, and I’m really impressed with the shear amount of enemies. Sure you’ll come across returning creatures, but not without a twist. For example, throughout the series there has been many different giant spiders designs, but none like this:
The simple fact that each campaigns has it’s own definition of normal enemies keeps things entertaining. Leon fights his way through more traditional zombies, while Chris battles smarter machete and gun-wielding infected “J’avo” zombies. Enemies try a variety of tactics to kill the player and with introduction of Chrysalids, enemies often change form to keep players on their feet. I do not like how the bodies of defeated enemies dissolve away, it takes away from the fact that I’m playing a horror game.
Conclusion:
Looking back on the Leon campaign there were a lot of action button sequences that I felt were a little uncharacteristic for a Resident Evil game, but most of these took place during long boss battles. I’ve been hesitant on divulging information about Resident Evil 6’s story line. I feel many die hard fans will be disappointed with the interweaving of so many characters into one game. Usually a resident evil game has you controlling the same duo of characters for most the game, giving plenty of time to establish a well thought out story and connection between characters. However cool the idea of having our heroes together in one game seems, it isn’t well executed. The story dialogue isn’t compelling in the slightest; most of the time your character has no real idea of what is going on and is simply following others. I got tired of hearing things like, “I’ll tell you when we get there”, or:
This doesn’t mean what you are doing in the game is boring. Playing through the campaign felt like going from one crazy action movie scene to another. Boss fights where I’m shooting barrels to set a giant zombie T-Rex on fire and puzzle sequences that have me dipping and dodging under lasers are what makes Resident Evil 6 an entertaining play, but probably won’t satisfy a hardcore gamer’s blood-lust. Still on the ropes? Maybe this quick scene from my favorite boss fight so far will help:
Thank you for reading. Nolan — Totaltoad
P.S. I’m trying to incorporate better videos into my reviews. Any and all feedback is helpful and appreciated.
Resident Evil 6 gets a 6/10 (Limited Appeal)
Thank you to Zack Hage and Capcom for supplying me with the code and giving me this chance to share my opinion with everyone. Check out my random video game videos on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd8mNw3LXaEC1AA5nxiThoQ
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