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Resident Evil 6 is now a reality. The game will be hitting the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on November 20, 2012. Yes, 2012. The year everyone says will be this planet’s last. Hell, if that ends up being the case, we all get Resident Evil 6 to play while the real zombie apocalypse is going on around us. And that’s just fine by me!
I’m sure you’ve all already seen the game’s debut trailer. And if you’re like me, you’ve already seen it dozens, if not hundreds, of times. It’s truly incredible. You can imagine the state of absolute happiness I was in when I logged into my email and saw that press release from Capcom confirming what we’ve been speculating about for a long time, with a trailer attached. After viewing said trailer, I was in heaven.
I’ve always dreamt (shut up) of a game in the series that stars both Chris and Leon. That’s always been a fantasy of mine (shut up). Now, it’s going to finally come to fruition with Resident Evil 6. I can’t put into words how happy and excited I am about this game. But enough raving about it, here’s my trailer analysis. Warning: It’s very lengthy, so grab a drink and get comfortable!
UPDATE: According to IGN, that female character that’s partnered with the “secret man” (who I really think is Alex Wesker, but that’s just my own theory) is actually Sherry.
Leon’s back, baby. Here we get the first shot of the Ladies’ Man himself. He sure loves him that laser pointer from Resident Evil 4! I wonder who he could be aiming at…
Here we have a shot of a brand new character. Her name’s Helena Harper, and she’s a secretary in the White House. I’m sure Leon and her have grown to have some form of an important connection to each other. But as we learn later on in the trailer, Helena may be hiding a few things. Now here’s my personal theory about her: Ada set up her job to work within the White House somehow, so that Leon could be at arm’s length for whatever Ada’s planning. And come on, you know if Leon is there, Ada has to be close behind.
Hey, look. It’s Ashley’s daddy! After having saved his daughter, I’m sure the President is even more buddy-buddy with Leon. He’s his best man, and here we see him telling him how he plans to make the public know what really happened in Raccoon City a decade ago. Will he go through with it? Or will his speech be cut short? We’re about to find out.
Poor Mr. President. He’s about to fall victim to someone who used to not only serve him, but someone who was a very close friend to him. This should be quite hard for Leon and Helena to do. Especially hard for Leon. But how awesome is this scene? It plays out very much like the classic first zombie encounter from the original Resident Evil. Hell, the zombified President even turns around like that classic first zombie did. And this takes place in a mansion, too, albeit a presidential one! This should prove to be quite an emotional intro level– I’m quite sure it’ll be the game’s opening moments, leading to the global outbreak that ensues.
“Stay where you are!” Leon sure loves uttering commands like that. This bit reminded me of Resident Evil 2 and 4’s opening moments where Leon tries to reason with a zombie and ganado, respectively.
And BANG. The president’s dead. It looks like it’s Helena that shoots him. The scene cuts to black as soon as the undead president gets danger close to her. Then we hear the gunshot. R.I.P. Mr. President. Let’s not tell Ashley, OK?
Here’s the logo for the game. The six, and the background it’s set to, looks very cellular in nature and almost like it’s suspended by a spiderweb-like substance. It’s color also makes it look like a very up close look at cells, but I’m no science whiz. It’s a neat logo and it definitely reminds me a bit of the way Resident Evil 4’s number looked like.
That’s quite a creepy-looking hallway. It seems like Leon’s scenario is going to be the one focused more on delivering a horror experience. Whereas Chris’s will be more about survival action, like his last outing was in Resident Evil 5. But we’ll see good ol’ Chris in a bit. I’m just happy that we’ll be venturing through eerie corridors as Leon once more. Who wants to bet we’ll get a good ol’ pop out scare in this scene? Dogs or crows, anyone?
Helena is also heard saying how this is all her fault, with Leon going on to ask her why she feels that way. Is she hiding something from us? Was she responsible for the outbreak in the White House that ended up costing the President’s life? This mystery may not be resolved until we play through the game for ourselves, but it’s fun to speculate. And as I noted before, she may have a connection with Ada.
This shot would make quite a nice postcard, wouldn’t it? It’s not unlike what we saw back in the Raccoon City days, but this time Leon has more experience under his belt. I mean, the man survived a virus outbreak on his first day as a cop, then going on to serve the President, going off to a village in Europe to save Ashley. He’s a survivor, but will he be ready for this new outbreak? Spoiler: I’m sure he will! And the “zombie” here looks like he’s armored, possibly a soldier who was trying to protect civilians before being infected.
And now we know the name of the city Leon and Helena will be stuck in: Tall Oaks. This also shows us that there will be a subway station level for Leon to go through. It’s sure to be a creepy stroll through its tunnels, as the next image strongly hints at.
Did this image make anyone else remember Resident Evil 5’s original teaser trailer? You know, the one that showed the shadows of incoming enemies about to attack Chris. This image is also another example of the horror that will be in play during Leon’s scenario. The lighting in this scene is also very well done, and helps enhance the overall eerie atmosphere we seen Leon engulfed in. You may want to lay low, Mr. Kennedy. (Nice Jacket.)
Looks like we’ll be making a stop near the outskirts of the city, or more specifically the woods area. Oh, in the rain, too! Uh oh, here come the Alan Wake comparisons…But seriously, how bad ass does Leon look?
Here’s a cute group shot of some zombies. They’re just chilling in front of what looks like a school bus, possibly serving as Leon and Helena’s ride until they had to park it, or maybe the bus was just left there, with the original driver saying deuces and making his escape (maybe he’s one of those zombies). All joking aside, we find out what happens to this vehicle momentarily.
Hunnigan’s back! Wherever Leon goes she does, too, it seems. And she hasn’t changed a bit. She tells Leon that 90% of Tall Oaks’ population are now infected by the new virus, translating to about 70,000 hostiles to be worried about. Then we get to see this on the screen in front of her:
Looks like the infection is spreading quite rapidly. This definitely shouldn’t bode well for Leon and Helena as they try to make it out of the city. Well, at least they have Hunnigan providing words of wisdom and guidance, right?
Incoming! Those poor zombies are about to get run down. It seems to be the bus from before, perhaps it wasn’t Leon and his partner riding it after all…We see the hooded zombie here again, so this has to be what happens after the zombies hang around for too long in front of the once stationary bus. And you can probably guess what happens to this vehicle.
You can’t save them all sometimes, Leon. Here we see a poor survivor about to be victim to a huge explosion. He’s trapped in a bus that’s most likely being driven by a now infected, and enraged, driver. What was he doing in the bus in the first place, though? Maybe like Leon and his gal, he too was trying to find a way out of the city. Or maybe Leon, Helena, and this survivor were all riding together, with the vehicle going out of control, making Leon and his partner jump out at the last moment, unable to take this man along with them.
And the bus goes boom! Maybe Leon was really about to go back for that man. But oh well, too late. For some reason, this makes me think of Resident Evil 2’s intro where Leon and Claire are separated by that gas truck’s explosion. There’s also some fencing on the side there, so maybe there’s some houses nearby? A creepy cabin in the woods? I’m down.
Yes, Leon, you’re right. It is like Raccoon City all over again in Tall Oaks. But you survived one outbreak, surely you can survive again, right? Here we get another neat shot of the zombies with the street set ablaze. Again, the visuals look stunning and it looks like things will get quite hectic while going through the town’s mean streets.
Now we finally get to see some gameplay shots. Up first we see the over-the-shoulder gunplay that made its debut with Resident Evil 4. It’s back here, with some enhanced mechanics players will be able to take advantage, as we’ll see later on.
That zombie sure can jump! This should definitely shake things thing up when it comes to combat situations. I can already safely assure you all that there’ll be an achievement/trophy for scoring a headshot while a zombie is airborne. Watch.
That’s a tad bit too close, man. I’m sure this will be one of those “quick tap this button!” moments. But with other zombies getting closer to you while you’re temporarily downed, situations like these are sure to be intense. And again, this is taking place in the streets of Tall Oaks. It’s all fiery and zombie-y now, though.
These zombies look rotten, like they’ve literally been risen from their graves. Not just that, but we get to see Leon perform some classic kicks here, to grant him some space. We also see what looks like a castle of sorts, or a huge church. Regardless, we all know we can expect some horrifying moments when Leon explores its confines. Maybe it is a church and happens to be near a cemetery, hence the naked zombies.
Look at this big guy. Perhaps we’ll see more deformed brutes like this particular BOW. I wouldn’t go too close to him to get some shots in, as we see Leon being lifted up in a scene that looks like that time when Bane broke Batman’s back.
I must say that I’m really liking the variety in zombies here. They each look unique, giving it a greater sense of realism (because we all know the zombie apocalypse is going to occur one day). It’s also worth noting how a couple of these zombies are wielding pipes. Zombie danger level has just been increased! But oh wait, there’s a train coming! A QTE moment, perhaps.
What is Helena hiding? That’s the big mystery. She could end up being one of the bad guys for all we know, keeping Leon close for whatever plan she, or Ada, has cooked up. I’m sure this is going to be one of those big revelatory scenes, and they seem to be in a castle-like area, maybe the same one from before, with the naked zombies. Once again, it could be a huge church, too.
Welcome to China. Here’s where Chris will be spending some time in the game. While Leon is caught up in Tall Oaks, Mr. Redfield has been dispatched with his team to China so they can stop yet another outbreak. This is where things get action-packed, akin to Chris’s last outing in Resident Evil 5.
And there he is! Good ol’ Chrisssssss. He’s still rockin’ that BSAA patch, too. He’s looking as badass as ever. He’s about to land along with his team. It’s time for this man to battle bio-terrorism once more. Chris says something about it being time to face the truth and take responsibility. Could he have something to do with this outbreak? Doubtful on that note, but I think he said that because he always blames himself whenever an outbreak does occur and innocent people die because of it.
Chris don’t like the paparazzi, yo. In what’s a televised occurrence in the streets of this Chinese city, Chris is running through civilians here, trying to make it to where the action is at. We then see other BSAA operatives join him.
More pushing through scared people here. Chris has a mission to do after all. To think that these streets will soon be filled with BOWs.
Here’s Chris rendezvousing with his team right before they bust into a room where we have a not-so friendly person. And, yes, said person will show off his cool mutation to the gang.
Can you do a trick like that? This guy’s in the process of turning into a full-blown BOW. And as we see later on, his mutated form sort of resembles a bug, well, at least his head does.
Some now standard cover-based gunplay. Resident Evil 6 will be utilizing this mechanic once more, but it seems like it’ll be employed more heavily in Chris’s scenario as opposed to Leon’s. The enemies here also seem to be different when it comes to abilities; these guys, like some of the enemies from Resident Evil 5, are able to wield actual fire-arms. Maybe this is a different strain of the virus? Speculate away!
We’re back to the mutating guy from before. This BOW is named Javo. I don’t know about you, but those eyes make me think of bugs. Maybe this new virus is based somewhat on insects. That would also explain the spider-web-like substance surrounding the game’s logo. Of course, this will be a boss encounter. Unless Capcom decides to make these guys pretty common, ramping up the action.
We finally get a look at who seems to be Alex Wesker. His true identity at this point is debatable, but it’s really likely that’s he’s the missing Wesker. It looks like he too, like Chris, has been sent to a hot-spot, where another outbreak has taken place. And guess who he’s brought along? We’ll find out in a bit.
That looks like the BOW Chris and his team were faced with. Bug eyes. He seems to have an elongated arm, making him akin to Code Veronica’s Bandersnatches. They should be no match for Alex, though. I mean, this guy’s got some moves.
More hand-to-hand action with Alex taking on more enemies here. These are the gun-wielding ones Chris was seen fighting as well, so it looks like Alex will be crossing paths with Chris at some point in his scenario. His melee moves aren’t unlike Albert’s, making it even more likely that he is, in fact, Alex. It seems Capcom has flexed their combo-based Devil May Cry muscle with Alex’s scenario. Alex seems to be all about quick melee moves, and he’s able to hold his own against a pack of enemies with just that.
A new BOW has been revealed. This one is quite big, combined with what looks like some machinery. He seems to behave like a T-103 type Tyrant, too, as we’ll see in a bit. he also reminds me of a Talos type creature, especially because of the noticeable machinery implemented into his design.
Why, that’s none other than Ashley Graham from Resident Evil 4. The (former) President’s daughter herself. Does she know at this point what’s happened back at the White House? Why would she be running around with Alex? Did the President intentionally send her with Alex to this location, to possibly retrieve a virus sample, or something else? Alex is an important man to the world, as we learn later in the trailer, and Ashley is the President’s daughter. So it’ll be interesting to see how they initially cross paths.
Here’s another theory: maybe after learning about her father’s death at the hands of Leon and Helena, Ashley decides to get out of America, and on her retreat she meets up with Alex. And just like that she’s sucked into another big, BOW-infused, adventure.
Another shot of this huge BOW. He’s sure to be a thorn on Alex and Ashley’s sides as they try to make their way through this unknown city (it’s possibly in London). I’m excited to see how the actual boss fight will play out, since Alex is so reliant on his melee attacks to get the job done.
And the chase is on! The new BOW is chasing after Alex and Ashley. This particular “running” scene reminds me of an Uncharted type scenario. Alex’s gameplay seems to be more about free-running, with some platforming possibly thrown in there. It seems that Capcom will be doing some new things we haven’t seen before in the Resident Evil series with Alex’s scenario. He’s almost like a male Alice type character.
Another shot of both Alex and Ashley. She seems to be injecting something into Alex in order to stabilize him. She says how she won’t let him die and how the world needs him. Alex’s scenario now seems like it’ll have a very strong co-op mechanic to it, with you having to keep close to Ashley in order for her to stabilize you when you need to be. I’m sure one of the main things you’ll have to worry about when playing as Alex is protecting Ashley, and hell, these two may end up forming a loving bond with each other. How sweet.
Alex is in a bit of tough situation here. He’s at the mercy of this new BOW, and this may be a QTE-heavy sequence.
Alex knows how to shoot a gun, too! His scenario should definitely have some interesting gameplay moments, with regular firefights turning into close quarters melee combat seamlessly. Yeah, this may be totally unlike what we’ve been used to before, but it makes sense to make Alex’s gameplay like this, since he is like Wesker. Also, we see that big BOW here again, and some mercenary type enemies. Is this a bathroom?
Some good ol’ platforming in play here. Yeah, I know, Nathan Drake was chased by a chopper in a similar way in Uncharted 2, but nonetheless, Alex’s platforming mechanics should prove to be quite exciting, taking a page from Capcom’s DMC book.
As you can see, machine-like claws shoot out of the BOW’s arm. Not just that, but looking at his body it definitely looks like he’s the subject of a different type of infection. Also, does his face look like a dog’s to anyone else?
A nice shot of Alex again. This time he’s injecting himself with something that’s most likely keeping him alive, maybe it’s the same injection Wesker was using? What exactly is going through his veins that may lead to him needing this? He states how it’s his blood that the world wants, not exactly him. And that’s he’s willing to give it if given the right amount of funds. Maybe the blood flowing through his body is the key to stop the outbreak and counter this new virus. Mass-production of his blood would definitely be something the world wants, and maybe it’s the BSAA that’s on the hunt for him. Or maybe it’s Ada, possibly needing his blood for something else. He is a Wesker child after all, so his blood could be a double-edged sword.
This is pretty neat. This new grenade seems to shoot out what may be little needles containing a virus, or maybe it just explodes into an acid-like substance. Either way, you can see the gruesome results below.
It’s a quick reaction to whatever substance the grenade gives off. The question is, who threw it? Maybe it’s those gun-wielding enemies, who seem to be an evolution of the ganados and majini.
And pop goes the BSAA operative. Again, I must stress how powerful a weapon this grenade is. It may not be a frag grenade but it’s definitely infused with some sort of virus, making it just as deadly to anyone near its blast radius.
OK, this is a pretty interesting bit right here. Chris mentions a “bitch” and how she’s lead to many deaths already, especially from his own team. His partner then tells him to take any personal vendetta out of the mission. The question is, who’s the “bitch” that Chris is talking about? Again, I’m going to say it’s none other than Ms. Wong herself. Now this is where it gets even more interesting.
We can all expect Leon and Chris’s paths to eventually cross. But it might be Leon who finds out that Ada is behind everything first. Hell, she may show up in Leon’s scenario too, revealing her big plan for the world (which may or may not fall in line with what Wesker envisioned). Now we all know how much Leon cares about Ada. Chris? Not so much. So when Chris finds out he’s definitely going to make it a mission to find and kill Ada. A Leon and Chris fistfight anyone? I’m sure Leon will try to reason with Chris, telling him that Ada wouldn’t do something like this.
Here we see Chris and his partner looking at many of the victims who’ve fallen to this new viral threat. Some of them are possible even from Chris’s team, which is what enrages him even more and causes him to nearly hulk out.
It’s that Bandersnatch-type enemy called Javo again. This one’s arm looks a bit different than the previous one, so maybe it’s another form with enhanced abilities. Or maybe that’s just what its arm looks like when it stretches out a long distance. Even behind cover, it looks like we won’t be entirely safe Javo’s long-range grab attacks. Also, notice the change in scenery? Looks like Chris will be going on a globe-trotting adventure in Resident Evil 6. Here he seems to be somewhere in Europe (judging by the architecture).
Just like you’ll be able to in Revelations, when downed in Resident Evil 6, you’ll still be able to shoot at enemies. This should definitely ramp up the intensity in various combat scenarios, especially one like this where you’re going up against a bigger BOW.
Looks like Helena will be playable as well throughout Leon’s scenario. Here we see her struggling to get a zombie off of her. So there’s bound to be moments where Leon and her split up, making us experience things from both their perspectives, similar to Claire and Leon’s dual stories in Resident Evil 2.
Another “get off me!” moment. I like this particular one because it’s a cop zombie! I love cop zombies, they instantly make me think of Resident Evil 2. This particular cop looks like the virus is still flowing through his veins as you can see on his arm. And his face isn’t as grotesque as the other zombies, so perhaps he was just recently turned. Maybe he was even helping Leon until the infection took over.
Some CQC action here, but what’s interesting is the mask this foe is wearing. These aren’t your typical zombies, they’re more like Resident 4 and 5’s smarter enemies. But what’s up with the mask? It’s probably some type of mercenary group custom to differentiate the groups from each other.
This shot basically confirms that we’ll actually be able to use melee weapons, with an axe being a very friendly option for Leon in this situation. Poor zombie, now he has an axe driven deep into his cranium. R.I.P. (x2). It’ll be interesting to see how vast the range of melee weapons is though, and the various ways you can implement them into your combat strategies. Come to think of it, seeing as how Leon’s side of the story is more about survival horror, maybe melee weapons will play a bigger role when playing as him. Ammo’s sure to be scarce, so resorting to axes and other such weapons would give you a better chance of survival when your clips are empty. They may also be breakable, so we would have to use them wisely.
Like Chris in a previous shot, here Leon is down but still able to shoot at incoming zombies. But it’s the way he gets down that’s interesting. Leon actually performs a Proto Man slide here, revealing another gameplay mechanic that’s sure to come in handy when faced with hordes of relentless foes. Sliding also gives you an upper hand since you’ll also be knocking down enemies to the ground as you go. Take advantage and perform those head shots!
How sweet. Alex is there for Ashley whenever she falls. He’s riding a pretty sweet bike, too. It made me scream out “Claire!” at first, but then I saw him riding it. I’m really excited to see how These two will meet up with Chris, and what type of encounter it’ll be, because Chris seems pretty pissed off.
Alex Wesker is quite the acrobat. Here he’s leaping towards an airborne aircraft. The pilot seems to be one of the infected, so we’ll probably have to worry about these guys shooting us from the skies above, too. He’s no match for Alex, though.
Once again, we see Leon in that castle area again. Being no stranger to castles and BOWs, Leon should feel right at home. And look who’s giving him the big welcome hug. This new BOW looks pretty nasty, and it gets worse as we see below.
That’s quite a tongue. It reminds me of the Lickers, and their whip-like tongues. This BOW seems like it’s going to be a big threat in this level, and hell, I think it looks pretty damn creepy.
You can’t have a Resident Evil game without some infected canines. This one looks a bit more grotesque than the ones that came before, especially when its head stretches upwards, going for a fatality on Leon.
This series has been long known to have some pretty memorable bosses. Resident Evil 6 is primed to follow that tradition. Here we see a BOW colossus. This creature just towers over Chris and his team. This is definitely going to be one of those big “holy shit” moments in the game.
Chris look like he’s experiencing quite a headache. What’s interesting here is that his partner looks unaffected. Has Chris been injected with something? Will hallucinations play a role in the game? That would be quite awesome, and it would bring back a feature that was initially intended to be in Resident Evil 5.
Here’s another shot at the giant BOW as he’s busting his way through to attack Chris and his team. Again, I’m very, very excited about seeing this boss fight play out and even more excited to see if other bosses in Chris’s scenario will be colossal like this one.
And the trailer ends with this scene, showing Leon and Helena inside a rolling bus it seems. It’s probably rolling down a cliff which then ends up crashing into the nearby woods. And, of course, the woods aren’t safe. Hordes of zombies await Leon and Helena there, and I’m sure other horrors will also emerge.
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Well there you have it! This has been the longest reHorror column to date. And since this is Resident Evil 6 we’re talking about, I have no complaints at all. So I really hope you’ve enjoyed this lengthy read. This weekly column is now going to be running wild with speculation in the weeks and months to come, as we look forward to the game’s November 20th release date. It’s the best time to be a fan of this series, and we have a lot on our plate going forth into this new year. So while Resident Evil 6 may be the top thing on our collective minds, let’s not forget about Revelations and Operation Raccoon City!
Enjoy the weekend, everyone.
— Jorge
