The Resident Evil 6 trailer is pretty damn impressive, with plenty of nods to franchise history to keep long-time fans happy and enough straight-up action to please everyone else.
Of course, when you're as neurotic as we are, just watching the trailer isn't nearly as good enough. Instead, we've broken everything down, shot by shot, looking for any potential clues as to what the final game will entail. In the process, we've uncovered some pretty juicy stuff.
Don't care for the details? Feel free to scroll to the end, where we've put together a handy TL;DR.
0:10 Leon's back. Hardly a surprise, given the rumors we've been hearing all day, but it's nice to see he'll be making a return.
0:14 Some shots of the President, accompanied by a voiceover. "Bio-organic weapons are a global threat… I'm going to tell them everything." That's all in line with the official press release, which says he's decided to go public…
0:15 …until he becomes the victim of a B.O.W. terrorist attack and discovers a newfound love of brains.
0:17 A newcomer. By the looks of things, probably Leon's new partner.
0:35 After a tense standoff, the tenure of America's first zombie president is cut tragically short.
0:44 Our first shot of the new logo, featuring a 6 that appears to be built out of organic material.
0:50 Leon walks down an ominous hallway. Definitely a classic RE vibe here. In voiceover, his partner begins to confess something. "It's all my fault. I… I did this."
0:56 Some obscured shots of what looks to be a street in Anytown, USA filled with zombies and burning cars. This is Raccoon City all over again.
1:04 That's Ingrid Hunnigan, Leon's Secret Service contact during Resident Evil 4. "90% of the population of Tall Oaks has been infected with the virus." Looks like our Anytown, USA has a name.
1:18 "Yeah, This is Raccon City all over again." Come on, Leon. We just said that. Really, though, those are the classic T-Virus zombies in a small town setting. These scenes definitely feel like a return to franchise roots.
1:21 Lots of quick action shots in a row with a very strong Resident Evil 4 vibe to them. Tubbs the Zombie here has to be our favorite.
1:28 Aerial shots of a Chinese city (possibly Shanghai, judging by the skyline) in chaos. This meshes nicely with some of the earlier rumors about the game.
1:31 We'd recognize those hulking triceps anywhere. It's Chris Redfield! "I can't keep running away. I have to face the truth." He's presumably talking about his steroid problem.
1:39 Chris and the rest of his well-armed team rappel out of the helicopter. Looks like the different segments will have dramatically different tones, with Leon getting more of a traditional survival horror vibe and Chris heading even further into third-person shooter territory.
1:41 Chris pushes past a news crew, then sprints through a bunch of civilians. Does that mean we'll be seeing way more neutral NPCs? Sprinting a la Gears of War?
1:50 It's a bit on the blurry side, but this guy's misshappen body and the tentacle that forms when he gets his arm shot off just scream Las Plagas. Looks like RE6 will feature both the older T-Virus zombies and the RE4/RE5 Las Plagas baddies. Makes sense, given the way they appear to be splintering off the gameplay.
1:52 Chris takes cover, then pops out to shoot at some gun-toting enemies. Mr. Redfield has definitely learned some new third-person shooter tricks, and those are definitely Las Plagas-style enemies, given their assault rifles.
1:59 We've changed venues again. This looks like our third protagonist. He's no one we've seen before, but our money's squarely on Alex Wesker, Albert's unseen but occasionally mentioned brother. You'll know in why in just a second.
2:01 The black leather gloves, the dramatic posing, the tone-inappropriate jujistu? He's a Wesker, all right. Interestingly enough, the enemies don't appear to be zombies at all, but just straight-up humans.
2:07 And his partner appears to be… Ashely Graham, of all people. She's the President's daughter, who you had to so annoyingly escort out of Spain in RE4. No one tell her what happen to her father.
It's also noteworthy that she's dressed for the cold. We see traces of snow throughout the rest of their segment, so they're definitely somewhere unique.
2:11 Wesker and Ashley appear to be on the run from some kind of Tyrant, so we're looking at T-Virus-style bad guys here as well.
2:15 Ashley stabs a downed Wesker with a syringe to revive him. That move is straight out of Resident Evil 5's co-op. Looks like their storyline will definitely be getting co-op gameplay.
An interesting exchange follows in the voice over:
"The world needs you."
"No, not me. Just my blood. Well, the world can have it, as long as someone ponies up the dough."
Seems like our third protagonist might have some kind of cure running through his veins.
2:35 We're back with Chris now for a montage of military shots. "After what she's done to us… how many of our men are dead because of that bitch?" Could he be talking about Ada Wong, who's rumored to play a role in the game.
Also, this syringe grenade is pretty snazzy, although something tells us that's not polio vaccine in those things. Possible weapon?
2:36 Well, this guy's having a bad day.
2:41 This is the guy who's arguing with Chris. Unlike all the other members of the squad they've shown, this guy actually has a face and lines in the trailer.
If he is, in fact, Chris's partner, that would mean all three storylines feature two characters paired up. With that in mind, the entire game could potentially be co-op. Judging by the big emphasis Capcom placed on co-op in RE5, we'd say that's the most likely scenario.
2:44 Not only do we see Chris slide into cover (another new move), he also appears to be in the same snowy locale as Wesker and Ashley. We get a much better view of the architecture here, and it's decidedly European.
2:57 To close things out, we get a quick montage of action shots featuring all three characters. The most notable snippet is here, where we see probably-Wesker riding a motorcycle through the streets of a Chinese city. Looks like he and Chris will meet up at ome point, or at least trade places.
And that's it. Apart from the another shot of the logo and the release date, that's all we get for the time being. So what all did we learn? Here's a quick recap:
- Three separate protagonists, in three separate locations, with three separate gameplay styles.
- Leon will be in Tall Oaks (a US city) handling a T-Virus outbreak after a terrorist attack turns the President. He's got an currently unnamed female partner, and he'll be working with Ingrid Hunnigan again. Gameplay-wise, you're looking at something very similar to RE4, with the most survival horror elements.
- Chris will be in China fighting off another strain of Las Plagas. His segments appear to be heavy on the shooting, with new gameplay mechanics that look like they were lifted straight from Gears of War. You'll be able to sprint, take cover, slide, and roll. His partner is a young-looking military man.
- The third, currently unnamed protagonist is likely Alex Wesker, Albert's brother. He's paired up with RE4's Ashley Graham in a snowy, European-looking city that seems to be filled with Tyrants. Gameplay seems to place an emphasis on hand-to-hand combat. His story seems to revolve around his blood, which might be a cure for the T-Virus, Las Plagas, or both.
- At some point, the paths of our heroes will cross, as they're briefly shown out of their primary locations.
- Given that all three plots seem to revolve around pairs of characters, it seems likely that the entire game will offer support for co-op.
And that's about it. Not too much, but it's a whole lot more than we knew yesterday. And boy are we ever excited.
