Resident Evil 6 Announced

Release date - November 2012

The announcement of the new game in the Resident Evil series at Capcom's big 15th anniversary event in Japan already has me beaming with excitement to play this game, the horror genre has a massive appeal to me in all forms of media, be it films, literature and obviously video games and the Resident Evil series has lead the way in terms of horror for nearly 10 years now, constantly bringing out brilliant games and constantly changing how survival horror games are made. 

A game that will go down in history 

To fully understand a Resident Evil fans excitement for this game you first have to turn the clock back a couple of years, 11 January 2005 to be exact, the release date of my favourite horror survival game of all time and one of the greatest games ever made, Resident Evil 4. The impact that Resident Evil 4 had on the gaming industry is somewhat unbelievable, it completely redefined an entire genre and would have a lasting effect in the horror video game market, you can see clear influences from this game in many games that have come out since and you will continue to see these influences in games to come.

Resident Evil 6 will feature Leon has a main protagonist which will excite fans of the series greatly, he will be joined by a new character named Helena Harper along with the returning Chris Redfield (Resident Evil 5). The game will be set 10 years after the now famous events of raccoon city.

Co-op will be a big part of the game.

In the last couple of days it has been discovered that there will be 2-8 player online co-op, which itself suggest a larger scale to this game than that of the largely disappointing Resident Evil 5. Survival and horror games often benefit from having more than one human player because the tension and fear radiate off the two players to create some amazing gaming moments, for example the first time you see the big boss in Resi 5.

 

The biggest question is can Resident Evil regain its survival horror crown? and if so how? Since Resident Evil 4 there have been many good horror games that have changed the landscape of the horror genre on the 360, the Dead Space series is the best example, this series proved to all doubters that you can still create a genuinely scary and suspenseful game play experience while still being able to move whilst shooting. This is the one biggest complaint about the series, it doesn't bother me significantly but I can see why it would bother others and I think it either has to go or has to be greatly redefined, that specific game play mechanic is made to look ancient and outdated by games such as the afore mention Dead Space series and Alan Wake.

I have no doubt that this series can once again be the king of survival horrors, it has the pedigree, the history and the fanbase but the developers need to realise that its 2012 now not 2005, the game needs to be modernised and needs to bring something new to the table whilst still keeping the charm that all Resi games have, so do I think this game can be a success? .. Hell yes