Title: Resident Evil 6 Demo
Format: Xbox Live
Release Date: July 3, 2012
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Price: Free with purchase of Dragons Dogma
ESRB Rating: Pending
Five months after the reveal of RE6, the XBox Live community gets an early access demo of the action-horror game. We're going to take liberties with the genre, because the focus of the game is no longer survival. It's an odd thing to see a series take such a wild departure. Despite the progression to this point, some of the updated mechanics seem unpolished or broken. This game seems more a follow up to Operation Raccoon City as opposed to RE: Revelations. This may be the title that will catch the most flack from fans. Action gamers, however, who only care about gameplay may find some value.
The demo consists of three modes or story lines: Leon, Chris and Jake. Each of these modes have two characters and each one is playable. The modes show off three types of mission scenarios: Leon's escort mission, Chris' objective third person shooter mission, and Jake's mission versus a titan. We get a peek at the story in each mission and end up with more questions than answers. The visuals and sound come off weaker than Resident Evil 5 with the caveat that this is not the final product.
Leon's mission partners him with Helena. Together they try to escape a building in Washington, DC. Meanwhile, a new outbreak of B.O.W.s is uncovered and Leon must find out why. The beginning of the mission is deceptively a return to form. Leon is slow and clunky as he stomp through offices littered with dead bodies. A thunder storm rages outside and Helena reacts as if she were attacked. It was nice to see the atmosphere that was created. Exploration of the environment, however, was less rewarding and it was often best to just follow the doorway icon to the exits. Later on, Leon picks up his pace in a sprint within the context of the scene. The mission came off as if I was acting in a movie following stage blocking with minimal interaction or choices.
Chris' mission pairs him with a young BSAA agent named Piers. Chris is wasting his life away drunk in a bar for: reasons. When the gameplay starts, he is in full BSAA gear for: reasons. It was an odd scene to open his mission with, and Chris seems to have the most disjointed story of the three. The gameplay is rough, which is disappointing. The shooting action is definitely more in line with ORC. When we look at Resident Evil 4, we can see the beginnings of a third person cover shooter. When we look at Resident Evil 6, we see another attempt to ape western style games and fall far short of the bar set by Gears of War.
Jake's story is another odd way of framing a game mode. I can understand that Chris and Leon are both male leads and Jake as a lead may just be for the sake of consistency. Sherry Birkin, however, is the true main character of that mode. Daughter of William Birkin, Sherry's return to the series since RE2 is an important thing. I'm not out to claim sexism, but it's questionable why we would focus on a new character instead of a returning one. That aside, Sherry and Jake must escape a titan. Fans of Dragons Dogma will recognize dashing down a narrow corridor to escape a big bad. "Fans" of ORC will recognize a frustratingly unpolished combat style. Eventually, you are cornered and must square off with the titan in a room with cement columns.
Resident Evil 6's demo is unsettling. It's not the genre shift from survival-horror to action-horror. Rather, the execution of that shift makes this disappointing. Instead of a game that other games want to be, Resident Evil 6 is the product of developers wanting to copy the success of other titles. Without a major rework, it would be hard to recommend buying this game on release.
S&S Rating: 4.0 / 10.0
