A case for action in Resident Evil

Like most people, I am really glad that Capcom is reintroducing the survivor horror element back to the Resident Evil series. However, I understand why Capcom has decidedly switched to a more action-centric direction post-RE4, and unlike most people, I am actually okay with that. Don’t get me wrong, I personally think RE5 was a disappointment and RE6 a downright mess of a video game. Although the RE2 remake is indeed a remarkable ode to survival horror, and I am very much looking forward to the inevitable RE3 remake, let’s be honest to ourselves; We can only play the same type of game over and over again. That is why I believe that a bit of action injected into the series is a a breath of fresh air, and it actually does make a lot of sense in terms of the storyline and character development. Let me explain.

I remembered back in 2012 when I saw the trailer for RE6, I felt incredibly pumped, particularly for Chris Redfield’s campaign. I really like the fact that the game takes place in China because hey, China is the most populated country in the world. Imagine the number of zombies you have to wiggle your way through to victory. Unlike the previous instalments where the zombie epidemic was relatively well-contained, what I had envisioned for RE6 was for it to be a full-blown nation-wide pandemic where there are chaos and mass panic all over, and you as a BSAA operative (Read: Chris Redfield. My apologies, I really love that guy) and your team have to go in and control the situation. If you think about it, it is simply an upscale of how things were; instead of a single player or two surviving a hallway of, say, 5 zombies, how about Chris and his battalion of 10 soldiers going up against 50 zombies and maybe throw some civilians in the mix just to complicate things? Those zombies, of course, must be actual zombies and not ‘intelligent’ parasite-infected beings with machine guns, lest it becomes Call of Duty (Sounds familiar?). This is the reason why I felt RE6 is a colossal missed opportunity that had many potentials to be great. I actually like how they reintroduce RE2-esque separate campaigns for different characters and make their paths cross and even fight each other (albeit only for about 20 seconds). I also like the fact that Leon’s campaign is centred on survival horror and Chris’ campaign focused on action (only here, too much action). I’d say stick to that idea and scrap Jake’s campaign altogether. A few caveats: Although I do think that action is the way to go, it must be well restrained. Resident Evil must not have Devil May Cry level of action *cough* Jake *cough*, and it must never ever lose survivor horror as its main theme like RE5, RE6 and I would argue even RE4 had. Also, the zombies and bosses must be grounded in science and reality. Part of what makes Resident Evil a great game is how the players felt like they are in the situation. For it to work, it must not demand too much of suspension of disbelief. This is why I think RE7 is simply Capcom’s little conceptual study to see fans’ reactions before they make a dramatic decision. I don’t mean that it’s a bad game, but it has far too many supernatural elements and too less science to be considered a true Resident Evil game. Also, this is why the RE2 remake is by far the best game in the franchise.

Here’s my pitch to Capcom for the future directions of the Resident Evil franchise: As RE2 is focused on Leon and Claire, RE3’s remake should not only focus on Jill, but also Chris. Then, make some spin-off games to expand on these characters’ development survival horror style ala Revelations 2. Forget RE4 ever happened (Please don’t hate me. I know it’s an awesome game, but it’s a tad too cheesy and comical to be canonical). By this point, we’d probably be a little tired of surviving zombies with limited resources, and I’m sure the characters are well trained to throw some serious punches. Now, introduce the ‘real’ RE4 which would be what RE6 could have been: survival horror with a healthy dose of action. Throw every zombies and G-viruses on the street and give us some big guns with more but still limited amount of ammo. RE6 can also star every character that we have come to love: Leon, Claire, Jill, Chris, Ada, Barry and the lot. Then at the end, discover the fact that Albert Wesker was the one pulling the strings behind all their predicaments in the previous games. All the characters get to participate in defeating Wesker at the end and that would have been a much more satisfying conclusion compared to the one we got in RE5. The good thing is that Capcom then have the option to recycle the formula (horror, horror, horror + action…) with new characters and threats whilst keeping things fresh and not boring the fans. Other types of spin-offs like Operation Raccoon City is actually a brilliant idea too, but Capcom mustn’t be lazy about it.

Honestly, I doubt any of these are ever going to happen as I’m sure the developers and fans alike have developed a sort of phobia towards action in the Resident Evil series. Also, I don’t own any stakes in Capcom. Nevertheless, I am happy that Capcom has finally regained its traction, and I am thrilled to see what comes next.

Game Review: Resident Evil 6

My apologies for not posting for quite some time. That's because my laptop almost literally broke into half, and not to mention my Internet is currently slower than snail because the monthly quota is long exceeded. In the meantime I was having a blast playing the game I anticipated the most - Resident Evil 6. I'm a big fan of Resident Evil and I've got lots to say about this game, but I'm just gonna say whatever that pops up in my mind right now. Anyway, I'll try my best to review on this game.

Title: Resident Evil 6

Year: 2012

What is it about: Yet another viral outbreak, bioterrorism now goes global with the United States, Europe and China suffered from the pandemic of C-virus. Chinese virus? Ehehehehe.

Genre: Says here survival horror, but it's more to action.

My review: Resident Evil took a big turn from Resident Evil 3 to 4, changing almost every aspect of the game, particularly the gameplay. Then there's another big reinvention from Resident Evil 5 to 6. There are many stuffs added to this game and the characters are now much more flexible. Resident Evil 6 is divided into 3 main campaigns, that is Leon's, Chris', and Jake's campaign together with their respective partners. Finally, the moment that all Resident Evil fans have been waiting for: Leon and Chris in the same game! Don't know who Jake is? Get ready to be surprised. I can tell you, it's a big irony. Aside from that, there's also the unlockable Ada's campaign. Good news is that each character's campaign is unique although they crosses path occasionally. Bad news is, the campaigns are not long. Each one can be completed within a day or two.

As compared to the previous Resident Evil series, I think the most major addition to this game is that the characters are now able to aim and shoot or reloads while moving. You can also perform a variety of actions such as dodging and rolling, and that is important. Previously there are nothing much you can do when you see an axe flying your way. Then you can perform melee attacks whenever you want without the need to daze your enemies, but it's limited to your energy bar. Now, there's absolutely no need for the knife. There are also lots of other stuffs too, and suffice to say, this game is really exciting and at the same time, challenging.

In Resident Evil 6, you'll see lots and lots of explosion. Sometimes, more so than is necessary. In Leon's campaign, you'll enter China in an explosive manner. In Chris' campaign you'll see China blow up and choppers crashing everywhere. In this game, not only you'll have to take down zombies, but also machines, aircrafts, artilleries, et cetera. You'll also get to play car chase and dogfights. Like I said, this game is hardly survival horror but there's lots of actions in it. It's not bad though because it's pretty fun.

But at times, Capcom tries to make this game too 'fun' by putting in too many of those running-away-from-dangers-and-explosion scenes and loads of QTE's in this game. Yes, Resident Evil 6 has more QTE's than any other Resident Evil series (any other game, in fact), and that can make this game pretty annoying. In case you don't know what QTE's are, it stands for Quick Time Event where you have to something in a split-second and failing which you will either die or suffer a major damage. Sometimes I don't even know what I am supposed to do, and I died like more than 10 times just to find out. There are no clues or instructions whatsoever to guide you. You'll have to experiment. At that, I highly recommend you to begin playing in amateur mode to get used to all those QTE's because in amateur mode, they are automatically performed for you. Don't think that amateur mode is too easy though, because it's not. Other than that, there are also many unnecessary sequences such as car chase and dogfight. There was one time where Chris was trying to stop a rocket by shooting it from a jet plane, but regardless you'll end up failing to do so for the sake of the plot. Sometimes I do feel insulted by that.

This game is really fun, but the major downside of Resident Evil 6 is that it doesn't fair much in terms of realism. Resident Evil 6 is completely unrealistic. If it were to take place in real life, all the characters in the game would most probably be dead. Also, in Resident Evil 6, all characters die except for the main characters. They cheated death a lot of times, and there's absolutely nothing that can kill them so long as you don't lose all your HP. Not even a crashing bus or aeroplane can kill them. On the other hand, minor characters die regardless of how much you try to save them. Also in this game, you'll get to see the laws of physics being defied countless times. Then again, this is Resident Evil. Science is never applied here at all.

The one fact I hated the most in this game, and is perhaps also the most unrealistic, is the inventory and shortcut system. Each character, including the lightweight super spy Ada Wong, will carry with themselves more than more than 5 weapons, and they are not small. I really wonder where they keep their rifles, shotguns, machine guns and other weapons with them and how they are still able to run around effortlessly. Those weapons are arranged in a horizontal line, and if you want to switch weapons, you have to browse through them. In the process, you'll see the characters switching weapons like they are doing some funny dance, or spinning a pair of nunchaku. Then again, you'll need all the weapons you can get in this game. Sometimes, you get your weapons in funny ways. For example, Chris got his shotgun from his flashback and Jake got his out of nowhere. I didn't even realize he has it the whole time.

There's a separated inventory space for you to keep herbs, grenades, ammo, and other stuffs, but you don't get a safe to keep those items in excess. In other words, you have to throw away stuffs once your inventory is full, and the inventory is not big. This makes your ammo reserve limited. But don't worry because in this game, you'll get to replenish your ammo quickly. Even if you run out of them, you can just spam your melee attacks. Then again, you'll almost never lose ammunition because you'll find them everywhere, unless you're going through a boss battle.

Lastly, I think they should also give the storyline a little fixing. Like I mentioned earlier, characters in this game are expendable. Too many people died. Also, Leon is the only one which gets to fight actual zombies and is the closest to the survival horror genre. Jake gets to fight a few of them. Chris only gets to go against J'avo, an intelligent species of 'zombies' which can over-mutate and are armed with weapons such as machine guns and rocket launchers. They can even deploy choppers and tanks, Call of Duty style. Some of them actually resemble aliens. Speaking of over-mutation, the C-virus can apparently turn a human into other oversized creatures such as spiders, moths, grasshoppers, horse, fly and even a dinosaur! Apparently, the virus can even turn someone into a robot or give them electrical powers! Then gain, we have to bear in mind that we are playing a video game that is completely unrealistic, but it's for challenge's sake. One thing I do have to commend in this game, is that the bosses will not die easily and beating them can be quite a challenge. Sometimes, it's quite a pain especially when you are running out of ammo. However, challenging as they may be, more often than not they are just annoying.

In conclusion, some might like this game and some might not. For me, I find this game pretty cool and exciting if not for all those over-excessive and annoying QTE's, the inventory system, and the anti-reality storylines. It's not too bad but not very good either. At least they care to bring back our dearly missed zombies. Too bad Chris Redfield don't get to fight them, which is a bit sad since Chris haven't been fighting them since Resident Evil 3. I think Chris miss the zombies a lot, but I'm sure the zombies doesn't. Anyway,  to everyone who is going to play this game, welcome to China!

My rating (out of 10) : 6