Resident Evil 6: What It Needs To Be Awesome

Resident Evil 6 is due to launch in November, and the rather superb reveal trailer proves that Capcom is going big – like, really, really big - with the franchise this time. 

Following the mixed reaction to Resident Evil 5, we take a look at the ingredients Resident Evil 6 needs to make this a truly awesome entry to Capcom’s iconic series.

5. Resident Evil 6 needs to revisit what made the series great

With Resident Evil 4, director Shinji Mikami took everything that gamers thought they knew about the first three Resident Evil games, wiped his arse with it and flushed it all down the bog to make way for his stunning new take on the series. 

But with the action heavy Resident Evil 5, Capcom had veered so far away from the survival horror genre it had created, that Jill Sandwiches, ink ribbons and odd hexagonal key devices designed to open up impossible contraptions – seriously, who builds these things? – seemed like a distant memory. Had Capcom lost its way?

No, of course it didn’t, Capcom was just trying to steer the series in new directions for a rapidly changing market, and no one – no matter what your view on the game – can lambaste Capcom for trying its hardest. It’s a tough, unpredictable world out there after all.

It’s a shame really, but in Resident Evil 6, Capcom is definitely looking to put its money where its mouth is. The Resident Evil 6 trailer opens with Leon and new character Helena running around Tall Oaks, a city that has become infested with zombies – and we mean the old kind of zombies, not the mildly intelligent Ganados introduced in Resident Evil 4.

The aesthetic vibe smacks of Resident Evil 2, and Leon even says “It’s Raccoon City all over again’, which is no bad thing at all. It really does seem as if this portion of Resident Evil 6 will deliver the old school components of the series, and if Capcom pulls it off, fans of the old titles will have little room to complain 

4. Resident Evil 6 still needs decent action

But on the other hand, action fans can still get their fix courtesy of Chris Redfield’s escapades in China. The Resident Evil 6 trailer shows off a ton of cover shooting antics, as Chris lets rip with an assault rifle on a bustling city street.

Chris also tussles with faster, smarter Las Plagas zombies using his impossible forearms, which underlines Capcom’s taste for crazy action, mind boggling anatomy and over-the-top thrills. The question is - how can Resident Evil 6 meld these two distinct styles together as a cohesive whole? 

Well, there’s also a new slap happy melee character thrown in there too. His identity hasn’t been revealed yet, although smart money suggests that he was once a childe borne our of the Wesker program, due to his blood holding the key to stopping the virus.

He is seen running around with Resident Evil 4’s Ashley Graham, as the duo are hounded by a massive, rather creepy monster, and although his scenes are action-heavy, the mysterious bald character seems to deliver a middle ground between horror and action. ‘Horrction’ or ‘Actirror’ if you will.

3. Resident Evil 6 needs slick controls

The Resident Evil series hasn’t aged well. Say what you will, but there’s nothing appealing about the horrid tank controls of the first three games. The characters walked like they had just experienced an unfortunate trouser malfunction.

Resident Evil 4 improved things but the control scheme still needed work, and while Resident Evil 5 still fell short of the mark, Resident Evil 6 looks slick as hell. In the trailer you can see Leon sliding on his back while shooting, Chris vaulting over walls and sticking to cover, ‘Maybe-Wesker’ jumping across crumbling rooftops and more.

Now, we know that some gamers will say, “But NowGamer, that isn’t true Resident Evil as I remember it, you handsome people you.” Well firstly, we’re flattered, and second, the industry has changed to the point where we don’t need Resident Evil’s old school delivery. 

As quaint as it seems now, standards of control and functionality have risen dramatically since the first Resident Evil stumbled onto PSone. Poor controls make a game irritating, and a chore to play.

So why anyone would want to relive the hell that comes with accidentally walking into a pack of zombies, just because the controls got flipped due to a change in camera angle, is beyond us. 

2. Resident Evil 6 needs to deliver fan service

Just when you thought it was all over when the increasingly camp Wesker tumbled into that volcano at the end of Resident Evil 5 – seriously, just try to re-read that line again with a straight face – Capcom has found another way of keeping the Resident Evil series alive.

Resident Evil 6 is set between the fourth and fifth games, so the re-appearance of familiar faces seems likely. Capcom are the masters of fan service, and now it has the chance to really spoil us rotten. Two words – Barry Burton.

If Barry ‘Chris and me are old partner ya’know?’ Burton makes a comeback then the fan reaction would be huge, not to mention a possible rise in men sporting well-trimmed goatees. 

But theoretical hopes aside, we know that Chris, Leon and Ashley are all back, so the chances of Jill, Ada, Wesker and other big names resurfacing seems like an awesome prospect. 

Although we’re slightly wary of Capcom filling the Resident Evil 6with recurring characters just for the sake of it. Metal Gear Solid 4 when haywire with this by revisiting almost every major character in some way throughout the plot, which definitely felt forced and needless in places. 

Characters aside there is also scope to revisit familiar enemies such as Hunters, Lickers, Cerberus dogs, those freaky Regenerators and more. Resident Evil 6 really does have the potential to be a true ‘best of’ title, giving gamers everything they love about the series and more.

1. Resident Evil 6 needs to be terrifying

This is the most important aspect of the Resident Evil series. Capcom founded Resident Evil on horror the themes and it’s impossible to deny that this focus has shifted slightly over the years. But in Resident Evil 6 the developer seems to have gone back to its roots slightly.

We say slightly because Resident Evil 6 clearly delivers a heavy dose of explosive action, but it’d be pretty daft to accuse Capcom of trying to emulate Call of Duty or the rest of the shooty bang-bang crowd. That just isn’t Capcom’s style.

What Resident Evil needs are moments of dreadful silence and tension between the bursts of gunfire and chaos. The kind of scares that are right up there that made the original Resident Evil’s ‘dogs through the window’ moment so utterly terrifying.

We’d even settle for the foreboding atmosphere of Resident Evil 4’s village, which was so engaging you genuinely felt like you were being preyed upon. You want to feel weak and vulnerable during Resident Evil games, not invincible and with a payload that would make most armies blush.

Somehow it feels like Capcom realises this, and has taken time to really bring the series back to the masses. Catering for fans of both the old and new Resident Evil titles, the developer has a tough juggling act to contend with in Resident Evil 6, but given the highly impressive reveal trailer, we’re ready to believe in survival horror once more.