Resident Evil 6 (バイオハザード6, Japanese title: Biohazard 6) is a third-person shooter video game in the Resident Evil series, developed and published by Capcom. Capcom defines the game's genre as "dramatic horror", however there is disagreement among reviewers whether this installment belongs in survival horror genre. It was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on October 2, 2012. The Microsoft Windows version is currently in development.
The story is told from the perspectives of Chris Redfield, a former member and founder of the BSAA traumatized by a failed operation, Leon S. Kennedy, a Raccoon City survivor and agent for the government, Jake Muller, illegitimate son of Albert Wesker and associate of Sherry Birkin, and Ada Wong, a freelance agent framed for the bio-terrorist attacks by Neo-Umbrella. They must all confront the force behind a massive bio-terrorist attack with the newly developed C-virus in cities across the world.
Concept development began as far back as 2009, with full development beginning the following year under Hiroyuki Kobayashi, who produced Resident Evil 4, and eventually grew to have the largest staff so far to work on a Resident Evil game. The game faced both negative reactions to the control problems with the demo and generally mixed reviews for the drastic shift in gameplay focus for the main game, being a point of both praise and criticism for different review outlets. As of October 3, Capcom has shipped over 4 million copies
Gameplay
Resident Evil 6 allows players to select between three scenarios with connected storylines, each with their own intentionally different design. Each scenario follows one of three main protagonists - Leon S. Kennedy, Chris Redfield and Jake Muller. The player characters from each scenario will have their own partners which are controlled by either the computer AI or another human player via local or online multiplayer. When playing in single player, the player can allow another player to join in online at any time and inventories are now kept separate from each other. A fourth scenario is unlocked after the player has finished the other three, in which the player controls Ada Wong (without a partner). The game also features the Mercenaries mode, where players fight hordes of enemies, and the Agent Hunt mode which allows players to take control of random enemies in other people's games.
Players can pick up items quickly and change weapons in real time. Players are also able to move while aiming their firearms. A new feature comes in the form of tablets, in which players can recover health at the push of a button. More tablets can be produced by locating herbs. By finding various herbs and saving them before converting, more tablets can be obtained from them. If one player runs out of health, that player will have a short time to try and defend him/herself while his partner attempts to revive them. If either player is killed, gameplay resumes at the last checkpoint. The game will have several primary enemies, including zombies and the newly introduced J'avo. Unlike zombies, J'avo are able to interact with each other to plan an attack, use weapons, and heal themselves.Certain enemies drop skill points when killed, which can be picked up and spent on upgrades such as increased weapon effectiveness or specific ammunition drops. Players can equip three of these upgrades which apply to all the campaigns. There are set piece events that require different approaches, such as shooting at zombies, prying through a door, and attempting to locate keys in a vehicle.
Plot
On December 24, 2012, Jake Muller, a mercenary of the fictional South-Slavic Edonian Liberation Army and son of late bio-terrorist Albert Wesker, flees from the authorities during a bio-terrorist attack. He partners up with Division of Security Operations (DSO) agent and Raccoon City survivor Sherry Birkin. At the same time, Bio-terrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA) Captain Chris Redfield and his team, including sniper Piers Nivans and demolitions expert Finn Macauley fight against the two Orgomans and J'avo. However, they are attacked by Carla Radames, a Neo-Umbrella agent that refers to herself as Ada Wong, who kills most of the BSAA members using a device that injects them with the newly developed C-virus, turning them into monsters, except Chris and Piers. The aftermath causes Chris to go into self-imposed exile, binge-drinking at a bar. Meanwhile, Sherry and Jake's extraction from Edonia by the BSAA is sabotaged by a BOW codenamed 'Ustanak', forcing the pair to crash into the mountains, eventually leading to their capture by Ada.
On June 29, 2013, U.S. President Adam Benford has decided to officially reveal the truth behind the 1998 Raccoon City incident, believing that it will curb the current resurgence in bio-terrorist activity. By the President’s side is his friend, DSO agent, and Raccoon City survivor Leon S. Kennedy and United States Secret Service agent Helena Harper, but when the venue becomes host to another bio-terrorist attack, Leon is forced to face the infected and mutated President, and kill him. Helena leads Leon to the Tall Oaks Cathedral amidst the zombie outbreak to rescue her sister, Deborah. By the time the pair reaches Deborah, she had already been infected with the C-virus, where the pair are forced to kill her. Along the way, the two encounter Ada, and Helena then discloses to Leon that she was blackmailed by National Security Adviser Derek C. Simmons, into aiding the assassination of Benford. She also discloses Simmons's affiliation with Neo-Umbrella. Shortly after escaping the Cathedral, Tall Oaks is destroyed by an airstrike. Leon and Helena then decide to pursue Simmons into Lanshiang, China while faking their deaths with aid from Ingrid Hunnigan. Meanwhile, Jake and Sherry manage to escape captivity in Lanshiang.
Meanwhile, Chris returns to duty in the BSAA with Piers and a new team, arriving in Lanshiang under the threat of a bio-terrorist attack. Chris recovers from his Posttraumatic amnesia and goes on a vendetta against Ada, resulting in mounting casualties for his squad. Chris and Piers corner Ada, until Leon intervenes. After being updated by Leon, Chris and Piers pursue Ada to an aircraft carrier, destroying cruise missiles laden with the C-virus, while an assassin apparently kills Ada. Leon, Helena, Sherry, and Jake confront Simmons over his involvement with the outbreaks, where Sherry covertly hands Jake's medical data to Leon in case of their captivity. Leon and Helena corner Simmons, who has been infected by a J'avo, atop a train, where he confesses to having killed the President to keep him from disclosing the truth behind Raccoon City, which would have led to the US losing its authority. The two temporarily defeat a mutated Simmons while Sherry and Jake are captured. When attempting to leave the city, Leon and Helena are warned by Chris that a missile has been launched, but are too late to stop it. Leon discloses Jake's real identity to Chris and has him rescue Jake and Sherry in a remote oil platform. With the aid of Ada, Leon and Helena finally kill Simmons before escaping with evidence proving Simmons's crimes provided by Ada, exonerating Helena.
In the oil platform, Chris and Piers head underground, managing to free Jake and Sherry from captivity before preventing a large-scale BOW attack from the location. When they meet up briefly, Chris reveals to Jake that he was the one who killed his father, but Jake resists the urge to kill him, saying that there are more important things than his want for revenge. Jake and Sherry manage to kill 'Ustanak' during their escape, securing a steady supply of the C-virus vaccine while Chris and Piers fight the host BOW, Haos. Heavily wounded, and in a desperate attempt to save Chris, Piers injects himself with a sample of the C-virus to help turn the tide of the battle, temporarily defeating Haos before evacuating. Aware that the mutation would worsen, Piers sacrifices himself by pushing Chris to an escape pod and ensuring the destruction of the Neo-Umbrella base.
In Ada's story, it is revealed that the Ada Wong that interacted with Chris and Piers was actually a doppelgänger, a scientist named Carla Radames, and that the real Ada Wong was aiding Leon and Sherry while destroying the Neo-Umbrella lab in Langshiang. Although presumed dead, Carla tries one last attack against the real Ada, after having injected herself with a powerful dose of the C-virus, but is killed. As Leon and Helena battle with Simmons, Ada reaches the lab where her clone was developed and destroys everything. She then receives a call from someone, accepting a new assignment. Meanwhile, Leon and Helena are cleared for duty; Jake starts a new life fighting BOWs in an underdeveloped country with his real identity covered up by the BSAA as Sherry continues her duty as a DSO agent and Chris remains with the BSAA in command of a new squad, overcoming his guilt.
Characters
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| Leon S. Kennedy | Helena Harper |
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| Chris Redfield | Piers Nivans |
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| Jake Muller | Sherry Birkin |
Development
Concept development of the game began soon after the release of Resident Evil 5, and began full development in 2010. Resident Evil 5 producer Jun Takeuchi said that he considered a "completely new system" for Resident Evil 6, but later ruled out his involvement with the game. In March 2009, co-producer Masachika Kawata stated that the new installment was not decided upon, but that it could take Capcom four to eight years to develop. Sources familiar with the project indicated that the series would return to its roots and be "brutally scary."
The development of the game was led by Hiroyuki Kobayashi, who is stated by Capcom to be aiming to "deliver the most impressive Resident Evil title ever both in terms of scope and production values." Capcom also noted that the game is meant to be "a giant stride forward in the evolution of the series." The staff wanted to give the game a new setting with director Eiichiro Sasaki wishing to place it in China. While the country of Edonia was not modelled on any country from Europe, it was given an Eastern European air. The character of Jake was also made to attract new fans. The game has a development staff of more than 600, making it Capcom's biggest production to date. In May 2012, Capcom announced they expect the game to sell 7 million copies by the end of this fiscal year However they have recently lowered their expectations to 6 million due to the games reception.
An official trailer was released on January 19, 2012. On April 10, 2012, a second trailer was released which detailed the game's plot further, also revealed that the release date has been moved from November 20, 2012 to October 2, 2012. At Microsoft's press briefing at E3 2012, the first gameplay demonstration was shown, depicting Leon and Helena fighting zombie hordes in China.
Release
A playable demo of Resident Evil 6 was scheduled on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Marketplace on September 5, 2012. Capcom later announced that the demo would become available for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 owners on September 18, 2012. Early access to the demo was included with Dragon's Dogma.As a result of criticism of the first demo, Capcom brought a different version of the demo to the San Diego Comic-Con 2012, modifying various parts of its gameplay. A new playable demo was released on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Marketplace on September 18, 2012.
Several stolen copies of the full game, in Polish and English but in German packages, were available for sale in Poland on August 31; one of them was obtained by Polish NEO Plus magazine "in one of Poznań stores." In a later statement, Capcom said this "unfortunate incident" was "limited to a small quantity of stolen copies of the German USK PlayStation 3 version of the game."
If pre-ordered from EB Games in Australia or the UK PlayStation Network Store, the game includes all three bonus maps for The Mercenaries mode, "Rail Yards", "High Seas Fortress" and "The Catacombs".In North America, pre-order bonuses are "The Catacombs" from GameStop, the "High Seas Fortress" map from Amazon.com, and the "Rail Yard" map from Best Buy.[citation needed] EB Games Australia released the game on September 28, prior to its official release date.
In response to player feedback, Capcom will release a free patch in December 2012. The patch includes new camera controls, a new difficulty mode named "No Hope", an option to play Ada's campaign without going through the other three and an online co-op partner for it. Capcom also plans to release downloadable content though details about it have yet to be revealed.
Resident Evil 6 has multiplayer DLC coming on December 18th, which will contain a survivor multiplayer mode, where the gameplay will consist of 6 players and after each player has died will be are a different monsters and regenerate his character after kill any other player. The second mode is predator, where the player must fight with Ustanak, different players will take the control of Ustanak.
Reception
The game received mixed reviews. PlayStation: The Official Magazine praised the story and marking the game and the experience as "an unforgettable one." Similarly, Game Informer said "The game's minor flaws don't hold back the decadent experience from being an unhinged, flaming rollercoaster ride." Official Xbox Magazine UK concluded their review calling it "an accomplished shooter on the whole, and a fittingly thunderous send-off for current gen Resident Evil", praising the length and variety of the game. GameTrailers noted the shift away from the style and tone of past games in the series yet still praised the overall direction, stating that with the "old identity stripped away you've left with a massive action game that tends to check all the boxes instead of creating new ones, yet measured against its contemporaries it remains near the top of its class." IGN was favorable toward the technical and artistic design of the game, with "some of Capcom’s greatest successes [...] incredibly strong world, lighting, and creature designs", noting the new enemies as "some of the best designs and concepts in the history of the franchise." GamesRadar praised the improvements to the controls over its predecessor with "an emphasis is placed on fluidity and movement--a massive departure from the tank-like controls of previous games" but did criticize the cover system "that never seems to work right (but, thankfully, is never really necessary)." The Escapist also praised the improved AI companion that "does a decent job of backing you up and taking the fight to the enemy rather than just standing by", however also disliked the cover system, calling it "the most forgettable new feature of the game."
Eurogamer was divided over the campaigns, calling Leon's "the strongest" and "the closest we get to the series' survival horror roots", along with Ada's as having "diverse flavour". However they felt indifferent to Jake's campaign, which "rarely delights" while calling Chris's "the worst" and "a second-rate, third-person sprint interrupted by endless shootouts with gun-toting grunts and idiotic cut-scene dialogue." Edge magazine also felt that the chapters noticeably contrasted in quality more than others. More negative reviews were made by GameSpot who concluded "this long, poor sequel is the ultimate test of patience for even the most dedicated",and Destructoid called Resident Evil 6 "not just a step back for the series, it's a step back for commonplace, unassuming action-shooters".
In an Official PlayStation Blog interview, Resident Evil 6 executive producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi responded to fan criticism shortly after release, noting the creative differences with fans. He stated "the fans and us as creators are the two parents [...] and just like real parents, you’re not always going to agree on what is best for raising that child," going on to say, "we want to make sure that what we do pleases them but the initial reaction might not always be positive. We do listen to the fans but we can’t be beholden to them at every turn or I don’t think we’ll ever make progress in terms of the series’ development."
While Capcom has dubbed the game "dramatic horror", several critics instead noted the game's departure from survival horror genre compared to previous installments. Reviewers like GameSpot and GamesRadar noted that "[the game] is no longer a survival horror game." Destructoid stated that "Capcom has abandoned any pretense of the survival horror genre." Many reviewers listed game's genre simply as third-person action shooter.
Capcom announced that it has shipped 4.5 million copies worldwide, setting a new record for the company.In October 2012, the game sold 806,000 copies in the United States.
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resident_Evil_6
http://www.ign.com/wikis/resident-evil-6/Characters
