Did you know that the Resident Evil 6 logo looks like a giraffe getting sucked off? It’s the only image my head is capable of conjuring up whenever I see it. Oh yeah, and the game itself is just as bad. I’m talking about the super stinky kind of hot garbage; there’s nothing redeemable about this disaster.
In the past few weeks I’ve sensed a disturbance in the discourse. The Resident Evil 4 remake is now less than two weeks away, with fans sinking into the stellar Chainsaw Demo to learn exactly how the combat system works and what the full experience has in store. It’s amazing how it improves on the original with more nuanced movement, weightier gunplay, and mechanics that allow Leon to parry enemies even in the most frightening of situations. However, certain fools (to be polite) are claiming it reminds them of Resident Evil 6, and how that’s actually a good thing.
If I squint my eyes super tight before running face-first into a brick wall I can see where these people are coming from, but not in a million years would I dare sanction such tomfoolery. My poor heart still remembers the excitement I felt leading up to the game’s release, and how it was going to be bigger, better, and more explosive than anything the series had ever tackled before. Yet I was also a teenager with no concept of nuance, failing to realise how over this past generation Resident Evil had tried and failed to capture the adrenaline-fueled action of Western blockbusters even if it meant bastardising its own image. Fans felt it too, and spent months bargaining with themselves that there was something in this bloated game we could hold onto. Leon’s campaign was okay, while everything else should be thrown in the furnace.
For the past decade it has been viewed with indifference, frequently referenced as the point where Capcom realised the error of its ways and began righting the ship. Then along came remasters, remakes, soft reboots, sequels, and bold reimaginings that maintain its signature campy attitude while flirting once again with the delight of survival horror. Village and Resi 3 would eventually see that shift towards action return, yet there was always a recognition of what mattered - familiar characters, tense atmosphere, and a cheesy personality that knew exactly how far it could go.
Resident Evil 6 had the characters and basically nothing else. It took itself much too seriously, spanning across the globe with multiple campaigns intent on removing any and all feelings of horror. Countless set pieces made it abundantly clear how high the stakes were and what exactly we were fighting for, although the context remained so dull and lifeless that we struggled to care. When it comes to Resident Evil 4, however, it seems some are thrilled that it is pulling tricks from 6’s playbook. The thing is, I’m not sure if it does.
You point guns at enemies and shoot them, and Leon’s movement is far more graceful than in previous games, but Resident Evil 4 gives significant weight to each individual action that the 2012 stinker just didn’t. Regardless of what firearm you wielded, every single weapon we used felt like a water pistol. All enemies were bullet sponges with minimal reactions, so there were countless combat encounters that involved piling dozens of bullets into standard foes in the vain hope they’d eventually drop dead, so you could move onto the next tired firefight.
Ammunition and herbs were in short supply despite the constant reliance on action, almost like the game was convinced it still remained loyal to horror in spite of its identity. There was no consistency to it either. Leon’s campaign was meant to be horror, Chris’s action, Sherry’s a mixture of the two, and Ada is stealth I guess? It tried to appeal to everyone and sadly in the process ended up pleasing nobody. It’s been a bastion of mediocrity for over a decade now, so why exactly are we heaping praise upon it for apparently influencing a much better experience? Whenever I revisit Resident Evil 6 I always wish I was playing older entries in the series, knowing how much worse it is in every department and the endurance required for completing just a single campaign, let alone all four of the bloody things. It ain’t good.
Resident Evil 4 remake doesn’t take inspiration from Resident Evil 6 any more than it does its own progenitor, looking at what it did well and modernising elements that for years now have bordered on archaic. Leon can now move while aiming his weapon, crouch to stealth kill enemies, and parry attacks in ways that reinforce the grace required to survive in a town flooded with infected. Every mechanic feeds into the other, creating an incredible mixture of gameplay ideas where none feel superfluous. The iconic himbo is now much quicker on his feet and more reactive to every situation, but this isn’t because of Resident Evil 6, it’s thanks to the genre as a whole building on a blueprint that Capcom pioneered two decades ago.
I’m not saying it’s forbidden to enjoy Resident Evil 6, since the overblown pile of trash does have its charms no matter how deep one must dig to find them, but it’s never been a secret classic unfairly derided by the masses waiting for a second chance at glory. It’s a product of hubris that saw Capcom desperately trying to dance with the big boys amidst a blockbuster landscape that, at the time, was bordering on saturation. It has countless new ideas but not a single good one, hoping to charm us with oodles of content instead of substance.