GameZone Roundtable: Are you excited for Resident Evil 6?

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Capcom finally and officially announced the next chapter in their zombie apocalypse series, Resident Evil 6. This time, players will be able to step into the shoes of both Chris Redfield and Leon Kennedy. Here is the debut trailer for the game:

After watching this trailer, many people felt different things. Some experienced excitement with seeing Leon Kennedy back in the fray, while others felt disappointmented that their favorite survival horror series has turned into a full action game. So the question is:

Are you excited for Resident Evil 6?

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Michael Splechta: I can't say that I'm either excited or disappointed by Resident Evil 6. I loved the first three RE games, especially Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. After that, the series just sort of stopped grabbing my interest. I know many of you might say "But Resident Evil 4 was the best game in the entire series!!" and sure, I agree the game was phenomenal, but at the time of its release, I didn't experience the zombie craze that won me over with the first three games. Resident Evil 5 is still one of my most regretted purchases (even if it was only $5 on Steam) because it essentially turned a incredibly scary series into an action game with barely any scare moments.

It has already been reported that Resident Evil 6 will contain classic fear moments that the series used to have, but I guess that is all up in the air at the moment. I'd like to say yes, I'm excited merely due to the fact that I want to see where the series is going next, but for the game itself, not too much.

Verdict: Nope

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Matt Liebl: I'm sure I'll take a lot of flak for this, but to be honest I'm not really that excited for Resident Evil 6. Capcom has bastardized the Resident Evil series to the point where it's unrecognizable.

I understand Capcom's move to a more action-centric gamestyle.  These days gamers are so desensitized that it's hard to scare them.  Which is why I feel Capcom began to move away from that style.  They took the easy way out and went the route that all games tend to go when the teet is milked dry – nonstop explosions and action.

The third person, over-the-shoulder action gameplay never appealed to me.  Capcom has managed to take what was once a great story/series and turned it into something we've already seen, over and over again.  It honestly reminds me of a Michael Bay flick.  Doesn't matter how generic the gameplay is or how bad the story is, people will continue to flock towards the spectacle.

Verdict: Haven't been excited for a Resident Evil game in quite a while

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Vito Gesualdi: Mike and Matt are both being ridiculous. Resident Evil 4 is one of the greatest video games of all time, and the entry that saved the floundering series from irrelevance. So, Capcom continuing to develop the series down the action-oriented route pioneered by RE4 should be seen as a blessing, and anyone pining for a more old-school Resident Evil experience could definitely stand to take off their rose-colored glasses. Am I the only one who remembers the boring combat and wonky controls of the PSone era games?  And you prefer that why? Because occasionally something would jump out at you and yell "boo?"

Now to be fair, Resident Evil 5 was a mess. However judging from the trailer, it seems Capcom is pouring a ton of effort into this game, having commented they want it to stand alongside blockbusters like Modern Warfare. This is exactly what the game industry has been crying out for, a game which maintains the hardcore feel of traditional Japanese titles, while having the balls to strip away tired "traditional" gameplay elements and incorporate some Western-focused design.

Resident Evil 6 looks like the most exciting game of 2012, and an early contender for Game of the Year. Stop trying to be the coolest kid in the room. Admit that you want this game.

Verdict: I'd let Batman punch me in the mouth if it meant I could get an early copy of this game

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Andrew Clouther: I’m a Resident Evil fan. I have fond memories of the first game and especially the terrible controls and unforgettable one-liners. While that may have sounded backhanded or sarcastic, I meant it with all sincerity. Every time I entered that world of survival horror I was all gung-ho.

I agree with Vito on the point that I don’t feel like the franchise has gone in the pooper because the games have strayed away from the original. If they became like their old school predecessors but with puzzles, better controls, and voice acting that would be amazing. The new action style isn’t bad – just different.

Sure the games have lost all sense of their ‘scary’ and ‘puzzle’ aspects, but the series has moved on. If you were Chris Redfield (with biceps larger than any man alive) and you’ve survived Umbrella virus after Umbrella virus, I think it’s possible that you wouldn’t even flinch the first time you saw a diseased dog’s head split into two and launch tentacles at you. That’s just a day in the life of Mr. Redfield. Perhaps Capcom recognizes that and that is why the fear has been watered down; probably not.

While I may be alone in not hating Resident Evil 5, I’m not going to go out of my way to overly defend it. The game was meant to be played co-op. If you didn’t play it co-op it was a much worse and horrific experience. Minus the airboat level, the game entertained and challenged me through a few playthroughs. Sadly, I think I may also be one of the few alive who enjoyed Mercenaries mode – it did make you good at the game though…

So onto Resident Evil 6, if you haven’t gathered by now I’m excited for it. I felt the debut trailer was good and sucked me in already. If Capcom's trailer for RE6 is any indication for how the game will turn out, I only expect more good things to come in the coming months until its release.

Verdict: Definitely, will pre-order

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Lance Liebl: Ya know the problem with putting a lot of hype into the game because of a trailer?  Dead Island.  So I'm trying to not have trailers suck me in from now on.  However, I'm being asked to comment on whether I'm excited for Resident Evil 6, so I'm gonna go with what I saw in the trailer.

I used to love Resident Evil, but as the games become less about surviving and more about shooting, I stopped caring as much.  I have other games that I go to for pure action/shooters.  That's probably why I didn't like Resident Evil 5.  Why play this horror action game — it's no long horror survival — when I can play a game like Dead Space that does it so much better.  At this point, I feel like a lot of people would have fresh eyes towards the game if they removed the Resident Evil name from it.

Jump kicks and sliding through an enemy's legs and shooting them from your back doesn't feel very Resident Evil to me.  Does it look cool?  Sure.  I won't deny that the action looks tight, and I'm sure it'll handle just as tight, but I just can't associate this with Resident Evil anymore — especially when a lot of the fans are yearning for a return to how the games use to be.  Maybe the environments are too open now.  Maybe there's too many enemies at once, so you don't really feel scared, you just have to gun them down.  Maybe mix this combat with more confined spaces.  I don't know.

I know the game looks fun, and I'm excited to see how the multiplayer is, but it's not even on my top 5 list for this year.  Mr. Vito Gesualdi needs to remember that Mass Effect 3, Diablo III, and BioShock Infinite — among others — also come out this year, so easy on the GOTY predictions.  I'm sure I'll enjoy playing it, so take that for what it's worth.

Verdict: If it wasn't called Resident Evil I'd probably love it, so yea… I guess I'm kinda excited?