Resident Evil 6 (Xbox 360) review "I guess the enemy design is pretty cool for being imaginative, but the enemies employed by Resident Evil 6 are so different from the series’ earlier installments that they may as well serve as the crux for an entirely different intellectual property all together. The zombies may have made a return, but they’re flanked by a motley band of foes that range from Arkham Asylum foot soldiers to Graveler from Pokemon Red/Blue. Mid-way through Chris’s campaign, the enemies will abruptly change from grasshopper people into Helghast commandos. For all of its ideas, I sure wish a few of them were unique to Resident Evil 6, let alone games developed by Capcom."

After a few hours into my experience with Resident Evil 6, there came an instance where I just wanted to tell Helena Harper to get to the point and stop wasting anymore of my time or Leon Scott Kennedy’s time. Leon wouldn’t say anything since it wasn’t programmed in the script for him to demand to know what was going on, so I figured I would plead at my TV in hope of compelling Helena to explain what the point was to hers and Leon’s fruitless quest. My plea fell on deaf ears, not much to my surprise. Instead of getting some sort of explanation of previous events – zombie outbreak, journey to gothic cathedral in search of clues, unplanned jailbreak – to help clarify what had been up until that point an interrupted and incoherent plotline, Helena nonchalantly offered that things would get revealed “at the right time.”

Resident Evil 6 never arrives at that “right time.” Neither for Leon’s storyline nor Chris Redfield’s nor newcomer Jake Muller’s.¹ The plotline is directionless, getting lost in a mire of set pieces reminiscent of the events of Raccoon City combined with a poor man’s Call of Duty with a dash of Prince of Persia acrobatics. It is so disappointing considering the excellent pacing that Resident Evil 4 had with its buildup and the fluid approach that Resident Evil 5 took with its undead Africa operation. Resident Evil 6 feels like four mini-quests (when you consider Ada Wong’s solo campaign) cobbled together to form an identity-less mishmash of copycat action clichés.

I have hardly ever felt more disappointment in a video game sequel than I have with Resident Evil 6. This was supposed to be the game that finally brought Leon Kennedy and Chris Redfield together in the same game. And it does . . . for an awkward cutscene that pits these two pillars of Resident Evil lore against each other over the likes of Ada Wong. Rounding out the “A-team” cast are new inclusions to the series like the pointless Helena Harper and sacrificial Piers Nivans. Inexplicably, Sherry Birkin got the nod to be the one tasked with following Jake Muller around over the likes of Jill Valentine / Claire Redfield / Barry Burton / Rebecca Chambers / Sheva Alomar / Ashley Graham. Yes, I would have taken Ashley over Sherry.

It really wouldn’t have mattered, though, who was starring in the game since its storyline is so atrociously written and directed. Let’s take Leon’s plotline, for example. Who is Helena Harper? Why does Leon feel such a strong sense of duty to follow her unquestionably as she continuously reneges on her promise to explain what’s going on (isn’t it bad enough that he’s already been led on by another woman for nearly a whole series)? How did the zombie outbreak occur? How did the President of the United States turn into a zombie? Did it occur when Leon was in the same room with him? If so, why are Leon and Helena not zombies? Why is Helena standing in the same room next to Leon and President Zombie? Does any of it matter?

Oh sure, it is later revealed that Neo-Umbrella (I would have preferred a company called “Parasol”) is behind all of this with the blessing of Defense Secretary Derek C. Simmons. Scarcely has a primary antagonist felt like such an afterthought. To make up for the fact that he is not Albert Wesker, Simmons will transmogrify into a sinewy T-rex, several bosses from Final Fantasy, and, lastly, a mega crab spider. Meanwhile, Leon and Helena are always outfitted with their puny handguns as each cutscene foretells the upcoming battle of a lifetime.

I guess the enemy design is pretty cool for being imaginative, but the enemies employed by Resident Evil 6 are so different from the series’ earlier installments that they may as well serve as the crux for an entirely different intellectual property all together. The zombies may have made a return, but they’re flanked by a motley band of foes that range from Arkham Asylum foot soldiers to Graveler from Pokemon Red/Blue. Mid-way through Chris’s campaign, the enemies will abruptly change from grasshopper people into Helghast commandos. For all of its ideas, I sure wish a few of them were unique to Resident Evil 6, let alone games developed by Capcom.

In one particularly irritating sequence, Chris Redfield sacrifices nearly all of his BSAA squad in the cramped confines of zombie-ridden China pursuing an invisible snake that – darn it, wouldn’t ya know – has a penchant for snacking on his incapable squad members one juicy morsel at a time. The bastard finally gets fried thanks to being goaded into contacting a pool of water abuzz by some searing electrical cords. Instead of realizing that he sacrificed almost his entire team just to gain the satisfaction of killing an invisible snake, Chris hunkers down with Piers and goes off on a guilt trip vowing that Ada. Wong. Must. Pay. At the end of his storyline, he solemnly eats a steak dinner.

Another silly interaction occurs at the start of Jake Muller’s and Sherry Birkin’s campaign, with the former being a self-exiled C-virus junkie in Edonia of Eastern Europe, coolly offering Sherry his blood for the generous sum of $50 million in cash. “Your blood will cure the virus,” Sherry explains on a precipitous ledge overlooking a great, frozen chasm with bullets whizzing by in every which direction. I’d take my chances on filling a Dixie cup worth of Jake’s blood when he inevitably gets wounded from all the shrapnel flying around before going to the ATM.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Though I constantly found new ways to get disappointed by playing Resident Evil 6, I’m not oblivious to realizing that the game looks gorgeous and possesses sound mechanics. I will not, however, agree that its design compliments its progression. This is a linear game, and it’s starting to get a little tiresome knowing that Leon can’t go past a stack of crates or through an unmarked door. If Capcom insists on deviating from Resident Evil’s origination, why don’t they just do away with the narrow confines that make up each course and open up the world to be more like a sandbox game? After all, Resident Evil 6 has entirely abandoned any semblance of horror for over-the-top action that’s constantly delivering all pay-off without any buildup. That, and it’s inter-mingled with irrelevant quick-time events and several vehicle sequences that can most politely be described as outdated.

It’s one thing to prohibit world freedom by designing levels with busy, linear corridors as its centerpiece, but it’s downright annoying to see how neutered inventory management has become since it played such a pivotal role in prior Resident Evil titles. Part of the fun in prior games was the joy of collecting loads of cash to then customize on the in-game weapons however you wanted, essentially whenever you wanted. Not the case here. There are the requisite handguns, shotguns, sniper rifles, etc., but none of them can be upgraded and hardly any of them even need to be fired since tapping the R-trigger will now allow whoever you control to beat the crap out of any zombie within arm’s reach. Hand-to-hand combat may play a significant role should you decide to abandon ranged killing in favor of slapping fleshy blobs to death. Otherwise, prepare to squander point cylinders on worthless skills that can only be equipped three at a time. Extra zoom level to your sniper rifle? What benefit does that bring over an increased accuracy or reduction in recoil skill? Compare that to an upgraded sniper rifle that has been customized to reload faster, hold more rounds, and pack more punch and has been outfitted with a thermal scope like in Resident Evil 4 & 5. Now that would be something.

I find omissions like that to be really annoying, partially because I don’t think I’m asking for anything unreasonable. By offering no shortage of explosions, whizzing bullets, moaning zombies, and blood-spattering gore, Capcom has made Resident Evil 6 decidedly pedestrian. It plays well enough on its own, but it’s stunted by its own lack of focus. If this is the future of the series, than I will declare right now that I hold no interested in seeing the series continue when the inevitable Resident Evil 7 makes release.

¹Allegedly he’s the son of Albert Wesker. The same Albert Wesker who we last saw chest-deep in a volcano of molten lava shouting "CHRISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS" at the top of his lungs. Ugh.

Community review by Fiddlesticks (October 21, 2012) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.