More than just a HD upgrade?
It’s been a number of years since Resident Evil 6 landed on PS3 and Xbox 360. Since then we’ve had a number of HD remasters of classic titles like the original Resident Evil and more recently, Resident Evil Zero. I was surprised to hear that 4, 5 and 6 were all getting the HD treatment…but what is odd is the order of their release. 6 is first, followed by 5 in the summer and then 4 launches later in the year. Is it meant to be some kind of code or clue for Resi 7? Who knows…
The game is set out into 4 campaigns (Yes, FOUR) which overlap at certain points as you try and put an end to the latest virus outbreaks. The story tries to recreate the magic of Raccoon City and has plenty of old faces including Chris Redfield, Leon S Kennedy, Sherry Birkin and Ada Wong while introducing new ones like Jake Muller, who is Wesker’s son and the only person with the antibodies that can save the world. The plot has some good moments, but it does raise a few questions like where in the world are Jill Valentine, Claire Redfield and whatever happened to Sheva?
Leon’s campaign is easily the strongest as it puts you in closer quarters against the zombies and ammo is more scarce, while Chris’ campaign is the weakest and focuses more on being just a basic shooter than being about the scares, Jake starts out as a jerk with a temper, but I did warm to him a bit towards the end and his campaign wasn’t too bad either. Ada’s campaign unlocks when you complete all 3 and hers is the only one with any actual puzzles that had my head scratching, but it’s easily the second-best and its annoying that you have to complete the others to unlock it.
Gameplay consists of the classic third-person shooter formula with a bit of a dated cover system, and finally you can move while shooting! Oddly enough though, now and then I’d just stop and shoot…forgetting that I could actually do both at the same time. You’ll come across plenty of Quick-Time events, which are frustrating and some can cause cheap deaths aplenty, I found myself screaming at how many times I’d die in one section because of something silly, but thankfully salvation wasn’t too far away.
There are a few on-rails sections and you’ll ride a number of vehicles like cars, motorbikes, helicopters and fighter jets, while a few horrible swimming sections enter the fray too. The biggest problem with the game though is the J’avo who are the new enemies, which are sadly pretty brain-dead…perhaps too much for a zombie. I found myself being able to simply run through a whole horde without even being grabbed or shoved to the ground. You can upgrade your abilities to make you even stronger against them and find collectibles hidden all over, while item management has improved to the point where you can use a health pill by tapping a button.
You can also perform a number of melee attacks with the right trigger, as well as being able to dive and crawl through certain sections. The movement of the character feels a lot tighter than before, but the cover system is a bit clunky. Boss battles are fierce and some will have you wondering…just how the hell is that thing NOT dead! Weak points do appear, but it still takes some doing to overcome them and even then, you may not have seen the last of them!
Besides the campaigns, Mercenaries mode returns and is as fun/brutal as ever, but it also provides more income for you to upgrade your abilities with. There’s also a mode called Agent Hunt where you become one of the infected and can join anyone’s campaign and kill them. You can play the campaigns co-operatively like you could in RE5, but the ally AI is smarter than before and they very rarely die.
In terms of the remastered version compared to the original PS3/360 versions…Resident Evil 6 has all the main content and DLC included, while upping the visuals and overall performance of the game. It runs a hell of a lot smoother than it did before and feels all the better for it. It’s still not as strong as past iterations of the series, but it does have its moments…good and not so good.
The Verdict
The remastered Resident Evil 6 doesn’t change all that much of the original experience, for better or worse. It is a nice deal for the price tag and comes with all DLC, which is to be expected. I would have liked them to work on making the QTE’s less frustrating, but if you missed out on the original release I would recommend giving 6 a go, even if it’s not the strongest in the series.