Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Rent it first"

Being a more recent fan of Resident Evil, my first game in the franchise being Resident Evil 5, I understand that many are probably going to discredit my opinion before they even finish reading this sentence. Know that while I played Resident Evil 5 and experienced enjoyment from it, this doesn't mean that I didn't have an excellent time playing Resident Evils 1-4. That's how it works for me being a gamer who never really got into gaming except when he played Kingdom Hearts 4 years ago on his 12th birthday. I mainly forced to grab a game out of the middle of a series as a starting point and then forced to work my way backwards along the timeline. This being the case, I can't feel for those that say things along the lines of "Resident Evil 6 is bad because it doesn't feel like Resident Evil". So I'm going to give my honest opinions in this review. To summarize, I enjoy Resident Evil 6 a lot. While mostly disagreeing with Kevin's review, there are several flaws that he has pointed out that I must sympathize with. But my general advice on this game is to at least rent it or try the game out before letting either Kevin's, mine, or any review on this site to completely turn you for or against buying this game. Now I shall contradict myself a bit and give you my opinion on this game.

First off, the big thing I see most people talking about: Quick Time Events (QTEs). The game DOES have a LOT of them, so if you are somebody that despises Quick Time Events to the utmost, maybe you should do some thinking about this game. I, personally, don't mind QTEs. They feel like another layer of interactivity to me, one where what I have something to do during some sort of cutscene style moment where how I am able to respond has some sort of impact. What I do have a problem with, and this is mentioned by Kevin VanOrd, is that some of these seem to have ridiculous time-limits to complete, most notably when an enemy has grappled you. While I managed to relieve the issue with a breakout skill, the need to use up 1 of the 3 slots in an active skill set just to make things more fair seems a bit unnecessary. However, once the skill is equipped, the grapple breaking felt just like Resident Evils 4 and 5, where you also had to shake the stick to get out of a grapple from seemingly just about every enemy that gets at you and by far was not nearly as QTE intense as the boss fight with Krauser in RE4, which was about 70% QTE, 30% normal gameplay (unless you had some powerful weapons or amazing skill to keep him from ever getting in range of you). So, in regards to QTEs, while they or mostly enjoyable to me, I found that some of them were so demanding that extra steps had to be taken at expense of yourself to have them play at a more reasonable speed. In addition, as a last note, a couple of them are present far too long, examples including the rope-climbing or the drill sequence.

Second bit is the story. To put it simply, I really like the story. The voice cast does an incredible job with delivering the lines with just the right amount of emotion while still maintaining the persona of the character they speak for. From Leon's serious, yet friendly attitude that allows him to make some humorous jokes about his companion, to Ada's self-assured tone and sarcastic remarks. The struggles that the characters are going through are easy to sympathize with and I felt genuinely concerned for their well-being. Overall, the characters seem more human. I often found myself making comments to myself in reaction to something I see only for the characters to make the exact same comment. With this, unfortunately for me, comes a loss of some of the cheesiness that Resident Evil has had in its previous installments, something that has faded starting with 5. That combined with the massive scale of events surrounding them make for a fantastic narrative. Not to mention the 4 campaigns intertwining, each giving bits and pieces of the story that can only be fully appreciated when they have all been completed.

Third thing is the gameplay. First thing I noticed right off the bat is that walking is almost completely gone. Except for the bits the beginning of Leon's campaign, where walking is forced, you are pretty much jogging the entire time unless you wish to sprint. I assume this is because people tended to never walk in the previous titles unless they were in tight spaces because they are either trying to cover some distance or they are trying to evade an enemy. While this is a welcome addition to make evading easier, it becomes a bit of a nuisance in the tight spaces when combined with the camera turning suddenly and you are stuck in one of those loops where you move back and forth while only pressing forward on the stick, yet the camera's constantly changing positions mucks it up. The dodge roll/slide was the other major addition. It adds another layer of intensity as you manage to throw yourself out of the way of incoming attacks. However, it is a bit finicky with the directional controls. Another thing, which I probably had way to much fun with was the on-the-ground shooting, which is really only useful in Jake's/Chris's campaign. Each campaign does have it's own feel to it. Leon's being that slower paced campaign with the classic zombie movie feel to it. Chris has that action shooter vibe that makes you think of Call of Duty (yet I don't understand why people are saying it's just a carbon copy of it). Jake's has a little bit of everything and, while still being enjoyable most of the time, is my least favorite of the 4, mainly for it suddenly dropping you into some sort of new gameplay style just about every chapter. Ada's has that distinct, solitary feel and, to me, is very reminiscent of the previous solo Resident Evil titles, complete with puzzle solving (a few of them I actually thought contained some refreshing cleverness). Physcial attacks at will are also one of the major additions, although it is also a bit finicky with the targeting. I thought that those combined with Quick shots added some alternatives to how you approach or respond to combat situations, it makes hitting enemies with a rifle (scopes make it difficult to aim at close targets) shot at close range manageable. So, while the game does have some hiccups in its finicky controls and camera angles, it is mostly satisfying.

How does it fare as a Co-Op game? I'd say it does go fairly well for Co-Op experiences. It doesn't seem as Co-Ops focused as Resident Evil 5 did, where grapples could easily mean some serious damage unless your partner was there to back you up instantly. In this title, the main brunt of the damage is done the second you get grappled and with the aforementioned skill to help the QTE time, you can probably easily get free from an enemy attack before any other damage is done. While Co-Op is still important for survival, there is less of a constant need for partner support. Co-Op seems to only be really defined in the set events. Such as one character trying to swim to safety from a sea monster while the other covers the swimmer form above in an attempt to slow the creature down long enough for you to survive and other similar events. While the game is not as heavily focused on Co-Op, it is still a bit jarring to suddenly be separated from your partner, or play Ada's single player campaign. Overall, mixed about this.

I suppose I should just present my biggest gripe with this game. Jake's campaign. While it is still fun, it is a bit unreasonable. As I stated before, every chapter usually has some extra gimmick thrown in. While a few of these are played right, such as the first chapter in Edonia, seen in the demo during the chase by the Ustanak (not done as well during the 2nd time it happens), several of them lack any real introduction or a brief moment where you can learn the controls and what it is you are supposed to do. One second, you are holding out in a shack, the next you are thrown on to a snowmobile racing against an avalanche while some directions appear subtly at the bottom of the screen. While reading them, you'll probably take too long and die. This is immedietly followed by a sneaking gameplay section, where you must avoid detection by groups of flying bugs that emit lights that can detect you if you get to close, releasing a type of alarm for detection. Being found means instant, unavoidable death, and it's likely you won't fully understand what's happening the first, or even the second time. Many will probably try to shoot the bugs from behind, only to find out that doesn't work and only causes your detection. It took me chance to realize that you have to melee them from behind instead. So I didn't really like this campaign as much as the other ones. It was still good, for the most part when it wasn't changing things up all the time, but not one that I'll be ecstatic to replay in comparison to the other 4.

AI is also a pretty big thing to note. It mostly performs well, I'm pleased to say, although maybe that's because they are pretty much impossible to kill and won't use up all of your ammo. They do have some difficulties, such as reviving you when you have fallen and can't get up (and I can never understand why they won't give you a health tablet), but the biggest has to have been during the crossover boss fight that takes place in Chapter 1 of Jake's campaign and Chapter 2 of Chris's. This boss fight is against some large BOWs. The idea is that you must distract the BOW in order to allow a bomb expert to place explosives on anti-aircraft cannons. However, the AI didn't seem to understand this and instead stood right next to to expert and drew the BOW to them, causing for a very long experience indeed. The issue was immediately resolved when another set of live players were in the place of the other team instead. Overall, it is mostly good and won't hinder you except in a few areas.

I should also make a section about ammo. Ammo is still as scarce as ever. Surprisingly for me, Leon's campaign was actually the one where I usually had a decent amount to go with. Chris's campaign left me stumbling around with 2 or fewer bullets in my rifle and nothing else (a bit of a problem since Piers does not have any kind of close range weapon except his kicks, whilst Chris, Leon, Jake, and Sherry do). Jake's campaign had this too, but playing as Jake, his Barehanded technique, if used right , usually makes up for it. I have not played as Helena, Chris, or Sherry yet so I can't say for them. So expect that struggle for ammo to remain a gameplay feature.

I know it was mentioned in the main review that the sudden death events, such as being hit by a car out of nowhere, while a bit frustrating aren't as bad considering the game usually checkpoints you right before it (although checkpoints are scarcer than before).

On a final note, I'd like to clarify that this game is not a survival-horror game to me. It is more of a survival-action game. I know that sounds a bit redundant to some, but it takes a bit more effort to survive in this action shooter, like Dead Space for example. While I know many are disappointed, the fact that it isn't survival horror should not mean that the game is bad and that horror games are dead. There are still some perfectly good ones out there and still being released if you take the time to look.

So, to summarize everything I've been talking about, this game has a few design flaws, mainly prevalent in Jake's campaign, however, the entire game and what is good of Jake's is worth the money and time, in my opinion. I urge gamers to at least give this Resident Evil title a chance before making a judgement. I understand that the flaws I mentioned, while not a big deal to me, are probably game-breakers for many. This doesn't mean that I think they are idiots. Everyone has their own tastes and tolerances and this is one of those games that highlights these kinds of differences between people. However, I don't think that means that I or any other supporter of this game should despise those that hate it and vice versa. Give the game a try yourself and if you like it, buy it. If you hate it, then your out a few bucks. Resident Evil 6 isn't what many expected or hoped, but I, at least, enjoy it greatly.