Resident Evil 6 [XBox 360, PS3] - review

[JU!]

Just got round to buying this as was waiting for price to drop. ?27.99 ain't that bad. Mainly bought this as wanted to play co-op which i heard was fun and is I have to say. I really like Resident Evil games especially the GC Remake and RE4. As well as this the wife enjoys Mercenaries mode too which I hear nice things about. the bits of mercenaries I experienced in RE6 it seems as fun as it always was. Read lots of opinions on here listened to podcasts, read reviews about it so knew what to expect good and bad.

Off the bat some things that did surprise me to begin with was it looks brilliant and some graphical touches are really impressive. Although Leon's hair seems to move indepently from everything else, reminds me a lot of certain things in DOA 5. The Prologue was weird throws you straight in, some explanation of what it is would have been nice from Capcom. For 5 mins what was the point in this I did not know what was going on, and why I could not activate co-op mode. I get the impression this was Capcom showing off with effects as had so many explosions, and yes RE6 has far too many QTEs already.

Only played an hour in co-op so lots to go, but could see where the A. I partner would frustrate as so many doors require to be opened together, and waiting for the A.I to realise would be a nightmare I can see. Glad the tank controls have changed much more freedom if movement. The camera seems worse in one player than co-op regards to being too close to the players back. Enjoying stuff at the mo. Some of the awkward pacing in Leon's campaign feels forced and as commented by others no noticable animation reaction from enemies when hit is a slight annoyance. Although the combat is enjoyable and using a lot of R1 melee, which works well at this point early on in proceedings. No annoying jumping Zombies yet so still to come :/. Get the impression the game will frustrate and be fun in equal doses later on.

[crocky-chocky]

Picked this up for 15 notes and have put a coupla hours into Leon's campaign.

It is mostly ****.

Just...ugh...I hate moaning about games but cripes man, this is so, so draining to play. I'm all for a Resi rooted in action, but there at least needs to be an ounce of creativity in the set-pieces...So far it's been a succession of terribly lit, cramped and locked up areas that don't open up until you've offed so many zombies. It's just maddeningly frantic in these moments and it's also where all the turd design choices stack up and properly knacker the game. Whoever thought it'd be rad to have zombies leap at you across the room like mental wrestlers needs (at least) a playful cuff around the head...and those uggers with yelps that root you to the spot? Jesus.

There's just so much that's bad (the getting into the Cathedral saga and the woeful puzzles inside it....Ffffffuuuu!)...but then I stun a zombie from afar, pelt it up to him and slam dunk the chap into the pavement and suddenly I'm all "this game is the tits!".

I'll give it one last shot I guess. Are the other campaigns better?

[Judge]

I'll give it one last shot I guess. Are the other campaigns better?

Regret to inform you that Leon's is the least worst. Ada's is probably a little stronger in gameplay terms, but consists of disjointed chunks of other characters' maps.

[crocky-chocky]

Least worst? Aww man, that's no good.

It's not sounding promising, though I'm still up for one last blast...It could end up being one of those games that manages to string me through the whole of its mostly awful campaign with very sporadic good bits.

[Paddy]

Do play the other campaigns and see what you think. There are some design choices that make the game feel like it has an identity crisis but I think by the next one Capcom will be back on track.

Or you can wait for Re: Revelations to come out...

[crocky-chocky]

Aye, I'll give the other campaigns a shot.

I got another hour of Leon's portion squared away last night...I fought an indistinct but massive fish, a fat guy on a rope bridge in pitch black (that was fun!), and then I crashed a plane into China.

I'm at least interested to see how Jake plays and the whole being chased by a Nemesis-alike thing.

[Judge]

Jake's campaign clearly references Nemesis, but the key difference is that all the encounters are pre-scripted. There's none of the tension from the third game.

[Zaki]

To all the posters who don't like this: Did you also dislike resident Evil 5?

[JazzFunk]

Got this on Live for cheap a few weeks back, currently well into Leon's scenario and though this isn't a proper **** game, it's just so un-Resi it's unbelievable, and is mediocre as a Gears-style shooter as those devs really know how to handle their biz, ie. robustly, and this is so fckin FLAKY.

It's dull, no interesting weapons bar a ****ey shotgun, so far (about 2hrs in). There is simply no semblance of exploration, it actually reminds me of Survivor on PS1 except that game had much more scope to explore! Not only that, the core control of Resi 5, the key to making it *still* a great game, despite how un-Resi it was, does not seem to be here, yet. The framerate is akin to FPS games on PS1, really choppy (though I have got the 360 set to 1080, don't know if 720 will improve matters?) It barely feels fun to play, and the aiming seems wrong, barely capable of handling a mode like The Mercenaries or summat.

Mmmmmmm. I'm sorta 'enjoying' it, just for the fact the zombies are back, and I'm sure the upgrade system'll snag me, codeine-style. But it really is a disappointment, innit, is this what once-classic devs really churn out? Have they no pride?

[rmoxon]

To all the posters who don't like this: Did you also dislike resident Evil 5?

They are very different games.

Resident Evil 5 is just a shooter that does not play very well due to bad controls and design.

Resident Evil 6 is just a huge frankstienes monster style balls up that tries to do everything that is possible in every genre of video games ever and does none of them that well.

Having said that I still enjoyed both games, even though I know neither are great (even if it is for vastly different reasons).

I honestly doubt an opinion on one game has an effect on the other though. They are so different.

[sj33]

Aye, there's basically no similarities between Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6 aside from both being over-the-shoulder third person action games.

[stevie vip 99]

I didn't mind resi 5 even though it was nothing like a resi game.
Resi 6 is just a big steaming pile of dog ****e!!
I had to stop playing it as it was that bad, in my opinion of course. Good luck to anyone who enjoys it.

[sj33]

After a couple of months of letting the dust settle, my opinion of the game hasn't changed.

I was never really going to like it because I'm a massive fan of classic Resident Evil, and Capcom seem desperate to move away from that. But even putting that bias aside, I find it difficult to recommend this game.

As a game in it's own right, it's not that bad. There are times when the game really shines as an action game, and you can feel the amount care that went into the game. But it's ultimately just so middle-of-the-road. Due to Capcom's determination to 'broaden the audience', the game is decisively average. Attempting to 'cover the bases' and 'tick the boxes' and trying to make a well-rounded action game by imitating the other million of other action games that have already flooded the market.

And thus, I cannot really recommend it even to people who are just after a decent action game, because it's just so mediocre. Not terrible, and not necessarily unenjoyable to play. Just so... irrelevant and forgettable.

[Paddy]

After a couple of months of letting the dust settle, my opinion of the game hasn't changed.

I was never really going to like it because I'm a massive fan of classic Resident Evil, and Capcom seem desperate to move away from that. But even putting that bias aside, I find it difficult to recommend this game.

As a game in it's own right, it's not that bad. There are times when the game really shines as an action game, and you can feel the amount care that went into the game. But it's ultimately just so middle-of-the-road. Due to Capcom's determination to 'broaden the audience', the game is decisively average. Attempting to 'cover the bases' and 'tick the boxes' and trying to make a well-rounded action game by imitating the other million of other action games that have already flooded the market.

And thus, I cannot really recommend it even to people who are just after a decent action game, because it's just so mediocre. Not terrible, and not necessarily unenjoyable to play. Just so... irrelevant and forgettable.

I agree with this almost entirely regarding the main game. I still believe Capcom think they were making something amazing and high value for the cusotmer but perhaps couldn't see how it would be received from our POV.

Admittedly, the Mercs mode is quite enjoyable if you want to unlock the extras and go for high scores. That's not part of the main game though so doesn't really support its mediocrity.

Is it time for Capcom to either retire the series for a while or perhaps reboot/remake an older instalment that was great in the franchise? It seems the virus has spread too greatly this time around and its too late to save RE atm.

[sj33]

I don't think it's necessarily too late to save the series, but I think the direction they are taking the series in is misguided. I believe that a Capcom higher-up was recently quoted as saying that survival horror games just don't sell, which explains their current treatment of the series in a nutshell.

It's not that survival horror games don't sell, it's that the genre stagnated and began to only appeal to niche survival horror nuts like me. Rather than trying to squeeze into already-saturated action-orientated genres, Capcom should be trying to carve out an audience for themselves by revitalising the survival horror genre. They could have a whole genre to themselves if they were to only try and reclaim it. As it is, the Resident Evil series is destined to get lost in the entire ocean of mediocre action series'.