Resident Evil: A thread for the undead!

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Leon - 9/10
Chapter 1 is too scripted at the beginning and feels a bit overlong, but it does an AMAZING job with its presentation of the zombie outbreak. What I've played of his second chapter is easily the best Resident Evil gameplay since RE4. It's just sublime.

Chris - 8/10
The first chapter is a challenging and bombastic bro-op shooter with great atmosphere and cool enemy designs. From what I've watched of his second one, it only gets better from there.

Jake - 3/10
There are a few fun moments, but it's soulless, tedious, lazy, poorly-designed trash.

[talonmalon333]

http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugged-in/critics-aim-underwhelming-resident-evil-6-184421591.html

Call me crazy, but somehow I doubt RE6 is that bad. I'm not expecting AAA content, but does it seriously deserve an entire Yahoo article dedicated to it (something that's rarely done for games)?

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It's not AAA in terms of polish, but it's still a great game. Probably my fourth of fifth favorite RE atm.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Would you say its somewhat like the NG2 of the RE sereis (referencing the 3D NG games, here)? What I mean is that NG2 is a game that got criticized for some cheap gameplay mechanics (and it did have some cheap elements to it, even if it was highly exaggerated by most critics), had some horribly designed segments scrambled in its gameplay, and lacked the level of polish that fans had come to expect from the series, but if you look past its flaws its still a great game with more good stuff than bad. Based on the way you talk about RE6, it seems more like that sort of game, where it undoubtedly has plenty of problems, but it also has a good game underneath all of that.

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Ha, yes, I think that's exactly how I'd describe it. I love Ninja Gaiden 2 and Resident Evil 6, though not as much as Ninja Gaiden Black or Resident Evil 4, of course. Let me try to explain...

RE6 is very unpolished and has a high learning curve. The graphics aren't as good as RE5, and, at first, the game feels incredibly clunky compared to past modern REs. However, the art style is MUCH better than 5's, and after properly figuring out all the mechanics and possibly tweaking the camera settings to your liking, it actually becomes quite fluid and a joy to play. Outside of Jake's campaign, the design is rock solid; nearly every segment is lots of fun. The levels are long (each campaign seems to be roughly the same length as RE5), with a wide variety of enemy types and cool environments. Plus, there's a lot of bonus content, and I haven't encountered a single bug yet. It doesn't leave a very good first impression, though, what with the mandatory 20 minute long interactive cutscene/tutorial (remember the Leon QTE-fest we all hated from E3? that's what it is).

I only have two major complaints:
1) Horrible QTEs. There honestly aren't that many, but the ones that do exist are garbage.
2) Jake's campaign is awful.

I have a feeling that reviewers really focused in on these two points for some reason. In fact, I think I know why... Jake's campaign is the last one listed on the menu (until you unlock Ada, that is), and the worst/largest amount of those QTEs are in his scenario. I'm willing to bet that much of the negativity surrounding this game stems from Jake's story being the one to leave a lasting impression, causing those who were on the fence to retcon previous levels in their mind into being much worse than they actually were.

Another thing. Many reviews have stated that cutscenes take over for gameplay far too often. These people must have been playing Max Payne 3 instead of Resident Evil 6 at the time or something, because the tiny cinematic interludes between certain rooms are short and infrequent enough to be a minor nuisance at the absolute worst. While many segments do evoke the phrase "movie game", it never actually plays itself for you (unless you're on Amateur difficulty, from what I hear, and even then it only does certain QTEs for you). In fact, it's one of the hardest games I've played this gen.

Oh, and one last comment: many critics are bashing RE6 for not being "scary". I wonder why RE5 received such rave reviews then, because at least this one takes place at night most of the time. This proves to me one of two things:
1) Capcom paid for Resident Evil 5's high review scores.
2) Game "journalists" are fucking stupid.
Neither would surprise me.

RE6 does not deserve the hate it's receiving. Period. On the merits of Leon/Chris/Ada/Mercs, it's great. Fantastic, even. Yes, Jake's scenario is horrible, but it's also only 1/4 of the game.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Oh, and one last comment: many critics are bashing RE6 for not being "scary". I wonder why RE5 received such rave reviews then, because at least this one takes place at night most of the time. This proves to me one of two things:
1) Capcom paid for Resident Evil 5's high review scores.
2) Game "journalists" are fucking stupid.
Neither would surprise me.

It's probably both. I played the demo for Resident Evil 5 at the time and it just felt like a shooter to me. There was nothing even remotely scary (or even trying to be scary) about it.

Honestly, if it wasn't called Resident Evil it probably would have been forgotten about long ago like Lost Planet.

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It's probably both. I played the demo for Resident Evil 5 at the time and it just felt like a shooter to me. There was nothing even remotely scary (or even trying to be scary) about it.

Honestly, if it wasn't called Resident Evil it probably would have been forgotten about long ago like Lost Planet.

Right, at least this one has a couple of attempted jump scares and some disturbing looking enemies/horrifying death animations.

Also, while this one is definitely more of a shooter than 5 was, it's at least unique in a good way. Whereas 5 lacked the ability to walk and shoot and featured horrid forced co-op, 6 has the genius dodging system.

[talonmalon333]

RE6 has worse graphics than 5? I'm not gonna lie, that's a little... bad. Don't get me wrong, 5 had great graphics, and graphics as a whole don't mean much. But there's no reason why the sequel should look technically inferior.

Having said that, I don't even intend to actually read any reviews, at least not until after I play the game. People who play video games just think in terms of "it's good" or "it's bad nowadays", completely black and white.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I actually don't mind RE not being scary. After all, 4 wasn't really scary with just a few exceptions in the form of jump scares. What has always caught my interest in the series (and the reason I want to hunt down and play all of the good classic RE games someday), is their design and atmosphere. I love the mystery of having to explore an area that's mostly devoid of any sort of humanity, and not really knowing what to expect around every corner that you turn. It might not necessarily be scary, but its always exciting, whether you're running into a new boss in the form of some grotesque monster or finding a really awesome weapon (or in the case of RE4, really valuable treasure, which is always a delight to come across). A lot of people seem to hate key hunts and back-tracking, which are abundant elements in all of the classic RE games, but I LOVE those very things in THESE types of games. I love having to go back and forth exploring various areas, many times to find a surprise (whether it be good or bad) waiting for me when I return to a familiar location that I just assume is a safe zone.

I'm sure that RE6 is a really fun arcade-style third person shooter in the same vein that the Gears of War games are fun third person shooters. Its just that with those types of games I have fun with them once (or even twice, occasionally), but there is very little mystery to them and I feel like once I've played through them once I've experienced most of what there is to experience in the game. Even playing through it the first time I feel like I won't be really curious as to what's coming next because it seems like the primary focus is put on killing whatever enemies are in front of you and then moving onto the next room. I probably will play this game when I finally get the time to play a game again, but to be honest I can already tell that its not quite the RE game that I really want to play. For that I'm going to have to turn to the classics and also replay RE4.

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It's less linear than RE5, at least. There are a number of locations where you can explore a bit; it's even encouraged.

RE6 has worse graphics than 5? I'm not gonna lie, that's a little... bad. Don't get me wrong, 5 had great graphics, and graphics as a whole don't mean much. But there's no reason why the sequel should look technically inferior.

They're still great, just less polished and shiny.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

People who play video games just think in terms of "it's good" or "it's bad nowadays", completely black and white.

I agree. I despise this mentality among modern gamers and critics alike. There are some terrific games out there that don't get the respect they deserve just because they have some glaringly bad elements to them, or are extremely unpolished. In those cases, so many gamers are quick to dismiss them, but a lot of great games have tons of fun and interesting gameplay elements burried beneath the bad stuff, and you can have a ton of great gaming experiences with flawed games. Some of my favorite games of all time like Max Payne and even Ninja Gaiden Black have a fair deal of flaws, but they are both among my favorite games ever made because of how much unmatched fun they bring me that few to no other games can deliver as far as I'm concerned, no matter how polished they may be.

[Spark Of Spirit]

People who play video games just think in terms of "it's good" or "it's bad nowadays", completely black and white.

I agree. I despise this mentality among modern gamers and critics alike. There are some terrific games out there that don't get the respect they deserve just because they have some glaringly bad elements to them, or are extremely unpolished. In those cases, so many gamers are quick to dismiss them, but a lot of great games have tons of fun and interesting gameplay elements burried beneath the bad stuff, and you can have a ton of great gaming experiences with flawed games. Some of my favorite games of all time like Max Payne and even Ninja Gaiden Black have a fair deal of flaws, but they are both among my favorite games ever made because of how much unmatched fun they bring me that few to no other games can deliver as far as I'm concerned, no matter how polished they may be.

"8/10? Preorder canceled."
"It's not 60fps? I'm out."
"I dunno, that one preview mentioned sloppy *graphics/random segment/something frivolous* different from every other outlet. Clearly everyone else must be lying."
"12 hours is kind of short... I'll rent/borrow (steal) it."
"This developer has never let me down before but I'm going to skip this game because it's more of the same."
"This developer has never let me down before but I'm going to skip this game because it's not the same."
"Is it worth $60? *insert other game* wasn't so I doubt this will be."
"It has 'waggle'? Never mind if it has custom controls- 'waggle' infects everything."
"This looks like the GOTY... but it's not good enough for me."

The modern gamer sure does like to whine.

[talonmalon333]

As far as atmosphere goes, I think RE4 beats any other RE, easily. These pieces of art just capture it perfectly.





The game loses some of its atmosphere once you reach the island. But I'd argue that every RE game does that, when they inevitably reach the more mechanical area of their games. And even still, I'd say the island beats out those ones, as there were some great sites there. And I can clearly remember climbing up the radio tower, taking out my rifle, and just using it to look out at the sea. You just don't get atmosphere like that very often.

RE4 also has my single favorite room in the series. This isn't the best picture, but hopefully some of you will remember the room from this pic.



The look of it is just perfect. There's no music, only wind. And the only movement is the window curtains blowing in the wind.

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Lmao, great post Spark! I really wish people were able to see RE6 for what it is... a flawed, but great, game. Sadly, everyone either hates on it because the critics did or declares it "10/10! best in the series!" just because it's new. People just can't seem to comprehend that their favorite games might have problems, or that other people like games they don't.

As far as atmosphere goes, I think RE4 beats any other RE, easily. These pieces of art just capture it perfectly.

Yeah, I looooove RE4's visual, audio, and level design.

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There is kunai climbing in this game...