Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7/Win 8, 2.4 GHz Core2Duo/2.8 GHz Athlon X2 or better CPU, 2 GB RAM, GeForce 8800 GTS or better graphics card, DirectX 9.0c, 16 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Shooter
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Resident Evil is one of the industry’s most financially rewarding franchises. Say what you want about Call of Duty, but Capcom has managed to sell books, movie rights and spin-offs of its popular series of zombie shooters for years. While the word “multimedia” gets tossed around a lot these days, basically the only form Resident Evil doesn’t come packaged in is a vacation cruise (although I’m betting the idea for a Resident Evil getaway has been discussed). With the release of Resident Evil 6 on consoles late last year, critical opinion was divided, but consoles and PC are not the same kind of platform. How does the latest iteration of this venerable franchise stack up on PC? The short answer is this: it ain’t survival horror anymore. The long answer is a bit more complicated.

The franchise has been moving in the direction of more action in the past few installments, and RE6 takes it even further. While there are some creepy, slow sequences, where the characters stumble around in the dark, waiting to be ambushed, this game is all about killing lots of enemies with a variety of weapons. There are plenty of guns, explosives, incendiary devices, and opportunities to curb-stomp. I was also surprised at the seamlessness of the controls. It takes a little time to get used to them, but the designers have made sure to make it easy to shoot one zombie and then kick another in the head. Unless you’re grabbed by an enemy or out of stamina, the action is fast-paced and fun.

RE6 is also made for cooperative multiplayer. While the AI can competently play the second person on your team, the game really shines when you and a friend team up to take out your enemies. It contains just the right amount of fighting together, moments where you have to assist your friend, and even places where you have to separate from your companion and fight alone to reach a new location. And even in cooperative multiplayer, there are often AI-controlled NPCs involved in various fights who at least perform competently. One of the problems with NPCs who fight alongside you is that they can screw everything up through idiotic actions. While there are some occasional goofy moments, I never felt that NPCs caused me to die through their action or inaction. And the zombies were, well, zombies. Unlike the Aliens in Aliens: Colonial Marines, their behavior is both appropriate and effective in the context of their character.

I won’t spoil the plot of RE6, but I found it passable. It made more sense and had more pathos than the most recent installments in the movie franchise, including a nice opening scene for Leon when he shoots the zombie President after pleading with him to stop eating someone. While there’s plenty of shooting and curb-stomping of zombies, Resident Evil 6 also provides puzzles, lots of Quick Time events (QTEs), and plenty of cutscenes with dialogue. All of these non-combat elements are designed with a definite cinematic feel. You might have to dodge a subway train or use a sniper rifle to ring a series of bells at a distance to open a secret passage, but in just about every case, the camera is set up so that you’re treated to well rendered scenes that show off the game’s visuals. In fact, in some cases the game looks better than anything we’ve seen in a Resident Evil film. And the sound effects are top notch, with an appropriate amount of squishiness when finishing off zombies. The game’s performance on PC is fine, even with the excellent graphics. While I haven’t seen it directly on a console (videos on YouTube are probably not a fair assessment), I have to say that Capcom has fully utilized the capabilities of the PC.

All of these things should add up to a wonderful game. Yet, at the end of my time playing Resident Evil 6, I found myself a little underwhelmed, but it has nothing to do with Capcom’s choice to move further away from the franchise’s roots in survival horror. It’s clear that the developer wants to create drama in their horror franchise, and that’s a laudable goal. The problem with RE6 is that the various diverse elements, though individually good, don’t cohere well together. The fight in the subway is a great example. There’s plenty of zombie shooting, but the action scenes are interrupted by QTEs involving the train in more than one instance. Individually, they work, but when you’re killed three times in a row by the train until you learn the proper timing of the event, it breaks the pacing of the zombie killing. In a sense, the game tries to be an action movie, with people jumping onto helicopters, throwing zombies off themselves in combat, and avoiding environmental hazards. It works in a film because the writer and director can arrange the pace and make it consistent. In a game like this, it tends to be distracting and annoying in cooperative multiplayer since both players have to respawn if one is killed. So, while it looks and sounds neat, and while the game mechanics are fairly well balanced, you find yourself wondering if certain elements needed to be included. Sometimes less is more, and Resident Evil 6 is an object lesson in the disadvantages of unfocused gameplay.

Is it worth the cost? Steam is selling it for $39.99 (as of this writing). If you have a bunch of friends who’ve pre-purchased it, and you know you’re going to play together online, it’s probably worth the price. But if you’ve been sitting on the fence, my advice is to wait for a Steam sale. Capcom has moved completely away from survival horror, and I’m okay with that. However, they were over-ambitious in their inclusion of gameplay elements. While no individual element was done poorly, Resident Evil 6 doesn’t provide as enjoyable a game experience as it could have.

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