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Resident Evil 6
With seven playable characters and four different campaigns that intersect each other I'm not even going to try and explain the plot behind Resident Evil 6. Suffice to say that there are some bioterrorism threats happening all over the place and it is up to series stalwarts such as Chris Redfield and Leon Kennedy to set things right.
The one thing that I can say about Resident Evil 6 is that there is never a dull moment. Things are constantly exploding, falling out of the sky or crashing down around you while your characters shoot run or drive their way out of the mess. Unfortunately, for a game to have any sort of suspense there has to be quiet moments which is something Resident Evil 6 goes out of its way to avoid. Now I didn't find Resident Evil 5 to be particularly scary or even suspenseful so I didn't really care that this game has, just like its monsters, morphed into something completely different. With the Leon Kennedy campaign, you can choose between everyone's favorite rookie cop turned zombie slayer and his new partner, Helena, while they battle a new outbreak in the small American town of Tall Oaks. Meanwhile Chris Redfield and his buddy Piers Nivans are doing their best Call of Duty imitation in the fictional Eastern European country of Edonia. Then we have mercenary Jake Muller who teams up with an all grown-up Sherry Birkin while being pursued by the Resident Evil 6 equivalent of Nemesis. Finally all round mystery woman, Ada Wong, has her own campaign to tie up all the loose ends. All four campaigns has five missions that take about an hour each to complete so don't expect to simply breeze through this title. It is clear to see that Capcom pulled out all the stops for Resident Evil 6 and I am actually surprised that they managed to fit this much content on one DVD. The locations are quite varied, switching between small towns crawling with zombies to secret underground labs, foreign battlefields, aircraft carriers, oil rigs and the neon lit streets of China. The monster count has also been increased dramatically and while some of the designs are a bit hit and miss the effort involved is certainly commendable. The game even throws in a few vehicle sections so expect to zip around on a motorbike, snowmobile, jeep and VTOL of all things. These sections are a bit more restrictive than what I would have liked and once again the quality is a bit uneven but their inclusion certainly adds a lot of variety to the missions. What I liked is how each campaign had its own unique look and feel. It almost feels like getting four different action games in one and despite not all being equally fun, I was invested enough to complete all the campaigns. The co-op focus of Resident Evil 5 is back with an AI partner taking tagging along if you opt to play by yourself. Thankfully they have received a substantial upgrade from what Sheva was capable of in the last game and are now actually helpful instead of a hindrance. They don't need micro-management with their inventory, don't steal all the ammo and actually shoot at enemies when all hell breaks loose. They can't be killed either which means you can pretty much leave them to their own devices until you need them to help you open a door. Some would say that this detracts from the suspense but after all the grief I had in Resident Evil 5 I welcome the change. The Leon campaign does the best job of replicating the classic Resident Evil feel with mindless zombies attacking from all directions. The small town of Tall Oaks has a nice Racoon City feel to it and the enemies are all classic zombie types. The Chris campaign takes its cue from Resident Evil 5 and feature enemies called J'avo that are a cut above your average brain muncher. These C-virus infected enemies mutate depending on the area where they receive damage and almost feel like they would be more at home in a Prototype title. The military angle and all out action also makes this campaign feel like it is trying a bit too hard to cash in on the whole Call of Duty craze. The Jake campaign feels like a mixture of everything as it features plenty of melee combat, vehicle sections and even a stab at stealth. The Ada campaign is very interesting from a story perspective as it ties everything together and has a bit more puzzles. The revamped controls finally make it possible to move while firing which makes a world of difference. All characters now also have a stamina bar which deplete with melee attacks. You can perform dodge rolls and fire from a prone position which really comes in handy during the frequent boss battles. The game is however a bit too fond of quick-time events and bashing buttons or twirling the analog sticks does become wearisome after the umpteenth time. I also found the cover system to be a bit fidgety which is the most noticeable during the Chris campaign where you face armed enemies all the time. There are no more buying weapons or upgrading your arsenal but you now collect skill points to upgrade your character. You can equip up to three skills at a time which can make your character tougher, more accurate or better at dealing damage. Visually the game features some very nice character models and pretty gruesome enemies. I loved some of the creature designs while others seem a bit out of place. Levels are nice for the most part but closer inspection does reveal some muddy and low resolution textures which explain why the game prefers that you don't stop and examine your surroundings too closely. The level design ensure that you are constantly funneled forward towards the next big event although it does occasionally bogs down and tasks you with finding keys in an enclosed area while being chased by invincible monsters. There are no more notes to find and read but shooting the hidden emblems scattered about levels unlocks some information that you can peruse from the main menu. The audio is decent and the voice actors all deliver their lines with passion no matter how corny it makes them sound. The constant explosions and gun battles tend to drown out the music but everything was decent enough overall. The "Mercenaries" mode makes a welcome return as well as a new "Agent Hunt" mode that allows you to cause havoc in someone else's game. The multi-player can also be attempted online or locally. While Resident Evil 6 is not perfect I had a lot of fun playing it but I can understand why longtime fans might be upset. At times the game can feel more like something out of Uncharted instead of what began as a survival horror title. If you are willing to play the game for what it is instead of what everyone wants it to be I believe that you will have fun.
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TAGS: Resident Evil 6,
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