Included with the launch of the Resident Evil 3 Remake, Capcom is releasing an asymmetrical 1v4 PvP type game called Resistance. Online and co-op titles have been created by Capcom in the past, but they have never been known as the developer’s strong suit. We all know they make amazing games but have they finally nailed what it takes to set up an enjoyable online experience? The open beta definitely shows a strong start, if nothing else!
Gameplay
One of the first things that impressed me is that they didn’t simply have a bunch of survivors to choose from with a customization menu but rather had each survivor have a core strength focus for the player who chose them to utilize. As a healer main, I found myself using Valerie as much as possible, but I also enjoyed the tech perks of January and the brute perks of both Tyrone and Samuel. Each character is set up differently and so it is best for players to consider this when strategizing their attack.
Both of the girls start out with guns while the boys only started out with a melee weapon. All around the map players can find currency to use at purchase boxes, found at the start of each area. These boxes is where you could buy ammo, guns, health, and other items. Don’t waste all the currency on one box unless you know exactly what you need.
The game is basically set up into three areas. While there are sure to be more maps, it is basically this:
Area 1: Find puzzle pieces to unlock the door
Area 2: Find the keycard to override the security devices to unlock the door
Area 3: Destroy the blood tubes, aka monster embryo’s, to unlock the escape exit
While this may vary in future maps, the downtown map showed the set up for the game. Players will have to complete the whole game within a time limit as well. This time limit is short but extends or extracts depending on your progress. If a player goes down, that’s -15 seconds, but if they die and have to respawn then that’s -30 seconds. If you add a puzzle piece or unlock a security terminal, that’s +20 seconds, but if you clear an area thats +60 seconds as well as +15 seconds per survivor at the exit. You want as much time as possible for the final area because that will be the hardest one! Get the best weapon available and have at least Samuel, the damaging brute, start taking down those blood tubes!
I saved the Mastermind segment for last because honestly, it’s pretty straight forward. The only way you can see what is happening is if you are watching the area through the camera and the cameras for the map can’t be moved, so learn the layout and come up with a plan. You will be able to spawn small creatures, turn on the machine gun for a camera, and power up creatures using the enhancement gun, but once you build up enough points you can spawn Mr. X! While you can take over any of the creatures you spawn, which gives them more health and is harder to take down, you will be forced to control Mr. X when he spawns. Mr. X will have a time limit before he despawns, so make sure not to waste the opportunity he provides you. Your one and only goal: Kill all survivors before they escape.
Expectations
It felt like a one-sided match when you had teammates that don’t work well together. While this seems like a no brainer, there are other 1v4 PvP titles that even with a bad player or two the team, or most of them rather, can still succeed in escaping. There are going to be plenty of players that are loading up alone and will be forced to play with random players, so it could be a quick uninstall situation if the game isn’t balanced where players in this situation can’t enjoy the game. Sure, they could play mastermind, but why lock off one half of the entire online experience?
Essentially, in short, what I am saying is that there needs to be a better balancing formula for the survivors so that bad players are taken out while letting good, skilled players continue forward. Making it an all-or-none game style is harsh to solo runners.
Conclusion
Resident Evil Resistance is off to a good start to be a solid online game! I really enjoyed my time on there, even though a lot of the games I lost. In fact, I was only able to win one game as survivors and that was when I had a friend join me and the other two players had a mic. It is a bit heavy-handed on one side currently, but nothing a bit of balancing and proper matchmaking systems can’t fix.
