Revisiting the Entire Resident Evil Series

The release of Resident Evil 6 is now mere days away – fans of the franchise, your lengthy wait is nearly over. We've been doing our part to help you pass the time over the course of the past few months, too, as back in April we kicked off an ambitious project to replay every previous game in the core RE series. Taking each game one at a time, in storyline order, we've examined how Resident Evil has evolved over time, which games hold up better than others and how each one is having an influence over the design of RE6.

It took a while. But we managed to finish the endeavor just days ago, and now we're collecting every installment in the "Revisiting Resident Evil" series of articles here, in one last wrap-up piece. If you missed any of these seven articles before, now's your chance to get caught up – or, if you didn't miss any of them before, here's your chance to look back on some of the earlier ones now that the context of the later ones is available too.

Hopefully this will be one last little piece of help, to assist you in pushing through these final few days before 6 is in your grasp at last.

When we began our project to replay all the old Resident Evils, we made the decision not to proceed in chronological order of release – but rather in storyline order, which meant the 2002 GameCube prequel Resident Evil Zero was first on our list. We jumped back onto its zombie-filled train, re-examined how its approach to play control didn't quite meet expectations, looked back on the teamwork dynamic between little Rebecca Chambers and escaped felon Billy Coen and considered some of the enhancements made in areas like item management. You can read all about it in the full feature, Resident Evil Zero Revisited.

Next up was the series' original installment – or, rather, its 2002 GameCube remake. We decided to focus on Capcom's upgraded, enhanced version of the 1996 PlayStation series starter instead of the PSX game itself, in part because looking back on this excellent remake helps to give needed contrast when discussing some of the company's more recent, rushed, sloppy and altogether unimpressive ports in this same series. Read about it all in detail in the full article, Revisiting the Resident Evil Remake.

After tackling Zero in April and the REmake in May, Resident Evil 2 was up next in July. (What about June? E3 was in June. Give us a pass.) Our re-evaluation of the franchise's second installment made the connection between its depiction of urban zombie anarchy and the extreme modern popularity of all kinds of similar depictions of urban zombie anarchy across films, TV shows, comics and other games, giving Capcom some credit for helping to spur on the zombiepocalypse trend. We also looked back on the debuts of Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield, two protagonists whose adventures in 2 were only the beginning of years of battling these brain-hungry baddies. Check it out in Revisiting Resident Evil 2.

In August, the series' most intimidating, aggressive and severely frightening enemy took center stage once more as we leapt back into Resident Evil 3 to re-battle the Nemesis. The way Capcom handled such a singularly powerful foe was first and foremost in our retrospective, while we also took time to reflect on the origins of the series' Mercenaries modes and Jill Valentine's impractical fashion sense. It's all in Revisiting Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.

The series took a break from using numerals in its name when it left the PlayStation behind and jumped to Sega's Dreamcast for one game, the oddly subtitled and difficult to punctuate Resident Evil – CODE: Veronica. Claire Redfield's continuing journey to track down her missing brother Chris are considered part of the RE core storyline, though, so it made the cut for our feature series, numeral or not. You can read all about its unique release timing relative to Resident Evil 3 and lament the fact that it hasn't aged all that well in our feature, Revisiting Resident Evil Code: Veronica. (See, it's even punctuated differently right there. Don't even get me started on the "X.")

With time running out before Resident Evil 6's early October release date, we entered the month of September with three games left to tackle. No worries, though, as Code: Veronica was quickly addressed and the next game in the line, Resident Evil 4, is just pure joy to go back to again and again anyway. This game – recognized by many as one of the best video games ever made even beyond the RE series or the survival horror genre – offered tons of topics to talk about. Its difficult development history. Its promise of Nintendo exclusivity that was later broken, and broken, and broken again. Its emphasis on action that upset a portion of the established fanbase so much that they disowned the title entirely. Tons of topics! So go read about them all in detail, courtesy of Revisiting Resident Evil 4.

Lastly, with only a week remaining before RE6 hit the streets, we came in just under the wire and finished our RE replay project on time just earlier this week. Our retrospective on Resident Evil 5 addressed the game's significant debate about racism in video games, the series' further shift toward fast action and the increased emphasis on teamwork between two characters with the addition of two-player simultaneous co-op through the main campaign. Give it a look in Revisiting Resident Evil 5.

So, all up to speed now? We hope so, and it's been our privilege to walk back through the entirety of Resident Evil's core storyline installments throughout these past six months. All that's left now is for you to get ready for Resident Evil 6 itself, and we invite you to do that through our most recent, hands-on preview of the game, or our collection of trailers and video previews, or any of the many, many articles we've dedicated to the new sequel over the past few years. All that remains after that is our official review, and you can expect to see that soon. So stay tuned!

And thanks for reading!

Lucas M. Thomas has probably played way too much Resident Evil this year. You can follow him on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

The World Loves Resident Evil: Retribution More Than You Do

The Resident Evil movies have always done better internationally than they have domestically and the current sequel Resident Evil: Retribution 3D is no exception. The movie repeated as the top movie at the international box office in its second weekend even as it fell from the top spot to fifth place at the domestic box office.

TheWrap says Resident Evil: Retribution's second weekend international haul was $37.2 million from 74 territories, making its total international cume $103.4 million so far. Its current worldwide total is $136.9 million.

Resident Evil: Afterlife is the highest-grossing entry in the series with a global total of $296.2 million. It made almost four time more abroad than it did at home.

Source : ign[dot]com

Resident Evil: Retribution Has Series' Second Lowest Opening Ever

Alice fought her way back onto the big screen this weekend with Resident Evil: Retribution 3D debuting in first place at the box office with $21.1 million. However, that's the second lowest opening ever for the Resident Evil series, ahead of the 2002 original but behind Afterlife, Extinction, and Apocalypse, respectively.

How Retribution fares overseas will likely be the bigger factor as the Resident Evil movies have all performed better abroad than at home. (Indeed, Resident Evil: Afterlife made almost four times its domestic total internationally.)

Pixar's 3D re-release of Finding Nemo opened in second place, while the acclaimed drama The Master opened with $730,000 from just 5 screens. Nicolas Cage's Stolen played on just 141 screens for a debut of $204,000. The IMAX re-release of Raiders of the Lost Ark made $400,000 in its second weekend.

And finally, The Dark Knight Rises fell out of the Top 10 releases after 9 weeks in theaters. Its domestic total stands at $441 million. It's global cume is currently $1,044,411,000.

Here are the weekend estimates via Rentrak:

1. Resident Evil: Retribution 3D $21.1 million
2. Finding Nemo $17.5 million
3. The Possession $5.8 million
4. Lawless $4.2 million
5. ParaNorman $3 million
6. The Expendables 2 $3 million
7. The Words $2.9 million
8. The Bourne Legacy $2.9 million
9. The Odd Life of Timothy Green $2.5 million
10. The Campaign $2.4 million

Listen to Keepin' It Reel to find out how we did with our box office predictions!

Source : ign[dot]com

Resident Evil: Retribution 3D Review

Be advised of some minor SPOILERS ahead. Milla Jovovich’s zombie slayer Alice is back, along with several familiar faces, in Resident Evil: Retribution 3D, the fifth installment in the most successful video game movie franchise ever. This sequel, once again directed by Jovovich’s husband Paul W.S. Anderson, picks up at the end of the previous film, Resident Evil: Afterlife.

Alice is a captive inside a massive, subterranean Umbrella Corporation compound. Umbrella mind-controls Alice’s friend Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory), turning this former ally into her archenemy here. Umbrella itself is now fully controlled by the Red Queen program, which is determined to bring Alice back into the fold and destroy what’s left of humanity. The story follows Alice’s attempt to escape from the Umbrella compound with assistance from fresh faces Ada Wong (Li Bingbing), Leon S. Kennedy (Johann Urb), and Barry Burton (a cigar-chomping, underutilized Kevin Durand), who are also joined by Afterlife’s Luther West (Boris Kodjoe).

Their escape from sees the team move through different levels used for training purposes that recreate New York, Tokyo and Moscow. Along the way, Alice encounters a deaf orphan named Becky (Aryana Engineer), and also learns more about her own past before the T-virus outbreak. She also sees the return of colleagues she’d thought long dead -- Rain Ocampo (Michelle Rodriguez), Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr), and James “One” Shade (Colin Salmon) – all of whom are sent after her by Umbrella.

While it’s pretty much business as usual in this latest Resident Evil film, Retribution at least feels more like a video game than the last few sequels have. There are different levels the characters have to fight their way through, with different boss battles along the way. Fans who have long wanted to see characters such as Ada Wong or Leon S. Kennedy finally appear in the film series will be momentarily happy to see them; momentarily, because Barry and Leon don’t have much to do except shoot at things. Even Ada is a cipher, but haven’t we come to expect thin characterizations from this franchise by now?

Alice is the only character given anything close to resembling an emotional journey. Jovovich plays the character far more human and vulnerable than we’re used to seeing; being stripped of her powers and meeting a young girl awakens not only Alice’s emotional side, but her maternal one as well. Alice’s “origin” allows Jovovich to play a version of Alice who is ordinary, fearful and unaccustomed to violence. Everyone else is just along for the ride, although the Red Queen makes for a much better baddie this time than Wesker (whose agenda here contradicts much of what he did in the past).

Of the resurrected characters, only Rain really has much to do (Carlos’ best stuff is as Alice’s husband in the “origin” sequence, while One just glares and shoots). Rodriguez seems to be having fun playing against type as one version of Rain who hates guns, drives a hybrid and is a girly girl in high heels. Newcomer Aryana Engineer (who, like her character, is partially deaf) acquits herself fine in a small, but important role as the orphan Alice looks after, but, alas, they’re no Ripley and Newt.

You don’t actually need to see the first four films in order to watch and understand Resident Evil: Retribution. There’s a lengthy recap of the events of the past films in the prologue that allows newbies to just dive in. The opening is a bit tiresome in its replay of the ending of the previous film, but all you really need to know to follow this story is summed up in the prologue.

Resident Evil: Retribution, of course, has its fair share of action, from some rather pedestrian shootouts to some brutal hand-to-hand combat between Alice and Jill Valentine (including some blows that really should have left one of them crippled, or at the very least with broken bones). The highlight set-piece is a car chase in Moscow’s Red Square (Russian military zombies look pretty cool on motorcycles and tanks). While there are still some silly “crap coming at you” shots, overall the 3D in this film is used more for environmental effect than it was in Afterlife.

Even with all of its dopey dialogue, wooden characters and “been there, done that” elements, Resident Evil: Retribution is pretty decent as far as entries in this series go. It’s certainly feels more like a video game and has a bit more emotion to it than some of the past Resident Evil sequels, but if you don’t like this series then there’s not much here to make you suddenly warm up to it. And if you do like the Resident Evil films, then you’ll likely leave the cinema content with how you’ve spent your time.

Source : ign[dot]com

Paul W.S. Anderson Mulls Monster Hunter Movie

Resident Evil film series helmer Paul W.S. Anderson is reportedly hoping to turn another Capcom video game franchise, Monster Hunter, into a movie.

Punch Drunk Critics got the lowdown by translating a Japanese interview Anderson did while promoting his latest video game movie, Resident Evil: Retribution 3D. Capcom has trust in Anderson at this point given the commercial success of the Resident Evil movies, the most successful video game franchise yet.

Anderson he's actively planning the film adaptation now. While there are no details on his take for bringing the fantasy-action-horror game to cinematic life, it's probably a safe bet that his wife and Resident Evil leading lady Milla Jovovich will likely be involved with it.

Thanks to Dread Central for the heads-up!

Source : ign[dot]com

Win Big With Resident Evil Retribution

To celebrate the impending release of Resident Evil Retribution in UK cinemas on September 28th, we've put together the most incredible Resident Evil-themed prize for you to win. Up for grabs in this amazing bundle is:

• 3D TV
• Surround Sound System
• Blu-ray bundle of the first four Resident Evil films (Resident Evil, Apocalypse, Extinction & Afterlife)
• Sony PlayStation 3 160GB
• Resident Evil 6 for PS3

HOW TO ENTER

To be in with a chance of bagging this incredible prize package simply head to the IGN Resident Evil Retribution microsite which you can find here:

http://uk-microsites.ign.com/residentevilretribution/

Watch the video intro from the star of the film Milla Jovovich and then click the orange button marked 'Enter' at the bottom of the screen. You need to submit your details before October 14, 2012 to be in with a chance of winning.

This competition is open to IGN readers in the UK, Hungary, Spain, Sweden and Portugal over the age of 18 only. Head to the competition page for full terms and conditions.

Source : ign[dot]com

Revisiting Resident Evil 4

Every passing day brings us one day closer to the launch of Resident Evil 6, and we're now less than 30 days away. We've been looking back on all of Capcom's previous installments in the series to prepare ourselves for the new adventure's arrival, and we're finally nearing the end of the long journey – after revisiting 0, 1, 2, 3 and Code: Veronica one at a time, there are just two games left on our stack to replay. We'll get to Resident Evil 5 in our final installment, but you know where we're going today. It's Resident Evil 4.

RE4's Four Failed Versions

Resident Evil 4 is so fundamentally different from its predecessors that it's almost not a Resident Evil game at all. And, in fact, it turned out not to be one in its first form. RE4 first went into development back in 1999, and at the onset Capcom's creators decided to set out and make something totally different. Something cooler, edgier, more focused on action. They worked on the new approach diligently, but ultimately hit a roadblock – the project just didn't feel like Resident Evil any more. So they tweaked a few names here and there, tossed in some demons and decided to call the whole thing "Devil May Cry" instead. Perhaps you've heard of it?

Devil May Cry has gone on to become its own successful series for Capcom, but its origin as a failed attempt at Resident Evil 4 meant the RE team had to go back to the drawing board and start from scratch after Dante was born. RE4 then entered a rollercoaster of up and down development, constantly hitting obstacles and getting scrapped in one form after another. Work on the game behind the scenes at Capcom ultimately covered a span of six years, from 1999 until 2005, and along the way there were versions of the game featuring traditional zombies (gone from the final), a haunted castle (altered dramatically in the final) and a ghostly man wielding a hook (also gone from the final version - we got a chainsaw maniac instead).

All of the trials and troubles were ultimately worth it, though. Resident Evil 4 finally launched in its finished form in January 2005 as an exclusive for Nintendo's GameCube, and the praise from critics, fans and skeptics was immediate, intense and nearly universal in scope.

Out with the Old

I say "nearly" universal because it'd be wrong to claim that everyone loved the new direction Capcom took for the franchise – Resident Evil 4 tossed out so many elements that had come to define the older games that some (rather hardcore) fans still refuse to acknowledge this game as a true sequel, saying the series ended with either Zero or Code: Veronica. Well, it didn't. It just got a whole lot different.

Resident Evil 4 ditched static, pre-rendered backgrounds. Code: Veronica had taken baby steps in that direction, but RE4 totally abandoned the old style of presentation – the camera now trailed right behind your character and every environment was fully rendered in interactive 3D. For a series that previously felt like it was played through the vantage point of stationary security cameras in hallway corners, it was a huge shift.

The change in viewing angle heralded a major upgrade that fans had been dying for the series to adopt for years as well – improved, actually functional controls. Finally freed from the stiff, unmanageable and unrealistic tank-like controls of the earlier games, RE4 let you fluidly move where you wanted, when you wanted without the directions for which way was "forward" getting flip-flopped on you every three seconds. Aiming weapons became much more natural as well, and enemies' reactions were upgraded to pay attention to whether they were shot in the leg, or the arm, or the head or torso.

The visual and control changes sped up the game's flow considerably, which contributed to the fact that RE4 now felt more like a title belonging in the action genre than the old survival horror category. Perhaps embracing that shift in tone, Capcom also eliminated many of the traditional shocks and scares of the old games, so playing RE4 was less of a frightening experience and more of an adrenaline-pumping one. And it's that part of the shift, perhaps, that made some Resident Evil purists decide to boycott this new adventure – because they played RE games, in part, because they enjoyed peeing their pants. (While RE4 left most people dry.)

Donning the Bomber Jacket

But those weren't the only changes from the old RE status quo – Capcom kept making more breaks with the past by taking the series' storyline in a whole new direction. Raccoon City, the Umbrella Corporation and all the regular plot beats of the franchise's first five games had little to do with Resident Evil 4. This game took its protagonist from the past – Leon S. Kennedy, once upon a time featured as RE2's rookie cop – but then it thrust him into an all-new setting with all-new foes.

Six years after the Raccoon City incident, Leon has somehow progressed in his career to the point that a one-time rural city police officer is now working as an official United States government agent. He's deployed by himself into a remote, rustic farming community somewhere in Europe and given the assignment to find and bring home the President's missing daughter, Ashley Graham. So he pulls on his fluffy-collared bomber jacket and goes to work.

It isn't long before he runs into zombies, though . . . except, wait a minute, these aren't zombies! RE4 offers a more advanced foe instead, call Los Ganados. These Spanish-mumbling peasants aren't corpses reanimated by the T-Virus, but rather still-living people who've been infected and compromised by the "Las Plagas" plague. It makes them zombie-like in temperament and behavior, but their intact humanity allows them to do things the old zombies never could, like wield weapons in battle.

Leon ultimately does track down Ashley, and the two work together to escape the horrors around them – survival is ultimately an important theme. But RE4 never quite circles back around to really feeling like its predecessors, even after some cameos and callbacks to the past appear later on in the narrative. No, RE4 is definitely a breaking point. It marked the moment when Resident Evil was reborn and became, basically, a totally different property for Capcom going forward.

It's an Exclusive! (Well, Not Really)

Resident Evil 4, if you didn't already know, was a phenomenal game and a huge success. There may have been a handful of detractors pining for the old days of the series, but the vast majority of gamers embraced all of Capcom's changes, respected the hard work put in to make it happen and bought, bought and bought the game again to rack up millions of units of sales on the GameCube. It was a huge boost to Nintendo's console, too, as the Big N had had very few third-party hits to ship exclusively to the little purple system. RE4 moved hardware, and even the most hardened Nintendo fans will admit that the game outclassed even the first-party efforts of the same generation – possibly including stand-outs like Metroid Prime.

But the celebration was short-lived. Resident Evil 4, a GameCube exclusive, announced and promoted as a GameCube exclusive for years, celebrated and embraced and prized by GameCube owners for being an exclusive, ultimately became the least exclusive Resident Evil game ever made. Capcom saw the potential for the game. They recognized how huge it would be. And the draw of dollars from other hardware was just too compelling – so the company backed out of its promise to offer the game only on GameCube and began furiously porting it to every other platform imaginable.

You've got to respect Capcom, in a way. They didn't just wimp out of exclusivity with Nintendo – they turned on that notion with force.

RE4 made its way to the PlayStation 2 before 2005 was over, in a version that was criticized for not being as visually sharp but which also contained additional content that made up for the lesser graphics. The Wii got a great version a few years later that swapped Wii Remote aiming into the control scheme and still ranks as one of our favorite Wii titles of all time. And the game came to PCs. And PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade in HD-ified form. And even mobile devices! Seriously, they shoehorned this game everywhere, even onto platforms without buttons. That's some incredibly thorough porting, there.

The Impact on Resident Evil 6

It's hard to be too upset about Resident Evil 4 being pushed to be so prolific, though, as it really is a sensational title that deserves to be enjoyed by as many people as possible – even if it's in a weird iPad edition. And RE4's expanded audience is probably the biggest thing Resident Evil 6 has got going for it, as this game is the one that has undeniably provided the template that the new sequel is following.

All the major changes continue to be reflected in RE6. The behind-the-shoulder camera angles, the more intelligent enemies, the action focus, the quick-time events. (Oh yeah, RE4 introduced those too. So thank Leon for all those button-mashing reflex moments.) Leon himself is back in a playable role once again too.

Let's just hope that one last piece of RE4's story provides inspiration too – since it was intended to be a GameCube exclusive and ultimately saw wide release to every other platforms, perhaps Resident Evil 6 will do the reverse. We'd love to see it shift from being only on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC and get a version for Wii U added to the release schedule.

Lucas M. Thomas wants to go back to working behind the counter of a retail store somewhere, just for a day, just so he can look all spooky, put some grit in his voice and ask every customer who comes in, "What're ya buyin'?" Join him on his IGN blog and Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Capcom: Sold Resident Evil 6 Copies Were "Stolen"

Copies of Resident Evil 6 that appeared for sale in Poland last week were stolen, Capcom has confirmed.

As reported, the copies on sale were of the German PS3 version which were purchased from a store in the Polish city of Poznan.

“

At this time, all we can add is that it would appear this unfortunate incident is limited to a small quantity of stolen copies of the German USK PlayStation 3 version of the game.

Capcom has released a statement addressing the incident, which reads, "Capcom is currently undertaking a thorough investigation into reports that Resident Evil 6 is being sold ahead of its official October 2 release date.

"At this time, all we can add is that it would appear this unfortunate incident is limited to a small quantity of stolen copies of the German USK PlayStation 3 version of the game."

It's not currently known how many copies of the title were sold, or what will happen to those that got out into the wild ahead of schedule. One copy has even turned up on eBay, with the seller claiming that he "bought the game legally".

While it's not known what action Capcom will decide to take at this time, it's usually a fairly risky move to decide to play a game ahead of launch, especially if you're one of a handful of people to do so. While Battlefield 3 was one of the more recent titles to suffer a massive leak after appearing early on torrent sites, most people who downloaded it got away without punishment due to the sheer volume of people involved.

When console games leak though, it tends to be easier for companies to track who's been playing them and then take action. Back in 2007, Halo 3 leaked online to Microsoft's intense chagrin. As a result, the Xbox Live accounts of any gamers found to have played the game were banned until the year 9999.

So despite the fact you may be able to get your hands on a copy of Resident Evil 6 a bit early, it's probably best to wait for the time being. To help quench your thirst, check out our countdown of 30 reasons you should be excited for the game's (legitimate) release.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

30 Days Until Resident Evil 6

With only 30 days to go until Resident Evil 6 is released on October 2nd, we count down 30 reasons why Capcom’s latest zombie infested survival horror game has us ready to destroy wave after wave of the bloody undead in terrifying new ways. You rolling with us? Pack a shotgun and never look back, this is the dirty 30 for Resident Evil 6. BRRRAAAAAIIINNNSS!!

30

The Zombies Are Smarter Than Ever Now

Like much, much, much smarter. They jump, spit acid and fight back with weapons. These things don't just grunt and groan. They eat brains and ace math tests. Run, man. RUN!

29

The Special Editions Rock

Why snag just the game when you can get copies of a bunch of classic Evils or even a hoodie? There are a ton of options, so stop being so boring.

28

That Logo Looks Like A Giraffe And A....

Love flourishes in the strangest of places. Sometimes a man loves a woman. Sometimes a woman loves a giraffe. Sometimes two fish smoke cigarettes after an argument. The Resident Evil 6 logo is like the world's most perversely inspiring rorschach test! Watch this Up At Noon bit for even more.

27

The Achievements!

There's an Achievement named "Duty Calls" in case you were worried there wouldn't be enough action to go with that survival horror. Plenty more Achievement spoilers at that link, if you're into that kind of thing.

26

Ada Wong Is Back, Baby

And yes, we missed her too. Don't lie, so did you.

25

This Mysterious Man

What is he doing? Maybe he's READING THIS VERY ARTICLE!

24

You Probably Have Better Skin Than This Guy, So Cheer Up!

23

Leon, Chris & Eminem In The SAME GAME!

22

That Title Screen Guy Will Totally Yell "RESIDENT...EVIIIIL. SIX!" When You Press Start On The Title Screen

He did it for every other Resident Evil game so why fire him now?

21

Resident Evil.Net Keeps The Game Going FOREVA AND EVA

Regularly updated new content and events? This makes us very happy.

20

We Couldn't Wait So We Did Awesome Break Downs Of The Resident Evil Games Leading Up To RE6

Our homie Lucas M. Thomas has been doing amazingly detailed breakdowns of all the Resident evil classics. Join us in celebrating our old, withered nostalgia.

19

The Amazing IGN Wiki Means You'll Never Get Stuck

We'll keep updating it with backstory, cheats and full walkthroughs but we'd love if you helped us, too.

18

That Whole Zombie Infection Thing? Yeah, It's Global Now

(Although once again, Greenland is safe from the rest of the world's problems)

17

It Has A Naked Human-Spider Boss Woman Thingy That We Can't Even Show You

We would probably get arrested for throwing a picture in here but that won't stop us from talking about it.

16

DAAAAAWWWWWWWWWW!!

SO CUTE!!!

15

It's F***ing Legit!

Or so says @GenaMarini and she's probably right.

14

This Game Has Some Weird-Ass Enemies, Man!

Zombie mutant prize claw people? What the hell?!?! Well, it's not like being populated with freakish weirdos is new for the series or anything.

13

***ZOMBIE CAT BREAK!***

Hey look, it's Albert Whisker! We're so, so sorry.

12

Multiple Story Campaigns

Oh, you want branching stories and entire campaigns with different lead characters? Here are three to start you off:

And that's not even all of them...

11

Some Crazy, Talented People Are Working On This

Just watch our making-of video for proof!

10

The Bio Ball

Hypodermic fun for the whole family!

9

It Takes Place In The Same Universe As Sleeping Dogs If You're A Fan Fiction Writer Or Crazy Conspiracy Theorist

It doesn't really, but we can pretend.

8

It Comes With An Umbrella Corporation Umbrella If You Pre-Order It

Never heard of an Umbrella Umbrella? Let our resident (see what we did there?) video hostess Naomi Kyle show you one in action.

7

The Game's Producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi Is No Slouch

From classics like Dino Crisis, Resident Evil 2 to Killer7 and Devil May Cry, this guy is a legend.

6

It's Not Resident Evil 5

Nuff' said.

5

It's The Only Game This Year With Crossbows

OK, so that's bullsh*t. There are thousands of games this year with crossbows. But we like this crossbow the best.

4

It Reminds Us Of Resident Evil 2...

3

...And The Village From Resident Evil 4

2

That CRAZY Plane Crash Scene

1

And Finally? Zombie Party Time!

Excited for Resident Evil 6 as we are? Well you absolutely should be by now. Be sure to let us know just how excited in the comments below.

Source : ign[dot]com

Revisiting Resident Evil 3: Nemesis

Resident Evil 6's October release date is now only a month and a half away, so we're ramping up our project to replay all of the company's older efforts in storyline order. We first looked back at Resident Evil Zero in April, and in May we replayed the original 1996 adventure via its 2002 GameCube remake. Last month, we returned to Raccoon City by revisiting Resident Evil 2. Now it's time for Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.

Meeting your Worst Nightmare

As the first and only numbered Resident Evil sequel to have a subtitle attached to its name, everyone knew going into this third PlayStation adventure that something about "Nemesis" was going to be critically important to the game. Capcom made it even more obvious by placing the hulking, nightmare-inducing beast front and center on the game's packaging – the Nemesis was your enemy. Your singular foe. The villain so overwhelming that the entire duration of this latest RE title would be spent trying to take him down – or, more likely, just running away in abject terror.

It was a defining design decision that Capcom made, and it worked beautifully. Whereas the terror in the first two Resident Evil games was mostly centered on the hundreds of zombies lurking around every corner of the Mansion and the Raccoon City streets, Resident Evil 3 totally refocused its fright factor by building up this one, relentless, nearly omnipresent creature. The Nemesis was the most powerful zombie ever – he just couldn't be killed. And even worse than that immortality was the fact that he broke so many rules.

Survival horror games are meant to be scary, of course, and players know to prepare for shocks and surprises going in – but there's still a kind of comfort to be had in the knowledge of how most of these enemies are going to behave. The Nemesis, though, took even those small comforts away. He could run just as fast as your character, which broke the rule of zombies being slow and giving you time to react. He could assault you from afar with a rocket launcher, which broke the rule of zombies only being able to hurt you in close quarters. Worst of all, he could follow you through doors. That broken rule was the hardest of all to handle. We never knew how much we relied on the simple technical boundaries of loading screens protecting us from attacks until that first time we leapt through a nearby door, tried to catch our breath, and then saw the Nemesis come charging straight through to continue his hunt for "STAAAAAAARRRRRSSSSS!"

Frying Pan, or Fire?

Run-ins with the iconically scary Nemesis happened continuously throughout Resident Evil 3, as just when you thought you left him behind he'd pop up again at the most inconvenient time, in the most inconvenient place, to once again try to eat your brain. Capcom took the opportunity of these unique encounters to do something new with gameplay. You wouldn't just walk into a room and find the Nemesis sitting around waiting to battle you again – instead, you almost always got a choice of how to react to his appearances.

Called the "Live Selection" system, the game would briefly freeze and flash in black and white at these critical moments, then give you a quick on-screen choice between two alternative actions. Would you rather stand and fight, or turn and run? Would you like to go left, or go right? Memories of old Choose Your Own Adventure books and even the classic Dragon's Lair arcade game might have occurred to some players, except none of us really had the time to sit and think – because if you didn't pick an option within just a few seconds, the game would decide that your indecisiveness must be punished. Usually by Jill getting seriously hurt, or even instantly killed.

The RE series has never again used this specific type of reaction mechanic, but from a certain perspective, it could be seen as a precursor to the fast-button-input Quick Time Events that began to appear later on in Resident Evil 4.

The Mercenaries

Another way Resident Evil 3 paved the way for its subsequent sequels was with its introduction of a new minigame called "The Mercenaries - Operation: Mad Jackal." Fans of the franchise will recognize the name, as a shortened version – just "The Mercenaries" – was used for minigames in both Resident Evil 4 and 5. It even got spun-off into its own standalone retail release with last year's Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D for Nintendo's 3DS.

Those later versions and their focus on taking down tons of zombies to rack up high scores have little in common with RE3's original version, though, as Operation: Mad Jackal was more of a time attack game. You'd pick to play as one of three commando characters from the game's main storyline – Carlos, Mikhail or Nicholai – and try to make it from one starting point to an end goal in another part of Raccoon City in just two minutes. Running straight there was impossible, though – you'd always run out of time. So along the way you'd have to take down zombies and assist uninfected survivors to score time bonuses, extending the countdown and giving you enough extra seconds to make it to the finish line.

Gameplay Refinements

As the third and final Resident Evil title for the original PlayStation, RE3 represented the pinnacle of the series' design on its originating platform. Its foundations were firmly the same as RE1 and 2 – the same tank-like control scheme, pre-rendered backgrounds and all the rest of the series' hallmarks were found here once again. But lots of little tweaks and upgrades made the cut for this final PSone outing.

You could activate a new dodge maneuver to avoid zombie attacks, using proper timing to sidestep their hungry lunges and save yourself the trouble of having to use up quite so many Green Herbs. You could walk up and down staircases without needing to press an action button to do so – an improvement that greatly benefited the game's overall flow. And, crucially, you could now execute fast, 180-degree turns on the spot. Capcom had actually first introduced that little move in the RE-esque Dino Crisis, but it proved to be truly invaluable with the Nemesis hot on your heels through Raccoon City.

Oh, and then there was the gunpowder. For some reason, Resident Evil 3 went nuts for gunpowder. You didn't really upgrade your weapons much in this one – instead you'd find all sorts of gunpowder containers all over the city and you'd mix them together to create better and better ammunition. It was another unique addition to the series, but also another one that hasn't ever been used again.

The Impact of Nemesis

That's the thing about Resident Evil 3: Nemesis – it's arguably the most unique and individual of all the numbered RE games. We've tried to pin down the potential impact of each installment on the new RE6 with each of these articles, but with Nemesis it's a question mark. So many of its elements seem destined to stay locked into just this one game – the focus on a singular foe, the "Live Selection" choices, the gunpowder mixing. If anything, the thing that will probably carry forward into 6 will be the ridiculously impractical costumes for our playable heroes – have you seen the tube top and mini-skirt they stuck Jill in for this game?

If you want to go back and experience Nemesis for yourself before RE6 arrives, you've got just about the same array of options as you did for RE2. There's the original PlayStation release from 1999. Then there's a series of ports to PC, to the Dreamcast and to the GameCube – though the Cube version didn't exactly find many fans thanks to its inflated pricetag back in 2003. PlayStation Network's also got it up for download, for all you PS3 and PSP owners out there. But we'll end by reitirating the same sentiment from last time – Capcom, we'd love a modern remake of this adventure at some point. Surely you're not too scared to bring back the Nemesis, right?

Lucas M. Thomas still plays Resident Evil games with the lights on. You're not going to change his mind about that. Join him on his IGN blog and Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Resident Evil's Weirdest Enemies

Through the years, the Resident Evil franchise has offered its fair share of epic, zombie-fueled adventures. From the exceptional first entries that focused on survival horror to the more action-oriented modern releases like Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5 - the franchise stands as a shining example of how to do zombie-gore right.

The funny thing is, the more memorable Resident Evil enemies usually aren't traditional zombies. In fact, some of them are downright weird. Elephants, giant snakes, plants, dudes in armor - when you really think about it, some of the creatures we've taken down in the name of survival have been pretty damn freaky.

In honor of the forthcoming release of Resident Evil 6, we've compiled the absolute weirdest enemies the RE franchise has to offer. These are in no particular order - although I think we can all agree the zombie elephant would have been number one. Take a look, then let us know your own favorites in the comments afterward.

On to the weirdness!

Neptune

As if Great White sharks weren't frightening enough, the bastards at Umbrella had to go and make B.O.W.s out of them. Bop it on the nose! I hear they hate that...

Hunter

Good ole hunters - giant, reptilian B.O.W.s with giant claws and mean tempers. He looks like he's yelling, "WHY ARE MY HANDS SO BIG!?"

Eliminator

ZOMBIE MONKEY! How can you not like that? Still - it's freaking weird.

Plague Crawler

Ew. Freaking... EW! Giant bugs are not only nasty, and unsanitary, they're also just not normal. Bugs should stay bug-sized.

Stalker

You only thought Aslan was on your side.

Web Spinner

This one's kind of just a spider. But it's HUGE! That's weird.

G

Not surprisingly, G is a product of the G-Virus. It's born from a human host - which is not only strange, but also endlessly unsettling. Also, if you looked at that and didn't think "zombie E.T." - shame on you.

Duvalia

This dude makes those Plagas that burst from your neck seem downright friendly. Disgusting.

Titan

It's a zombie elephant. What more do you need to know?

Alligator

A zombie alligator is different from a regular alligator because... it... well... it's bigger. That's about it.

Queen Leech

A former pet of Dr. Marcus, the Queen Leech is a product of Progenitor virus experimentation. That's what you get for keeping a leech as a pet. Freak. It also looks strangely like Bongo Bongo from The Legends of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Except without the bongo...

Ivy

A lot of the other enemies on this list are funny, but still frightening. This one is a plant with legs - which is just dumb.

Cephalo

It's like some sick game of jack-in-the-box, but where Jack is a disgusting Plaga that pops out of a zombie's severed neck rather than a box. Thanks for stomping all over our innocence, RE. At least he's wearing sandals, though. You can't be afraid of a man in sandals.

William Birkin

Man, and you thought your family was messed up. Worst. Father. EVER.

Armadura

A suit of armor infected by a Plaga. WTF?! So many questions... so few answers.

Big Man Majini

This one is basically just a big dude. The fact that he doesn't look at all like a zombie is the weird part. Um, ya. Moving on.

Licker

Its body is rotting, but its brain is perfectly intact? Its tongue is longer than its neck? This classic villain makes no sense. Watch out though! It'll lick you to death! Nooooo!

Giant Moth

Look at his mouth - this guy was clearly infected by the Zoidberg virus. Seriously though, what were they hoping to accomplish with this one? When is Umbrella going to learn that no one benefits from giant, infected bugs?

Bitores Mendez

That... has got to hurt.

Ghiozzo

That ginormous fish-monster could never fit in that tiny pool. Weird!

Lurker

Okay, this guy is just awesome. Expect to trip the **** out if you lick this frog's back. And maybe die. And maybe turn into a zombie. Proceed with caution.

Ndesu

He was actually only unshaven before the mutation happened and now look - a full beard! Also, he wears a dead dude for a belt buckle.

Executioner

At what point did he decide it was a good idea to stick nails in his head and torso? Dumbass.

Cerberus

The RE developers sure do love their zombie dogs. He looks more like a "Spot" to me though. I mean, come on. Silly RE developers. Cerberous has three heads.

Yawn

The most badass of badass snakes, Yawn is an awesome - though admittedly weird - B.O.W. that likes to hang around creepy mansions. That expression though - not frightening. He's either yawning, as his name implies, or the happiest puppy ever. I wish I felt half that good right now.

Were those weird enough for you? Did we miss any? Sound off in the comments below, and be sure to let us know your picks for the weirdest Resident Evil enemies.

Audrey Drake is an Associate Editor at IGN and a proud member of the IGN Nintendo team. She is also a lifelong gamer, a frequent banisher of evil and a wielder of various legendary blades. You can follow her wild adventures on her IGN blog and Twitter. Game on!

Source : ign[dot]com