Just mere minutes into Resident Evil Resistance, I found myself laughing like an idiot on the couch while a cousin was shaking his head next to me.
Resistance was supposed to be our long-awaited return to co-op shooting after not playing such games together since our joint romp in A Way Out. Life has been pretty busy for both of us these last few years, after all, so getting a co-op session together wasn’t always easy. On this particular day, however, our free time finally aligned and I happen to have gotten Resistance with Resident Evil 3. Finally, we were back in business.
Then the tutorial started.
As soon as my cousin turned the camera around and saw his playable character Valerie Harmon’s face, he suddenly got quiet. Meanwhile, I lay in the fetal position on the corner of the couch as I held my stomach while trying hard not to laugh. Just like that dam in District 5 of the Hunger Games, however, I couldn’t hold it anymore and just burst out laughing.
“Too soon, too soon...” he said while shaking his head.
Valerie Harmon was a dead ringer for his ex-girlfriend.
Thus started our wacky journey into the deadly waters of Resident Evil Resistance. An asymmetrical take on the Resident Evil’s classic survival experience, Resistance features four people taking on one player-controlled mastermind in a high-stakes, cat-and-mouse game. It’s an interesting concept tried by other games before such as Evolve and Dead by Daylight. It’s the first time for the Resident Evil series, however, which hasn’t exactly had the best record when it comes to dedicated multiplayer takes on its popular single-player formula.
Then again, I’m actually one of the few guys who actually liked 2012’s Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City. Heck, I’d love to try a modern take on that game, which was certainly a lot more entertaining than Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles. As such, I went into Resistance with an open mind and even a sense of anticipation. As someone who grew up playing games like Contra, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, and Streets of Rage, I’m a sucker for co-op experiences. As such, I’m always willing to give co-op games the old college try.
It didn’t take long, however, for the first issue with Resistance to pop out. That would be the lack of split-screen co-op. Granted, this might not be a big deal for some folks. I’ve got multiple systems and TV’s in my house, for example, so I’m used to having folks come over and playing in separate rooms. While my cousin has his own PSN membership, however, I only had one copy of Resistance. This meant that co-op play with my cousin was now a no-go so we had to take turns playing the game instead while memories of what could have been with Valerie Harmon flooded his mind.
All that being said, the game employs some pretty interesting concepts. You can choose to join the Survivors’ side, which throws you into a four-player team that’s desperately trying to, well, survive their ordeal. Otherwise, you can choose to play as the single, solitary Mastermind, who’s tasked with making the survivors’ lives miserable and, preferably, short-lived.
When playing on the Survivor team, you get to pick from several characters, each with their own backstories and skillsets to boot. Varsity jacket-wearing Samuel Jordan, for example, is the bruiser of the group, boasting high health and an assortment of damage-dealing moves. Tyrone Henry is another physical character, except he specializes in tanking for your party. If ranged damage-dealing is more your cup of sweet tea, Becca Woolett specializes in using firearms. You’ve also got trickier characters like the hacker January Van Sant, who can make the Mastermind’s life harder by blocking cameras or increasing resource costs for the bad guy (or girl). Then there’s Martin Sandwich who specializes in traps and, of course, the doppelganger of my cousin’s infamous ex, who specializes in healing and scouting.
Picking a balanced team is important as it definitely spells the difference between success and getting stomped by the Mastermind. My first session, for example, had one of the players picking Valerie Harmon, which made our lives much easier thanks to her support skills and ability to mark foes and items. The next session after that was composed of Samuel, Tyrone, Becca and Jill Valentine and it went south pretty quickly. Characters also level up separately so you will need to individually play and improve them in order to make them stronger.
Playing as the Mastermind, meanwhile, is a totally different experience. This time around, you get to act like the evil invisible hand lurking in the background as you set traps and sic an assortment of vicious foes on the poor survivors. You can’t help but rub your hands like a B-movie villain sometimes when you place traps in blind corners then supplement that with strategically placed zombies and monsters. It’s especially satisfying when you catch a full team unawares in a tight spot with a perfectly spawned Mr. X, allowing you to stun lock and wipe them out in seconds before they get a chance to run away.
While playing as the Mastermind requires a nice amount of micromanaging, it’s also easier in a sense because you’re in control of everything and not at the mercy of other players. In fact, the game tends to favor the Mastermind, particularly in quickplay sessions with randoms. From my experience, such sessions typically feature no communication among the Survivor team and not enough coordination or reviving of downed teammates. Oftentimes, these lead to a snowball effect once the first person goes down. In fact, lack of coordination is usually the biggest reason for losing when playing as the Survivor team, especially since even seemingly overpowered Mastermind tools such as Mr. X can be cheesed via elevator and doorway tricks or hiding in safe rooms until his timer runs out.
Another issue that creeps up as you play the game is that it starts to feel repetitive rather quickly. As someone who played older games such as beat-em-ups, repetitiveness isn’t necessarily a bad thing and might be even good for getting into a nice rhythm. Tasks in Resistance, however, essentially unfold the same way and you also have a limited selection of stages to play in. Content is also a bit on the sparse side so the game feels more like DLC instead of an actual game. (Well, being a free game with RE3, I guess it’s technically DLC.)
One thing I do commend Resistance for is its updates. Capcom could have just released it as it is and left it to rot like but the game has seen new additions post-release. These include the addition of characters such as Jill for the Survivor side and Nicholai Ginovaef for the Mastermind side. The game will need to add more, however, if it wants to hold the interest of players for an extended amount of time. As such, it will be interesting to see if the planned additions will be enough.
FINAL THOUGHTS
All in all, Resident Evil Resistance and its various concepts certainly show promise. Heck, it can even be an adrenaline rush when things go right. As it is now, however, the lack of content prevents it from reaching its true potential. It’s not dead on arrival like Umbrella Corps was. Unless it gets more fleshed out, however, Resistance is more akin to an ambling zombie that’s holding on to life.
- Rating: 6 out of 10
- Cost: Free with Resident Evil 3 Remake
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Jason Hidalgo covers business and technology for the Reno Gazette Journal, and also reviews video games as part of his Technobubble features. Follow him on Twitter @jasonhidalgo. Like this content? Support local journalism with an RGJ digital subscription.
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