Resident Evil 6 was always going to have big shoes to fill. Time continues to venerate the franchise sea change of Resident Evil 4 while opinions have increasingly soured on its immediate predecessor. Meanwhile, others clamor for a game that returns to the original survival horror elements that served as the series foundation. There's seemingly no pleasing everyone, considering the (appropriate to the subject matter) amount of mutations the series has gone through.
Capcom's answer to this seemingly impossible situation is to split Resident Evil 6 into three separate campaigns, with each having its own protagonists, and more importantly, it's own take on what it means to be Resident Evil. Bundled in with the recent Dragon's Dogma, the demo for Resident Evil 6 offers a small taste of each of the game's three characters.
Resident Evil 2 and 4 protagonist and fan favorite Leon Kennedy is the first character on offer. Leon's section takes place in the town of Tall Oaks, where the president is set to speak at a university until the whole zombie apocalypse thing gets in the way. Leon and partner Helena Harper are forced to shoot the zombified president, before trekking through the halls of higher learning for a way out.
Moments in the demo are appropriately atmospheric, and the dark halls, flickering lights and the crisscrossing tight corridors bring to mind memories of a certain mansion. The section is very deliberately paced with the intention to create the feeling of dread that has been long absent from the series. But it comes across as less of a game and more of a tour, as if the developers are that desperate to get people to believe in horror again.
It also doesn't help that the section has terribly inconstant limitations on controls; you're able to freely roam and run around at times before having that ability yanked away. Capcom proved they can meld more traditional horror into contemporary Resident Evil with this year's Resident Evil: Revelations, so it's a little discouraging that you can openly see how hard they're trying to capture the Resident Evil spirit.
Chris' section offers the biggest pause. Seemingly also trying to forget Resident Evil 5, he's first found drinking himself to a stupor, all while suffering from amnessssssia, suggesting the Resident Evil cheese and melodrama are alive and well. It's not to long before he's heading up a team in China.
Instead of the traditional zombies of Leon's section, Chris and partner Piers Nivan fight off genetically modified J'avo. These enemies can use firearms, and more impressively, will mutate depending on where you shoot them. Taking out their legs can lead to a giant winged monster bursting out of them. It's a neat twist that scales well with how much action they are stuffing in this part of the game.
This section doubles down on the action focus of Resident Evil 5, and is going to be what most franchise devotees complain about the most. Some concerns are addresed, with the AI seemingly much improved, making the sections where you are forced to split up and support the other player less dreadful.
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