I received Resident Evil 6 for Christmas. I resisted getting it for a long time after I read how poorly it was received by most critics and fans alike. It was a shame really, as I have in the past been a fan of the Resident Evil series, indeed Resi 2 and 4 make it in to my "Favourite games of all time".

My reticence to get the game was slowly eroded though as my regular co-op buddy has been pestering me to get it for ages, so it made it on to my Christmas list to Santa.

Let me give you some background: I loved Resident Evil 4, I thought it was a phenomenal video game. OK, it did start to lose some of the "survival horror" elements that had previously characterised the franchise, but where that lacked it more than made up with excellent gameplay, in a huge, huge game that was a joy from start to finish. Come Resident Evil 5 and I think I am one of those rare folk that actually enjoyed the game. I relished the co-op elements in it - yes, again the survival horror had been eradicated, but it was still a very well crafted (IMO) game, made more enjoyable with a co-op partner that I genuinely like to play with. In short, I really enjoyed Resident Evil 5.

Now to Resident Evil 6 and I am disappointed. I knew that it had fallen from grace, however I had hoped to be able to give it some leeway as I am more forgiving than most with games. Sadly I can't. So far, I have completed Leon & Chris's campaigns, and about half way through Jake's. There is much wrong with this game, and I am disappointed that Resident Evil has fallen so far. By far the biggest problem I have with the game is the unavoidable death. I genuinely believe that the game WANTS you to die, it is like the programmers scripted in a certain number of deaths in certain sequences in a lazy way to make the game more "challenging". Well EFF THAT, obtuse reasons why you are dying does not make a game "challenging" it makes it frustrating and no fun to play. There are also problems with very annoying camera angles. The camera has always been a little bit of a problem in Resident Evil, however in this game, the camera will pan to a particular focus point whilst you are currently engaged in a battle with an enemy. That still continues, however you cannot see it, or respond to enemy attacks because the camera is focused on something else - it is maddening.

In the beginning I felt that Leon's campaign was really very good, the cutscenes in the game are excellent, and very quickly I was involved in it, however as his campaign progressed I found it more and more tedious. The "Boss" battle made me want to throw my controller. Previous iterations of the game were made fun because of the variety of enemy, each section boss battle was unique. In Leon's campaign you fight the boss no less than 5 or 6 times, each time he just gets bigger and more mutated until you are at the point where you are saying "seriously... JUST F UCKING DIE!" The final battle was the single most infuriating battle I have ever played with a completely obtuse puzzle on how to defeat him, I hated it. Conversely, I felt that Chris's campaign started off terribly, with it playing like a very poor third person shooter akin to Gears of War. The setting and colour was lifted straight from Gears of War 2, and I started grinding my teeth in frustration, however I felt as that campaign progressed it got stronger. I can't really comment on the other two as I haven't finished them yet, but I am feeling slightly anxious about how Capcom can ruin this great franchise further.

There are some interesting things at work in the game. In principle I really like the idea of the 4 stories being intertwined and that no one protagonist gives you the full story of what is actually happening, however the stuff that is wrong with the game is really detracting from this.

I am also having issue with the co-op. I enjoy co-op and my friend and I have been having a laugh playing this game, however the mechanic is terrible. In Leon's campaign we could both be fighting with no problems, misplaced kicks or punches didn't cause any issue, in Chris's campaign and so far in Jake's we are actually hitting each other during close fights which is causing problems. I find this really troublesome, and it is something else that is making me really start to dislike the game.

Perhaps slightly contradictory to what I have just written, I have been "enjoying" the process of playing the game, however because it is Resident Evil and not just a poorly put together game with lofty ambitions, I am finding it VERY difficult to recommend the game. I really wonder what Capcom are going to do with the series because there is a danger they have irreperably damaged it with this particular iteration.

I might write a final impressions after I have actually finished the game all the way through to reflect on it. For now, enjoy.