Resident Evil 6 Reviews: Critics Split; Call RE 6 Messy, Convoluted

The reviews are coming in for Resident Evil 6, and it isn't looking all that pretty.

A few news outlets have been complementary about the game, but there are some that were quite disappointed.

Most critics agree that Leon Kennedy's campaign is by far the high point of the game and Chris' more action packed one is the weak point. The story seems to get good buzz as Worth Playing states that it is "probably one of the best written in the series to date." Critics also felt that the co-op is noticeably improved and that playing the game with a friend may be the best way to go. But the praise essentially ends there.

Most critics that despises or were disappointed by the game criticized Capcom's inability to give it a true identity by cramming into too much. Joystiqu outlined the problem quite nicely when they said that "The problem isn't that Resident Evil is changing direction over time. No, it wants to go in all directions at once... You can't fault Resident Evil 6 for its attempt to be an action game for all, but you certainly can when the overall result feels unpolished and scatterbrained. It's chaos."

 IGN.com in particular stated in their title that the game was "Bigger than ever, but not better." IGN stated that there are strong moments for the series, even high points, but there is simply too much packed into the game and often times it is not as good as it could be. They also added that the game's focus on gun fights takes away from the core of the series' game play. IGN gave the game a mediocre 7.9 out of 10 rating.

Gamespot has been the most damning by far and stated the game's "messy mix of annoying quick-time events and constant set pieces makes it a poor caricature of modern-day action games.While they conceded that the game's production values and cinematics were great, they stated that they would have preferred that Capcom make a movie and "forget the game playing stuff." They gave it a 4.5 out of 10.

The Verge called the game "Biohazardous waste" and also lamented that the lack of identity. "Resident Evil 6 is a shape-shifter. It's an oversized behemoth. It's a franchise-diminishing disappointment. More than anything, Resident Evil 6 is a compromise - a desperate, ugly bid to appeal to as many people as possible," said Verge writer Phillip Kollar. He adds that each campaign is not all that varied and fails to create its own uniqueness resulting in a repetitive game. He gave it a 4 out of 10.

Even Worthplaying, which gave the game an 8/10 stated that the game was "supposed to come out toward the end of November, but after this year's E3, its release date was hurriedly moved up by seven weeks. The final game is certainly playable, but it could've used that extra development time to add some polish and iron out some bugs." They also added that you can't pause at any point in time, which is "one of the stupidest things I've encountered in a mainstream game.

CNET had two critics review the game, but when it came down to the recommendation, they simply stated that it depended on whether gamers were interested in the old school survival horror or those interested in newer action oriented gameplay. It seems that for fans hoping for more traditional Resident Evil, the worst was realized. For those who like the new direction of the franchise, it is still decent.