It's refreshing to see a classic franchise such as Resident Evil continue into the new generations. With Resident Evil Village on the horizon, part of the success of Resident Evil 7 was the departure from the third-person perspective and more action-driven combat of Resident Evil 6 in favor of a horror-driven first-person perspective. While Resident Evil 6 had a lackluster reception on the gaming public back in 2012, the title actually represents the culmination of all the lessons learned from previous third-person Resident Evil titles across a smattering of different campaigns
Starting with the control scheme, a few elements were tightened to make the experience feel faster and smoother. First of all, the way the characters move has a lot of changes over Resident Evil 4 and 5, with movement feeling a lot more fluid and easier to control. Players can sprint, slide, roll on the ground and shoot, as well as perform all sorts of contextual actions in real-time. On top of that, the inventory is all navigated using the d-pad and Y/Triangle button, enabling easy item management without disrupting the action. This works to lessen the effect of constantly going back and forth between menus to manage weapons and health pickups. Along with increased ammo and health pickups across the board, the result is an experience that doesn't drag even after shooting your hundredth zombie goon.
As well as addressing the tank-like feel of previous third-person Resident Evil control schemes, the game introduces a leveling system that lets you spend collected skill points on in-game perks that range from reduced recoil, increased damage from firearms or increased aim-assist. The extra layer of customization helps increase player agency over abilities and lets players experiment with different classes and perk loadouts.
Resident Evil 6 offers four unique campaigns, each offering different characters to play, enemy types to discover and fight, and unique gameplay situations. The pacing for each campaign is different; for example, while Leon and Helena's campaign is more akin to the slower, tense pacing found in Resident Evil 4, Chris and Pier's campaign is high octane and action-heavy, much like Resident Evil 5. The variety between each of the campaigns, given each one's generous 8-10 hour length, is impressive. The result is a title that learns from its predecessors and offers a ton of diverse gameplay across all of its modes.
At the time of its release in late 2012, gamers and reviewers were not ready for Resident Evil 6. Gamers and fans of the series at this time were experiencing severe fatigue over third-person shooters. Even with the release of Resident Evil 5 as far back as 2009, with the market so over-bloated with third-person shooters such as the Red Faction series or Gears of War, the idea of playing yet another over-the-shoulder shooter at the time did not appeal to fans.
What's more, this installment displays fewer tense horror sections in favor of more action-oriented gameplay. Along with multiple campaigns to complete, fans of the series and reviewers didn't know what to make of so much new content at once. Fans felt that this title strayed even further away from what made Resident Evil 4 great in the first place, going too far towards action and stylized gameplay.
During the time between RE6 and 7, Capcom revised the Resident Evil formula for a new generation of gamers and hardware. The game ditched the third-person perspective and went with a first-person perspective. This makes the gameplay scarier by making the player feel more involved, while the new interface and fresh story let the developers slow down the gameplay for added tension and drama.
The Switch version of Resident Evil 6 is an excellent example of taking a franchise installment from a previous console generation and giving it a new life where it may have been overlooked. The number of options and features available to players, with co-op options ranging from linking up with random players at different parts of the campaigns or starting one of the four different campaigns fresh with a friend online, make the game a blast to play. It works well and is easy to get working. As Resident Evil fans gear up for Village, its time to admit that RE6 has aged well and stands on its own feet as being the ultimate features-packed third-person Resident Evil title available.