OXCGN’s Resident Evil 6 Review

Sexual Objectification, Next Gen Heroes, and…Pizza

by TheVixenGamer

© 2012 TheVixenGamer

This game is fun.

If you like suspense-filled, zombie slaying, shoot em up, kick ‘em down fuelled games you’re going to love Resident Evil 6.

Leon beholds a special place in my heart. The man is seriously fine (because ladies if you’re going to be in love with a fictional male character and have salacious fantasies about him make sure he doesn’t sparkle).

I feel bad whenever I manage to get Leon killed in the game and even worse when Helena screams “Noooo”.

You see Helena is infinitely less annoying than Ashley Graham but nowhere near as exciting or alluring as Ada Wong.

And here is another positive point about the game: Ashley Graham doesn’t exist. Good move Capcom.

Objectionable objects of our attention?

Speaking of Capcom, there was a fascinating event in space-time the other day when a person complained on Capcom’s official forum that a scene in Resident Evil 6 objectified women.

Gamer news websites picked it up (of course) and have created a spectacle out of something that is actually a total non-event. The scene in question (see image below) in my opinion does not objectify women.

Capcom (who were slightly perplexed at the comment posted in their forum) replied that they couldn’t understand why the postee was offended. I agree with Capcom on this one.

Over-all if you look at Resident Evil’s female characters (with the exception of Ashley Graham) women are represented rather splendidly.

They are sexy, savvy, witty (Ada I love you) and can handle situations with intellect and ferocious physical capability. I’m still not even clear on what was so offensive about the scene in question? Apparently one gamer felt that the mutated female baddy in the scene objectified women.

I can think of 5 female characters off the top of my head that game makers have created that objectify women to the point of stupidity and this baddy is not one of them.

There are battles about how to represent men and women in games that still need to be fought but this is not one of them. Ada, Helena, Claire, Sherry, and Alice can all kick any one of our asses and look amazing doing it any day of the week.

Do we really need to get upset that Capcom created a mutated and freaky female baddy? No, no we do not. I actually celebrate the fact that game makers are creating powerful baddies that are female. Bring it on. And don’t cover up boobs if in reality the clothing the baddy was wearing would have actually ripped off the creatures form during its transformation.

Once we start making exceptions like that we scream to the world that nudity is a weakness, and the female form is not weak. I hate to break it to haters but we’re born butt naked, embrace it.

But I will say game makers please keep the form, either male or female, in context to the mutation or risk looking like a lazy story-teller who relies on T&A for stimulation. Give male gamers more credit than that.

Let’s move on.

This game has character/s

For your hearing pleasure: The voice overs of the characters in the game are great and they have lost none of their prolific entertainment value.

Leon (voiced by the brilliant Matthew Mercer who is also the voice over for Leon in Resident Evil: Damnation and a man I wish I could cajole into whispering sweet nothings into my ear) is represented in a commanding and flawless tone.

We all know Leon ‘is’ epic dialogue and cheesy one liners and I salute his character in this game. Ada (voiced by Courtenay Taylor) returns sultrier than ever and the fact that Ada uses a cross-bow just makes me adore her even more.

Those folks over at Capcom sure do have endless ways to dress Ada in leather and red cloth. If Ada were a WoW character I’m convinced she’d be a blood elf mage mixed with a bit hunter and rogue.

Helena is a great partner choice for Leon in the game (and I’ll be honest and admit I love watching Leon interact with his very capable female partners. He’s got that gaze thing down pat now. Ps: Ashley Graham doesn’t make that list).

The point in all of this is that there is really a character that appeals to anyone in this game.

What’s on the menu?

The menu system in this game had me annoyed.

I’m already challenged when it comes to playing around with menus and inventories (I came from World of Warcraft were I was used to visible slots on my screen) and when I needed access to herbs during sticky situations I found myself stressing out that I couldn’t quite get what I needed.

I deleted a few objects that I didn’t mean to as well. Overall there has to be an easier system (oh the horror of my first world problems).

No time for pizza

Do you like Quick Time Events (QTE’s)? Yes I hear you say. Great! You’re going to love Resident Evil 6.

There are a lot of QTE’s in this game and they actually had me bursting out laughing quite often because they kept catching me off guard.

But really it was only annoying when I would laugh and roll around on the floor and then squish my bean bag out of shape. There is an art form to squishing a bean bag into the perfect shape and it shouldn’t be taken lightly.

A lot of people dislike QTE’s, but I actually enjoyed these in a morbid way.

You see I like to eat while I game on my bean bag in front of my big screen.

Now we all know that Res Evil is non-stop action so it’s hard to sneak a bite of pizza in during game time and, damn it, pizza cools quickly and it’s never quite the same again after that, so I had an internal battle raging in me.

But when I saw that first cut-scene come on-screen I was like ‘yahoo, time for a bite of pizza.’ So I grab for a slice next to me and then this little icon on the screen pops up and all of a sudden Leon has a zombie hanging to his foot as he clings to a helicopter.

I like Leon, he’s more delicious than my pizza, and this emotional marketing attachment that those clever people over at Capcom have created means I really don’t want him to die. It’s my duty to save him and so I am forced to participate in QTE’s.

Wiggle that button girlfriend, wiggle wiggle wiggle.

Press X to get that freaky zombie off Leon’s leg. All that was missing to make these moments perfect was Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s voice screaming “Now, do it now!”

Note to self: leave the pizza alone and don’t even get me started on trying to eat rocket and parmesan salad in between final-blow kicks to zombie heads.

The point I’m making is: be alert, don’t eat and game and accept that sometimes you will die and at times you will have no control over it either.

Death comes for us all…

Odd point: uncontrollable deaths

So you’re kicking and shooting away at zombies quite happily, your trigger finger is finding its groove, and then bam a truck reverses out of nowhere and kills you.

You’re playing away, heck you’re in the zone and then some hick in a car runs into you and you die and Helena screams “Leon Noooo!” and that ‘beautiful’ greeting pops up on-screen – You Are Dead.

Oh thanks so much for reminding me.

Look if you have a chilled out personality I think you will see the funny side to all this. If you’re an angry bird this game is going to add to your high blood pressure.

Just remember it’s only a game at the end of the day. A good point to add is that while you game on your own you will have your in-game partner helping you and they are highly dependable.

You can also now move and shoot at the same time so the seesaw is balanced a bit here.

You are not alone

Resident Evil 6 allows you to multiplay with your buddies too and I like that about the game. It is always fun gaming with friends. I like trying to keep my real world friends alive in the online realm.

As a gamer that spent years immersed in World of Warcraft the introduction of more melee attacks such a kicking a zombie’s head in with your heavy boot clad foot and smacking it onto a surface is really entertaining and the action feels like home.

I’m not the best at playing games the whole way through with guns; I tire of the game quickly. I need multiple weapons for stimulation.

I’m thankful too that Res Evil is a third person shooter.

I’m also a wanderer, I like to look around places. But Resident Evil isn’t an MMORPG and I have to force myself to remember that.

I am really grateful to that little arrow that shows you the way when you’re lost. I got lost regularly in Res Evil 6 and the curious explorer in me kind of liked it.

The arrow director is also a universe-send when you can’t see anything because the visuals are so damn dark which brings me to the next point: visibility.

Darkness falls

Not so easy on the eye: I don’t enjoy gaming in near pitch black.

Don’t set the screen darkness too dark, trust me on this one. Not being able to see movement on the screen just makes the game infuriating instead of scary and challenging.

Again I’ve been immersed in brightly coloured games for most of my life and perhaps this is just something I need to get used to.

Camera pans and jolts made me feel nauseous at times too; many Milhouse moments were had.

But I still defend that the motion sickness and blindness was well worth it. I have only happy memories to reminisce about with this game.

Once Upon A Time….

What a story line!

Resident Evil 6 has a really great storyline; it’s indeed one point haters cannot fault the game on.

There are 3 main campaigns to indulge in; Leon Kennedy and his partner Helena Harper, Chris Redfield and his partner Piers Nivans and Jake Muller and his partner Sherry Birkin. Once you play all 3 of those a special treat unlocks.

Enter stage left Ada Wong. I simply love Ada Wong and knowing she would appear kept me playing long after my butt went numb on my bean bag.

Some reviewers have stated that Res Evil is now an action franchise more than a horror. Well its pretty horror filled to me. Are Res Evil players now desensitised or does the story line need a fresh viral injection?

I feel Resident Evil is suffering from tall poppy syndrome. People love to cut down successful things and I am a staunch supporter of Res Evil 6.

Look I’m not going to write about what happens in the campaigns, that’s like giving away the ending of a film in its trailer, but I will say there were too many characters in this game for my taste.

I like to make a connection with my characters and I only really hold love for Leon and Ada.

Even though Chris and Leon are advertised as the main characters it’s very clear that Resident Evil is preparing the next generation and to me it looks like they are in a testing phase.

I feel in my bones that they are throwing all their conjured younglings into the mix and watching closely to see who the fans respond too. I understand change is inevitable, it is the natural state of all things in existence, truly I get it, but as an old school Leon/Ada fan I’m worried.

The end is nigh for Chris, Leon and Ada

The other day administration posted something truly worrying on Resident Evil Degeneration‘s Facebook page. The post said Resident Evil 7 was going to be the beginning of the end for characters such as Chris, Ada and Leon.

Administrators said that the franchises founding characters were in their 30s now and are getting too old. I’m scared, mostly for Leon.

And when I say that, I say it with selfish purpose that one day I may not get to see his face on-screen anymore. I understand from Capcom’s point of view that they need to keep the franchise going and are seeking new avenues to create longevity, but phasing out 3 of the most loved characters of the franchise seems like suicide to me.

I love Resident Evil because of Leon, Ada, (Claire and Jill are in there too). If Capcom were to phase these characters out they would essentially cut a strand of powerful marketing called Emotional Brand Response.

Unless they (and myself) can successfully replicate another emotional brand connection with a new character, that is more powerful than the one I hold now, I will not be willing to spend AU$100 on a Resident Evil game, AU$40 on a Resident Evil CG film or various amounts of money on ancillary markets.

Ultimately it will be an interesting test for Capcom to see if the next generation of characters can create similar if not better revenue streams like the old characters did.

The response from fans, who posted their thoughts under the official comment most passionately, have also echoed my sentiments; I am not alone and halleluiah for that.

If they take Ada and Leon away from me I’ll turn to writing fan fiction- but I’d rather not. Universe help me if they ever decide to give Leon a haircut.

40 Hour Feast

Well that was good fun: all in all it took well over 40 hours of game play and two Xbox 360s (my first box died a quiet and mysterious death after only a few hours of being introduced to Resident Evil 6 and I must thank TheGamer.com.au for supplying me with a new console).

I consumed 3 whole pizzas, 6 rocket and parmesan salads, about a litre of cider, 1 bottle of champagne and 2 family blocks of chocolate whilst playing this game (and I’m supposed to be cosplaying as Kitana for Brisbane’s Supernova convention. I have not thought this through very well at all).

I have many fond Resident Evil 6 memories and people may hate on the game if they wish, so be their choice, but I have nothing but lust for it.

Dear Capcom bring on more Resident Evil everything.

“8.5/10

© 2012 TheVixenGamer

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