Resident Evil 6
Score: 85% ESRB: Mature Publisher: Capcom Developer: Capcom Media: Download/1 Players: 1 - 2 (Online 1 - 2) Genre: Survival Horror/ Action/ Third Person Shooter
Graphics & Sound: I’ll be the first to admit that at first launch, I was mesmerized by the graphics in this newest edition to the Resident Evil franchise. Part of the fixation may come from being absent from the series for a bit, and the other may be that I’ve never played the PC version of the games. Regardless, the visuals of RE6 are outstanding both in-game and during cutscenes. From the opening cinematic, Resident Evil 6 automatically gets your adrenaline pumping. Just the thought of uncontrollable zombies approaching can get your heart throbbing while playing in the dark, but the back and forth between the cutscenes and playable portions of the game definitely keeps your blood pressure high in the beginning. In-game, zombie models are nothing short of outstanding. The variety of characters works well, and the specialized mutations are generally immediately recognizable nine times out of ten. Don’t forget the gore. No undead game would be complete without a certain amount of disgust. RE6 doesn’t disappoint. The environments also lend to the overall atmosphere of the game and the gameplay. Lighting in the game is outstanding, helping to lead the eye where necessary and conceal walkers in just the right way. The only issue that I had was with the bloom from reflected objects being far too overwhelming. Perhaps even more important than the visuals, the audio of any horror game has to both instill fear and give clues as to upcoming action. Again, Resident Evil 6 doesn’t disappoint. From ever off-screen zombie moans to the eeriness of other background elements, the game draws you in and keeps you there.
Gameplay: There is no other way to play a game like Resident Evil 6 than alone in the dark. The isolation you feel only adds to the tension that the game delivers. In fact, I’d argue that one of the most important gameplay elements is to set your screen’s brightness and contrast to a level that keeps things interesting without washing out the screen so that you don’t eliminate those "I think I crapped my pants" moments. As you jump into Resident Evil 6, you’ll have the ability to choose from four characters including favorites from the past, Leon S. Kennedy and Chris Redfield. The storylines are different yet interweaving for each. While I’ve seen a lot of negative feedback for the Xbox and PS3 versions of RE6, I have to say that I really disagree with negative-minded fan boys and enjoyed it for the most part. It’s true that each story has a slightly different feel and even contains its own GUI elements as if created by completely separate teams that didn’t communicate, but as a whole, the game is still enjoyable. The game itself is driven by the buddy system of being able to play solo with a computer-controlled character along your side, or to jump into a split-screen or Internet-based two player game. One thing to note is the ability to "save" your partner, so working together is key. There are also moments where you and your partner (human or computer-controlled) will need to work together in puzzle-solving which is another enjoyable aspect of the game. As you work your way through the relatively linear level design, you’ll be treated with moments of storyline that reflect that there’s a new virus in town. With it, some sinister work is again underway (of which I won’t spoil here). But rest assured that the creature design due to this C-Virus doesn’t disappoint. There has always been a sense of urgency associated with the Resident Evil franchise due to both the storylines and to knowing that the unknown is about to jump out and grab you. With RE6, I truly felt that this game feels very reminiscent of the original pre-rendered titles where you know something is about to happen, but it still surprises you, despite the 3D gameplay.
Difficulty: As such, this also means that Resident Evil 6’s gameplay also has a certain level of difficulty to it above and beyond the fact that you can also adjust it from the Menus. In my misadventures playing the game, there was no need to increase the difficulty level whatsoever. That’s because… I died. A lot. Okay, many of those "deaths" were more like near-death experiences where my partner came in to save me. But it wasn’t long until I truly died. Admittedly, some of those deaths came from me losing out on the wrong decision between fight or flight, but still… Resident Evil 6 has a nice level of challenge to it. To add to the challenge, switching weapons on the fly is a much more enjoyable and realistic way to keep the adrenaline flowing. While I found myself opting for a lot of Walking Dead-style close combat mercy killings, there are some nice weapons in Resident Evil 6 to choose from. Of course, each will have its own benefit from long-range to fire bombs.
Game Mechanics: Okay… this is a PC game so the obvious controls are WASD and the mouse, right? Yes, they function and you can play the game with them, but for this cat, I quickly opted to dust off the Xbox 360 Controller wireless adaptor and all was good. Those used to the keyboard/mouse control may have no problem at all with RE6, but I have to admit that it just felt better to grip a controller for an action title like this that sometimes requires quick controls. As such, more of the hotkeys felt closer to my fingertips than stumbling through finding shortcuts on the keyboard. The great news is that the Xbox 360 controller worked flawlessly, complete with Xbox-specific on-screen prompts which made it an easy transition to playing in the dark. In the dark is exactly where you want to play this game too. Setting up the screen is key as well because you don’t want to wash out the title, but darkening too much can also conceal the undead even more than the creators may have intended. The lighting in the game is set up perfectly for just such occasions already. If you can get past some of the disjointed game design between the different storylines, Resident Evil 6 is a great title that has a bit of replay value as well. With an XP system for earning unlockables and the ability to partner up and play through chapters in the game again, Resident Evil 6 certainly isn’t the greatest game I’ve ever played, but it is an enjoyable title nonetheless. For the price, Resident Evil 6 for PC will provide you with some mindless action that can make you want to continue to go back for more.
-Woody, GameVortex Communications AKA Shane Wodele
Minimum System Requirements: Requires the Steam client to install and play; Standard audio device; DirectX® 9.0c; 16 GB Available Hard Drive Space; Windows® XP / Vista / 7 / 8; 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or better / 2.8 GHz AMD Athlon X2 or better Processor; 2 GB Available System Memory; NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800GTS or better   Test System: Mac Book Pro with the following installed as a dual-boot: Windows 7 64-bit with Service Pack 1 installed; Intel Core i7-3720QM CPU @ 2.60GHz 2.60 GHz; 8GB RAM; NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M; Xbox Wireless Controller with PC Adaptor
Related Links: Resident Evil 6 Official Website Game Vortex's Review of Resident Evil 6 for Xbox 360 Buy Resident Evil 6 on Steam
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