6 reasons to get excited for Resident Evil 6

2012 is without a doubt the year of Resident Evil since this is probably the first time in the franchise’s history that three Resident Evil games are being released in one year. This month you have Resident Evil Revelations for the DS after which players will experience a more action oriented spin-off called Operation Raccoon City. And finally towards the end of the year we’ll get a full-fledged sequel to Resident Evil 5 that looks all sorts of awesome. In case you’re not too stoked about it yet, here are six reasons that may just convince you.

Story

Hello Mr. President

The Resident Evil games have always been pretty twisted because at the end of the day, these are games where entire towns get infected by nasty viruses after which their population proceeds to eat anything that moves. However, things do look particularly bad in this iteration as the President of the United States has now been consumed by this virus after which his close confidant, Leon Kennedy is forced to shoot him out of sheer self defense. Plus it seems the outbreak has now travelled far beyond Raccoon City to a new town called Tall Oaks as well as China. Bleak times indeed. 

Atmosphere

OMNOMNOMNOMNOM

From the trailer it’s pretty evident that Resident Evil 6 will have its fair share of action but at the same time the game will also boast of some old school Resident Evil gameplay as we see Leon walking alone through all sorts of creepy areas like an abandoned building and a subway. It’s safe to say those walks won’t be too pleasant.

Tougher enemies

Dude I'm not your toy

If there’s anything pop culture’s taught me it’s that I could probably outrun most zombies but it seems Resident Evil 6 will be shaking that belief up with some truly nasty, fast moving enemies. Even the regular grunts look like they’ll provide a significant challenge with more aggressive behavioral patterns like the fact that they’ll be able to rip you out of cover or jump on/at you from a distance. Plus we saw a bunch of nasty looking bosses such as one really big Boomer-esque zombie slamming Leon into the ground - WWE style, a nasty looking bio-mechanic zombie as well as a gigantic Cloverfield-esque mutant. Fun times indeed.

Multiple playable characters

Who is the new dude?

In Resident Evil 4, you played as Leon Kennedy while in Resident Evil 5, you were strapped into the muscular boots of Chris Redfield but in Resident Evil 6, you'll experience the horror through both these badasses. Plus there's a new character introduced as well, a mercenary whose blood seems like an antidote to this virus. And he’s willing to donate his blood rather generously - for a price of course.

Looks hella cinematic

Drake would be proud

It looks like Capcom are huge fans of the Uncharted franchise as we saw many cinematic moments in the trailer that would make developer Naughty Dog proud. In fact, gameplay as the third character looks extremely cinematic as he jumps on helicopters, runs away from nasty mutants and jumps across buildings only to end up in the clutches of a nasty bio-mechanical dude.

New Moves

Who needs guns when you're Chris Redfield

Throughout the trailer besides regular gunplay, we see a bunch of close combat action that looks particularly awesome and brutal thanks to cinematic camera angles employed by Capcom. Plus we see Leon bludgeon an enemy with an axe so that seemed nice. During ranged combat you’ll have the new cover system that looks tight and responsive and Leon has a new set of moves up his sleeve like the ability to slide around the ground and shoot zombies because hey, let's face it, shooting stuff while sliding is always cooler.

That’s about it from our side. In case you’ve missed the trailer before, check it out after the break. Also if you’re interested in the more action oriented spin-off, check out our hands-on with Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City.