Held to higher standards than most other franchises, RE6 is destined to become a very heated gaming debate this season.
Right away, the game presents itself with amazing character models and graphics, showing obvious production value to the game's presentation. However, aside from new environments to play through, the graphics aren't any strong leaps and bounds from 2009's RE5. Still, they demand to be noticed, and the detail put into the levels cannot be denied. However, I did find some levels through the different campaigns to be slightly dark and hard to see through, causing me to debate on maybe changing the screen settings to something lighter while I played. In the midst of some chaotic battles, this did cause me some frustration, I must admit. To me, it seemed almost as if Capcom was forcing darkness into the game's visual, to contrast RE5's mostly daytime settings that seemed to stray away from the series' winning formula. That aside, the creatures in the game are rich with disgusting and gory detail, the developers I'm sure were constantly struggling to come up with fresh creatures that we haven't seen before. I believe they were able to pull this off. The human like enemies in this game have an interesting look as well, with each entry in the series becoming more and more intelligent from the mindless slow moving zombies we were introduced to years ago. An no, RE6 is not scary, nor are its trademark monsters and mutations, but you still feel some small amount of panic as one makes its way to you.
That brings me to the game's control system. To me, this is the game's weakest points. The item management system in RE5 was something I found to be very unpractical, although I understood it as RE5 was a co op game so you can't freeze the game on the other player to manage your ammo boxes or put herbs together. In RE6, this system is modified, but the old problems are replaced with new, and again, meaningless ones. True, you can quick heal with one button which is nice, but to do this, freshly picked up green herbs have to put to be put into this little cartridge your character carries around with him or her before you can use it during play. This confused me at first, even causing me to accidentally drop my precious healing item during a heated battle with some zombies. But that's not the worse part. The worst controlling in this game to me comes with the constant minigames and quick time events you are thrown into out of nowhere. True, this method can normally add to the gameplay of an action game. (Kratos is pretty much a doctor in this subject.) But RE6 overuses them, and as a die hard RE fan, I am man enough to admit that. Was this the tension Capcom wanted us to go through in this game? Running though a zombie infested building, waiting for the shocking moment we will be thrown into some unpractical and over the top QTE? It kept me on edge while playing, and not in a good way. I also noticed the shooting in this one to be a little more sloppy than RE5, perhaps it will improve when I go through the game's new point skill upgrade system. I also don't like how the camera fixates you on certain things happening while you're playing. I see it happening, Capcom! I'll look if I want! Why do you keep taking control from me in this game? Don't you trust me? There is a new system that lets you use strong melee attacks against close range foes, although it is a little clumsy at times. You can finally move and shoot in these games, but you cannot blindfire while hiding behind cover, which makes absolutely no sense to me. So although you are no longer the moving torrent gun in the other games, you still don't have the gifts that other characters in shooting games have had for years. The controlling in the game gets a thumbs down from me, and the problem with it...you don't have it a lot of times during gameplay.
The action in this game is plentiful though. It's clear to a long time fan like me, that the horror survival genre that RE helped to create is now a thing in the past. I learned to let that go in RE5, although I think RE4 was an absolute flawless mix of the horror and action genre. I think this change in the series is mostly inspired by the tone of the live action movies made off of these games. With their huge commercial success around the world, I feel Capcom is somewhat trying to ride the coat tails of the movie, feeling forced to be more action driven as to not appear boring in comparison to Alice constantly shooting zombies in slow motion. This move may gain new fans, but is sure to lose many die hard fans. The action sequences in RE6 are completely over the top. Influences of Gears of War are almost shamelessly ripped off in the game's gunplay and pointless cover system. It's a classic case of identity crisis, and RE6 has it big time! Some might say "innovation", while others will say "pandering" to the rabid and bloodthirsty general shooting game market. The series has seemed to lose its intelligence over the last couple of entries, although I understand it. As amazing as the original RE was, that game would NEVER survive in today's console market, or at least not become the smash hit it was. The gaming community is bigger now, and the more casual gamier needs to be pleased as well. The average person doesn't want to put four pieces of a statue together to open a door and fight the zombies, the average person wants to kick down the door with a huge arsenal to level the zombies. The sound design in this game is pretty good, your typical gunshots and zombie groans coupled with gory squishing sounds from bullets. I did notice the soundtrack in this game is a little more dramatic and epic than the scores in the other games, and I felt it was peppered nicely through the gameplay, giving the game its movielike presentation that Capcom seemed to be going for. The voice is acting is decent, although can still sting here and there with awkwardness, but it is a video game. The concept of 3 different co op campaigns that you cna play in any order is a fun idea. Beating all 3 unlocks a 4th single player campaign (which I haven't unlocked yet). I liked this approach, it gives long time fans the opportunity to play as many of their favorite characters (and some new ones) through the game's story. It also allows you to try a different campaign if one is giving you trouble. This game is a little more difficult than the others, and some causal gamers may feel overwhelmed as they are suddenly killed by an unforeseen danger. Still, the multiple campaigns is a fresh take on telling what is usually a very linear tale in the series. Overall, I believe this is a solid action game, but surly not the showstoppers it's predecessors were. Being nearly two decades old, the RE franchise is one that the gaming community tends to have very high expectations for. True, we have been thrown a laundry list of B game spinoffs of the series, but we always expect the main entries to be strong contenders for game of the year. RE6 I am sure will not be getting the usual invitation to that club that the series is normally awarded. Having a recognized name on the box of your sequel can be a good thing, giving the game automatic hype long before its release. But it can also be a bad thing, gamers holding the game to very high standards that other newer titles wouldn't be held to. That's what I think RE6's ultimate downfall is, the name "Resident Evil" itself. This is a good game, and I believe that if it was a different lesser known or even unknown franchise, the public would have been a little easier on this game. But it isn't a lesser known title, it's a title that created a genre a gaming that it isn't even a part of anymore. This is not up the fans' standards, and with 3 and a half years since the last release, I have to agree with many that Capcom sort of let us all down. Too many new formulas thrown in with many of them feeling awkward and sloppy. I am enjoying this game, but the flaws are hard to ignore, even with a dedicated fan like me. I'm sure I'll spend many hours on this game, and will find some of the moments in the story interesting. However, it won't leave me with the impression that RE6's older brothers and sisters left me with. But as the series gets older, so do I. Any with the way today's gaming market is, I think there should be some forgiveness to companies trying to make their games appealing to the younger gaming market...key word: "some". But I know I can't hold Capcom to my childhood PSone favorite forever. Though RE6 stumbles in trying to contend with the gunfire action in titles like Gears of War or Call of Duty, it still bears some of the trademark flare that many of us love. It's hard for me as a die hard fan to totally dismiss this game as something "not good" or even "terrible", but I think I gave the game a very fair and unbiased look. I think my score or the game is fair, I don't think it any more than what I gave it. However, I do think these score of like 4 or below are a little aggressive, but again, it is the standards that the series is held to. I do believe this will be the most debated good or bad game of 2012. Hardcore gamers slamming the chaotic mix of mechanics in gameplay against loyal fanboys sticking up for their favorite cast of zombie slayers. Let the post wars begin.rnrnSolid game, but not for everyone. Fanboys should buy it, everyone else, rent or download the public demo and see what you think. I am sure you will easily pick a side in this upcoming long winded debate.