It’s not as bad as most of the reviews indicate, it’s just
unnecessarily frustrating in some respects. For instance the game only saves
every twenty minutes or so! It checkpoint saves regularly in case you die, but
if you quit you can’t load those saves. You have to wait for a save game (the
little type writer comes up)… And it only does that every twenty minutes. And
a little thing like a flashlight would have made a big difference. It’s dark
nearly all the time, and although you have a flashlight you only use it in
scripted areas, you can’t use it at will. Why the hell not- And not being able
to drop guns you don’t use to free up space in your inventory, forcing you to
drop ammo or precious healing items.
I had some difficulty with the camera and controls. There’s a lot of
melee combat in very enclosed spaces, unfortunately the camera is completely
unsuited for this. Instead of it pulling out a bit to allow for some situational
awareness, it zooms right in so you can’t see what you’re doing, and bobs in
and out as you get close to or move away from objects. This led to some very
frustrating battles. And your character moves too sluggishly. There are times
when I saw an attack coming and there was nothing I could do about it because
I couldn’t get out of the way in time. A dodge control would have been handy
there. I would have spent a lot less time getting knocked down. You get knocked
down a lot in this game. A LOT.
The QTEs are a pain but they’re not as frequent as they are in the tutorial
sequence.
I’m pleased that zombies make a return, at least in part of the game.
I was never really a fan of the la plaga infectees of 4 and 5. The game is
quite challenging on normal, and I’m glad to say it hasn’t introduced auto
health regen like nearly every other modern game. You still need to find those
herbs to raise your health.
Leon’s campaign is traditional Resident Evil, but it turns into Call of
Duty with monsters for Chris’s campaign. That is not what I want in a
Resident Evil game. And the camera and controls are woefully inadequate for that
kind of intense action. I didn’t really like fighting the mutant gangster
BOWs. Give me back my zombies!
Finally, I would have liked it if the campaigns had a better lead in or
intro so I knew what was going on. When you start Leon’s campaign you’re
in the president’s office witnessing him transform into a zombie. A little
context would have been nice. Why were you there- How did the outbreak get
started- Why does the president of the US have his office in some old,
dilapidated collage campus- Context would have helped me get more engrossed in
what was going on.
The good: Good characters you actually care about and solid voice acting.
Zombies. Challenge. Length.
The bad: Not enough zombies. Too many QTEs. Too many things you have to do
exactly right or you automatically die. Getting knocked down so often. Not
enough story lead in. Sluggish controls. Poor camera angles especially when the
camera changes perspective during escape sequences. Too much respawn.