Resident Evil 6 PC Analysis

Resident Evil 6 was a strange game when it was released on consoles back in October of last year. There was no doubt that there was a hell of a lot of content on offer, with four campaigns, multiple game modes and more, but that doesn’t mean that the game itself was any good.

Quantity doesn’t always equate to quality. That being said, Adam Cook, who reviewed the console version for GodisaGeek.com, had a decent enough time with the game and awarded it an 9/10, but critics from other websites didn’t take favourably to it; Jim Sterling of Destructoid even went so far as to give it a measly 3/10.

It took some time but the PC version recently saw a release on Windows via Steam, and we’ve been lucky enough to take a long, hard look at this improved version of the game. Before we get into what’s been added, however, we should tell you that you don’t have to worry about the gameplay if you enjoyed Resident Evil 6, and were perhaps worried that Capcom would go into this version with a little bit too much of a heavy hand. If you prefer to play your PC games with an Xbox 360 controller connected to your rig then there’s a good chance that you won’t see anything different at all, aside from the additional features, of course. The reverse is also true though: if you weren’t a fan of Resident Evil 6 because of an issue with the gameplay, there’s little chance that this latest version of the title will do much to change your mind.

The first thing people are going to ask about when it comes to the PC version of anything is whether or not it looks better than the console versions. With Resident Evil 6 the answer is, of course, yes, but it’s not a whole lot better. The textures are crisper and the game has the potential of running at a full 60 frames per second (which is always going to look rather impressive) but all of the models used are the same as we’ve seen before, as are all of the sound effects and everything else that made the game look impressive when it was released on the consoles. If you’re after the best-looking version of Resident Evil 6, and you have a PC that’s capable of running it at the highest settings at a full 60FPS (don’t worry, it wouldn’t need a monster of a machine, just something slightly higher than middle-of-the-road), then there’s no doubt in my mind that this PC version is what you’ve been waiting for, even if the improvements are relatively minor.

This edition also comes with a new game mode in the form of “The Mercenaries: No Mercy”. In this new mode, players play the game as they would with the standard “The Mercenaries” mode, but the amount of enemies available to kill in total has been massively increased, as have the amount of enemies that can be in the stage at any one time. This increase of enemies in the stage, as you would expect, makes the new mode much more challenging. This challenge increase is a good fit for the PC version, where the player has the chance to use a keyboard and mouse to get a much more accurate shot. Having played through the new mode using both a keyboard and mouse, and the traditional Xbox 360 gamepad, I find the keyboard and mouse method much more accurate and I noticed a significant increase in score at the end of the stage. That’s a personal opinion, of course, but I’m sure it’s one that regular PC players will also share, so it’s nice to see that they’re being catered for with the additional modes being added to the PC port of Resident Evil 6.

There’s one other aspect to “The Mercenaries: No Mercy” that doesn’t affect the gameplay in any way, but it’s still something that’s rather fun. If you’re playing through “The Mercenaries” in the “No Mercy” mode, then as well as choosing from all of the standard Resident Evil 6 characters, you’ll also be able to choose from the characters from Left 4 Dead. My personal favourite was walking around the various stages of the game mode with Coach and his trusty shotgun. As I mentioned, it doesn’t add anything to the gameplay at all, but it’s a fun addition that the developers didn’t have to include that serves as a nice little nod to the other famous PC zombie title.

Should You Buy It?

There’s no doubt in my mind that the PC port of Resident Evil 6 is the version that people should be purchasing if they have a computer that’s capable of running it at its maximum settings. The ability to use the mouse and keyboard feels exceptionally natural for a game that first launched on consoles and the inclusion of new game modes and additional extras that have only previously seen a release as paid DLC only increases the game’s desirability. Conversely, however, if you already own Resident Evil 6 on either the Xbox 360 or the PlayStation 3 then unless you really want to play all of the DLC without having to pay for it there’s no reason to purchase the game again on the PC. If you’re one of the few people that have yet to play the game, go for the PC version and you won’t be disappointed.