The original outbreak occurred in Raccoon City in 1998. Over the next 15 years, the Umbrella Corporation’s work and the virus itself have evolved and changed. On October 2, 2012, you and I will attempt to survive the next outbreak: Resident Evil 6. A franchise that has, itself, evolved and changed.  The demo consists of a slice of each of the three storylines: Leon/Helena, Chris/Piers and Jake/Sherry.

After playing all three stories, it was obvious that Capcom built from lessons learned from Resident Evil 5.  Instead of the second character only feeling important in certain rare occasions, they really focused on it being a two-person campaign. The downside is that Capcom seems to have turned this game into a co-op focused title.  Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it makes playing solo feel somewhat less rewarding.  This was most evident during the Chris Redfield mission when I was going hand-over-hand on a rope and getting shot up while computer-controlled Piers wasn’t much help.

As I said before, the Resident Evil franchise has evolved. Practically inventing the survival horror genre, Resident Evil has forged a different path in the recent releases. Resident Evil 6 continues this path, going for more of an action thriller vibe, rather than the jumps and scares of survival horror. I think that’s one of the things I like most about this demo.  It truly conveys the feeling of a Resident Evil game, and does what a good demo should do – get me excited about the October release.

If I do have any complaints, it’s that you must push ‘A’ to climb up or down any obstacle.  I mean any obstacle. If there’s 1 ft. step stool, you will push ‘A’ to step up and ‘A’ to step down. That was a little frustrating, as was a scene with Jake and Sherry where you run towards the camera.  Of course, that’s more my hatred for contrived scenes of running towards the camera and not really a slight on RE6.

Bottom line, if you enjoy stories with Leon S. Kennedy and Chris Redfield, love breaking boxes and blowing up red barrels, you will likely be purchasing Resident Evil 6 come this October.  If nothing else, the demo shows me that Resident Evil 6 will be another Resident Evil game, and that’s exactly what I wanted.

Brian Bentley (54 Posts)

BRIAN BENTLEY is COIN-OP TV’s features writer/contributor. Brian hails from Chicago but now resides in Cincinnati, Ohio. He’s a huge fan of RPGs and especially loves Japanese RPGs. Brian has been writing about video games since 2009 and is proud that his wife enjoys the industry as well! When Brian needs a break from the console he enjoys playing board games and the classic ‘Adventure’ on the Atari 2600 is still one of his favorite games of all time!