Whatever the details are, there is one thing that cannot be disputed at this time. Resident Evil 6 is at the top of the pile in terms of media attention. The highly anticipated next installment in Capcom’s increasingly successful franchise is on the way, and much sooner than anybody would have guessed.

The debut trailer for RE6 which can be seen below, depicts many things which throw both newcomers as well as classic fans into a barrage of questions as well as heated debates. When it comes to the world of Resident Evil, most belong to one of two groups. They either have been with the franchise since the beginning era, or they came over in the massive overhaul Capcom brought to us with the widely loved RE4 which released on Gamecube and later on the PS2 and Wii.

There has since been what I personally refer to as a “civil war.” While there surely are those who love the franchise from beginning to end, there are definitely two defined groups representing both classic and modern styles that believe the series is better directed to their side of the proverbial coin. We here at ROH felt it would be a great time to address some of the possibilities in RE6 based on classic story elements that the new Resident Evil fans may not be aware of, and perhaps caught off guard. So come along and let us discuss what comes to mind.

So here is a bit of information on things we feel the fans should know while heading into RE6. From possibilities to directly effect RE6, to general knowledge of the past that isn’t widely known to anybody but the long time fans.

Sherry Birkin

Appeared in: RE2, Darkside Chronicles, RE3 (Epilogue Only), RE6(?)

Daughter of the brilliant scientist William Birkin, Sherry was subject to a lonely childhood. Being alienated with her mother and with her father being so enveloped in Umbrella’s best interest, viral experimentation. That was only the beginning of her struggles.

Sherry was stuck right in the middle of the Raccoon City outbreak in 1998, at the age of 12. During the “ClaireA” and “LeonB” scenarios of RE2, Sherry was actually hunted down by her mutating father who released into her body an embryo with the purpose of creating a G-Virus offspring. This was possible because her and William were compatible on a cellular level because of their direct blood relation. She was eventually vaccinated.

Sherry was reported to have been taken into government custody after RE2. We later see in “The Wesker Report”, what would seem to be that Wesker may have been behind it or made a move to obtain her at one point as he claimed she “is in our hands.” She has been one of the most highly demanded characters to return as the fans want continuity or closure.

Why we need to know:

In the RE6 trailer. We see a blonde woman whose identity is currently– officially– unknown. While some people claim to have sources, there has been no official word of any form. One of the more notable debates happening right now is centered around the identity of this woman. Many people are claiming she is Ashley Graham, many of which have no idea who Sherry Birkin is. And, of course, many are in anticipation while maintaining hope that this is indeed Sherry. It is anybody’s guess as to who this is and while I have my own opinion, we are all waiting to know.

Speaking under the possibility that it may be Sherry, we need to know what it could mean to Resident Evil 6. There is a high possibility that with Sherry’s past with RE2 and the G-Virus, as well as being in Wesker’s web of tactic; Sherry may be infected on some extremely minor level. Although the G-Virus was “vaccinated”, who is to say there is no possibility of the virus’ genetic material still laying dormant within her body? The government agent who speaks to Leon in Darkside Chronicles, claims she does indeed still carry a remnant of some sort. Even the vaccine has the make of what to attack, thus giving a blueprint for the G-Virus. Also, Wesker himself said “I would never underestimate Birkin, there is something about this girl” when speaking of Sherry. Who’s to say the G-Virus, or another viral candidate wasn’t given to her beforehand by William, or later on with Wesker? All it takes is one cell to infect a host.

Plot-wise, Sherry can still retain information that can be important to the franchise. Again laying back on the fact that she is who she is. Being the daughter of two key figures of Umbrella, victim and witness to the outbreak, holder of knowledge about wherever she was captive/victim to Wesker, presumably. This could lead into RE6 in a variety of different ways if it is indeed her. She could be free, actively fighting in the cause against the viral superpowers, be under influence and following another person’s ambitions or even an unwilling victim caught in another nightmare while trying to escape her past which keeps catching up to her.

Just some eye colour comparison for debate. Looks like the unidentified female has blue eyes. Ashley clearly has brownish eyes. Sherry’s look blue also.

Steve Burnside

Appeared in: RE:CV/X, Darkside Chronicles.

Steve Burnside is a troubled young man who was a prisoner on Rockfort Island as a result of his father being exposed for selling Umbrella’s secrets while an employee. His mother was also killed because of these actions. During the attack on Rockfort Island by H.C.F., Steve escaped. Unfortunately, so did the T-Virus.

Steve soon met up with Claire Redfield who was also freshly sprung by the generous Rodigo Juan Raval. They met up and struggled together through Rockfort Island and ultimately ended up in Antarctica where Steve met his ultimate fate at the hands of Alexia Ashford and the T-Veronica Virus. He spouted one last breath to tell Claire he loved her, then he met his demise.

Why we need to know:

With the end of RE:CVX, we are faced with a showdown between Chris and Wesker. Before the face-off commences, Wesker expresses that he is no longer concerned with Alexia being dead, because he now has Steve to work with. He even taunts the possibility of Steve being revived and able to see Claire once again.

This has always caused debate in the RE universe. With “Operation Javier” taking place in 2002, Wesker is said to have a sample of the T-Veronica that he had taken from Steve’s body for Manuela Hidalgo. This is about four years after Steve apparently died. Now there are certainly many different factors that can come into play. And the term “Steve’s Corpse” has been thrown around a lot. But with no 100% confirmation of his final fate, one can assume it wouldn’t be hard to bring him back. The viruses in the RE universe have quite a tendency to make the dead walk.

Other theories that have been thrown around are the possibilities that Steve is either “the mercenary” or the big monster in the RE6 trailer chasing that same mercenary. Many of these people also believing the blonde woman is also Sherry since both would have some sort of entanglement. Afterall, they were both part of Wesker’s web. They likely met at one point in time if they were captive in the same facility/area that we have not seen yet. The theory for “the big monster” is based on the blonde woman primarily being Sherry, and the very present hair on the enemy. The Mercenary theory actually has more of a evidential approach with what would seem to be the same hair colour, facial marking and somewhat same facial structure.

One thing is for sure. If the sample itself can survive that long and be intact, Steve’s return at some point is certainly a possibility.

Barry Burton

Appeared in: RE1, RE3(ending)

Barry Burton was one of the three reported surviving members of the STARS Alpha team that entered the mansion. He was an unwilling Judas in setting up Wesker’s game to kill the Alpha team and gain BOW test Data. Wesker had used the lives of his wife and two daughters against him to do this. Following the mansion incident, Barry took his family and left to Canada to ensure their safety the best he could. He then left to assist his comrades.

Why we need to know:

Barry has been one of the most requested characters since RE1. Making a cameo in RE3 and various mercenaries game modes are still not enough to quench the thirst of his fans. While Capcom has told us that they have not forgotten Barry, we still have yet to see him front and center. A recent post on “NoHopeLeft.com” got people talking. There is no knowledge as to whether or not this was a fan, or rather a clue to his return.

Billy Coen and Rebecca Chambers

Appeared in: RE Zero, Umbrella Chronicles, RE1(Rebecca only).

Two characters that newer fans of the RE franchise have more than a minimal chance of never hearing of. Billy and Rebecca were central figures in the events before the mansion incident in RE:Zero. Billy was on the run as after he escaped his transfer on his way to a death sentence via court martial. Rebecca was the sole survivor of the STARS Bravo team by the time the mansion incident ends. These two accomplished very much and uncovered secrets of Umbrella’s origin. They were exposed to a lot of information and can contribute to the series’ plot and fans would much welcome their stories to be continued.

Why we need to know:

These two characters are simply beloved. Most people sense it is only a matter of time before we see one or both of them. Billy is rumoured to be the mysterious shadowed man in the “RE: Damnation” trailer. And Rebecca has no remaining story elements at all. With such a strong fanbase, new fans should go back and experience what these two went through. It may serve them very well in the future.

Ada Wong

Appeared in: RE2, Umbrella Chronicles, Darkside Chronicles, RE4.

Ada is no stranger to either new or old Resident Evil fans. She needs little pointed out to make her presence felt all over the RE franchise.

Why we need to know:

Although Ada’s past is shadowed in darkness, we are aware of enough information to know that she is a force of ambition. She has yet to fail her primary objective, despite the direct intervention of many formidable foes and worthy RE characters. Krauser was an elite character in the RE franchise and she dispatched him with ease and grace. Combined with her ties to “The Organization,” everything comes together into one gigantic character.

Friend, or foe? Both? Her true ambitions give a sense that they yet have to be unveiled. But rest assured, when they do, she will likely have already won the battle. Her activities before the outbreak involved infiltrating umbrella’s intelligence circle through John Clemens. In the outbreak, she was tasked with obtaining the G-Virus and did not disappoint. In RE4, fate would have Ada achieve her goal once again. Successfully deceiving everybody who trusted her and escaping with the Plagas sample. There was however, a very distinct feeling of emotional attraction to Leon, during the outbreak. A kiss was shared as well as some caring words. We could see this come to light again since Ada and Leon have yet to meet under any circumstances warranting much discussion between the two. RE6 looks to be no different, but these two will no doubt find some closure at one point. Good or bad? Only time will tell.

Viral Origins

It is important to know the potential viruses that could be returning in RE6. From the trailer, there is evidence to at least consider two or more of the previous viruses could be returning. These go hand and hand with panic, outbreak and top of the line suspense. Whichever virus we see will have to have an original distribution into the new environment and create new plot devices or deepen our character cast further.

Why we need to know:

Viruses are the heart of Resident Evil. With every game we get, there are outbreaks, catalysts and reasons to pay attention. The history of the T-Virus actually began with the Progentitor virus. The Progenitor virus was a very difficult thing to obtain in the first place. Coming from a flower, the Progenitor virus was only produced in a biological harmony between the flower and a certain surrounding environment. Otherwise, it could not be produced and lead nowhere. After being extracted successfully, Marcus then combined the Progenitor virus with leech DNA and the T-Virus was created. With Birkin and Wesker both present for his death via assassination, Birkin assumed research and all credit for the T-Virus and continued its research. The G-Virus was the pet project of William Birkin.

The G-virus was widely regarded as the ultimate biological weapon with the ability to create superior offspring with compatible DNA. The T-Veronica virus is a strain of the Progenitor virus that a young Alexia successfully combined with the DNA of an ancient queen ant containing what is called the “Ancient virus.” Alexia achieved complete assimilation without uncontrollable mutation by going into a controlled state of sleep within a hibernation capsule for nearly 15 years. What emerged was something as deadly as any foe, with complete mental control by Alexia and her will.

It is important to everything about these viruses and their origins to understand what is to come. Check these links to the RE wiki below for the most in-depth information.

Tyrant Virus (T-Virus)
G-Virus
T-Veronica Virus

Atmosphere

In the beginning, Resident Evil changed the way we look at video games by defining the genre of “Survival Horror.” It has since gone on quite a ride.

Why we need to know:

One thing that differs in Resident evil with each subsequent title is the atmosphere. Even through the classic installments, the compact feel changed into many other things.

The RE1 mansion created an atmosphere that took the world by storm. The closed-in exposure to monsters and surprises lurking through every door, made it a sure adrenaline pumper and had everybody on edge. Little room meant little time to react, every encounter was a critical one and any monster has more than enough capability to end your game. Moody music and a solitary feel really heightened the emotions of the players and put everybody on edge. RE1 relied more on this than an in-depth plot and did a great job executing that. Many were scared and thrilled. This kept us all coming back for what turned out to be a sequel which has stood the test of time with ease.

Resident Evil 2 took everything we had in the first game, and at least doubled it. Moving from a solitary mansion to having an entire city to chew through in what proved to be a masterpiece of a game. Primary available scenarios doubled, having two variations of each character’s experiences. Extra bonus scenarios were added. Great CG inclusions as well. Hell, there were even double the viruses in RE2.

Everything was ramped up and while we all retained the dim feeling of hopelessness, it wasn’t so much of a horror title as the pioneer which was RE1. Bigger spaces, epic cut-scenes escalating in size. It was the horror genre, taken one step up into an epic survival thriller. Widely regarded as the best installment in the series to date. Entire groups of fans (including myself) are ambitiously awaiting the day that Capcom decides to remake this game after seeing how amazing the original RE1 remake was. It is a flame that will never die.

Many people believe that the essence of RE2 will be the game most resembling to RE6. With the trailer hinting at both horror and action, RE2 was a game to combine both in a very natural fashion. The fundamental elements of a widespread outbreak are something that new RE fans are likely not to know anything about. Sure, we shot down Ganado and Majini in RE4 and RE5. But there are feelings of what can only conjure the word “frantic” in a massive viral outbreak. RE2 and RE3 captured this perfectly right from the start. There were next to no survivors in the sea of viral mutations that were bombarding the city.

It’s one thing to strategically eliminate a Ganado with a series of precise shots, but what if you weren’t given the time to make these shots? What if a door opened and a crowd of zombies are to be taken on all at once? A sudden feeling of fear and the need to run is what comes to mind. Many CG depictions through classic RE games had many of the helpless victims of Raccoon city and beyond, struggling to live through the first hours of the outbreak. It is very overwhelming to think that even a single person could escape the city. With RE6 coming faster than we could ever have anticipated, a blend of horror and action are expected. RE2 remains one of the few titles to successfully pull this off in the market of today. Which lead Capcom to follow it up with something that did so in a more direct way.

RE3 took what RE2 did and hyped up the progressive feel. Combining area movement with the newly constructed atmosphere of near death as the Nemesis hunted you. Every door was no longer a safe haven as the Nemesis could follow you through them. You never felt safe and often jumped off the couch while running for a door with the Nemesis closing the distance time after time with death in hand. Few stopped to fight him. those who did, rarely made it out alive. Then again, Most who ran were also no strangers to death. Capcom had you struggling from the beginning of the game and terrified the whole way. the RE6 trailer presents us with a new third protagonist who is no stranger to this. He himself is being hunted relentlessly by a foe that not unlike the nemesis. Capcom aims to bring these feelings and fears back through RE6. Drawing from games that did the job is no mistake. These atmospheres are key to this games success in the eyes of critics and classic fans.

We can expect elements from all three of the original installments in RE6, that much is for sure. This still doesn’t touch upon the timeline debate that is going on which can only add to the relating emotions here. Nobody is sure exactly when RE6 takes place in relation to RE5 with the “10 year” mark after the outbreak being a date of which falls only 6 months before Chris and Sheva’s arrival in Kijuju. These numbers can be vague.

Is Chris’ vendetta(mentioned in RE6 trailer) because this is before RE5 and he believes a certain fate became of Jill? Does this game perhaps take place both before and after RE5? If that really is Sherry and not Ashley, what became of her while in Wesker’s possession? How did she become free? When? Would we assume it happened after RE5 when we all know what happened at the end. There is evidence to lead one to believe in either direction. Only time will tell. Feel free to discuss any of these in the comment section below.

Closing Comments

With RE6 sure to bring back many classic feelings and settings with Tall Oaks and viral struggle, there are great possibilities that we are going to see subjects and characters from the origin of the RE roots. Although Capcom would recognize this and surely present the information for newcomers to the series so they can understand and jump on board, it does not necessarily mean that we should turn a blind eye. There are many current debates about timeline, character identities and possible plot twists. Much is sure to change between now and release, but we can only gain more knowledge and appreciation for the classic gems of RE by taking the time to learn more.

There is a substantial amount of depth to the classic RE franchise as RE: Zero all the way to RE: Code Veronica X all took place within five months of each other. There is a web of overlaying story that even seasoned fans have yet to know it all off the back of their hand. Let us have fun speculating while we can. There are so many opportunities that RE6 can bring to the table, who is not to enjoy it? I look forward to what the coming months will bring leading up to the demo (accessed through the purchase of Dragon’s Dogma). All the way up to the launch of Resident Evil 6 on November 20. RE6 is currently planned for release on the PS3, Xbox360 and PC. I for one, am very Excited.

Resident Evil 6: Remembering the Past is a post from: Rely on Horror

James Casselman

Proud Canadian and seasoned Resident Evil Fan.

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Resident Evil 6 is now a reality. The game will be hitting the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on November 20, 2012. Yes, 2012. The year everyone says will be this planet’s last. Hell, if that ends up being the case, we all get Resident Evil 6 to play while the real zombie apocalypse is going on around us. And that’s just fine by me!

I’m sure you’ve all already seen the game’s debut trailer. And if you’re like me, you’ve already seen it dozens, if not hundreds, of times. It’s truly incredible. You can imagine the state of absolute happiness I was in when I logged into my email and saw that press release from Capcom confirming what we’ve been speculating about for a long time, with a trailer attached. After viewing said trailer, I was in heaven.

I’ve always dreamt (shut up) of a game in the series that stars both Chris and Leon. That’s always been a fantasy of mine (shut up). Now, it’s going to finally come to fruition with Resident Evil 6. I can’t put into words how happy and excited I am about this game. But enough raving about it, here’s my trailer analysis. Warning: It’s very lengthy, so grab a drink and get comfortable!

UPDATE: According to IGN, that female character that’s partnered with the “secret man” (who I really think is Alex Wesker, but that’s just my own theory) is actually Sherry.

Leon’s back, baby. Here we get the first shot of the Ladies’ Man himself. He sure loves him that laser pointer from Resident Evil 4! I wonder who he could be aiming at…

Here we have a shot of a brand new character. Her name’s Helena Harper, and she’s a secretary in the White House. I’m sure Leon and her have grown to have some form of an important connection to each other. But as we learn later on in the trailer, Helena may be hiding a few things. Now here’s my personal theory about her: Ada set up her job to work within the White House somehow, so that Leon could be at arm’s length for whatever Ada’s planning. And come on, you know if Leon is there, Ada has to be close behind.

Hey, look. It’s Ashley’s daddy! After having saved his daughter, I’m sure the President is even more buddy-buddy with Leon. He’s his best man, and here we see him telling him how he plans to make the public know what really happened in Raccoon City a decade ago. Will he go through with it? Or will his speech be cut short? We’re about to find out.

Poor Mr. President. He’s about to fall victim to someone who used to not only serve him, but someone who was a very close friend to him. This should be quite hard for Leon and Helena to do. Especially hard for Leon. But how awesome is this scene? It plays out very much like the classic first zombie encounter from the original Resident Evil. Hell, the zombified President even turns around like that classic first zombie did. And this takes place in a mansion, too, albeit a presidential one! This should prove to be quite an emotional intro level– I’m quite sure it’ll be the game’s opening moments, leading to the global outbreak that ensues.

“Stay where you are!” Leon sure loves uttering commands like that. This bit reminded me of Resident Evil 2 and 4’s opening moments where Leon tries to reason with a zombie and ganado, respectively.

And BANG. The president’s dead. It looks like it’s Helena that shoots him. The scene cuts to black as soon as the undead president gets danger close to her. Then we hear the gunshot. R.I.P. Mr. President. Let’s not tell Ashley, OK?

Here’s the logo for the game. The six, and the background it’s set to, looks very cellular in nature and almost like it’s suspended by a spiderweb-like substance. It’s color also makes it look like a very up close look at cells, but I’m no science whiz. It’s a neat logo and it definitely reminds me a bit of the way Resident Evil 4’s number looked like.

That’s quite a creepy-looking hallway. It seems like Leon’s scenario is going to be the one focused more on delivering a horror experience. Whereas Chris’s will be more about survival action, like his last outing was in Resident Evil 5. But we’ll see good ol’ Chris in a bit. I’m just happy that we’ll be venturing through eerie corridors as Leon once more. Who wants to bet we’ll get a good ol’ pop out scare in this scene? Dogs or crows, anyone?

Helena is also heard saying how this is all her fault, with Leon going on to ask her why she feels that way. Is she hiding something from us? Was she responsible for the outbreak in the White House that ended up costing the President’s life? This mystery may not be resolved until we play through the game for ourselves, but it’s fun to speculate. And as I noted before, she may have a connection with Ada.

This shot would make quite a nice postcard, wouldn’t it? It’s not unlike what we saw back in the Raccoon City days, but this time Leon has more experience under his belt. I mean, the man survived a virus outbreak on his first day as a cop, then going on to serve the President, going off to a village in Europe to save Ashley. He’s a survivor, but will he be ready for this new outbreak? Spoiler: I’m sure he will! And the “zombie” here looks like he’s armored, possibly a soldier who was trying to protect civilians before being infected.

And now we know the name of the city Leon and Helena will be stuck in: Tall Oaks. This also shows us that there will be a subway station level for Leon to go through. It’s sure to be a creepy stroll through its tunnels, as the next image strongly hints at.

Did this image make anyone else remember Resident Evil 5’s original teaser trailer? You know, the one that showed the shadows of incoming enemies about to attack Chris. This image is also another example of the horror that will be in play during Leon’s scenario. The lighting in this scene is also very well done, and helps enhance the overall eerie atmosphere we seen Leon engulfed in. You may want to lay low, Mr. Kennedy. (Nice Jacket.)

Looks like we’ll be making a stop near the outskirts of the city, or more specifically the woods area. Oh, in the rain, too! Uh oh, here come the Alan Wake comparisons…But seriously, how bad ass does Leon look?

Here’s a cute group shot of some zombies. They’re just chilling in front of what looks like a school bus, possibly serving as Leon and Helena’s ride until they had to park it, or maybe the bus was just left there, with the original driver saying deuces and making his escape (maybe he’s one of those zombies). All joking aside, we find out what happens to this vehicle momentarily.

Hunnigan’s back! Wherever Leon goes she does, too, it seems. And she hasn’t changed a bit. She tells Leon that 90% of Tall Oaks’ population are now infected by the new virus, translating to about 70,000 hostiles to be worried about. Then we get to see this on the screen in front of her:

Looks like the infection is spreading quite rapidly. This definitely shouldn’t bode well for Leon and Helena as they try to make it out of the city. Well, at least they have Hunnigan providing words of wisdom and guidance, right?

Incoming! Those poor zombies are about to get run down. It seems to be the bus from before, perhaps it wasn’t Leon and his partner riding it after all…We see the hooded zombie here again, so this has to be what happens after the zombies hang around for too long in front of the once stationary bus. And you can probably guess what happens to this vehicle.

You can’t save them all sometimes, Leon. Here we see a poor survivor about to be victim to a huge explosion. He’s trapped in a bus that’s most likely being driven by a now infected, and enraged, driver. What was he doing in the bus in the first place, though? Maybe like Leon and his gal, he too was trying to find a way out of the city. Or maybe Leon, Helena, and this survivor were all riding together, with the vehicle going out of control, making Leon and his partner jump out at the last moment, unable to take this man along with them.

And the bus goes boom! Maybe Leon was really about to go back for that man. But oh well, too late. For some reason, this makes me think of Resident Evil 2’s intro where Leon and Claire are separated by that gas truck’s explosion. There’s also some fencing on the side there, so maybe there’s some houses nearby? A creepy cabin in the woods? I’m down.

Yes, Leon, you’re right. It is like Raccoon City all over again in Tall Oaks. But you survived one outbreak, surely you can survive again, right? Here we get another neat shot of the zombies with the street set ablaze. Again, the visuals look stunning and it looks like things will get quite hectic while going through the town’s mean streets.

Now we finally get to see some gameplay shots. Up first we see the over-the-shoulder gunplay that made its debut with Resident Evil 4. It’s back here, with some enhanced mechanics players will be able to take advantage, as we’ll see later on.

That zombie sure can jump! This should definitely shake things thing up when it comes to combat situations. I can already safely assure you all that there’ll be an achievement/trophy for scoring a headshot while a zombie is airborne. Watch.

That’s a tad bit too close, man. I’m sure this will be one of those “quick tap this button!” moments. But with other zombies getting closer to you while you’re temporarily downed, situations like these are sure to be intense. And again, this is taking place in the streets of Tall Oaks. It’s all fiery and zombie-y now, though.

These zombies look rotten, like they’ve literally been risen from their graves. Not just that, but we get to see Leon perform some classic kicks here, to grant him some space. We also see what looks like a castle of sorts, or a huge church. Regardless, we all know we can expect some horrifying moments when Leon explores its confines. Maybe it is a church and happens to be near a cemetery, hence the naked zombies.

Look at this big guy. Perhaps we’ll see more deformed brutes like this particular BOW. I wouldn’t go too close to him to get some shots in, as we see Leon being lifted up in a scene that looks like that time when Bane broke Batman’s back.

I must say that I’m really liking the variety in zombies here. They each look unique, giving it a greater sense of realism (because we all know the zombie apocalypse is going to occur one day). It’s also worth noting how a couple of these zombies are wielding pipes. Zombie danger level has just been increased! But oh wait, there’s a train coming! A QTE moment, perhaps.

What is Helena hiding? That’s the big mystery. She could end up being one of the bad guys for all we know, keeping Leon close for whatever plan she, or Ada, has cooked up. I’m sure this is going to be one of those big revelatory scenes, and they seem to be in a castle-like area, maybe the same one from before, with the naked zombies. Once again, it could be a huge church, too.

Welcome to China. Here’s where Chris will be spending some time in the game. While Leon is caught up in Tall Oaks, Mr. Redfield has been dispatched with his team to China so they can stop yet another outbreak. This is where things get action-packed, akin to Chris’s last outing in Resident Evil 5.

And there he is! Good ol’ Chrisssssss. He’s still rockin’ that BSAA patch, too. He’s looking as badass as ever. He’s about to land along with his team. It’s time for this man to battle bio-terrorism once more. Chris says something about it being time to face the truth and take responsibility. Could he have something to do with this outbreak? Doubtful on that note, but I think he said that because he always blames himself whenever an outbreak does occur and innocent people die because of it.

Chris don’t like the paparazzi, yo. In what’s a televised occurrence in the streets of this Chinese city, Chris is running through civilians here, trying to make it to where the action is at. We then see other BSAA operatives join him.

More pushing through scared people here. Chris has a mission to do after all. To think that these streets will soon be filled with BOWs.

Here’s Chris rendezvousing with his team right before they bust into a room where we have a not-so friendly person. And, yes, said person will show off his cool mutation to the gang.

Can you do a trick like that? This guy’s in the process of turning into a full-blown BOW. And as we see later on, his mutated form sort of resembles a bug, well, at least his head does.

Some now standard cover-based gunplay. Resident Evil 6 will be utilizing this mechanic once more, but it seems like it’ll be employed more heavily in Chris’s scenario as opposed to Leon’s. The enemies here also seem to be different when it comes to abilities; these guys, like some of the enemies from Resident Evil 5, are able to wield actual fire-arms. Maybe this is a different strain of the virus? Speculate away!

We’re back to the mutating guy from before. This BOW is named Javo. I don’t know about you, but those eyes make me think of bugs. Maybe this new virus is based somewhat on insects. That would also explain the spider-web-like substance surrounding the game’s logo. Of course, this will be a boss encounter. Unless Capcom decides to make these guys pretty common, ramping up the action.

We finally get a look at who seems to be Alex Wesker. His true identity at this point is debatable, but it’s really likely that’s he’s the missing Wesker. It looks like he too, like Chris, has been sent to a hot-spot, where another outbreak has taken place. And guess who he’s brought along? We’ll find out in a bit.

That looks like the BOW Chris and his team were faced with. Bug eyes. He seems to have an elongated arm, making him akin to Code Veronica’s Bandersnatches. They should be no match for Alex, though. I mean, this guy’s got some moves.

More hand-to-hand action with Alex taking on more enemies here. These are the gun-wielding ones Chris was seen fighting as well, so it looks like Alex will be crossing paths with Chris at some point in his scenario. His melee moves aren’t unlike Albert’s, making it even more likely that he is, in fact, Alex. It seems Capcom has flexed their combo-based Devil May Cry muscle with Alex’s scenario. Alex seems to be all about quick melee moves, and he’s able to hold his own against a pack of enemies with just that.

A new BOW has been revealed. This one is quite big, combined with what looks like some machinery. He seems to behave like a T-103 type Tyrant, too, as we’ll see in a bit. he also reminds me of a Talos type creature, especially because of the noticeable machinery implemented into his design.

Why, that’s none other than Ashley Graham from Resident Evil 4. The (former) President’s daughter herself. Does she know at this point what’s happened back at the White House? Why would she be running around with Alex? Did the President intentionally send her with Alex to this location, to possibly retrieve a virus sample, or something else? Alex is an important man to the world, as we learn later in the trailer, and Ashley is the President’s daughter. So it’ll be interesting to see how they initially cross paths.

Here’s another theory: maybe after learning about her father’s death at the hands of Leon and Helena, Ashley decides to get out of America, and on her retreat she meets up with Alex. And just like that she’s sucked into another big, BOW-infused, adventure.

Another shot of this huge BOW. He’s sure to be a thorn on Alex and Ashley’s sides as they try to make their way through this unknown city (it’s possibly in London). I’m excited to see how the actual boss fight will play out, since Alex is so reliant on his melee attacks to get the job done.

And the chase is on! The new BOW is chasing after Alex and Ashley. This particular “running” scene reminds me of an Uncharted type scenario. Alex’s gameplay seems to be more about free-running, with some platforming possibly thrown in there. It seems that Capcom will be doing some new things we haven’t seen before in the Resident Evil series with Alex’s scenario. He’s almost like a male Alice type character.

Another shot of both Alex and Ashley. She seems to be injecting something into Alex in order to stabilize him. She says how she won’t let him die and how the world needs him. Alex’s scenario now seems like it’ll have a very strong co-op mechanic to it, with you having to keep close to Ashley in order for her to stabilize you when you need to be. I’m sure one of the main things you’ll have to worry about when playing as Alex is protecting Ashley, and hell, these two may end up forming a loving bond with each other. How sweet.

Alex is in a bit of tough situation here. He’s at the mercy of this new BOW, and this may be a QTE-heavy sequence.

Alex knows how to shoot a gun, too! His scenario should definitely have some interesting gameplay moments, with regular firefights turning into close quarters melee combat seamlessly. Yeah, this may be totally unlike what we’ve been used to before, but it makes sense to make Alex’s gameplay like this, since he is like Wesker. Also, we see that big BOW here again, and some mercenary type enemies. Is this a bathroom?

Some good ol’ platforming in play here. Yeah, I know, Nathan Drake was chased by a chopper in a similar way in Uncharted 2, but nonetheless, Alex’s platforming mechanics should prove to be quite exciting, taking a page from Capcom’s DMC book.

As you can see, machine-like claws shoot out of the BOW’s arm. Not just that, but looking at his body it definitely looks like he’s the subject of a different type of infection. Also, does his face look like a dog’s to anyone else?

A nice shot of Alex again. This time he’s injecting himself with something that’s most likely keeping him alive, maybe it’s the same injection Wesker was using? What exactly is going through his veins that may lead to him needing this? He states how it’s his blood that the world wants, not exactly him. And that’s he’s willing to give it if given the right amount of funds. Maybe the blood flowing through his body is the key to stop the outbreak and counter this new virus. Mass-production of his blood would definitely be something the world wants, and maybe it’s the BSAA that’s on the hunt for him. Or maybe it’s Ada, possibly needing his blood for something else. He is a Wesker child after all, so his blood could be a double-edged sword.

This is pretty neat. This new grenade seems to shoot out what may be little needles containing a virus, or maybe it just explodes into an acid-like substance. Either way, you can see the gruesome results below.

It’s a quick reaction to whatever substance the grenade gives off. The question is, who threw it? Maybe it’s those gun-wielding enemies, who seem to be an evolution of the ganados and majini.

And pop goes the BSAA operative. Again, I must stress how powerful a weapon this grenade is. It may not be a frag grenade but it’s definitely infused with some sort of virus, making it just as deadly to anyone near its blast radius.

OK, this is a pretty interesting bit right here. Chris mentions a “bitch” and how she’s lead to many deaths already, especially from his own team. His partner then tells him to take any personal vendetta out of the mission. The question is, who’s the “bitch” that Chris is talking about? Again, I’m going to say it’s none other than Ms. Wong herself. Now this is where it gets even more interesting.

We can all expect Leon and Chris’s paths to eventually cross. But it might be Leon who finds out that Ada is behind everything first. Hell, she may show up in Leon’s scenario too, revealing her big plan for the world (which may or may not fall in line with what Wesker envisioned). Now we all know how much Leon cares about Ada. Chris? Not so much. So when Chris finds out he’s definitely going to make it a mission to find and kill Ada. A Leon and Chris fistfight anyone? I’m sure Leon will try to reason with Chris, telling him that Ada wouldn’t do something like this.

Here we see Chris and his partner looking at many of the victims who’ve fallen to this new viral threat. Some of them are possible even from Chris’s team, which is what enrages him even more and causes him to nearly hulk out.

It’s that Bandersnatch-type enemy called Javo again.  This one’s arm looks a bit different than the previous one, so maybe it’s another form with enhanced abilities. Or maybe that’s just what its arm looks like when it stretches out a long distance. Even behind cover, it looks like we won’t be entirely safe Javo’s long-range grab attacks. Also, notice the change in scenery? Looks like Chris will be going on a globe-trotting adventure in Resident Evil 6. Here he seems to be somewhere in Europe (judging by the architecture).

Just like you’ll be able to in Revelations, when downed in Resident Evil 6, you’ll still be able to shoot at enemies. This should definitely ramp up the intensity in various combat scenarios, especially one like this where you’re going up against a bigger BOW.

Looks like Helena will be playable as well throughout Leon’s scenario. Here we see her struggling to get a zombie off of her. So there’s bound to be moments where Leon and her split up, making us experience things from both their perspectives, similar to Claire and Leon’s dual stories in Resident Evil 2.

Another “get off me!” moment. I like this particular one because it’s a cop zombie! I love cop zombies, they instantly make me think of Resident Evil 2. This particular cop looks like the virus is still flowing through his veins as you can see on his arm. And his face isn’t as grotesque as the other zombies, so perhaps he was just recently turned. Maybe he was even helping Leon until the infection took over.

Some CQC action here, but what’s interesting is the mask this foe is wearing. These aren’t your typical zombies, they’re more like Resident 4 and 5′s smarter enemies. But what’s up with the mask? It’s probably some type of mercenary group custom to differentiate the groups from each other.

This shot basically confirms that we’ll actually be able to use melee weapons, with an axe being a very friendly option for Leon in this situation. Poor zombie, now he has an axe driven deep into his cranium. R.I.P. (x2). It’ll be interesting to see how vast the range of melee weapons is though, and the various ways you can implement them into your combat strategies. Come to think of it, seeing as how Leon’s side of the story is more about survival horror, maybe melee weapons will play a bigger role when playing as him. Ammo’s sure to be scarce, so resorting to axes and other such weapons would give you a better chance of survival when your clips are empty. They may also be breakable, so we would have to use them wisely.

Like Chris in a previous shot, here Leon is down but still able to shoot at incoming zombies. But it’s the way he gets down that’s interesting. Leon actually performs a Proto Man slide here, revealing another gameplay mechanic that’s sure to come in handy when faced with hordes of relentless foes. Sliding also gives you an upper hand since you’ll also be knocking down enemies to the ground as you go. Take advantage and perform those head shots!

How sweet. Alex is there for Ashley whenever she falls. He’s riding a pretty sweet bike, too. It made me scream out “Claire!” at first, but then I saw him riding it. I’m really excited to see how These two will meet up with Chris, and what type of encounter it’ll be, because Chris seems pretty pissed off.

Alex Wesker is quite the acrobat. Here he’s leaping towards an airborne aircraft. The pilot seems to be one of the infected, so we’ll probably have to worry about these guys shooting us from the skies above, too. He’s no match for Alex, though.

Once again, we see Leon in that castle area again. Being no stranger to castles and BOWs, Leon should feel right at home. And look who’s giving him the big welcome hug. This new BOW looks pretty nasty, and it gets worse as we see below.

That’s quite a tongue. It reminds me of the Lickers, and their whip-like tongues. This BOW seems like it’s going to be a big threat in this level, and hell, I think it looks pretty damn creepy.

You can’t have a Resident Evil game without some infected canines. This one looks a bit more grotesque than the ones that came before, especially when its head stretches upwards, going for a fatality on Leon.

This series has been long known to have some pretty memorable bosses. Resident Evil 6 is primed to follow that tradition. Here we see a BOW colossus. This creature just towers over Chris and his team. This is definitely going to be one of those big “holy shit” moments in the game.

Chris look like he’s experiencing quite a headache. What’s interesting here is that his partner looks unaffected. Has Chris been injected with something? Will hallucinations play a role in the game? That would be quite awesome, and it would bring back a feature that was initially intended to be in Resident Evil 5.

Here’s another shot at the giant BOW as he’s busting his way through to attack Chris and his team. Again, I’m very, very excited about seeing this boss fight play out and even more excited to see if other bosses in Chris’s scenario will be colossal like this one.

And the trailer ends with this scene, showing Leon and Helena inside a rolling bus it seems. It’s probably rolling down a cliff which then ends up crashing into the nearby woods. And, of course, the woods aren’t safe. Hordes of zombies await Leon and Helena there, and I’m sure other horrors will also emerge.

————————————————————————-

Well there you have it! This has been the longest reHorror column to date. And since this is Resident Evil 6 we’re talking about, I have no complaints at all. So I really hope you’ve enjoyed this lengthy read. This weekly column is now going to be running wild with speculation in the weeks and months to come, as we look forward to the game’s November 20th release date. It’s the best time to be a fan of this series, and we have a lot on our plate going forth into this new year. So while Resident Evil 6 may be the top thing on our collective minds, let’s not forget about Revelations and Operation Raccoon City!

Enjoy the weekend, everyone.

– Jorge

reHorror: Resident Evil 6 trailer analysis is a post from: Rely on Horror

Jorge Bocanegra

The Big Cheese.

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Another day, another Resident Evil Revelations post as we continue marching ever onwards to the game’s February 7th release date. Yup, all’s right in the world! Today we have something rather cool for you to check out: official descriptions for some of the game’s enemies, straight from its official Japanese site. Oh, and there’s also a neat little bit of history pertaining to the T-Abyss virus and its origin. You can find my summed up version of all the information below.

T-Abyss

As with all bad things, it always starts with curiosity. A group of scientists from the Montpellier University of Marine Science one day stumbled upon a species of deep-sea fish. They just so happened to be carriers of a virus that ended up being referred to as “Abyss” because you know, they were found deep in the sea, and also because of the fear of said depths. So what happens then? Well, this “Abyss” virus was combined with the T-Virus and…yeah, you probably know what happens next. It’s classic Resident Evil from that point on, with BOWs galore!

The site then gives us a listing of some of the enemies we’ll be facing off against in the game. First up are the regular Ooze we’ve been seeing a lot of for months.

Ooze

This is what happens when a regular person is infected with this new virus. Their entire cellular make-up gets altered, making them able to absorb an uncanny amount of water and also making them liquid in their physical state due to all their internal organs basically melting due to osmotic pressure. And after infected, they absolutely need to suck on victims for fluids in order to survive.

Then there’s various mutations of the Ooze. Some of them have claw-like arms, others are completely distorted in form, and others shoot bones like bullets.

Sea Creeper

This monstrous BOW is what happens when the virus is injected into a female host. The woman’s long hair is still here, in a mutated form of course, and it covers the creeper’s entire body, allowing it to move freely through water. It also allows them to move underwater silently. Kinda creepy if I do say so myself. Once this creature gets near its prey it emerges, holding the poor victim with its six arms tightly while it happily eats its flesh. It’s impossible to escape when you’re being held by this creatures, this act of embracement is strong because it reminds the creature of its mother’s love. (I see you, Lisa.)

Scagdead

This big boy here is one of the boss-like BOWs we’ll be facing in the game. These are special mutations that occur rarely (can only be accomplished in 1 out of 100 subjects). Basically, the host presents a strong resistance to the virus, said resistance only slows down an infection that will eventually succeed in overflowing through the blood of the host, though, so it’s only a matter of time with these rare cases.

As the infection begins to do its work, the host shows signs of a high fever and tumors growing around their neck/shoulder area. As the infection continues, the host starts to gradually lose consciousness. It’s quite sad because the host knows that they’re being manipulated by this virus, yet they can’t do anything about it. Then we have what we see pictured above, and even in this “ultimate” state, the host can still be heard muttering words.

Ghiozzo

We’ve seen these guys before! They’re the piranha-like creatures that lurk through the flooded areas of the luxury cruise ship. This is what happens when the virus infects regular fish– and these mutated fishes resemble what the scientists found before, which had the “Abyss” virus coursing through their blood. A group of these ferocious sea creatures can eat through large mammals, bones and all, within mere seconds. Might want to be careful around these guys!

Farfarello

The good ol’ Hunters! But wait, these aren’t regular Hunters…These aren’t the mean-green machines from the past (though I’m sure they’re still big meanies!) now they’re infected with the T-Abyss virus, giving them a new name: Farfarello (derived from one of the 12 devils from Dante’s Divine Comedy). These new pale Hunters have been granted new abilities by this virus: now they’re able to mimic they’re surroundings and camouflage, making them even more deadlier than ever before.

[Source]

Resident Evil Revelations: T-Abyss origin revealed, enemy descriptions is a post from: Rely on Horror

Jorge Bocanegra

The Big Cheese.

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Who would’ve thought that the BSAA would be taking a page out of Samus Aran’s book? Well, it sure seems that way, thanks to the Genesis Scanner. I still can’t get over how satisfying, and helpful, it is to actually use this new item in the game. It works just how you would imagine it to, and should be really familiar to fans of the excellent Metroid Prime trilogy: you simply bring out the device and scan away. You can scan enemies as well as objects that may be housing some hidden items. Those eager to seek out everything in the game should have their hands full thanks to the scanner, and I’m sure it’ll be used in very interesting ways as we get deeper into the game. Also, the problem of running out of ammunition and health supplies is somewhat remedied by being able to scan for some hidden supplies. So, if you find yourself completely at a loss of supplies, make sure to scan around you!

This next video gives us one very awesome throwback to the original Resident Evil’s intro, specifically when Joseph picked up a severed hand holding a gun (then being killed by dogs…). Here we see Jill taking part in that very same act, after detecting an item underneath all that Ooze residue (yuck). And would you look at that! One of the Ooze just pops out from behind Jill after she picks up the severed, gun-wielding, hand. The creature then gets downed, though. You will be remembered…This is most likely a very, very early scene from the game, possibly after the opening cinematic which we’ll get to shortly.

This is a video we’ve already seen through the Queen Zenobia’s official site back when it first launched, albeit with some new additions. We see more of the FBC here, with Parker and Raymond being shown in panic amidst Veltro’s terrorist attack on the aquatic city of Terragrigia. We also see O’Brian with Morgan, as well as a Hunter disintegrating after the FBC opts to use the very satellite that’s been keeping the city up and running the whole time to destroy it completely, ceasing any chance of another viral outbreak like what happened in Raccoon City.

I can’t get enough of these two guys. Quint and Keith may seem like characters that are better off not being part of a game like this, but still, their combined effort to bring about a good dose of comic relief is more than welcome. Here we see the pair of BSAA operatives checking out some security footage, looking at what seems to be the plane that leads to the snowy crash site…before it crashes. It seems that Veltro units were actually trying to escape, with Hunters coming in and leading to the plane’s crash (it didn’t get much air time). And speaking of Hunters, we see a bit more of them, specifically the invisible ones.

Okay, okay, let’s get this out of the way first: there’s no ghosts in Revelations. Quint and Keith are just poking fun, but you must admit that Hunters with the ability to turn invisible are just as frightening, if not more. As we know, players will have to utilize the Genesis scanner in order to be able to see said foes. If not then, well…you’re f*cked. We also see one of the Veltro victims drop something as they’re being flailed around in the air by one of the Hunters. Perhaps that’s a key we’ll have to obtain?

And here’s the game’s opening cinematic. It all starts with a peaceful boat ride to the Queen Zenobia, where a good chunk of the game is set to take place on. Jill and Parker’s main objective is to find Chris, whose last-known coordinates place him aboard that very ship. But, as we all know, things will go bad quickly, and the pair will end up being faced with conspiracies galore. I’m glad to see that Revelations is Jill’s game, with all the other characters filling in supporting roles. And I don’t know about you, but I love me some Jill Valentine any day of the week.

Well there you have it! If IGN decides to post some more videos (they probably will) then you can rest assured that we will be breaking them down, piece by piece. Did you notice anything I may have left out? If so, let me know in the comments below!

Breaking down some more Resident Evil Revelations videos is a post from: Rely on Horror

Jorge Bocanegra

The Big Cheese.

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As I’ve been working on the comic, I’ve learned a lot of interesting things about Resident Evil, both about the series’ deep history, but also about the creation of the series as a whole. Of course, Unlimited is far from being the first Resident Evil comic, so I decided to do some research into what has been done with the series in this medium before. Turns out, quite a bit! Resident Evil has had about five separate comic series, both in the states, and in Japan. Some of them are a little hard to find information on, and others are impossible, so bare with me here.

(WARNING: SPOILERS! IF YOU AREN’T FAMILIAR WITH RESIDENT EVIL, THESE COMICS GAVE AWAY LOTS OF MAJOR PLOT TWISTS AND SO FORTH. PROCEED WITH CAUTION)

The very first Resident Evil comic book was published in April 1996 as a free pre-order bonus with the game by Marvel comics. The comic served as a prequel to the original game’s story, and offered up lots of information about the characters and back-story that wouldn’t be in the games until much later in the series (for instance, the comic references the death of Edward Dewy, who was never mentioned in the original Resident Evil, and would never even be heard of by name again until the unreleased Nintendo 64 version of Resident Evil 0). The comic starts off with Richard Aiken attempting to contact the R.P.D. via his radio, but ends up being chased through the mansion by zombies, and visiting some familiar RE1 locals, like the armor gallery, and accidentally sets off the poison gas trap (which in the original game involved a very simple pushing puzzle, and has since been replaced by a significantly more complicated one in the REmake on the GameCube.)

The comic goes on to show Richard’s encounter with Yawn, the giant snake, which results in his eventual death (Richard’s character was very light in the original game, with him only serving as a way to acquire a radio in Jill’s game. He is already dead in Chris’ scenario, and it stayed that way until Resident Evil: Director’s Cut a year later). The comic also explores Albert Wesker’s connection to the Bravo Team’s helicopter crash, and his plans for S.T.A.R.S. (which I think is pretty crummy, since Wesker’s betrayal is a twist at the very end of the game. Sure, everyone saw it coming, but it’s still pretty crummy). It also shows the R.P.D. building, but as the building wouldn’t be designed until the final version of Resident Evil 2 nearly three years later, the version in the comic book is just a generic police station. It also explores the S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team’s doings before the events of Resident Evil 1, showing that they apparently slept at the station (don’t these people have homes?). The comic seems to have inspired S.D. Perry’s novel “The Umbrella Conspiracy”, in terms of the briefing Wesker gives Alpha Team and Jill talking with Barry about her misgivings. I find this interesting, since S.D. Perry’s novel wouldn’t be published until after Resident Evil 2 was released.

Next up is the Resident Evil: Official Comics Magazine, which was published by Wild Storm Comics just after Resident Evil 2 was released in the US. The first issue served as sort of a bridge between Resident Evils 1 and 2. Each issue featured a handful of stories inspired by the Resident Evil universe, some taking it more seriously than others. The opening story shows Albert Wesker on the phone with Umbrella HQ, explaining each member of S.T.A.R.S. and what their specialties are (This was very interesting for Resident Evil fans, as a pretty good chunk of RE1’s cast was unseen, or at least not in detail. It showcased Richard, Kenneth, Forest and several other characters who previously where faceless, more or less).

The comic also shows John Toleman, Ada Wong’s otherwise completely unseen boyfriend, and tells the story of how he was infected, the puzzle involving the Adam and Eve painting, and shows him writing his letter to Ada as he turns.

Other stories go between interesting and strange, including a story where Jill fights a Werewolf (?) prior to Resident Evil 1’s events (??), a story where Jill and Chris discuss the events of Resident Evil 1, and poke fun at the fact that they experienced the same events so differently (Chris comments on how he found Jill locked in the cell at the end of the game, and Jill disputes this with him, claiming she found him in the cell).

It also contains a very cool story about how the virus leaked into Raccoon City, and even shows the events that led up to how the fuel truck driver from Resident Evil 2s opening cinema was bitten! It’s important to note, however, that this comic was created before much of Resident Evil’s canon was set in stone, so the creators of the comic took lots of liberties crafting the story (even going as far as to say that the outbreak in Raccoon City was caused by a vial of T-Virus that was flung into the Circular River when the Spencer Estate detonated at the end of Resident Evil. This is actually a little odd, since the outbreak in Raccoon City is very clearly explained in Resident Evil 2).

The next Resident Evil mini-series didn’t come out until 2000, coinciding with the release of CODE: Veronica on the Sega Dreamcast. Resident Evil: Fire and Ice is a completely non-canon comic that follows a third S.T.A.R.S. team, Charlie Team. Charlie Team may have been created under the premise of S.T.A.R.S. from the S.D. Perry novels, where the organization is global as opposed to being a local division of the R.P.D. as it is in the games (which is the only way to explain this team’s existence). The comic has numerous strange problems with continuity, and the writers where very apathetic with researching the series. Most of the comic’s ties to the game are wrong, even down to the zombies themselves (who are smart enough not only to use weapons, like axes and swords, put to pull off their own limbs and hurl them at the characters).

The story arc was only four issues long, and was collected nine years later by Dark Horse comics, who also included sections of the Official Comics Magazine from 1998 in the book as well.

The most recent comic book is simply titled “Resident Evil”, and was designed as a prequel to Resident Evil 5, following a division of the B.S.A.A. unrelated to Chris and Sheva. It’s not entirely clear just how canon this comic is (Probably not at all, based on the previous comics), and features many old Resident Evil monsters, such as Lickers, Hunters and G-Virus infected zombies. Early adds mentioned Chris Redfield, and his journey to Africa, but he never ended up appearing in the comic at all. Instead it ends up following the hilariously named Holiday Sugarman. The comic is actually pretty cool, despite how weird (and kind of silly) it gets (ZOMBIES IN SPACE. I KID YOU NOT.)

Of course, Japan gets everything cool. In 1999, an official manga based on Resident Evil 3, or as it’s called in Japan (or Nippon, I guess, since I’m getting technical), Bio Hazard 3: The Last Escape. It’s a fairly decent adaptation of RE3, and even tries to work in a little more story (for instance, detailing Nemesis’ back-story (An actually pretty tragic tale of a pro-boxer who has debt, and is forced by Umbrella to sell himself as a test subject to keep his family safe- and Nemesis has recurring memories that it is trying to fight off throughout the story. It’s possible that this was an inspiration on the movie version) and on it’s creation, and how Nemesis got his characteristic staple-scar.

What’s also really cool is how the manga works Resident Evil 2’s story in, and eventually culminates into NEMESIS fighting Mr. X, which is- and you can quote me on this- the greatest anything ever.

Sadly, this manga never made it to the States, and the only translations are done by fans.

And last, but not least, is the Resident Evil- Code: Veronicamanga adaptation, which was eventually brought Stateside. Although it gets a little off-rails at certain points (Steve shoots a zombified Claire, and then learns that he is apparently insane? I guess, they never really touch back on it). Unfortunately, this manga was made BEFORE the Director’s Cut version (CVX), and my favorite cut scene (Chris and Wesker’s fight at the end of the game) isn’t included in the manga.

Well, there you have it folks! A complete list of every Resident Evil comic ever made (officially). I had a lot of fun researching it, and I urge you to pester Capcom about bringing that RE3 manga to the states on the Capcom-Unity forums! And, finally, here’s a little piece of what’s in store for you next Thursday, with Resident Evil: Unlimited Chapter 1-2: Insanity!

Thanks for reading everyone! And special thanks to Biohaze, Resident Evil Wikia, and the Marvel database for the information and pictures!

Horror by the books is a post from: Rely on Horror

Rourke

I'm a young artist from Pittsburgh, PA who is a tremendous fan of all things horror. It's VERY difficult to actually scare me, so when something accomplishes it, I love it forever. Resident Evil has always been my favorite, ever since I was a little kid, but I'm perfectly happy to spend time with Silent Hill, Fatal Frame and many other games.

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So, I’m quite honored to present you all with this interview with the voice behind the lady in red, Sally Cahill. I hope you all enjoy it! A special thanks to Mortal Kombat Online’s Senior Editor, Tony Deklan, who made this possible for us. So make sure to check out Mortal Kombat Online after you read this!

Q: What was the catalyst for you pursuing a career in acting and establishing yourself as an actress?

Wow, that first question is a big one. I have many reasons and inspirations  in my earlier years. One I can tell you is my parents took me to the ballet when I was six or seven. I loved the dancers but there were actors in small roles as mimes in it, too. One actress opened a gift and discovered a beautiful feather boa, then proceeded to saunter about the stage, upstaging  every one else with her antics. On the way home my parents asked me if I was interested in ballet. I said no, I want to be  that actress with the boa!

Q: How did you initially obtain the role of Ada Wong back in Resident Evil 2, was it via a referral or did you audition for the part?

I think I had done some other work for the company. And I remember doing some Japanese dialogue totally in phonetics for the voice over director, so they all knew me a bit. Then I auditioned and got the part. They thought I had a sexy voice. I guess I did!

Q: During the process in the beginning and throughout establishing Ada’s voice, were you allowed to take any creative liberties with the role, in terms of her voice and her general demeanor, etc?

Well, to an extent, but so much of the work is done in the casting to begin with. The sound and edge you bring is taken care of well before you approach the line creatively. Then they are on you then for every line, every inflection. It’s all very important as you only have your voice to convey what they need to get across in the story. In between all that I get a chance to offer what i think Ada should give to the line and sometimes there is a debate back and forth from the mic to the control room..but it’s certainly not all my way! It’s give and take.

Q:  What was your favorite aspect of voicing Ada? Do you also feel anything relatable with her or anything you can identify with?

Oh, I love Ada. I love her resilience, her strength with still being sexy and very female. I like to feel I am that way, too . I find her coolness and intelligence also attractive.

Q: What is it that you think defines Ada as a character and sets her apart from her female peers in the franchise?

To me she is much more of an oddity, and a mystery. Not all is played out. She holds her cards close to her body and only lets you see so much. Now and then bits and pieces of her break through in the dialogue and the read, even the crack in my voice. Some gamers are so adept though, it amazes me how they can gleen on these things!

Q:  What was the decision to not give Ada her ‘real’ voice in Umbrella Chronicles? Was it Capcom’s decision or were you tied up with other commitments?

That question has been asked many times. I’m not sure of the answer, all i know is they did that one totally in L.A with a new V.O director and venue, with actors situated there. It could be money, convenience of local (?). I’m sure they all did a great job.

Q:  How does the voice recording process work? Are you generally in a sound studio alone, or is it also acted out with the other actors to give the dialogue a more authentic finish?

I am often alone. Though I might see another actor in the green room or “waiting room.” But for the most part I am alone . I am watching a tract, with wipes on a screen. I’m usually in the dark with headphones filling my ears with sound effects, watching Ada and trying  to become her. It’s a very unreal experience sometimes.

Q: Have you ever played any of the Resident Evil games? If so, which is your favorite? We are guessing Ada’s Seperate Ways campaign in Resident Evil 4?

Right ON!!

Q: We know you cannot divulge any information of upcoming Resident Evil games, but personally how would you rate Ada’s chances of returning in a future game, more importantly re-hiring your voice talent?

Well as I get older my voice lowers, so at some point I don’t know. I’m not sure what direction RE will take now. It’s been a great run and I loved her. Many who have played the game  have told me there will never be another Ada Wong the way I voiced her and created her and that makes me feel terribly thrilled and grateful for the chance to have played her at all. So many new games are being developed but I think Resident Evil will be remembered as one of the most popular.

Q:  Outside of the Resident Evil universe, where may we have seen some of your work and what has been the highlight of your career thus far?

Oh, that’s a hard one. I loved so many things. Much of my work is done in Canada. I just finished a historical thing for the CBC and also a Murdoch Mystery which aired recently, and shot a commercial yesterday. I love working in Prague for the Composers Series, playing  characters in Road to Avonleaea and Wind at my Back for Sullivan Entertainment will always be a highlight. As was the seasons I spent at the Stratford Festival. It seems I’m always in a period piece wearing  a corset. I think that’s one thing I really loved about Ada. She was a totally hip, modern, kick ass femme fatale who could handle weapons awsomely…and no corset!

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Well, hope you all enjoyed that! It’s always nice to learn more about the voices behind our favorite characters in the world of survival horror, so I hope you all gained even more love for Ada, and Sally, after having read this. Again, a special thank you to Mortal Kombat Online. Go check them out! And yeah, who would’ve thought a Mortal Kombat-centered site would’ve granted us the ability to publish this, right?!

An interview with the lady in red, Ada Wong is a post from: Rely on Horror

Jorge Bocanegra

The Big Cheese.

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We received two big trailers on Monday from Capcom’s Gamers Day press event: one for the aforementioned squad-based shooter and the other for Resident Evil Revelations. So, as always, I’m going to be dissecting and breaking down both new trailers as much as I can. Granted, some of the things I’m going to be noting below may have already been spotted by the eyes of many a die hard Resident Evil fan. So, if anything, consider this a neat recap of all the juicy details we can pick out from this new pair of trailers.

Join me as I dissect Operation Raccoon City’s Gamers Day 2011 trailer.

Capcom sure loves starting their trailers with a close-up of an eye, don’t they? This one can’t really be related to the G-eye, though, seeing as how it looks pretty normal, possibly belonging to someone watching things unfold. You can almost see a screen of some sort in the eye’s reflection, so maybe this is the person watching the surveillance footage we’re about to get to.

I also find it kind of interesting how it quickly shifts from blue to red, serving as another nod to the series’ past, what with the ever so popular blue and red tiger eyes you had to originally collect in the first game.

This shot is from a scene we’ve already witnessed, thanks to Inserted Evil. Here we see Nicholai, of Resident Evil 3 fame, betraying his fellow UBCS soldiers. Yeah, I’m quite sure those poor guys weren’t expecting that. Then it gets worse once the zombies start getting in on the fun.

Nicholai’s going to be factoring largely into the plot of this game, and we’re going to get to see more of him as he partakes in Operation Watchdog. He pops up some more times in this trailer too.

Here’s a thought-provoking shot. We see what are most likely US  Spec Ops soldiers on the ground, being confronted by an unidentified BOW. It surely is a BOW since just by looking at its silhouette alone is enough to make one believe that this isn’t a regular human. The question is: what BOW is this?

In this particular shot you can somewhat clearly see it walking away, with one huge right arm. It could be William exiting after he says hello and introduces himself to the Spec Ops soldiers. Or it could be the T-103 tyrant perhaps, sans the stylish coat. This is something that should definitely elicit much discussion (or maybe I’m just looking into this too much…).

In one of those classic “blink and you miss it” scenes, an “intruder detected” screen is quickly seen for a split second. This then leads to the shot we see pictured above. Yes, that right there is Claire, or as the USS is labeling her: the intruder.

What’s even more interesting about this shot is the exact location of it. I think this is actually one of the main generators in Umbrella’s secret facility’s power room, which we traversed in Claire and Leon’s B scenarios in Resident Evil 2. Claire is highlighted here, though, possibly suggesting that Claire’s B scenario is the one this game’s plot is going to run with. Or maybe Capcom’s opting to making alterations to Resident Evil 2’s scenarios. And to further help prove this as being the main generator, we get to see it seemingly explode, which in Resident Evil 2 leads to the facility’s self-destruct system being initiated.

The money shot. While Revelations is bringing us back to the world of survival horror, Operation Raccoon City will be bringing us back to where it all started: Raccoon City. They’re also doing it in a way that should definitely cater to fans of Resident  Evil 2 and 3, by setting the game’s plot during the events of those classic titles. Basically, we’re set to learn more about what Umbrella was up to as the actual outbreak was occurring, specifically the USS. Will Lupo and her squad make it out alive? Or will they die along with the city they’ve had a hand in unleashing hell on?

Now this would make for an awesome desktop background on one’s computer. This screen depicts the many BOWs that have been deployed in Raccoon City amidst the outbreak. What’s visible in this shot are a Hunter, a trio of Lickers, and the T-103 tyrant. This seems to be the way Umbrella is monitoring all of their BOWs off-site. Interestingly enough, we all see an infected kill count in this screen, which currently is at 1,116.

We already know that many classic BOWs will be returning with this game, but it’s just cool to see how said BOWs’ creators are keeping an eye on them, and thus, everything that’s going on in the city.

I say this all the time, but Nemesis in Operation Raccoon City really does look adorable (does that sound wrong?). So much so that I would love to see Capcom offer a Nemesis plush doll exclusively on their online store when you pre-order the game from them (hey, there’s an idea!).

We get to see more of this classic foe later on in the trailer too. This is just the awakening scene which we already saw prior, thanks to Inserted Evil once again.

What’s so special about this explosion? Well, I strongly believe this is the explosion caused by the crazy, zombified truck driver from Resident Evil 2’s intro, which then leads to Leon and Claire getting split up. This particular shot’s probably from the point of view of one of the USS members aboard a chopper, giving them a place to land to see what’s going on (and, you know, to kill Leon).

Or maybe Nemesis left something in the oven for too long.

Something’s trying to push through this barrier in this shot. But what could this thing be? Definitely a BOW, but which? It could end up being a pack of Hunters, but then again, they would just be able to leap over this with ease. One of the T-103 Tyrants perhaps?

Here’s an awesome shot of Nemesis walking away with swagger, with his trusty rocket launcher in hand. This is possibly right after he’s been awakened and gets his personal, one-shot-kill, belonging, as we saw in the Inserted Evil video. He definitely seems to be in the same warehouse. Now he’s off to go flirt with Jill! Oh, and also to get rid of Brad.

There goes HUNK, after having obtained the G-Virus sample from Birkin, or, rather, after him and his team turned William’s chest into cheddar cheese and stole his life’s work. We all know how this particular scene unfolds, in a truly classic manner as shown in Resident Evil 2 and Outbreak’s amazing intro. HUNK survives, while his team gets completely torn apart by a mutating William. This scene has also been confirmed to serve as Operation Raccoon City’s intro, which in my opinion is going to be a pitch-perfect way to start things off.

The question is though: Will it be playable? Some of the new screens released, and even one scene at the end of this trailer, seem to indicate that we might actually be playing as HUNK in the game’s intro. It would be very nice, especially since we’ve already seen this play out in two games already, so being able to actually take on the role of HUNK during it would be pretty darn awesome. As cliche as it may sound, this may end up being quite an epic intro, and one of those set-piece moments all the kids are crazy about these days.

That maniac’s going to ram us! This is a recreation of a classic scene from Resident Evil 2’s intro right here. And this directly leads to Leon and Claire getting split up, or if you want to get technical, it leads to Leon A/ Claire B, or Claire A/ Leon B, it all depends on which one this game will be going with.

And as I’ve speculated before, I strongly believe that we may actually end up playing a sort of Resident Evil 2 remake once the final product hits in one of its confirmed extra modes. Said extra modes were strongly suggested by Capcom’s Mike Jones as possibly starring classic characters fans have come to love. So, why not offer an extra scenario covering some of the actual events in Resident Evil 2, from Leon and/or Claire’s perspective? I mean, the character models are there already, making them playable would be the only thing left. It may not be the standalone release a Resident Evil 2 remake deserves, but it would make perfect sense to make it part of Operation Raccoon City, since this game’s plot does span the exact time period Resident Evils 2 and 3 are set in.

Then we get a series of quick shots showing off the game’s tight and action-packed gameplay. Here we get to see the ongoing triple threat war going on in the city, with the US Spec Ops soldiers and the USS going at it while the classic zombies and their BOW buddies joining the fray. The best part of these bits of gameplay, for me at least, is when Vector shows off his unqiue special ability: cloaking and shape-shifting.

After taking down a Spec Ops soldier, HUNK’s protege’ is then able to assume his entire form. This is definitely going to be really fun to use and very useful to boot, especially while partaking in online competitive play. Beltway’s ability to place a grenade in a zombie’s mouth and make it blow is also quite awesome. And I hope I’m not the only one that’s excited about seeing the lone female zombie from Resident Evil 2 back in this game, now in HD along with some other female zombies (BFFS?).

(UPDATE: As our reader, Red-Dragon-Cro, pointed out, the soldier Vector is killing isn’t a Spec Ops soldier, it’s actually a UBCS operative. This pretty much confirms that we’ll be fighting them as well.)

Hello again, William. Having grown bored of fighting HUNK and his men, William is now going after the USS squad. And in this particular shot we get a peek of one of the boss battles we’ll have with the classic BOW. What I’m wondering about is where exactly this fight is going to take place. It looks to be a warehouse of some sort.

I know I say this all the time, but I’m way beyond excited about not only Birkin playing a role in this game (which should’ve been a no-brainer this whole time since, you know, he was quite central in Resident Evil 2), but also about actually confronting him throughout it. You can probably imagine how I felt when I locked my eyes onto all the screens showcasing him last week.

Nicholai is seen in this shot in the process of sniping a chopper. The question here is: who’s in said chopper? It would make sense for it to be carrying Spec Ops soldiers, but it could also be the chopper that was sent to pick up Jill in front of the clock tower in Resident Evil 3, which then got shot down by Nemesis. Sorry, Nicholai. Nemesis beat you to the punch there!

We’ve already learned that the game will be canon or non-canon, depending entirely on the player. So, if you do decide to go on ahead and kill Leon, then obviously, the game will automatically be considered non-canon. But, if you’re like me, and you want to experience the game’s story without screwing around with the series’ timeline, then you’re going to be met with a full-blown canon experience. This particular scene right here is definitely something players who try to kill Leon will see.

First of all, Leon and Claire were never together in a situation like this back in Resident Evil 2, especially not going up against the USS squad. Maybe Capcom is looking to alter some things here and there, but I don’t think that’s going to be the case in this shot. I think this is a scene we’ll see if we opt to take Leon’s life. In the end, it seems that we’re going to have a lot of choice in regards to how we let the story play out, with multiple endings perhaps.

Oh, and Leon using a sniper rifle during the events of Resident Evil 2? Blasphemy!

A continuation of the game’s intro where HUNK and his team are running away from a mutated Birkin after they’ve stolen his G-Virus sample. Here we see HUNK thrown across like a rag doll by an angry Mr. Birkin. This then results in the briefcase with the virus samples to be dropped, which, of course, can’t be good. As we all know, this results in the Raccoon City outbreak, because of those damn rats!

Nemesis sure loves his close-ups, here we have another shot of one of the most popular Resident Evil foes. He sure does know how to pose for a picture too. I mean, talk about excellent positioning of lighting. Also, this is just a little thing I found neat, but notice the three at the right? Yeah, he wants people to know what game he’s from!

We’re back to what I believe is the main power generators in the power room from Resident Evil 2’s secret Umbrella lab. I may end up being wrong about this, but I feel confident in this particular speculation. This then results in the self-destruct timer winding down, with the USS possibly swiftly on the move to off Claire and Leon before they can escape.

It’s Nicholai again. While he isn’t giving direct orders to you like HUNK is in the game, Nicholai is still set to play a huge role in the proceedings. He was a shady character in Resident Evil 3, and in Operation Raccoon City we’re going to see more of his personal agenda– like the surveillance tape from Inserted Evil and the beginning of this new trailer. His intentions may not be on par with the USS’, and ultimately Umbrella’s, so it’ll be interesting to see how things play out every time you and him cross paths.

And we also learn that Nicholai has a little contraption (which sounds kind of wrong!). Seriously though, his little contraption does cause one mean explosion (that sounds wrong again!) as we’ll soon see…

Don’t tell me you’re sick of seeing Nemesis! I know I nearly had to get a new pair of pants when I saw that awesome awakening video. We know he’s in the game, and we also know we’re going to cross paths with him at some point. But how many times will we actually fight him? And where?

It’s easier with Nemesis than it is with William in regards to fighting him in locations where we didn’t actually get to fight them in in their respective games, because Nemesis was actually roaming around the entire city looking for any last STARS member he could get a lock on. So we could easily have a boss battle with him in a brand new area in the city, whereas if the same were to happen with William, it would need some sort of explanation. Maybe Mr. Birkin opted to get some fresh air outside of the police station and all its underground passageways leading to the Umbrella facility.

What’s Nicholai blowing up now? I’m not quite sure, but something tells me he’s going to try and take down the USS at some point in the story. Or maybe here he’s just killing a bunch of Spec Ops soldiers. We know this man is a traitor, so it really wouldn’t be surprising to me to see him go against the USS and their mission. But what would he gain from that? Also, how awesome would it be to see him and HUNK go at it? Not exactly likely, but, who knows, it could happen.

Time to be faced with Mr.X’s second form! Things get serious once his stylish coat burns away when he’s dropped in a fiery pit. Mr.X emerges full of rage, ready to take down Claire or Leon, depending on who’s B scenario you’re doing. Seeing how amazing William and Nemesis look like in the game, I can’t wait to see how Mr. X’s second form looks like. It sure will be frightening, just like the boss battle itself will be. We know Ada drops the rocket launcher to aid you in this battle, so…will we be seeing Ada in this game? I’m 100% sure we will,but we’ll just have to wait for an official confirmation from Capcom regarding this.

“There are no survivors, they’re all dead,” says Jill. Carlos then responds by saying “This is war, survival is your responsibility.” Wait what?! Yes, while we may not actually see them in the trailer, the end of it does feature their voice overs. Nemesis has already been revealed as being part of this game, along with his Resident Evil 3 colleague, Nicholai, so it wont come as a shock whatsoever to see Jill and Carlos in the game as well. We still haven’t received an official confirmation relating to both characters but still, this dialogue between them takes care of that.

(UPDATE: As our reader, DarkDreamTCK, pointed out, it’s actually HUNK who states “This is war, survival is your responsibility.” Regardless, we still have Jill speaking in there, which more than confirms that she’s going to be in the game. And the person Jill’s talking to has to be Carlos after he asks if she knows of other survivors still in the city.)

But let’s go back to the actuals scene we see in this shot. Here we have what may be the end of the game’s intro where William is quickly getting closer and closer to HUNK. HUNK, being Mr. Death and the fourth survivor and all, shows no fear and continues shooting at the enraged, mutated scientist. Again, this should prove to be a breathtaking intro sequence to the game. I’m ready to get scared shitless by Birkin’s unsettling roar once again. But who am I kidding? I religiously play Resident Evil 2 almost every day!

And there you have it! It’s been one hell of a busy week with a plethora of Resident Evil news. But I loved covering every last bit of it. I also enjoyed sitting down and breaking down both Operation Raccoon City’s and Revelations’ new Gamers Day 2011 trailers to give you guys a more in-depth look at them.

I can’t say this enough but I absolutely cannot wait for early next year, it’s going to be packed with Resident Evil goodness! Has this new trailer gotten you even more interested in Operation Raccoon City? Or are you still trying your best to ignore this game (you really shouldn’t be) because of its more action-oriented nature? Let me know in the comments below!

reHorror: Breaking down Operation Raccoon City’s Gamers Day 2011 trailer is a post from: Rely on Horror

Jorge Bocanegra

The Big Cheese.

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We received two big trailers on Monday from last week’s Gamers Day, held by Capcom: one for the aforementioned squad-based shooter and the other for Resident Evil Revelations. So, as always, I’m going to be dissecting and breaking down both new trailers as much as I can. Granted, some of the things I’m going to be noting below may have already been spotted by the eyes of many a die hard Resident Evil fan. So, if anything, consider this a neat recap of all the juicy details we can pick out from this new pair of trailers.

Let’s start with Revelations’ brand new trailer. (My analysis of Operation Raccoon City’s trailer will go live tomorrow, so stay tuned!)

Things start off with a neat throwback (the first of three) to the series’ classic days, specifically Resident Evil 2. Yeah, this may not instantly confirm the involvement of the G-Virus in the game’s plot, but it’s still a neat reference nonetheless. And hell, for all we know, the G-Virus may end up actually having a role in the development of the T-Abyss virus. Because who’s to say Veltro hasn’t been able to obtain a sample, or perhaps they’ve succeeded in almost replicating it with their new water-based virus.

Or all of the above could be wrong and this just serves to give us an awesome cover…

Well would you look at that! My God, there’s so much going on in this scene! Okay, not really, but if you’ve been a fan of the series since the beginning, then you definitely know this famous phrase (and if you don’t then you deserve to be strangled by a Licker, or hugged by a Hunter, pick your poison).

It’s no mystery that Capcom has their eyes set on giving fans what they’ve been asking for since they got a bitter taste left in their mouths after Resident Evil 5: a return to form, or rather, a return to the world of survival horror. Rejoice, friends, with Resident Evil Revelations we’re going to get that traditional survival horror experience we’ve been clamoring for. (And if we don’t then you can hunt me down and force me to listen to fairy tales voiced by Alfred Ashford for hours on end.)

Uh oh, Jill. I wouldn’t do that if I were you. I mean, remember what happened to the last guy who tried to “pull” something like that off; a guy who just so happened to be Jill’s own partner, Joseph Frost.

Yes, yet another throwback and thoughtful nod for all us hardcore fans. Don’t fret, though. I’m quite sure the end results of this particular scene won’t end like it did for Joseph back in the original game’s intro, where he innocently tried to steal a gun from a severed hand… And plus, Revelations’ mutts are too busy chasing after Chris and Jessica. So, Jill’s safe.  It’s the Ooze she has to be worry about…

“No one’s saying Chris is dead” Parker tells Jill, pushing them ever onwards in their search for Chris, naturally– it is their mission afterall. This may not seem all that revelatory at all, but it continues to make me spend sleepless nights (okay, not really) wondering about how this search for Chris is actually going to play out.

With Parker saying something like that to his partner, it’s strongly suggested that they’re having a hard time finding Chris and Jessica aboard the luxury cruise ship, which is where their last known coordinates puts them. Have the coordinates somehow been forged by Veltro? Or perhaps by the Organization? Another intriguing query is: when exactly do Chris and Jessica actually arrive at the ship? And, of course, I just have to bring up the “Chris” that’s tied down to the chair, being held captive by the Veltro leader whose real name we’ll momentarily find out. Could said “Chris” end up being a clone of some sort? Basically, figuring out the actual time-line of events in this game is proving to be quite difficult, which is something I’m truly happy about actually, since, you know, we wouldn’t want to know how everything’s going to exactly play out a few months before the game actually hits. So, yeah, I’m enjoying this mystery.

Also, keep a mental picture in your head of the room we see Parker in here, when he’s talking to Jill. It seems to be a game room of some sort, what with slot machines being present behind him. This particular room seemingly serves as a backdrop to another scene later on in this trailer. But we’ll get to that. Also, this won’t be the first time we’ll be able to explore a game room in a Resident Evil title, since one was also featured in the Ashford Palace in CODE Veronica.

We’re then introduced to two more members of the BSAA: Keith Lumley and Quint Cetcham. Under the orders of O’Brian, Keith and Quint are sent off to an area which may or may not be the same one Chris and Jessica have already been seen traversing. It’s also been confirmed that both these new characters will be playable, meaning that the story now has another scenario under its belt to help flesh out the overall plot even more (Capcom is claiming this as being the best Resident Evil story to date after all.)

We already know that one of the main threats these two buddies will be facing are cloaking Hunters. Yes, Hunters that make themselves invisible to the bare eye, needing a scan by the Genesis scanner, which Quint just so happened to have created, in order to be visible. These confrontations should prove to be extremely tense and unnerving, because as you know, the Hunters are already a force to be reckoned with sans any additional enhancements, but now they can pull a Vector!

The scene then shifts to Quint who tells O’Brian that him and Keith have obtained the ship’s coordinates. Or are they directly contacting Chris? It would make more sense for O’Brian to be told this first, since he is overseeing the entire operation, with Chris then being the recipient of the coordinates, leading him and Jessica to the luxury cruise ship Jill and Parker are already busy looking for Chris in. And I must say that I find Quint worthy enough to join Mr. Ashford and Mr. Burnside in the annoying voice club.

Things then shift to Chris and Jessica’s scenario. We get a look at them in the snowy European mountain range, then in the confines of the luxury cruise ship. Now, I may be completely wrong here, but the room we see Jessica in here, pictured above, looks like it may be the game room Parker and Jill were in before. My reasoning for this? Well, that, to me at least, looks like a game wheel or board of some kind behind Jessica. Again, I may be wrong.

Regardless, it’ll be very interesting to see how both Jill and Chris’ (along with their new partners) scenarios aboard the ship will unfold. Will they run parallel to each other? Or will they be occurring at a different time altogether. Judging by this image, if it does turn out being in the same game room from before, then we could have either or happening before, or after, the other. That seems most likely at this point anyway. With perhaps Chris ending up getting captured at the end of his and Jessica’s trek through the ship, leading to Jill and Parker getting the coordinates. That would actually make the most sense, but, twists are abound in Revelations’ yarn so…anything could happen.

“What’s so important with this image?” I hear you ask. Well, a couple of things actually. Firstly, you got the coordinates for the ship that Keith and Quint were talking about earlier. I’m sure this is being sent from O’Brian straight to Chris and Jessica. Oh, and this also happens to be the coordinates for Chris’ location too– so it could actually be Jill and Parker looking at it in this shot.

The second thing is something that I noticed after observing this image longer than I should have (okay, it didn’t really take that long before I made this observation). The ship’s coordinates puts it right in the Mediterranean Sea (which is something we already know), but interestingly enough, it also puts it right in between Europe and Africa– which are Resident Evil 4 and 5′s main settings, respectively. Taking into consideration how this game serves as a narrative bridge between Resident Evil 4 and 5, it’s even more cool to see that the game will even be locationally taking place (for the most part) between  its precursor’s and successor’s settings.

These two shots are taken from what I believe is the highlight of this new trailer: the attack on Terragrigia, which seems to be not unlike Raccoon City, the only difference being Hunters taking care of all the killing, instead of a government-approved missile attack.

Joking aside, it seems that this European city might end up being wiped off the face the Earth, a la Raccoon City. This is a full-scale attack by possibly Veltro (or could it be the Organization as the following image suggests?), with some heavy use of the ever so friendly BOWs, the Hunters. Yeah, things aren’t going to bode well for that poor guy in the second image, and for everyone else in that city for that matter. I mean, it’s RAINING HUNTERS!!!

This is a continuation of the attack on Terragrigia scene. This time we get to see some of the passengers aboard one of the choppers. Notice the red-haired man on the right? Yeah, I’m more than sure that that’s Raymond Vester, who’s already been revealed as being part of the Organization. So, what’s he doing here? And what’s up with the red band around his arm?

Another query this sprouts into my head is regarding the actual time period this attack is taking place in. Could it serve to be the catalyst for the events of Revelations, or will this happen sometime during which the actual plot is unfolding? If the former then Chris and Jessica being sent to the mountains in search of the terrorist organization, Veltro, makes perfect sense. They want to infiltrate their base and hit them where it hurts, after they attacked a city, taking the lives of innocent people. If this attack takes place sometime in the middle of the game’s plot then it’ll be quite awesome to traverse a city in ruins, under heavy attack by BOWs. But we’ve already seen many explosions, so there may not be any actual city left to explore once the smoke clears (and once the Hunters call it a day, unless they get killed in the explosions…).

But what of Raymond? Is he serving Veltro, while secretly still retaining his utmost loyalty towards the Organization? Hey, that makes me think of another, notable, Organization member that was a spy. I wonder who…Oh, yeah: Ada! Raymond could be playing a similar role: put up a false front and let Veltro think he’s exclusively serving them and then retrieve the T-Abyss virus and return to his Organization superiors. I’m personally leaning more towards this being the event that sets everything into motion, both in Revelations’ self-contained plot and in setting the stage for Resident Evil 5– in which the world is already in constant fear of the evils of bioterrorism (as the title card aptly puts it).

Why, hello again! Here’s another shot of Raymond, this time being confronted by Jill and Parker. Obviously, Raymond doesn’t want to let the cat out of the bag. He’s not going to give in and tell Jill and her Barry stand-in partner what they want to know.

Just what exactly is he up to? Obtaining a sample of the T-Abyss virus is definitely something I strongly believe is in his agenda. But all this Raymond stuff just makes me stop and wonder: what the hell happens to him post-Revelations? He’s certainly not even referenced in Resident Evil 5, so, what will become of him? Resident Evil 6 may see his return perhaps. But, it’s too early to tell.

Poor guy. He’s definitely had a taste of the T-Abyss virus. Now he’s in the process of possibly become one of the Ooze, or he’s probably just going to die (again). Here’s yet another showing of the new virus’ ability to reanimate dead bodies, because this poor soul may have already been offed in some fashion prior to his bioorganically enhanced Gene Simmons impersonation.

Hail Veltro! For quite a while, this gas-masked, demonic, individual has been called HUNK by some, and “wannabe HUNK” by others. Well, it turns out he’s not HUNK, but he could still be a wannabe. We already know this man is the leader of the new terrorist organization debuting with this game’s story, Veltro. And now we know his name. Drumroll please…His name is Il Veltro. It’s very fitting no?

Il Veltro is once again rambling on in this shot, like he always does whenever we see him in these trailers. I don’t know about you, but I’m more than willing to see Chris boulder-punch this guy. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I find him to be quite an awesome villain, and I really, really hope we get to fight him at the end in some form of mutated form, but I think it’ll be awesome to see Chris knock his lights out– after all, he does have the series STAR tied up, if that really is him…

Another thing worth mentioning is the existence of his gas-mask. Yeah, I know, it looks cool, giving him that USS/ HUNK look, but still, does he really need it? Maybe there’s some sort of virus flowing through Il Veltro’s bloodstream and his true goals are to not only spread his T-Abyss virus to the world’s seas, but also to find some sort of cure for himself. Perhaps he truly needs that mask on to survive? Maybe he has a deformity underneath? Or, which may end up being the ultimate reason, it’s just for aesthetic purposes…

It wouldn’t be a Resident Evil game without something going boom. What exactly will blow in this particular scene? Guess away!

One thing’s for sure: Il Veltro probably has something to do with this. And it’s worth noting the way video game trailers are constructed, sometimes we unknowingly get some late-game snippets thrown into the mix of rapidly cut scenes. Perhaps this is one of them, right before the luxury cruise ship explodes.

I don’t know why, but the first thing that comes to mind when viewing this shot is the scenes in Resident Evil 2 where Mr. X bursts through walls. Even after beating the game, and all four of its scenarios, countless times, that moment still makes me jump a bit.

Stop looking at Jill’s behind, stop looking at Jill’s behind. Okay! Here we see a new form of Ooze. We’ve already seen the standard humanoid, regenerator-looking ones, but now this seems to be one of the stronger variations of it. I’m not sure what appendage that is, but it sure is strong, and it should be a tense fight, or chase-sequence in which Jill has to run for her life after she (and the player) is met with a classic jump-scare.

This could also lead to this particular area getting flooded, leading to some of the confirmed underwater gameplay segments, a mini-boss fight perhaps?

Oh, what’s wrong? Now you’re having second thoughts about criticizing Rachel, aren’t you? No more ridiculous “oh she’s only in it for sex appeal” and “she’s all boobs and no face” complaints now, right? Rachel’s coming for all of you who were previously crying foul at her, and she’s not happy. She’s not exactly alive anymore either.

Yeah, Rachel wasn’t exactly received warmly when she got revealed via the game’s official Japanese site, and later when she was quite central in the game’s TGS 2011 trailer (including the extended cut). We saw Rachel get brutally killed by the Ooze in said trailer(s). And right before her death we saw the Ooze that was holding her seemingly insert something into her mouth. That “something” may have led to her BOW return we see displayed in this shot. And if you recall, Jill was watching the whole thing unfold right before her very (beautiful) eyes.

Jill will regret that, as we’ll soon see…

Not only does this show us that the Ooze can come out of nowhere to attack the player, but that the game truly is focusing strongly on partnership. Here we see it illustrated suitably with Parker holding onto Jill after he’s been hurt, in what’s sure to be another dread-inducing moment as you’re not only trying to survive yourself, but also looking out for your partner.

It’s things like this that go a long way to enhance the overall experience, which in the case of Revelations is a return to survival horror. Another similar moment is when Chris is down after falling off a ledge and with rabid infected wolves coming at him in full force, where the player still has control of his aiming and shooting. We even saw a similar thing happen to Jill prior to this scene where she was knocked down, still shooting at the Ooze in front of her.

I don’t think Jill will stand idle while watching someone get brutalized by the Ooze anymore. She’s definitely going to learn after this little encounter with a mutated Rachel. “Why didn’t you save me?!” I can hear Rachel saying in a distorted voice as she’s frantically trying to down Jill.

This should prove to be a tense confrontation, even if it doesn’t exactly play out like a traditional boss fight. I certainly hope it does, though. Because honestly, we really haven’t seen much from the game as far as boss fights are concerned. Yeah, the classic Resident Evil titles weren’t exactly filled to the brim with boss battles, but still, with a game as expansive as Revelations, it’ll be quite welcome to be met with a healthy selection of memorable boss encounters. Rachel could be one of them.

The three images above all show us that Capcom is quite serious about returning the series back to its roots with this game. Yeah, these puzzles don’t seem to be on the head-scratching levels some of the more notable ones in the series’ past are, but still, it’s nice to see that there will be a good dose of puzzles (including some environmental hazards) to tackle. It’s also neat to see how the touch-screen will be used for puzzle-solving.

Oh, and I think that Jill should definitelly give Leon a call to get some help in how to go through those red lasers.

February 7 can’t get here soon enough. I’m truly looking forward to taking off from school and work to play this on Jill Valentine’s Day! And you know what’s even better? Operation Raccoon City hits one month later! It’s truly going to be yet another good year for Resident Evil fans in 2012 by the looks of it. And speaking of Operation Raccoon City, my Gamers Day trailer analysis for the game is coming tomorrow night, so stay tuned!

What did you guys think of Revelations’ Gamers Day 2011 trailer? Did I miss anything in my analysis? Hit up the comments section below!

reHorror: Breaking down Resident Evil Revelations’ Gamers Day 2011 trailer is a post from: Rely on Horror

Jorge Bocanegra

The Big Cheese.

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Next year we’ll be receiving two big entries in the series with the release of Resident Evil Revelations on February 7th and Operation Raccoon City on March 20th. The former providing a true survival horror experience, one that’s shaping up to be the game that will take the series back to its roots. The latter, on the other hand, is a squad-based shooter, aiming to take survival horror to the next level. Obviously, for series’ loyalists, Revelations is the game that’s anticipated the most, seeing as how the last major entry, Resident Evil 5, wasn’t actually traditional per se, leaving fans to clamor for the series’ return to pure survival horror.

After 15 years of Resident Evil, we’ve been graced with some true survival horror gems, one of the greatest games of all time, a remake that served as the perfect example of what a remake can be to its original source material, and a game that polarized the fanbase. So, which game is the scariest? Here’s a hint: I already alluded to it in the previous sentence.

My personal pick for the scariest game in the series definitely has to be the remake of the original game on the GameCube. Released in 2002, REmake was a game that many fans and GameCube owners in general were ecstatic about. Not only was this a full-blown remake of the original game, complete with new features, but it was also a game that helped push Nintendo’s lunchbox console closer to the outskirts of its “kiddie image.” Yeah, the GameCube housed first-party Nintendo classics like the Marios, Metroids, and Zeldas, but now it had a completely mature game to call its own– and can continue to do so since the game’s yet to leave Nintendo’s ownership along with Zero.

One of the key differences automatically apparent was, obviously, the visuals. REmake truly put the GameCube’s graphical capabilities to the test, resulting in one of the best-looking games on the platform. Prerendered backgrounds were still utilized, as was the case with the original trilogy, but the developers somehow (possibly with the power of some form of alien life) found a way to successfuly mesh polygnal objects with said prerendered backdrops. This meant that you could actually see little effects brought forth by fully animated objects interacting with the background– like blood splattered on rugs, grass swaying in the wind, and realistic shadows. I won’t even dare get into the techinical aspects of all this and how it works, but I’ll just say that it lend itself greatly to make the game’s atmosphere one of the most horrifying brought forth by a video game– and is yet to be rivaled by any of the entries in the series that followed.

But what makes this REmake so scary and a survival horror masterpiece? Well, many things in fact. From the technically enhanced atmosphere, complemented by a haunting soundtrack, to the actual horrors you’ll face as you make your way through the game: from regular zombies rendered to gruesome detail to other more threatening BOWs, the REmake truly stands as one of the best survival horror games of all time, but leaving it at just that would be doing a huge disservice to its greatness and importance, so I’ll go in-depth with my reasoning. But I’ll warn you beforehand just for the hell of it: there’s spoilers ahead, but that shouldn’t really matter since I’m more than sure that many of you have already beaten the bajeezus out of the game, like me. If not then…you’ve been warned!

The original game’s intro was beautifully remade with the REmake, and it led to a horrifying, and bizzar (typo intended!), set-up to a trip down memory lane, albeit one with many new things not confronted or experienced in the original 1996 release. And that was actually one of the major reasons why this game was, and continues to be, so scary: you didn’t know what to expect around every corner once you realized how the developers added in many new things and placed enemies in different locations, so much so that even diehard fans found themselves having to learn the ins and outs of the classic mansion all over again. The mansion, for the most part, was as you remembered it. But this didn’t mean that alterations weren’t also made to the original Trevor design. We got to explore wholly new areas of the mansion not opened before, and even got to venture outside of it– which lead to one of the game’s scariest moments and also introduced us to one of its scariest enemies, and thus, one of the scariest BOWs in Resident Evil’s history.

This outside woods area actually proved to be one of the scariest in the game: you didn’t know what to expect as you heard dogs’ distant howls and zombies’ disturbing moans around you. And, of course, once you got to the cabin in the woods, you were faced with an unsettling creature, but I’ll get to that in a bit. The woods section of the game wasn’t the only scary segment, just about all of the ground covered brought about its own fair share of scares, not always relying entirely on cheap pop-out scares, mind you. But you still had that classic jump-out-of-your-seat scene with dogs bursting through the glass in that dreaded hallway, along with other similar scream-worthy scares!

And it didn’t help that you also weren’t faced with an abundance of resources. This was a survival horror game in every sense of the word. You always had to make sure you paid close attention to your ammo count and health supplies, and you always had to make sure that you were wasting said ammo only in necessary situations. Since ammunition was scarce, you didn’t want to go around shooting down every zombie you faced, instead, you had to strategically pick out the ones that were truly obstructing a path you really needed to go through more than once. Like in the area directly above the dining room; here I just took down one of the zombies and left the other one to roam around on his lonesome. And speaking of strategy, the REmake also granted players new items that upped the ante in terms of survival.

Both Jill and Chris now had access to new defensive weapons that definitely came in handy on more than one occasion, and served as very reliable last resorts when you had no more bullets left to spare. These weapons are the flash grenades and daggers, for Chris and Jill, respectively. The former works in a beautiful, gory fashion, allowing you to place said grenade in a zombie’s mouth and then shoot it, resulting in an explosion that should definitely make one hungry. While the former is good to push zombies back a bit, sort of replacing a true melee attack (it’s definitely more useful than a regular knife slash when used properly). Both these defensive items served to add even more tension to what would otherwise be standard bouts with the undead made pointless to carry forth with after you ran out of ammo. Now, you actually had one last chance at survival.

And speaking of the game’s enemies, the REmake’s BOWs are yet another reason why the game is a superb showing of true horror. Yeah, we’ve seen zombies many, many times before, even in different mediums, but here they were really gruesome-looking, especially the Crimson Heads whose behavior wasn’t unlike Resident Evil 3’s Nemesis. These new variant versions of the classic zombies were much more deadly than they may appear to be, but you’ll see why once they start relentlessly charging right at you. And guess what? They can also go through doors! So, yeah, I would definitely try to avoid them whenever possible, and in order to do so you had to utilize yet another new item added to this remade version of the Playstation original: a fuel canteen which complemented the classic lighter by allowing you to burn zombies’ bodies after shooting them down, and in doing so you would cease their chances at returning as Crimson Heads.

The Crimson Heads truly are a force to be reckoned with, and I always found myself frantically making a run for it once I saw one appearing out of nowhere. But the game’s BOW offerings didn’t end with these jalapeno-heated zombies, oh no. You also had the classic zombie dogs, spiders, Chimeras, and the Hunters to deal with. The last two being other downright creepy foes to contend with. Especially the Hunters. These foes always have me at the edge of my seat whenever they rear their green, cute heads. And knowing that they can perform fatal decapitations when you least expect them makes them even more deadly. But, as crazy as this may sound, you haven’t seen nothing yet…

Meet Lisa Trevor. Hands down, I truly believe she’s one of the most memorable and scariest BOWs in the series’ history– a history already filled with other classic noteworthy monsters like William and the aforementioned Nemesis. This poor girl was basically a guinea pig for Umbrella, and was injected with various viruses while she was held captive by them. And meanwhile, her daddy was busy designing the Spencer Estate. Yeah, the Trevors haven’t really enjoyed the ideal family life. Lisa’s story is tragic and disturbing in and of itself, which then leads to a boost in overall horror elicited by her presence once you do meet her. Hell, even when you just hear her scream for the first time you’ll have chills sent down your spine. I don’t know about you, but the first time I heard that eerie wail, I was ready to find the nearest type writer (which wasn’t that far), save, and call it a day.

She wasn’t even mentioned in the original game, so it was actually quite surprising to confront her initially as she was a threat you just weren’t used to before. I mean, granted, you had Nemesis, Tyrants and William, but still, something about Lisa makes her stand out amongst the series’ memorable gallery of BOWs. The fact that we actually got to learn a considerable amount about Lisa pre-mutation(s), her uncalled for suffering, and about how she lost her family,  made her character even more tragic and downright disturbing. You can’t help but feel bad for her as she continuously roams the depths of her father’s design-turned-Umbrella stronghold. Another thing that made the confrontation with her even more unsettling was that you really couldn’t successfully kill her in the traditional sense.

Another neat, and horrifying, thing about Lisa is that she was a neat combination of the memorable BOWs that came before. While she wasn’t the smartest, she presented a level of intelligence comparable to Nemesis. She also had the brute strength of your classic Tyrant. And she also shared an aesthetic similarity with William Birkin, with a protruding eye-ball-like tumor visible on her back. Essentially, she’s a Frankenstein monster, made up of many components already encoded into other classic bosses we’ve faced before. Tyrant may have been the main threat at the end of the game, but to me, Lisa will always be the most memorable BOW I faced in the REmake.

That’s my pick for the scariest Resident Evil game of all time, and my reasons why. But which entry in the series is your personal pick for such a title? Do you share my feelings for the REmake, and also feel like it’s one of the best survival horror games of all time? Or maybe you prefer one of the titles from the PlayStation trilogy. Hell, I’ll admit that it was a tough pick for me since I also found, and continue to find, Resident Evil 2 as a true testament to horror. Resident Evil 2 would’ve also been a natural pick for me since it happens to be my favorite game of all time. But alas, I went with the REmake. Be sure to share your personal pick in the comments section below and stay tuned as we prepare to head into the month of November, which is quite an important month for us here at Rely on Horror, since, you know, it marks our two-year anniversary and all.

I hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween!

reHorror: And the scariest Resident Evil game of all time is… is a post from: Rely on Horror

Jorge Bocanegra

The Big Cheese.

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It wasn’t until San Diego Comic-Con that we directly received, via our forums, an image of Resident Evil 6′s logo, along with a date of September 15th– a date which teased a big TGS 2011 reveal. Well, that all didn’t really amount to anything. Though we did get an awesome fan-made video, which we thought was an official teaser for Resident Evil 6. Well, putting those disappointments aside, I’m here to tell you that this lack of an official Resident Evil 6 announcement is actually a good thing.

2011 was a good year for Resident Evil and its fans. Not only did the franchise celebrate its 15th anniversary, but fans also got a good amount of content to enjoy. From the summer’s release of Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, to the most recent releases: HD editions of Resident Evil 4 and CODE: Veronica X. Yeah, it’s a good time to be a Resident Evil fan.

Mercenaries 3D, exclusive to the 3DS, allowed those who enjoyed Resident Evil 4 and 5′s post-game Mercenaries modes to engage in said mode turned full game, one with a roster full of fan-favorite characters, minus Leon. You had maps taken from both Resident Evil 4 and 5′s respective Mercenaries modes. But still, fans were quite upset that Leon, and even Ada, got no love. Well, one can’t argue that the game, while not being a traditional horror entry, still offered a very fun and satisfying experience. And it became quite addicting trying to best one’s own high score and take the “war on horror” online. It’s also worth noting how the game also housed a demo for next year’s Resident Evil Revelations. (And it’s worth forgetting about the inability to delete one’s saved game data…just because.)

Then you had the HD editions of Resident Evil 4 and CODE: Veronica X which allowed fans to venture back to what is arguably the best game in the series (and one of the best games of all time) as well as the final main entry to sport the classic gameplay style, respectively. Yeah, these HD editions weren’t exactly full-blown HD make-overs, but looking past that players will find two of the finest entries in the genre. And really, how convenient is it to have your console house both games without the need of a disc. (Though we still have some upset over the lack of a retail release here in the US, like Japan got with Biohazard Revival Selection.)

Not only that, but we also got a couple of games waiting in early 2012 that also got strong showings this year. Now this is where my main argument sprouts from. The mere fact that we already got two big games coming up early next year is enough for me to strongly believe that Resident Evil 6 not being announced is actually a good thing. But let’s delve into both these games first, as they’re both set to be big entries in the series, with one being a traditional experience and the other being another action-oriented one.

Resident Evil Revelations is the more traditional of the two, what with the return of confining corridors and being denied an abundance of ammunition and health supplies. Survival horror is the name of the game here, and thus far, Revelations is shaping up to be the game fans have been asking for since the after-effects of Resident Evil 5′s launch. More importantly, though, is the notion that Revelations also represents an approach Capcom could take with Resident Evil 6. The other side of this equation comes with this Winter’s Operation Raccoon City.

Slant Six is trying their hand at the Resident Evil franchise with the release of their squad-based shooter set within the events of Resident Evil 2 and 3, Operation Raccoon City. If you were enamored with the aciton-heavy approach taken with Resident Evil 5 then you’re definitely going to dig this. But survival horror purists should also be quite excited about this as well. Because quite simply, Operation Raccoon City may be more about balls to the wall shooting than any entry before it, but with that boost in ammunition and weaponry also comes a boost in enemies to do battle with. And one need not look very far to see this realized.

As we’ve already seen in the “Kill Leon” demo time and time again, the game really does throw hordes of BOWs at you. Whether they be classic zombies, Lickers, or even Hunters, Slant Six continuously overwhelms the player with many creatures to shoot. So, in the end, the experience will be very comparable to a classic entry in the series in that there will be moments where you’ll find yourself running low on ammo or health supplies, because of there being so many BOWs to contend with. As it was nicely put at NY Comic-Con 2011′s Resident Evil panel by Capcom: Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City presents survival horror taken to the next level. And hell, I couldn’t be more excited about this game.

So, why shouldn’t we be upset about Resident Evil 6 not getting announced so far? Well, as was already described above, we have a wealth of content to enjoy and look forward to as is. Two HD editions of two classic entries in the series and a 3DS exclusive that brings together beloved characters (minus Leon) are the newest offerings fans could enjoy this year. Then we got Revelations and Operation Raccoon City waiting to be released in early 2012 (with Revelations already having a firm date of February 7). So, yeah, it’s not like we have a lack of Resident Evil content to enjoy. It’s quite the contrary.

Yeah, it would be nice to see Resident Evil 6 announced, but when you think about it, it’ll turn out being the one game at the top of every fan’s list, which isn’t to say that would be a bad thing. But this would then lead to fans possibly neglecting and not paying much mind to both Revelations and Operation Raccoon City as far as excitement and anticipation goes. Everyone would just be busy salivating over the next main numbered entry, and they’ll start losing hype for the games we already got coming in the near future.

From a business perspective, announcing Resident Evil 6 wouldn’t be a wise decision by Capcom. The company most definitely wants fans to be beyond excited for both Revelations and Operation Raccoon City so that both those games perform well in sales and critical acclaim, so that may be the reason why they’re holding back on an official Resident Evil 6 announcement at this time. Maybe once both those games hit, it’ll be a different story, but as of right now, Capcom is making the wisest move they could possibly make. (But hell, who am I to even say something like that, I’m just a games journalist!)

Yeah, a lot of fans are dying to see where the main series will go next, but let’s not forget that there’s still gaps left to be filled, narratively speaking. And Revelations will be doing just that, filling in the gap between Resident Evil 4 and 5. Operation Raccoon City will be doing this as well, showing us the events of the outbreak through the perspective of the catalyst itself, Umbrella. And going back to a point made earlier, both games also represent a two-fold plan by Capcom that could dictate where Resident Evil 6 goes in terms of gameplay style: If Revelations performs better than Operation Raccoon City, then Capcom might possibly go all-out with survival horror elements in the next numbered entry, and if Slant Six’s shooter does better then…you catch my drift.

Let’s all just relax and not go crazy about how Resident Evil 6 will end up being, or when it’ll finally get announced– as hard as that may be to do. Let’s just enjoy all the content we have available to us at this moment, and let’s continue anticipating next year’s Revelations and Operation Raccoon City, the former being a full-blown return to the world of survival horror and the latter being said genre taken to the next level.

Resident Evil 6 will definitely get announced sometime next year, there’s just no doubt about that, and hell I may get shocked and see it announced by the end of 2011, but let’s enjoy the series and continue celebrating its 15th anniversary by playing all the amazing games we’ve already been graced with, like Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4. Or, if we’re feeling a little more old-school we could go back to the one that started it all. It’s a great time to be a Resident Evil fan, and it looks like it’s going to continue being that way well into 2012, ideally culminating in the announcement of Resident Evil 6. For the time being, let’s bring up another query: What the hell happened to Resident Evil: Damnation?

reHorror: Why Resident Evil 6 not being announced yet is a good thing is a post from: Rely on Horror

Jorge Bocanegra

The Big Cheese.

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