Resident Evil 6 Review

These two look familiar...

Zombies, zombies, & even more zombies! This is just only a fraction of what the latest iteration of the “Resident Evil” franchise throws at you in an attempt to separate you from the undead.

“Resident Evil 6” is by far the most ambitious of the whole series. Sporting not one, not two, but four different campaigns to play through, each with their own style

The question is though, with four different campaigns, is it enough content to make the game a great one?
The answer is a yes and no. The game has a lot of content to play with, but by the time you complete two of the three campaigns, you find the third stretches on and your only goal is to finish the third as quick as you can to unlock the fourth story.


That’s the only bad part of the story mode. The story itself is seen through the eyes of Leon, Chris & newcomer Jake. Leon’s story is a nod to classic “RE” games with a more horror feel to it.

Spooky!

Dark environments, few herbs, and even fewer bullets all the while there are tons of zombies trying to feast on you. Chris's story has more of an “RE5” vibe. Its straight shoot'em-up against a new type of enemy called the J'avo who can mutate any lost limbs in to new weapons.

Sadly though, this is the one story that lacks a little compared to the rest. It’s largely due to the focus on shooting but it’s still good enough to play through.

Jake's is a mix-up of both Leon’s & Chris's. Since he is Wesker’s son, there is a focus on melee combat which is easily the best melee combat in the series. His story revolves around him and Sherry being chased around the globe by Neo-Umbrella.

Ada's story is just a kind of behind the scenes to the other three characters, but it is one of the most enjoyable thanks largely to the stealth and her trusty grapple gun. Each character has a fraction of the story and playing all clears up the whole picture.

The gameplay is still reminiscent of the “RE4” and “RE5” style but with some tweaks. Players can now dodge to all sides of their own accord without needing a quick-time-event. This comes in handy now that enemies run, jump, and shoot at you in every level.

On that note QTEs are back and now there a more of them. There is almost one for everything which is nice, but can make you feel flustered having to to push them or dodge every couple of seconds.

Another addition is that the inventory system has been simplified to be able to switch to any weapon or item on the fly. Generally, everything has been streamlined to deal with fast paced action that leaves little time to just sift through your items.

Partners are now invincible and smarter than in previous games. They will actually avoid danger and come to your aid when you need it. Capcom has listened to the fans criticism after the fiasco known as Sheva. Overall the gameplay is good enough to keep you enticed throughout the game.

The graphics look okay considering they’re still running on the same engine as “RE5”. Characters do look a bit more detailed than its predecessor. At times it has kind of a glossy feel which may not mix with the zombie ooze fest, but overall it’s not too bad on the eyes.

Ada looks prepped for some serious action.

 The soundtrack is perfectly in tune with game. It helps add tension when you hear an unwound piano being slammed as you’re being overpowered by the hordes. It also varies from character to character. Leon’s has more horror type instruments playing while Jake & Chris have heavy drums and orchestra melodies to go with the action. Ada has a kind of cat-sleuth vibe to it with soft melodies. With all the differences. The music still manages to hit the right note at the right time.

All in all, “Resident Evil 6” is a good game, not the great game we were hoping for but a good game none the less. Despite the, at times, lackluster story and streamlined gun-battle segments, It is still worthy of the price tag. That’s why I have to give “Resident Evil 6” a 7/10. Now "get the hell out of here!!" (That's the most overused line in the game.)

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Review

This review is two fold, my little Vault maniacs. On one hand, this will be a review of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3,  and on the other, it will be it's quality on a handheld. I do believe that we shall now get cracking.

Gameplay

As fighting games go, UMvC3 is standard in its composition. There is a multitude of characters for you to peruse and mix and match, as well as choices for assist attacks. For those of you who have never played the MvC franchise, you have three characters on your team, each of which can pop in and out of the fight and be your main fighter or can assist another fighter. It's like a three-person tag-team match. I say person because characters range from She-Hulk and Rocket Raccoon (yeah, Rocket Raccoon, I had to go to my comic shop and actually ask who the hell that was) to Albert Wesker and Zero from Mega Man.

The game itself has something like six new characters from Marvel and Capcom respectively joining both rosters from regular MvC3 so you get to play around even more.  One does question the choice of bringing in characters like Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney and Rocket Raccoon (I will never get over this decision, I kid you not) since they don't exactly lend themselves to a fighting game very well. Then again, no one consulted me on character additions, so, that's neither here nor there.

The game has several modes, but the most familiar are Online and Offline which means you can play the standard arcade version of the game or play against someone via whatever network of the console you choose to play the game on. Since I have it for PlayStation Vita, it's the Playstation Network. Offline is fun, about six rounds and then you fight the mega-boss, Galactus (Devourer of Worlds from Marvel comics), and his heralds who are made up of a random collection of the bad guys in the character select screen. The goal of arcade mode is to save the world. So...that's basically single player.

If you want to increase your skill, you can also play the missions in the game which have you going through a gauntlet of challenges that entail completing certain combos which do actually teach you how to use each and every character in the game. This mode is not for the easily frustrated though.

I will give Capcom some kudos for giving players the opportunity to train in another way than just playing arcade over and over or against others until you somehow get better. Online is just your basic versus combat, which works well and is one of those things that is only bad when human idiocy/jerkishness/frustration make the experience fall below expectations.

There is something new in the mode department, which is Heroes and Heralds gameplay. This allows you to play on or offline and basically do versus matches in which your side, Heroes of the world or Heralds of Galactus, fight for the planet. You also are rewarded with ability cards that can alter the matches in certain ways which are supposed to add another layer of strategy to this game (good heavens it doesn't need more strategy, please God why). You can collect and change your deck at hand before the battle and prep depending on your characters to maximize your abilities when you next fight.

I'm...*sigh* I'm not sure what the point of this is. I mean, really. Is it to make team-based gameplay? Is it to make more collectables and unlockables? What? Why did we need this? Why add the cards? Don't get me wrong, this entire mechanic works and it functions just like versus combat (except with cards adding some bonuses here and there) but why did this have to be in the game? Were people asking for this? Is it wildly popular? Seriously. Maybe I'm just not getting it. It just feels gimmicky to me.

Finally, the last new mode is playing as Galactus himself. Seriously, I'm not sure what unlocks it but if you do, you actually get to play six rounds against teams of three heroes trying to stop you from devouring the Earth. Think of it as playing as Master Hand in Super Smash Bros. I'm not sure how any of the controls work, but it felt awesome to do a 250 hit combo on Ghost Rider.

Vita-ness Review

Okay, I want to say off the bat that this game is awesome for traveling and killing time. This is a perfect game for a handheld, and if you've got Wifi you can play this multiplayer and get your competitive fix. I love that about this game and I'm really happy that Sony put this on the Vita. Okay? You all see that I'm saying that, right? Good.

On the other hand, here it comes, there are some issues with it being on a handheld. This may just be a personal problem, but I have large hands. That being said, I have a hard time holding the Vita sometimes and the stick or d-pad are a little less than easy to use when it comes to playing furiously and trying to beat the tar out of someone. I played this on the Xbox 360 with a controller and I got relatively good, amongst my friends, mind you, and I knew how to use the controller. I am having a hard time doing that with the small buttons and directional attachments.

Also, the touch screen mechanic for fighting is just too silly for me to take seriously. Here, let me show you a visual example:

As you can see, you look like an idiot tapping your screen furiously in a manner that can only be described as spastic. The game manual has some descriptions of how this works, but really, this is just a dumb thing to have on a fighting game. You know why? There is no skill involved in this game while using the touch screen, which is part of a franchise that literally thrives on the skill of its most competitive players.

The manual tells you that dragging your character in a direction, or flicking them quickly, moves them. Tapping an enemy close to you does a weak attack while tapping them from far away does a heavy one (hahahahaha yeah right). Tapping the X-Factor symbol uses X-Factor, tapping the desired character activates their assist and holding their picture at the top switches. Tapping the hyper combo bar uses a hyper combo.

All that? That whole paragraph? Crap. I did figure-eights on my screen and kicked the crap out of Akuma, Sentinel, and Morrigan with JUST RYU. I kid you not. I had never played so good in my life and I had no idea how I was doing it. I felt like a character in Flubber and Robin Williams had just put that green junk on my shoes and I was dunking on people twice my size. What? You don't like Disney movies? Whatever, man.

Anyway, the point is that this mode of gameplay eliminates the need to know combos and complicated maneuvers, and is hard to utilize accurately with a finger where your opponent may totally be using a controller the whole time and have the benefit of precision. This, my friends, is an example of a mechanic that is pure gimmick for gimmick's sake.

 

 Overall Rating

 

So how does this game actually rate? Very well, I'd give it an 8/10. There's nothing wrong with the game aside from what I think are unnecessary additives and a totally unfair touch screen mode.

The new characters are fun (seriously though, Rocket Raccoon guys, what the hell) and it offers the same experience as plain old MvC3. I think the fact that it doesn't really add anything spectacular is why it doesn't get a higher score. I mean, yes, the Heroes and Heralds mode is cool but it feels unnecessary and I don't think that the mode alone makes it a phenomenal expansion to a game. Frankly, you don't even need this game. If you like playing MvC3 then keep playing it. If you have have these new characters, well then go out and get it. I suppose since the original is not available for the Vita, this is your only option, so, well played, Sony.

We're going to go get some fighting game enthusiast's opinions of the game and see how they feel about all of this fancy-pants Vita stuff and if any of it is worth their money. Stay tuned and fight on.