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E3 has come and gone, and this year’s show gave us an amazing look at Resident Evil 6. I was able to spend a good amount of time with the demos available for each of the three main scenarios, and I also attended a behind closed-doors presentation showing off the game’s crossover 4-player co-op feature. Then there was that epic trailer.
So now that I’m back home after a wonderful second year at the show, it’s time to share with you guys this El Gigante-sized reHorror column. I have quite a lot in store for you this weekend, with previews of each main scenario, impressions of the crossover feature, and a trailer analysis. Hope you all enjoy!
Crossing over
At a presentation behind closed doors for members of the press, Capcom showed off Resident Evil 6’s cross-over 4-player co-op feature. Just as its name suggests, this involves a character’s scenario crossing over with that of another character. For the purposes of the presentation, Capcom showed off a part where Leon and Jake’s scenarios cross over with one another. However, we’re assured that Chris will also have his scenario cross over with other characters (and in the new trailer we do see him and Sherry taking down an enemy together).
The footage that was shown was a boss fight against the new, Nemesis-like BOW, Ustanak. Leon and Helena team up with Jake and Sherry to take on this new creature in an epic battle set in China right after their plane conveniently crashed in the area. But the exchange of dialogue that precedes this is quite awesome, too. After Leon and Sherry get caught up on what they’ve been up to, and after it’s revealed that the man Sherry works for is a baddie (Derek Simmons), Jake gets a little over-protective of Sherry, pushing Leon after the Ladies Man questions her about her boss’s whereabouts (since he’s responsible for the global outbreak occurring). Ah…Love.
Then Ustanak crashes Leon and Sherry’s lovely reunion (of course). A pretty amusing exchange of dialogue follows with Leon and Jake talking about how these BOWs are like getting constant revisits from ex-girlfriends you’re trying to get rid of. Then the two stand side by side with their guns readied and aimed at the BOW. It’s quite epic, since Jake is the son of Wesker and is teaming up with one of the series’ most beloved heroes (also taking into account how Leon and Wesker never really crossed paths in the series).
The game’s crossover feature is neat because it will allow for random players to join your game, as long as they’re also in the same part as you, of course. And if that’s not your cup of Ashford- brewed tea, then you can opt to change the co-op settings to make it so that noone will be able to join you in these segments, resulting in three computer-controlled partners on your side. And that’s how I’m going to do it initially, all solo (traditional, baby!). I mean, I’m definitely going to jump into co-op, and enjoy these crossover segments with *merchant voice* strangers, but I’ll make sure my first time through the game will be a traditional single player experience.
Even with four players taking on Ustanak, the new BOW is still quite deadly. It’s going to be epic playing this part with three others (as I’m sure the other crossover segments will be, too), and it’s good to know that doing so won’t make it necessarily easier either. We see Leon and Jake both rolling around, evading Ustanak’s fierce charges and mechanical claw attacks, then we also see how rapidly and seamlessly everything flows now. Being able to switch weapons on the fly, move and shoot simultaneously, perform melee attacks, quickly swallow green herb tablets, and even dual wield (when playing as Leon, at least), all result in an experience that runs at a good pace and ensures that you’re always engulfed in all the action going on around you. Yes, I know, “action” isn’t exactly a word us longtime RE fans want to hear, but as you’ll find out soon in my preview, it lends itself to the global scale of the story perfectly.
It will definitely take cooperation to take down Ustanak, as he goes on to trap Jake in a cage that’s on his back. Leon, Helena and Sherry then frantically shoot at the mechanical/organic fusion of a monstrosity to relieve Jake from its hold. Ustanak, despite not being completely organic, proves to be a solid successor of sorts to Nemmy. And the new BOW will be creeping his ugly head many times throughout the game we’re told. But I’ll speak about him a bit more when I get to my preview of Jake’s scenario.
Then we’re shown a part in the fight against Ustanak where Leon and Jake split up and switch partners to try to get an advantage on the BOW. And what’s just orgasmic here is Leon pairing up with Sherry! The two even bring up Raccoon City in their dialogue as they’re trying to use a bus to break through a fence, while Jake and Helena continue shooting at Ustanak. Eventually, the 4 heroes do get the upper hand and are able to take down Ustanak, but as Capcom teased in the presentation, this may not be the last we see of the BOW, further signifying his position as a new Nemesis-type foe.
After the presentation was over, the game’s director, Eiichiro Sasaki, and producer, Yoshiaki Hirabayashi, were open to answer questions from the various media outlet representatives in attendance. Something interesting that was revealed in this Q&A segment was that each character’s scenario in the game will be about 70 to 80 percent of Resident Evil 5’s length. It was also revealed that players will be able to replay just the crossover missions if they wanted to. And I’m sure these will be set aside for major boss battle moments like the one in the presentation.
I’m quite impressed with the game’s crossover feature. When it comes to Resident Evil, I prefer things to be all solo, but this new cooperative feature is a good way of pushing the series’ social and community aspects forward in a unique way (when it comes to horror titles). As long as I don’t get paired up with players with a mind comparable to RE 1 zombies, all should be fine!
Preview: Leon’s scenario
Here’s the one every longtime RE fan is looking forward to the most in Resident Evil 6: Leon’s scenario. Why? Well, because out of the three, Leon’s game is the most closest to the series roots, despite still having its own dose of exhilarating action (as evident in the gameplay shown at Micro’s conference and the new trailer). Nevertheless, Leon’s scenario is shaping up to be quite special for fans, and I can assure you all that the demo I played at E3 definitely showed signs of a scenario that’s going to be atmospheric and at times quite creepy– aside from all the action-packed set pieces, of course.
The demo starts out with Leon and Helena faced with a zombified President. Left with no choice (Helena’s about to become zombie-food!)l, Leon pulls the trigger, resulting in a wonderfully gory head shot on the former President. I was expecting this to be a quick-time event of some sort, you know, to make players feel more responsible for killing the President, but watching it was pretty darn effective (it’s super effective!). After this Leon and Helena become fugitives, and to add to their troubles, there’s a zombie outbreak going on around them in Tall Oaks (which goes on to become a global event).
I took my sweet time with this demo, walking around everywhere I could to explore and pick up any little details scattered about. That’s something I absolutely love doing in horror games, and of course I’m going to do it here, despite a bigger focus on action across the scenarios. So, yeah, I took a few minutes before I finally stepped out of the room where the President’s body was resting (rotting) in peace. My body was ready to once again enter the world of survival horror, or rather, the world of horror entertainment! And, oh boy, was it amazing.
After killing the President, Helena suspiciously states how this is all her fault. Then, Hunnigan gets in touch with Leon, trying to find out what just happened. Uh…yeah…I killed the President, Hunnigan…. Leon’s already having a tough time and now he has to deal with city-wide outbreak in Tall Oaks. Helena tells Hunnigan that Leon has a lead and that he has to traverse to a cathedral in town. A little unsure of this, Hunnigan asks Leon if this is true, and, of course, Leon goes along with this, hoping to possibly find some answers there. So off to the church they go. But first, they have to make it out of Ivy University alive (where the now-dead President was planning to deliver a speech, revealing the truth behind the Raccoon City incident).
Slowly roaming through the halls of the university brought back memories of walking through the original game’s mansion. Sadly, there isn’t a similar-looking main hall! But it still provided a superb and eerie atmosphere nonetheless. It’s quiet, a little too quiet, and I found myself feeling quite cautious about what could be around the corner. The dining area looked really good (pictured above) and I made sure to explore every part of it. Chairs are thrown around and everything’s just a complete mess, despite all the decorations put up for the President’s big planned speech (balloons!). I was really expecting a zombie to just come jumping at me from under a table where he/she would be feasting on a victim. The zombies didn’t come until later, for now, it was all about the atmosphere.
I really love how Leon moves now. In the beginning of the demo you could only slowly walk, but then, after you see a man running on the other end of the dining area, you could freely run. I won’t lie, when I first saw that gameplay footage from Microsoft’s press conference, I was quite concerned after seeing how unnatural Leon moved. It looked too loose and not like his movement in Resident Evil 4. But after getting my hands on this demo, I can safely say everything feels very natural and responsive. Yes, movement is a little quicker, but it feels good, even more so when you have zombies to dodge and shoot down, which we’ll get to in a bit.
I did find myself jumping a bit during certain points in the demo, and not because of enemies popping up out of nowhere. It was the immersive sound design, like the thunder heard outside and other ambient noises, that creeped me out here as I made my way through the university. And I loved how Leon actually reacted to the sudden noises like thunder and how he would naturally interact with objects around him. For comparison’s sake, it’s a little like Nathan Drake’s interactions with the world around him in Uncharted 3. So I continued on, following my current mission objective which was to “follow the shadow” of the man we saw running before. Yes, you read that right: “mission objective.”
I know this is going to hurt, but there’s no way players will be able to get lost in the game, even in Leon’s scenario where things are a bit closer in feeling to the classic games. Why? Well, because there’s actually a button you can press which serves as a route guide, showing you the direction you have to go to complete your current objective. It’s like a mix of Isaac’s laser guide from Dead Space and Batman’s detective vision mode from the Arkham games (minus the X-ray). I was quite surprised when I accidentally pressed the left bumper on the Xbox 360 controller, and I saw everything around shift to a black and white, high-tech look, with the location of my objective marked. Then there’s also a little icon on the screen, showing you where to go for your objective and the distance. There may be an option to turn this off when the game hits retail, but its inclusion didn’t really bother me. I just ignored it, deciding to explore as much as I could.
After making it through more tight and blood-splattered hallways, I finally found the office the running man went to hide in. The man’s looking for his daughter who’s somewhere on campus. After this meet-up, the man joins Leon and Helena and some back-tracking comes into play (yay!) as we follow the man, making our way back to the dining room area. As we continue traversing through the corridors of the university, things get really dark. Here’s where Leon’s flashlight comes into play, which is neatly placed on his ear (I actually received one after playing the demo!). No, you can’t control the direction of your flashlight’s…light, but it made things more eerie and brought about a heavier shroud of unease over me. Eventually, I found the man’s daughter in a room with a couple of dead corpses and a whole lot of blood on the floor. What the hell happened here?
The girl looks quite frightened and…off. Not just that, but she popped out of nowhere once I got into the room she was hiding (feasting?) in. Yeah, I jumped. The man embraces his daughter and helps her get on her feet. Now our objective is to escape the campus. And you know me, I just had to stop and look around the room, making Barry proud by investigating the blood on the floor and the two bodies. Then I was back to following the man, as we made our way to a nearby elevator we had passed by before. Things are about get even more intense. As anyone would guess, the girl was infected (I felt quite sad seeing her father cry) and ends up turning into a zombie while we’re all stuck in the elevator with her! This was a terrifying moment as the girl feasted on her daddy, then turning her attention to us, resulting in a quick-time event as I had to struggle with her, then having to shoot her off Helena. Then the elevator doors opened…
The original plan was to escape by way of the school’s underground parking lot. Easier said than done. And as the elevator doors opened, it revealed a horde of zombies on the other side waiting for us. Now we got to try out the game’s improved gunplay mechanics. After using some brutal melee attacks and tackles on the closest zombies, I then used the new slide mechanic and started shooting up at a zombie over me. It felt very satisfying but it’s not really something I see myself using many times. Melee attacks on the other hand are a joy to perform. You can also dual-wield with Leon, and that brought back memories of CODE: Veronica. He better get some Lugers (fatherrrrrrrrrr)! And yes, you can now run and shoot. But again, I found myself actually just standing in place to shoot at incoming zombies, opting to just run around them instead of using the evade mechanics (which are also fun and fluid to use, too). Even with all these new things added to the gameplay, I still played it like I would play Resident Evil 4 and 5.
The HUD has a nice look to it, and it conveniently displays everything you need to know before heading into a battle with the infected. You can see the amount of green herb tablets you have (we pop pills now, son, whatup!), the total amount of bullets for a gun you have, and the amount of bullets left in said gun before you have to reload. It’s all nicely placed in a way that doesn’t distract and looks way better than previous game’s HUDs. But then, sadly, the demo came to an end. After clearing the parking lot of zombies, I made it to a room with screens displaying what’s going on outside. As you can imagine, things aren’t looking good in Tall Oaks. We see two guys in an alley calling for help, with zombies creeping up behind them. R.I.P. And I must say, I’m so happy with the way the zombies are in the game, from what I played. They look classic but are modern when it comes to their attack methods. They can run and jump at you and can even throw weapons. I missed you, zombie friends.
Preview: Chris’s scenario
Yeah, I know what you may be thinking: “ It’s just an even more action-packed Resident Evil 5.” While that may be true in regards to this scenario’s gameplay style, it isn’t true when it comes to the story and the way everything’s executed. I couldn’t help but feel bad for Chris, seeing how he went from the contained outbreak in the mansion incident, to seeing his fears realized in the global outbreak he now finds himself in. His worst nightmare has come true. He’ll be spending the majority of his scenario in Lanshiang, China with his fellow BSAA partner, Piers Nivans, and that’s where the demo takes place as our objective is to make it to the Ace of Spades (the building in the distance pictured above). However, it’s the way the demo started that got me hooked to Chris’s story, which is shaping up to be quite a tragic personal tale.
The demo’s opening cutscene shows us Chris drinking away his problems, and the past that haunts him as he’s now in the grip of depression. He lost all his men to Ada in an attack in Eastern Europe where she unleashed the C-Virus. And he took a pretty big hit to the head when one of his own men, now mutated, fiercely knocked him down to the ground. Yeah, Chris isn’t in good shape or in the best of mental health. And he looks like a shadow of his former self in this bar. It was extremely sad for me to see this, and it actually tore me up inside (tears started to form in my eyes), because I grew up with this character, playing the original when I was a kid. So, seeing him all depressed and looking like he’s given up hope was definitely effective. Then we have a necklace.
I’ll be brief about this here, because I’ll be devoting an entire reHorror article to it in the weeks to come, but during this intro cinematic we see Chris wearing a woman’s necklace (it looks like a locket). I’ll save my full theories for another week but I truly believe someone close to Chris has died. Yeah, he lost his team and that proved to be one hell of a pill to swallow, but considering the emotional state we see him in here, it wouldn’t be surprising to find out that someone close to him has also fallen victim to bio-terror. I’m going to say it’s Claire. I’ll leave it at that for now. Then we get introduced to Piers who was sitting next to Chris the whole time, eating his meat (haha). And after seeing Chris almost shatter a beer bottle on a man’s skull, Piers tries his best to talk some sense into him, to try to make him remember the man, or rather, the hero he used to be. He shows him images of his men that died and we see Chris suffer a big head ache. Then, in a truly epic moment, we see everyone in the bar stand up as they’re revealed as being BSAA members, all waiting for their captain (Chris) to come back.
Sadness aside, it’s time for some action! The demo was filled with it, and it made for one hell of a thrilling experience as Chris and Piers made their way to the Ace of Spades by way of rooftops. Here we really see all the new gameplay mechanics shine, since the enemies we face here are much smarter than the zombies in Leon’s demo. Yes, you’ve heard about these enemies already, and they’re deadly regenerative powers. The J’avo are definitely a major threat, and they’re a complete joy to fight. I was excited to finally see what all the fuss about regenerating and mutating body parts was all about, and oh boy did it make for intense combat situations, which kept me at the edge of my seat. It isn’t horror in the classic sense, but it is tense and frightening to see these enemies mutate right before your eyes.
It works just how it sounds: shoot a J’avo’s arm off and the BOW regenerates itself by growing a bigger, mutated limb. The same goes for the legs, but it’s actually way cooler when you decide to shoot those limbs off. No, they don’t grow giant legs or feet, instead, a bat-like creature comes out of the J’avo where its legs should be, making it airborne with the BOW’s upper body still in place, hanging upside down. I was completely shocked when I saw this for the first time in the demo and I quickly whipped out my machine gun to shoot the little flying turd nugget down. They make for more challenging confrontations since they’re pretty quick, but as long as you keep firing at the J’avo’s upside down body, you should be fine.
Then I was just messing around with the J’avo, to see their cool mutations. I went on to shoot off both arms of a J’avo, and they beautifully regrew the lost limbs, making them a bigger threat. They reminded me of CODE: Veronica’s Bandersnatch BOW. So, like in any classic zombie scenario: just go for the head, they don’t regenerate that (well, they didn’t in the demo at least). I even had fun with the gun-wielding J’avo, opting to rush at them and deliver some brutal close-quarter melee attacks. It’s also neat that you could throw enemies over ledges when they’re near one with a context-sensitive attack. But in general, I went about the demo’s combat situations old-school as much as I could, using my handgun to kill a bunch of J’avo. I even impressed people watching behind me when I used my handgun to snipe a few J’avo chillaxing in a rooftop up ahead from where I was. Skill, boy!
Things got even more intense after an incoming rocket hit Chris and Piers as they were zip-lining to another building. Separated from Piers, Chris was now hanging onto a pipe connecting the two buildings, making us use that to shimmy our way across. This moment lends itself nicely to co-op play since Chris is quite vulnerable to enemy gunfire while he’s making his way across to the other side. Playing as Piers, you’d have to snipe any J’avo wanting Chris to become acquainted with the ground below him. Luckily, my AI-controlled Piers did his job nicely (he’ll get more meat to eat!) and I safely made it to the other building. From this point, the person playing as Piers would be going through an entirely different section of the level, as the main mission objective is to reuinite with your partner. So, yes, I was playing as Chris, alone (like Resident Evil 5 should’ve been!).
As you could imagine, this made fighting the J’avo a bit tougher, since I had no meat-eating Piers by my side. But I was having a blast taking them all on, using melee attacks and unloading clips into them. I must stress how fluid and responsive everything feels, from simple shooting, running and gunning, sliding, to the cover mechanics. I had no issue whatsoever with the controls (that goes for all three scenarios). I also find it neat how the HUD is different for Chris (as you can see above). But going back to the J’avo, I always enjoyed seeing them grotesquely mutate when I would shoot off a limb or two, even though that meant I was up for a tougher challenge. Eventually we reunited (and it feels so good!) with Piers and it was on to the final part of the demo.
The final segment of the demo saw Chris and Piers having to survive hordes of J’avo while they awaited the arrival of an evac team. This was one hell of a segment and we were attacked by J’avo on all sides. I didn’t use cover for this portion, instead I just ran around the area, stopping to shoot down as many enemies as I could, also utilizing the red explosive cans. I found myself near death a few times here, but luckily I still had green herb tablets. I was definitely relieved to see the evac team finally arive right at the perfect time– those damn J’avo are relentless! In the end, I was truly satisfied with what I played of Chris’s action-packed demo. I’m sure Chris’s scenario in the game will be a better experience than RE 5, thanks in large part to the J’avo and the tension they bring to each confrontation. The majini don’t stand a chance against these guys!
Preview: Jake’s scenario
Out of the three demos, Jake’s was the most distinct. Being the son of Albert Wesker, Jake’s quite skilled with close-quarters combat, displaying super-human strength. And we do get to try out some of his moves here. It’s not exactly like Devil May Cry, but Jake is able to effectively take down J’avo with melee attacks. So, yeah, there’s no combo meter of any sort here. But Jake is quite STYLISH with his fighting techniques. However, before we get to the actual melee component of his gameplay, let’s start from the beginning of the demo (which takes place in the Eastern European state of Edonia, where the early parts of Jake’s scenario will take place).
The demo’s intro cutscene introduced us to that BOW we’ve been seeing a lot of lately, the Nemesis-like Ustanak. I still prefer Nemmy, but Ustanak is quite a threat. Half organic and half mechanical, Ustanak is able to use some pretty nifty weapons that are attached to his body. Like a giant, sharp claw that can extend and a cage on his back to trap victims which we saw in the crossover battle. In the opening cutscene we see the BOW use his claw to torture one of the J’avo in a hidden tunnel. Yup, Ustanak isn’t very friendly. Jake and Sherry are in the same tunnel, so after seeing this monstrosity they decide to get out. Ustanak has his eyes on you though, and he starts pursuing you, taking down any J’avo unfortunate enough to be in his path. Jake slows it down, and pisses it off, by shooting a nearby explosive red can…Yeah…bad idea.
Ustanak grabs one of the burning J’avo, raises him over his head and makes his body explode by applying excessive pressure with his claw. It’s quite gory, as the J’avo’s blood rains down on Ustanak, and I totally loved it. Then, immediately after the opening cutscene ends, I had to press and hold down the dash button as Jake and Sherry were being pursued by an angry Ustanak through an alley in what was quite a breathtaking chase sequence. It ended with Jake and Sherry jumping into a nearby warehouse where they had some time to breath. I needed a breather, too. Seeing the menacing Ustanak getting closer and closer behind you was quite intense and I can’t wait to see more moments like that.
Once inside the warehouse I ignored the objective marker and set off to explore any other rooms I could. I was able to stock up on ammo, taking on a few J’avo along the way, too. Here’s where I finally got to try out Jake’s melee attacks. When pressing the left or right directional button, I was able to bring up a little weapon select window (this applies to all playable characters). From here I was able to choose from a handgun and a hand-to-hand option. Choosing the latter puts you in a fighting stance and then after pressing the regular button you would press to shoot, Jake delivers swift hits on his foes. When indicated, you can also perform moves such as a skull-crushing DDT which was quite a joy to see. It’s definitely going to be a blast playing as Jake with the close quarters combat he brings to the table and I can’t wait to see what other moves he acquires as you utilize the game’s new skill point system to upgrade him (you find these in the environment like you would money in Resident Evil 4 and 5). However, sometimes you’re definitely going to have to use a gun if you want to survive.
Enter: Ustanak. The bastard just won’t give up! After being chased by him outside, Nemmy’s number one fan is back to wreak some more havoc as he continues his mission to take Jake’s blood (everyone’s after the poor guy). This time it’s an actual boss battle with the BOW, and it’s quite an engaging one. The battle takes place in a vast area within the warehouse, with little rooms you can use to hide, as well as a second floor you can access. It won’t just be Ustanak you’re going to have to worry about, though. There’s also hordes of gun-wielding J-avo roaming around, joining the fun. Poor guys don’t want to be left out!
Unfortunately, I died a few times going up against Ustanak. Sherry wasn’t to blame (her name isn’t Sheva!) as she was doing quite a good job fighting the surrounding J’avo while I focused on the big guy. The big guy proved to be quite a bullet sponge, though. So, after a few failed attempts, I decided to not go against Ustanak head on and shoot him up, I mean, I still did that, but I also made use of the explosive cans around the area. Stupid me, right? The BOW charges at you very fast, even bursting through walls when you’re hiding behind one. So I used this to my advantage, luring him close to the explosive cans, so I can shoot them when he’s right near them. This did a lot of damage, and I followed it up by shooting him in the head a few times, rinse and repeat. The battle reminded me of the Nemmmy boss fight in the warehouse from ORC, but of course, this was way better. Not only does Ustanak use his speed against you, he also uses his brute strength and his extendable giant claw to grab you, squeezing the life out of you.
I eventually ended up taking down the BOW, but, again, he’ll continue to be a pain in Jake’s ass as his scenario continues (and crosses over with other characters, too). I really enjoyed this boss battle and it was very hectic. Even though there’s an objective marker, which in the case of a boss battle shows you exactly where the baddie is, I was still startled to see Ustanak burst through a wall near me and turning around to see him charging against me. Nemmy he’s not, but it looks like he’ll be quite a threat, and he should serve to be a solid successor to the iconic rocket-launcher wielding STARbucks-craving killing machine. But sadly, after this boss battle, that was it.
The only downside to Jake’s demo is that it was basically just a chase sequence and a boss battle. Yeah, I died a few times, so I technically did spend a good amount of time with it, retrying it a few times over so I could finally beat Ustanak, but I was expecting it to be longer. However, it was one hell of an experience. It’s different for the series, but I think Jake’s close quarters combat mechanics will provide loads of fun for players. Now you can feel like you’re Wesker! If only Jake had hair to gel…
Trailer Analysis
The new E3 trailer begins with some more insight into Helena’s character. We see that she and her sister suffered at the hands of Derek Simmons. It looks like the mysterious man from the previous trailer wasn’t Alex Wesker after all, it was Simmons. He’s not exactly a kind guy as we see here. Even after begging and telling him that she would do anything, Simmons still orders his men (proudly wearing sunglasses) to take away Helena’s sister, Debra. Now here’s where things get interesting.
Helena said she would do anything, then after Leon kills the President, she states how all of this is her fault. Connecting the two together, it seems Helena might have done some of Simmons’s dirty work, in hopes that he would let her sister go. So maybe it was Helena that helped unleash the C-Virus in Ivy University, ultimately spreading out into Tall Oaks. Suddenly her character has gotten more interesting.
Here we get a glimpse of Simmons before he’s fully revealed, along with some more information about who he is and his relation to the now-deceased President Benford. What I find really intriguing here is that big ring he’s wearing. It’s definitely going to have some form of significance, and I believe Simmons may actually have ties to one of the series’ important families. He’s definitely not a Redfield, so perhaps he belongs to the Ashford line? Or could he be related to Saddler?
I think having Simmons related to Saddler won’t totally be shocking. I mean, Saddler did try to take over the United States with Las Plagas, then looking to spread it on a global scale. Maybe Simmons has been one of his closest people all these years, maybe even a relative. I know, it may sound a little odd, but after taking Saddler’s plan into consideration, it could work.
Here we get a good look at Simmons, who’s most likely going to be the game’s main antagonist and behind the creation of Neo-Umbrella and the C-Virus. He just looks evil, but like I said before, I truly believe he has some sort of connection to an important character in the series. Alex Wesker he’s not, but he could be just as significant once his connections are revealed.
We learn that he was friends with President Benford for 30 years, and that he’s the National Security Advisor. That’s quite an important role, giving Simmons access to quite a lot of intel and assets. Of course he would use all of that to his advantage, giving more fuel to Neo-Umbrella. We see him here alongside Hunnigan, who’s most likely unaware of Simmons’s hidden agenda. He also tells Leon and Helena that they should have no problem turning themselves in, since they are wanted for the murder of President Benford.
Remember in the first trailer where we see Leon and Helena rolling around in a crashing bus? This seems to be that bus, and we see them here entering it with some survivors. They’re probably infected, which leads to the driver losing control of the vehicle. Safety first!
This is pretty cool right here. Here we have Leon and Helena doing what anyone would do in the event of a global outbreak: go to China! With their deaths faked thanks to Hunnigan and with access to a presidential plane, they’re able to fly off to China safely…or so they think. But take a look at the TV behind Helena.
The screen shows the “breaking news” that’s going on in, you guessed it, China! Specifically, it shows Chris and his BSAA squad trying to handle the outbreak in Lanshiang. I didn’t pick up this detail the first time I viewed the trailer, it wasn’t until I sat in the game’s crossover presentation/ Q&A that I noticed it, after the game’s director pointed it out.
Talk about a crappy flight. Looks like the C-Virus has spread within the airplane. This should be quite an intense part since we’re going to be shooting down zombies in a falling plane. Yes, I would call that a set piece moment. In the next scene we see why the plane is crashing. Don’t blame it on the maintenance guys!
Yup, the pilot’s been infected, too. We see his mutated form emerge from his pod, showing off the effects of the C-Virus in all its glory. Now who the hell is going to drive the plane? Oh, yeah, that’s right. It’s already flying over Lanshiang, so just let the sucker crash after we take care of this BOW!
Leona and Helena luckily crash near Sherry and Jake’s location. This then leads to one of the game’s crossover moments. After Leon finds out what Sherry’s been up to, he questions her about her boss’s whereabouts. Her boss just happens to be the man responsible for what’s been going on, Simmons. Jake pushes Leon away from Sherry, because you know, he probably has feelings for her now. Speaking of Jake…
Jake’s facial expression here is just priceless. The dude’s been through hell already, on the run from BOWs and a company out for his blood, and now things aren’t getting any easier with Leon and Helena joining the fun. He’s confused as to how Sherry knows Leon. She tells him that he saved her life back in Raccoon City, making Jake not want to rip Leon’s head off. But still, just look at Jake’s face! *Jake sees plane crash nearby* Jake: “What the fuck, now what?”
This was basically what I saw in the crossover presentation. Here we have Leon, Helena, Jake, and Sherry taking on Ustanak who crashes the party. We still see the crashed plane in the background, which nicely parked itself in the perfect area. Like I said in my crossover preview, this should prove to be an epic boss fight.
Ustanak has quite a lot of abilities at his disposal. The BOW is even able to trap victims in the cage on his back, as we see here. Poor Jake. This shows you that cooperation will definitely be key when facing this BOW, so you don’t want to be that guy that just leaves a brother hanging, or rather, caged on a monster’s back. (I’ll probably be that guy!).
Here’s an interesting photograph Ada finds. After being asked if she found anything interesting, Ada states that she found a recording from six months ago, which most likely goes along with this photograph. Here we see Simmons and a woman who could be his wife. We get a name for the woman, too, and it’s Carla Radames. Yup, the same Carla that was rumored as being in the game. But in said rumor, she was listed as being Ada’s clone. Maybe Simmons experimented on his own wife, ultimately deciding to use her for Project Ada or whatever he opted to call his Ada cloning process. It should prove to be a big twist if this is the case, but it’ll also explain why the Ada we’ve been seeing acts different, killing people and whatnot.
Ada enters what looks like a lab in this next scene. We see this same lab again in a bit, burning as Ada’s walking out of it. Could this be the lab where this Ada clone was created? Ada’s snooping around for the truth it seems.
Brenda, is that you? This could be Helena’s sister after Simmons decided to take her, injecting her with the C-Virus. This should prove to be an emotional moment as Helena sees her sister turned into a monster. Helena will be forced to kill her sister, making this somewhat equivalent to Leon killing the President in terms of effectiveness. Get the tissues ready.
Simmons goes on to tell Ada about the global outbreak he has planned. We see footage of zombies on the streets and then we see this BSAA soldier taking on the role of zombie food. This reminded me of Resident Evil 3’s intro, seeing all the cops and UBCS soldiers being outnumbered and killed by the zombies. Ah, memories.
Ada’s looking good with that sniper rifle. She has Jake and Sherry in her sight, carrying out orders from Simmons, of course. Simmons also tells her how it’ll be “Neo-Umbrella’s very own Ada Wong” that will be responsible for the global bio-terror attacks. It’s the way he refers to her that makes me believe that we’re dealing with a clone here.
Well isn’t this a lovely reunion! Helena wants to cut it short, of course. This looks to be taking place in Tall Oaks since Leon and Helena are still wearing the same clothes they wore after the outbreak in Ivy University. So this could be pretty early in Leon’s scenario. Of course, Leon actually believes that’s really the same Ada he once loved and still has feelings for.
Ada is seen once again in the same lab from before, only this time it’s burning. Maybe she’s figured out her exact origins. She probably now knows that she’s a clone, deciding to destroy the lab she was created in. From here she may decide to play along with Simmons and his plan, formulating her own plot to get back at him. She’s definitely angry.
Ada’s looking all evil here. We once again see Chris and Leon’s orgasmic confrontation, where Chris wants to kill Ada while Leon doesn’t (of course). Chris tells Leon how she killed his men, to which Leon responds by saying he lost over seventy thousand people, including the US President, because of Simmons. That’s a big difference there, Chris.. It’s funny how Ada is just chilling in the background, letting boys be boys, before she escapes and does what she absolutely loves doing (despite possibly being a clone): jumping into helicopters. She’s always jumping out of something!
Then we see a bunch of action-packed clips. This one in particular was part of the gameplay footage Capcom had on hand for Microsoft’s press conference. It looks quite exhilarating , even though it isn’t exactly something hardcore fans want to see more of.
Capcom’s already revealed that there’s going to be a good amount of vehicle segments in the game, across all three scenarios. This could be Chris driving here, as the gloves look like his. This is followed by other snippets of vehicle gameplay, like Jake and Sherry on snowmobiles and motorcycles as they jump over rooftops and engage in a big chase sequence in the streets of Lanshiang. These moments are going to be quite explosive that’s for sure.
We get a new scene here, where Jake asks Sherry if Chris knows that he’s Wesker’s son. In a previous trailer we see Chris ask Jake if they’ve met before, noticing a resemblance possibly to Wesker. Due to the head injury he suffered when he lost all his men, he may not entirely remember his former nemesis. Once he does find out, though, there’s sure to be a confrontation between him and Jake.
The J’avo are going to come in many different forms, and here we can see one of the bigger ones. This creature looks similar to the one that used to be one of Chris’s men, bursting out of the cell they all died in (after Ada threw that C-Virus ‘nade) to ferociously tackle Chris down to the ground– which then leads to his head injury it seems. It’s so pretty, isn’t it?
Say cheese! This form of J’avo right here is quite similar to the classic Lickers because of that long tongue. Maybe this is another mutation of that licker-like enemy we already saw in the game’s debut trailer attacking Leon in a cathedral-like area. Regardless, it’s definitely cool-looking and evident of a great dose of variety amongst the J’avo.
Spider-J’avo! I’m glad to see spider-like enemies in the game as I’m always creeped out by anything with that many legs. I’m creeped out by insects in general (don’t laugh). I think shooting the legs off a J’avo indoors is going to result in this particular transformation, while doing the same outdoors will lead to their bat-like transformation.
This new BOW is like a cross between the classic Chimeras and the Novistadors from Resident Evil 4. Creepy.
This part looks like it’s right after, or before, the big snowmobile scene we saw a snippet of before. You can’t in this particular screen-cap, but in the trailer you could see the two snowmobiles parked in the back during this part. It’s also pretty neat how quickly Jake’s able to flip over that table and use it for cover.
Shit just got real. Ustanak could fly! Here we see him still going after Jake and Sherry as they’re trying to escape in a plane. We see a turret mounted on the right which I’m sure will come in handy to keep Ustanak as far away as possible. He just never gives up, does he?
This scene instantly reminded me of Revelations. It’s nice to know there’ll be some of that classic 3DS title here with Leon swimming in zombie-infested waters. This could be before the scene we see in the previous trailer where Leon and Helena are coming out of a waterfall. Judging by his sexy jacket still intact, this takes place during the Tall Oaks portion of Leon’s scenario.
Another crossover segment of the game is shown off here, with Chris teaming up with Sherry to deliver the finishing blow on a downed J’avo. Chris is going for that powerful Isaac stomp while Sherry’s looking to impale her stun baton in the enemy. Team work!
Remember that giant Cloverfield-looking monster we saw towering over Chris and his men in the game’s debut trailer? Well, looks like Jake is riding it here. It looks like he’s sticking something into it also, possibly setting it off to explode, finishing off the boss. I hope we see more giant bosses in the game, especially after Revelations’ epic battle with Malacoda. This boss battle right here could possibly be another crossover segment, too, between Jake and Chris’s scenarios.
Now we go back to the scene from before where Ustanak is flying after Jake and Sherry. Jake jumps to another nearby plane in what’s going to be another set piece moment. You could see Ustanak’s claw on the lower left, too, as he’s trying to stop Jake. This also perhaps leads to the scene we saw earlier in the trailer, where Jake and Sherry are parachuting down.
BSAA zombie! Not even the BSAA is safe from the C-Virus. Here we see Leon struggling with one of the soldiers, about to possibly stick that knife into its head. Oh, and let’s hope Chris doesn’t see this… Or else it’s back to late-night bar sessions!
I’m sticking with my theory that by game’s end, Jake and Sherry will have developed strong feelings for one another. It looks like they’re going to be separated at some point, with Sherry being taken away by J’avo here as Jake’s held back. I’m going to need a box of tissues during this part.
The final scenes in the trailer show another crossover moment where Leon, Helena, Jake, and Sherry are desperately running through the streets of Lanshiang. It looks like a big missile is about to hit the city and they have to get the hell out of there. Leon looks quite epic here with his dual pistols. I still want those lugers! And I find it pretty neat how they used blue and black on Leon’s outfit, as a nod to his classic Resident Evil 2 uniform. And they made Helena wear something red, as a nod to Claire perhaps.
I think Chris is going to die in this game. If he does, I’m going to sink into the realm of depression for quite a long time. Like I said earlier, I grew up with this character, and Resident Evil 6 is shaping up to be a tragic tale for him. With all the major characters we’ve seen make a comeback here, someone definitely has to die. It’s most likely going to be Chris.
Here he’s screaming out to Leon & co. telling them to evacuate the area immediately. Something big is coming, and it’s going to go boom. I think Chris and Piers may sacrifice themselves here, to ensure the survival of Leon and the other survivors. It’s something I could see Chris doing, putting his life on the line to save people, especially when it comes to bio-terror. I’ll be going more in-depth with this theory in the weeks to come. But just typing this is making me sad. So on to something more delightful and colorful!
OK, this scene isn’t exactly delightful…but it is colorful! The C-Virus is spreading all throughout the city here through that blue gas. Things aren’t looking good at all in China. Could this be caused by the incoming missile? Simmons isn’t content with just having the virus contained in Lanshiang, he’s definitely going to want it to all over China. There really is no hope left.
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Resident Evil 6 had a huge presence at E3 this year. I was really happy with everything I saw and got to play. All three scenarios are shaping up to be quite amazing, each offering its own style of gameplay. I’m accepting the increase in action with open arms, because while the horror elements may have been a very significant part of the series in the past, it’s the overarching story that’s had me hooked ever since I was just a kid stepping into the mansion for the first time. The series’ plot has always kept me eager to see what comes next, filling my head with a bunch of theories. Maybe that’s why I make these reHorror columns go on and on each and every week…
