Chaos Raiden
Avid Gamer & Reviewer
Zombies are back.
I just downloaded the demo earlier on, and played all three campaigns. I had fun playing all three campaigns, but I have my reservations about certain things in the final game itself.
You can play three separate campaigns, which are Leon/Helena campaign, Chris/Piers campaign, and Jake/Sherry campaign. Unlike Resident Evil 5, you can choose to play between any characters in each campaign. Unfortunately, you can only one mission for each campaign, and the missions itself are quite short.
By default, you can run or walk depending on how strong you push the Left Analog Stick. You can also rotate the camera to have better view on your surroundings. The movement controls are more flexible than previous Resident Evil games, where you can freely move front to back, or left to right. You can also sprint to run faster. This time, you can use melee moves by pressing the R1 button, without aiming the gun. However, you can still use special melee moves when enemies are stunned like previous Resident Evil games.
A new feature in this game is a Stamina bar. Every time you sprint or use melee moves, it will drain your stamina. If you overuse melee moves too much, your character will be fatigued, and you will be unable to pull off melee moves properly. Melee moves can be used in a combination attack, or used it to finish stunned enemies. Stamina will regenerate over time, but it is vital not to deplete your stamina completely while fighting hordes of enemies.
The shooting gameplay is similar to Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5. However, this time you can move while shooting. Also, you can get in cover while in aiming mode. Like before, items such as ammo can be obtained while exploring or by killing enemies. You can always switch weapons or switch items as well by pressing the Directional Buttons. You may also access to your Item menu to organise items or combine them into a new one. There are also some QTEs in the game, such as when being grabbed by enemies and etc. If you are dying, you can call your partner to resuscitate you from dying, giving you another chance to get through the mission.
Enemies come in variety in this game, such as zombies and variety of B.O.W.s. Of course, different enemies take different approach to kill them effectively. If you are hit by a powerful attack, you can either shoot enemies while lying on your back or quickly get up. In most situations, shooting while lying on your back will expose yourself to higher danger. You will find that you will use melee attacks quite often to defeat enemies, since you will burn out a lot of ammo to kill enemies because they are quite tough.
I notice that each campaign has a very different tone. Leon/Helena's campaign significantly similar to old Resident Evil games, where dark and horror atmosphere takes place throughout the mission. Chris/Piers' campaign's tone is very similar to recent militaristic shooter games. Jake/Sherry's campaign is a mix of Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5 tone, where mix of melee and shooting is prevalent throughout the mission. Each campaign even has different HUD for each character, creating even more unique differences in style for each campaign.
Overall, I find that the game itself is quite solid, with solid third person shooter controls that makes it rival to recent third person shooter games. Unfortunately, the solid TPS controls is what makes the game indifferent than recent third person shooter games, since the action is very prevalent in this game and dilutes the horror tone of the game itself. The horror atmosphere is much stronger in presence than Resident Evil 5, but it is still not strong enough to make this game to be called a true 'survival horror' game. However, I will definitely buy the game itself, and I strongly suggest Resident Evil fans or new ones to play the demo itself before purchasing it on it's release date since it moves away from Resident Evil roots in many ways, yet retaining some of it in the game itself such as the inclusion of zombies.
Final score: 8.5/10
Pros
- Impressive graphics.
- No noticeable technical issues.
- Improved movement controls.
- Flashy melee moves.
- Three separate and unique playable campaigns.
- Zombies are back.
- Many variety of B.O.W.s.
- Horror atmosphere is more prevalent than Resident Evil 5.
Cons
- Significantly toned down horror atmosphere compared with older Resident Evil games.
- Very short mission campaigns.