Game Review: Resident Evil 6

Game review by Joelene Pynnonen

A bio-terrorist attack has left the President infected and Leon trapped in a zombie infested campus with a Secret Service agent called Helena. Meanwhile DSO agent Sherry Birkin may have found hope for a C-virus cure in ornery mercenary, Jake Muller. In Edonia Chris Redfield and his partner, Piers, discover that Ada Wong may be behind the latest spate of biological warfare and they set out to stop her.

Storyline: More complicated than the Resident Evil 5 plot; Resident Evil 6 follows three sets of characters before finally unlocking Ada Wong’s campaign. As always, the characters drive the narrative, each one having their own attributes, motivations and goals. The plot is carefully crafted so that by the end of the game, all of the chapters slot together like pieces of a puzzle. While RE5 was enjoyable and the characters were likeable, RE6 hits a whole new level for plot and character development.

 The storyline on a whole is incredibly enjoyable. An eerie atmosphere permeates through the campaigns, which can still creep me out in a rather delicious way. There’s a certain amount of tension between the characters that makes for good story-telling, and with so many characters everyone is bound to like at least one of the campaigns. Ada is, unsurprisingly, her usual amazing self and could carry the game on her own, but graciously allows the others to do little bits here and there. Yes, I’m partial to Ada. From the people I’ve talked to, every fan really connects with one RE character through the games. Not sure why anyone would choose someone who was not Ada, but each to his or her own.

Gameplay: Each character has their own strengths and each team has its own campaign. Based on the team strengths or weaknesses, there are several places where characters have to split up, so that in order to appreciate the entire game it must be played through at least twice. Even without taking this into account, RE6 is a much longer game than I was expecting. Each campaign has a different feel and is set over a variety of locations, making the gameplay consistently interesting.

 As an action-shooter, RE6 spices up its fight sequences by setting certain missions against time with others requiring stealth. The enemies also vary, and their weak spots will often direct the course of the action.

There are new additional options to the main game as well. Agent Hunt gives players the chance to randomly spawn as enemies into other people’s games while Mercenaries pits players against masses of enemies.

Qualms: RE6 has an entirely different type of inventory to RE5, making unlimited stockpiling of ammo and supplies impossible. It’s not necessary as ammo is abundant, but stockpiling was always more fun.

 The chapters are long, which makes it more difficult if you’re playing the campaign with a friend.

Overall: Great characters, storyline and voice-acting. This is the kind of game that you can play several times and still enjoy. The Agent Hunt and Mercenaries modes are a great addition for when there isn’t time for a chapter or you’re in the mood for something different.

Publisher: Capcom

Developer: Capcom

Release Date: October 2, 2012

Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC