Resident Evil 6 is a game that tries to have its bloody flesh cake and eat it, too. It's a project so full of ambitions that only four campaigns and several full-fledged multiplayer modes could contain them all, so expansive that it required a team of over 600 to develop and publish. And while at times the game can feel like a sort of Frankenstein project developed by numerous sub-teams and stitched together in the end stages, even when things are kind of a mess in Resident Evil 6, they're a glorious mess. This is a game that puts slick gunplay and fast co-op action front and center, sometimes to the detriment of the extraneous mechanics, but to the great benefit of the experience as a whole.

The Resident Evil 6 experience is one that may take a few moments to fully appreciate. Playing through one of the game's four character-centric campaigns on its own is fun, but largely unsatisfying from a plot standpoint. Most of the game's events seem like complete nonsense as seen through the eyes of only one character. The real fun comes in piecing together the true story, which only comes full circle during the unlockable Ada Wong campaign. Still, each story is packed to bursting with its own unique setpieces and characters. Pretty much every old face from the classic Resident Evil canon is called in here, and a few new characters are introduced to great effect. When viewed seperately, each of the campaigns runs around the standard shooter length of five to six hours and is tons of fun. When integrated into the larger puzzle of the game's plot, things really take off.

Still, it bears mentioning just how impressive it is that the game has four completely functional and unique campaigns. Each character's levels have their own unique focus, with Leon primarily tackling zombies and mutants just like he did in Raccoon City, and Chris bringing out the big guns to fight off J'avo similar to those baddies he faced in Africa. It's all great in theory, but the gameplay largely boils down to the same action-based shooting and melee combat in each of the campaigns. Of all of the stories, I felt Leon's fell the flattest simply because it's supposed to be scary and it isn't. There's no sense of scare timing, the soundtrack doesn't contribute to the scares, and the game's output is way too dark, making it difficult to see the stuff you're supposed to be scared of in the first place. It doesn't help that the last half of Leon's campaign is just a series of ongoing boss battles against the same guy.

Leon's campaign may be the weak link, but the rest more than pick up the slack. Whether it's a snowmobile chase through the mountains, a shootout with nasty bat-like J'avo in the streets of China, or a gruesome boss battle beneath an ancient church, the other campaigns hit all of their action beats with crackerjack timing and efficiency. And that's not to say that Leon's story doesn't have its own memorable moments; an early-game helicopter sequence remains one of the coolest things I've seen all year. It's just that when the game needs to crank up the atmosphere, it seems uncertain of itself, and Leon's campaign relies primarily on that atmosphere to establish its nonexistent scares.

Like Resident Evil 5, the entirety of this sixth entry can be played cooperatively either in splitscreen or online. In my experience, both ran great with nary a second of lag. Running and gunning with another person changes the experience in many ways both substantial and sutble. For example, players can work together to collect and utilize items and ammo more efficiently than one might with an AI player. Of course, there are also the obvious benefits of having a second player onboard, such as the easier boss battles. 

The game is heavily online-integrated, even going so far as asking you to set up matchmaking options and search for a partner each time you try to jump into a campaign. It's great to have the option of drop-in, drop-out co-op, but this menu system is indicative of Resident Evil 6's biggest bugbear. I speak, of course, of the menus. The Resident Evil games have never been known for their intuitive UI, but this one really takes the cake for lousy design. Getting into a game, a process that takes between one and three button presses in an average game, takes around six here. In-game, simply using a healing item requires at least four button presses, whereas in games like Bioshock it's a simple one-click deal. Then there's the HUD, which changes depending on which character you're playing. After spending six hours staring at one HUD design, suddenly moving over to another one can be jarring.

These are of course pretty minor issues in the grand scheme of things, and while the complexity of using a healing item can occasionally lead to an unfair death, it's hardly the end of the world (har.) When things are really moving you'll barely have time to notice the UI quirks, and the game's other systems work much more smoothly. The gunplay is tight and responsive, especially when using the laser sight. Melee attacks are even better; many of them combo into slick finishing moves like the classic suplex with just a few taps of the button. Oh, and you can now shoot while moving, which is probably a huge deal to many Resident Evil fans but which felt like second nature after a few minutes. It certainly feels different, but it's not necessarily worse.

This great gameplay translates seamlessly to the game's online modes. You can run the typical game of Mercenaires, which is available from the outset this time, or you can wait until you finish one of the campaigns to get your hands on the Agent Hunt mode. While Agent Hunt, which sees players facing off as monsters vs humans, is definitely novel, I still found myself going back to trusty old Mercenaries. There's just something about the Hoard-styled arena scanario that Resident Evil does like no other. The time limits and varied enemy and weapon types make this a frenzied and addictive fight to the finish. Agent Hunt, on the other hand, is a less frenetic experience overall, dragged down by awkward monster controls. It's worth playing around with a few times, but I don't see it bringing players back in droves.

It also bears mentioning just how gorgeous a game Resident Evil 6 is. Once you crank up the game's brightness, a must given just how dark everything is, you'll find a pleasantly realistic-looking game lying in the shadows. The models and textures for the game's large cast of playable characters are especially beautiful. Resident Evil 6 does hair better than almost any game I've seen (Alice: Madness Returns is the only one I can think of offhand that handily tops it,) and while it's still very far from perfect, it remains impressive. Water and pus also look great, and some of the creatures benefit from pretty creative design that puts these elements to good use. All told, the game is a technical powerhouse with great effects and stunning characters.

There are moments of Resident Evil 6 that dangerously skirt the realm of the broken, most often due to a lack of focus. When taken as a standalone story, each campaign's plot is practically gibberish. It's when the disparate elements of the game come together that the real magic starts to happen and the true beauty of the experience shines through. This is a game with tons of fantastic action setpieces and great gameplay, online and off. The depth of the plot is less immediately apparent, but stick with this unique and gorgeous thriller and you might just find your next zombie-fueled addiction. 

Score: 9/10

This game was reviewed on the Playstation 3