Microsoft's E3 Press Conference Coverage - Resident Evil 6

  
 Not many game companies these days can brag about having a franchise as long running, or with as many entries, as Resident Evil.  Capcom is planning to continue to breathe life into the series with its latest installment, and official sequel, Resident Evil 6.  At E3 we were shown a demo which included a good bit of gameplay following series veteran Leon Kennedy trying to make his way through a zombie infested city.  He's accompanied by a female protagonist along the way making it somewhat reminiscent of Resident Evil 5.

     The series seems to be continuing to move away from its survival-horror roots in favor of a more action oriented play style.  This might come to the dismay of some fans who wish that the series would return to it's roots.  However, Capcom has promised that each of the three playable characters will have distinct playstyles which will allow them to blend fast paced action and survival horror between character plotlines without it seeming too out of place.  Chris Redfield has been rumored to have the more fast paced gameplay of the three characters, though after watching the E3 demo, it seems that Capcom is still going for a more overall action thriller theme altogether.

     RE6's E3 showing brought pretty much what fans were expecting.  The graphics look good with crisp textures and detailed backgrounds and the lighting is dark creating a fitting atmosphere for it's horror based plot.  Capcom has been listening to fan feedback, albeit slowly, and has made some changes to the controls that are quickly evident.  Finally, moving and shooting will be a possibility as the series slowly catches up on incorporating mechanics that seem to almost be a requirement these days.  Close combat from RE5 also makes its return in the form of prompted quick time events that allow the player to escape enemy attacks and deal damage to enemies without expending ammo.

   
     Speaking of quick time events, there were plenty throughout the short demo.  With Capcom pursuing a more cinematic experience within the game, they seem to be overdoing the quick time events in an attempt to keep the player feeling like he's in control.  I personally am not a fan of excessive use of QTEs, but my personal pet peeves aren't a reason to write this one off.  Resident Evil is a much beloved franchise and with a growing library of titles holding the brand that were not so good to be honest.  It's nice to see an official sequel trying to get the series back on track.  However, with Capcom trying to do so much to turn the series into something completely different from what it started out as, only time will tell if fans will be so willing to try what the developers plan to serve.