Resident Evil 6

On September 18 not only was Borderlands 2 finally released but the Resident Evil 6 demo also appeared on the digital marketplace. I pried myself from killing bandits and looting chests to fight zombies and I’m glad that I did. The Resident Evil 6 demo allows you access to a small portion of three separate cooperative campaigns that can be played both online and local. You will take be able to take control of notorious characters such as Leon Kennedy, Chris Redfield, and Sherry Birkin as well as new playable characters such as Helena Harper, Piers Nivans, and Jake Muller. Each campaign showcases a particular style of gameplay so the people can see what to expect of the final product. 

This is the clearly the best looking Resident Evil game so far. Everything from the lighting to the character models has been spectacularly done and the voice-acting is spot on. The enemies are also wonderfully designed as they react to gun wounds with ripped flesh, mutate, and burning into a solid statue. The only odd animation I noticed is when you complement your partner with a thumbs up. 

Leon’s campaign focuses on more on traditional Resident Evil elements then the other two. After killing the infected U.S. President in Tall Oaks you’ll slowly travel throughout a college campus, killing infected that disintegrate into helpful items and skill points that can be used to upgrade abilities and guns. Don’t worry about getting lost, a waypoint and navigation icon, which can be accessed at anytime, directs you in the correct path. Leon’s only clue is his current partner mention that Tall Oaks Cathedral while explaining the situation to Ingrid Hunnigan and now must trust her in order to find out who caused the outbreak and ends without answering any questions. 

You’ll instantly realize how much the controls and interface has changed. You can move in a full circle without change where your character is facing and can now sprint. If you maintain that momentum your character will be able to quickly go into cover to leap across obstacles. One of the biggest changes is the ability to walk and shoot at the same time; also players can change their shooting arm. If you run out of bullets you won’t have to rely on knives for close quarter combat but can now kick and punch enemies before finishing them off with a brutal finishing move or stomping on its head. But you cannot spam these attacks since a newly added stamina meter prevents you from plowing through enemies using on your hands and feet. If the meter fully depletes you will have to wait till the meter refills twice. The item interface is new but simply to navigate, a line of vertical and horizontal panels for weapons, herbs, and grenades makes it easily to combine and select items. Herbs have changed to pill form and can be quickly consumed. Those who have played Resident Evil will have to adapt to the new control scheme but once you adjust to the mechanics you’ll find it more appealing.  

When you start Chris and Pier’s campaign you’ll notice that the pace has changed dramatically. Plunged into a battlefield in Edonia, Eastern Europe you and a team of B.S.S.A agents attempt to repel an attack of biological weapons called J’avo. Like the enemies Leon face these enemies can easily ignore pain, but unlike those infected these can wield guns and can mutate after undergoing physical trauma. But expect to be shot a lot since the cover system is still a pain to use. It was almost like I was plucked out of a Resident Evil game and started playing Gears of War. The J’avo proved to be formidable opponents, especially when mutated their arms become bullet proof shields and ramming walls. 

The third campaign introduces two new playable characters to the Resident Evil Universe, Albert Wesker’s son Jake Muller and Sherry Birkin from Resident Evil 2. Since both have special blood running through there veins it’s only natural that they become partners. You’ll catch a glimpse of Ada Wong before the mission begins then attack through heavily armed J’avos through the streets of Edonia. You encounter a new type of mutated J’avo called Strelats, it look like giant lizard and can spit acid. Unlike the other two campaigns both Jake and Sherry will have to rely on each other to open paths paths, why don’t they just climb over the door is something I still ponder. It’s a shame that the campaign ends before what could have been an exciting boss fight. 

After being disappointed with Resident Evil 5 I had low standards for Resident Evil 6, but after playing through this demo I’m genuinely excited. The combat and graphics look exceptionally well, but expect a lot of quick time events. Although the partner A.I. is a definite improvement from Resident Evil 5, especially with manual commends, I still found my ally getting caught on walls sometimes. Resident Evil 6 will be available for PS3 and Xbox 360 on October 2; a PC version will be announced on a later date.

Adam Siddiqui, NoobFeed (Twitter)