Resident Evil 6 Preview

They’ve gone too far! It’s just a Gears Of War clone! It won’t feel like Resident Evil! Wrong, wrong, wrong. If you think Resident Evil 6 has abandoned its series’ survival-horror roots then you’re just not paying attention.

From the moment the trailer begins, the tone is clear. The classic tenets of Resident Evil, whether established in the first game or in the genre-redefining 4, are front-and-centre in this sequel.

As Leon S. Kennedy shakily points a handgun at his zombified friend and employer, the US president, he gasps for air through short, shallow breaths as his worst nightmares unfold before his eyes yet again.

The darkened office casts just enough natural light across Leon’s age-worn face for us to see the dread in his eyes, and despite everything the iconic gaming hero has been through over the years, it’s clear that the former police officer turned special agent is still very much human. Weak, vulnerable, emotional… albeit capable of a pulling off an awesome roundhouse kick.

That last point isn’t quite the contradiction it may seem. For every new move Leon gained in Resident Evil 4, he remained ever on the back foot, his repertoire and arsenal just about good enough to manage the encroaching crowd, if used with a little skill.

And it looks as though the same will be true of Resident Evil 6. One new move at his disposal is a cool-looking slide that half recalls Platinum Games’ Vanquish, only less OTT.

Will Chris' segments focus more on action and set-pieces?

Seemingly a way to adopt a position of relative safety among the zombie horde, it allows Leon to fire off a few shots as he shuffles backwards on his behind. It’s hardly the most dignified of action hero moves, and arguably creates as much risk as it does safety.

On the other side of the planet in China, returning protagonist Chris Redfield employs a similar move, sliding into cover behind some sandbags, assault rifle in hand.

It would be pure testosterone-fuelled dudebro action in any other series, but here it just lands him in more trouble as a toothy zombie tentacle bursts over the sandbags and lifts him up by the neck.

Moments later, we see Chris on his back again, this time rolling on the floor to avoid strikes from a monster, popping off a few rounds where he can just to keep the thing at bay. 

Neither of these men is a one-man army. Instead, they’re caught in a desperate struggle to stay alive, their split-second actions making the difference between gruesome death or surviving to fight against more impossible odds.

There is another playable character in Resident Evil 6, however, and if anyone comes close to fitting the superhero template it’s this currently unnamed protagonist.

Some fans have speculated that the scar-faced ex-mercenary may be an unmasked Hunk, or Albert Wesker’s fellow Spencer Mansion test subject Alex Wesker, described but not shown in the Resident Evil 5 DLC.

Who is this? Most elements seem to point to Alex Wesker, brother of comic book villain Albert Wesker.

Whatever the truth, his superhuman abilities look to take Resident Evil’s gameplay to previously uncharted territory, his hand-to-hand skills allowing him to string combos together with lightning speed. Not once in the trailer does he use a weapon.

How will Capcom keep the player feeling vulnerable while wielding such power? That remains to be seen, but the character’s need to repeatedly inject some sort of antivirus serum may hint at a finite limit to the man’s stamina and power.

Even in its most action-packed moments, however, Resident Evil 6 seems to have the tone spot on. Whether its in evoking the overwhelming crowds of Resident Evil 4, recreating the chaos of Raccoon City or channelling the mood of GameCube’s remade Spencer Mansion, there’s a feeling that the player is never truly safe.

The gameplay may now be completely different to how Resident Evil was 15 years ago, it may even have evolved beyond the action of instalments 4 and 5, but it’s still very much about both survival and horror in equal measure.