Okay,i know i usually do movie reviews but this is a special case.Resident Evil is my all time favorite video game series and the latest entry was released on October 2nd.I got it this past Friday and typically i was going to spend my whole long weekend playing it,which is exactly what i did.Overall in the main series of games,which is mostly the numbered titles,the reception to them has been generally positive or critically acclaimed.But this one,reviews are all over the place,the highest ive seen is a nine out of ten while the lowest ive seen is a two out of ten,which i think is pretty harsh.So,what did i think of it....i thought it was awesome.
The biggest criticism people seem to have is that it's not the same Resident Evil anymore.In 1996 when the first game came out,it redefined survival horror games.Since then,this franchise has had twenty three games, five live action movies,two CGI movies,novels,comics,merchandise and action figures.Some of these games are regarded as the scariest ever.Resident Evil 4 was very different,removing the iconic zombies and replacing them with infected people,along with many monsters.Resident Evil 5 was very similar to RE4,and the series has continued in a action/horror mix with Resident Evil 6.I do miss the large horror aspect that the games use to have,but i don't mind,because i care about the story,speaking of which....
The Story
This game has four different camnpaigns.You can play them in any order(except thye fourth) and each has 5 chapters,each chapter could take over an hour.Each campaign has two characters.The first campaign involves fan favorite character Leon S. Kennedy and newcomer Helana Harper.The campaign involves them trying to escape the city of Tall Oaks,which has been taken over by a virus and is turning people into zombies.The developers wanted to bring some horror back,so this campaign is primarily at night and is meant to bring back the scary feelings of walking around zombie infested mansions or atreets from the previous games.
The Second campaign involves another fan favorite character Chris Redfield parterned up with a new character Piers Nivens,along with a few BSAA soldiers.This campaign takes place in China fighting a terrorist group called J'avo who have all infected themselves with the virus and can all mutate.This segment is primarily action,alot of explosions and gun battles,it feels like a Michael Bay movie.
The third campaign involves Agent Sherry Birkin(who has only previously appeared in Resident Evil 2 and was only a little girl) and newcomer Jake Muller,who is the son of Albert Wesker(primary villian of series,killed by Chris Redfield in Resident Evil 5).Since Wesker had so many viruses in him and super strength,etc,Jake has antibodies in his blood that can combat the C-Virus,which has been infecting the world.This segment is mainly about action and also running away from a big monster called Ustanak.
After you beat those campaigns,a fourth involving the character of Ada Wong is unlocked,which shows what she was doing throughout the game,and she appears as more of a villian in this game.
The story is interesting and had me excited to get to the end of it.Since i have known these characters for so long after playing so many of these games i actually got nervous at points when i thought they were gonna die.My only complaint is that in certian points of the game,two characters will meet up with other two,and that will be one of the chapters.But then when you play that chapter in another campaign,your basically doing the same level over again just from a different point of view,and maybe you'll have to do something different,but it annoyed me a little,especially if it was very hard the first time.
VISUALS/CONTROLS/CONTENT
This game doesn't look as pretty as Resident Evil 5.I noticed how some details in the levels looked uneven,like it took a few seconds for the actual graphics to settle in,so it was just blurry for a second.But when it was even,it looked pretty awesome.The controls are different too this time around.For the first time you are allowed to run and shoot in the game at the same time.The camera can be a little clunky at times too moving the camera.Also,it is easier to not have to look after your AI partner.But you can have a friend control the other person too if your playing multiplayer.Speaking of multiplayer,The Mercenaries Mode from Resident Evil 4 and 5 returns,which is fun and even more fun playing with a friend.The controls may take a little while to get use to.I died pleanty of times before getting them down,but once you do,it will be easier.
There are also emblems hidden througout the game,shooting them unlock bonus content like articles about the game or characters or you could unlock character figures or dogtags.For a cinematic experiance,there are also about four hours of cutscenes that you can watch.
OVERALL
Resident Evil 6 strives to be the biggest game in the series,and scope wise,it is,but that doesn't mean i think it's the best game.There is pleanty to like here,but there are things that bring it down a little,but not much.The original release date was November 20th before it was changed to October 2d.Maybe they could have used that time to fix those minor problems.This is one of my favorite games of the year,and im sure being a Resident Evil nerd contributes to that,but i think its definately a exciting experiance and i can't wait to see what is in store for the future of this franchise.
http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/131/f/0/resident_evil_6_wallpaper_by_13adluck-d4zdzwe.jpg
