No Hope Left For Resident Evil 6?

Instantly upon its announcement Resident Evil 6 became one of the most hotly anticipated titles of the year. There is little doubt that the title will prove to be another massive hit for Capcom. The Resident Evil series is the original, most famous and highest rated survival horror series of all time. There have been over twenty games in the series and five films, with another two games and two movies to be released this year. Despite this number of entries, the game we are all waiting for is only the sixth numbered entry in the series. This is a result of clever use of spin offs, prequels, retellings of old adventures and alternative universe stories. Regardless of how many ways Capcom find of keeping the series going the question has to be asked of how long should the series be kept going? In the world of movies it€™s very easy to go €˜a sequel too far€™. Stallone did it with Rocky V, but was able to redeem himself sixteen years later with Rocky Balboa. That€™s rare, and horror series in particular have the tendency to milk a franchise to death. Horror films are disadvantaged by the fact that for the series to continue, it usually means the bad guys have to win or escape to kill another day. This means they are much more likely to €˜jump the shark€™ and their plot lines become unbelievable. The original Saw for example was fairly clever and well thought out, but by the time of its final entry the plot made little sense if any. Video games are a somewhat different beast to films, and no matter how many times Bowser captures Peach we€™re always willing to turn to Mario to save the day. Can the same be said for serious plot driven games such as Resident Evil? As games become increasingly cinematic surely the same restrictions need to come on storytelling to keep the series credible. The information revealed about Resident Evil 6 lines up this entry to be the biggest in scope to date. Three central characters fighting biohazards in three locations at once, to make for a truly global story. Going by the conclusion of all previous Resident Evil titles it would be a safe bet that all three characters are going to hear the familiar dialogue €œThe self destruct mechanism has been activated€ and only have a few minutes to flee the area. This device has always proved to make for an exciting climax to the games. Not only have you got to take on the toughest enemies the game has to offer, but you have five minutes to do so. This does result in one glaring problem the inhabitants of Resident Evil€™s universe face. Game by game huge areas of the planet are being blown up. The first game was relatively modest in its destruction of land and property. A large but secluded mansion was wiped off the face of the earth. No big deal, and not even the other Racoon city residents were aware. Resident Evil 2 blew up a laboratory and a train. The third game in the series saw the whole town nuked, and this event has been replayed several times since in the Outbreak games and also the soon to be released Resident Evil: Operation Racoon City. That€™s impressive considering Racoon City was originally blown up in a game released in 1999. The first side story title Resident Evil Survivor blew up an entire Island and it was only then that the series really hit it€™s stride. In subsequent games two more islands, three ships, and an Antarctic Base all fall victim to explosions. These explosions are of course a way of cleaning up the biohazards, and although various other towns and villages are over run with the undead they are not technically destroyed. How much more can one planet take? How long can the series continue before it becomes too bleak? Surely the players need to see Chris and Leon save the day once and for all at some point. This year sees the release of the reboot of the Tomb Raider series. Might it be time to bring the Resident Evil saga to a conclusion and reboot it for future games? The teaser website for Resident Evil 6 is called nohopeleft.com and whilst there may be little to no hope left for the characters in Resident Evil, it certainly seems the players have every hope of playing new Resident Evil titles for years to come.