Image credit: Capcom
Resident Evil 6 is not a good game. It has its charms, sure, but it’s clunky, has a strange story, and feels vastly out of place for the franchise as a whole. Compared to more recent behemoths in the series, the action-arcade bonanza of 6 feels quite weird to play through.
It’s my favorite of the Resident Evil games, though, as I credit it with introducing me to horror games and formulating my obsession with the franchise. While the game may largely get piled on for being cheap, schlocky arcade action instead of intense survival horror, it’s still worth playing – even if it makes you lose your mind a little.
Resident Evil 6 is my favorite in the series
In the debate of the worst Resident Evil games, Resident Evil 6 is bought up just as much as its predecessor, if not even more so. It’s lauded as a b-action movie experience with janky quick-time events and an odd story, and as someone who’d never played a horror game before experiencing it, I can wholeheartedly agree.
The game flows strangely with its multitude of campaigns, and it feels vastly different from the roots of the franchise. It’s not scary, in the traditional sense, and its story feels much more bloated and off-beat than you might expect, even as a Resident Evil fan.
As a 12 year old who’d screamed their head off at Paranormal Activity 3 the year prior, though? The game was terrifying.
It was one of the first games I’d ever played on a console, and I remember being right at the beginning of Leon’s campaign, feeling hesitant to press on down a dark hallway, despite having a gun. It was just a bundle of pixels with some screechy sound effects, so why on earth did it feel so real to me? It’s the first time in memory that a game made me reluctant to continue out of fear.
I can vividly recall there being a storm happening outside as I sat on my bed blinking at the screen, wondering why I was hesitating to lightly nudge Leon forward, and wincing every time a zombie snarled its way towards the camera.
Looking back at the game with the now 14 years of experience and obsession in the horror world, Resident Evil 6 is largely full of noisy jump scares and on-rails moments. It’s not a scary experience, with a level of tension that’s barely comparable to Resident Evil Requiem’s segments with Grace, or the dread in Resident Evil 7’s opening section.
The feeling of electricity running through my veins during my childhood playthrough was addictive, though. Resident Evil 6 is the first game I can remember having a physical impact on me, making my heart pound and head spin, and for some strange reason, it’s a feeling I’ve been chasing ever since.
On top of the game sparking my rabid obsession with horror games and the Resident Evil franchise as a whole, it’s also one of the first times I’ve seen a game series take their fans seriously and revert back to franchise roots when complaints were voiced.
People weren’t happy with Resident Evil 6, by any means, but I’m not sure anyone could’ve expected just how different Resident Evil 7 would feel, and how much it’d pay homage to the original trio of games. The level of tension and dread in 7 indicated, to me, that Capcom had truly listened to the grumbles and snarky remarks from its disgruntled fanbase in the era of 6.
Is Resident Evil 6 the best game in the series? Not by a long shot. Do I think it’s worth playing in 2026? Yes. I’d still recommend getting it on sale, if I’m honest, but I think there’s plenty of fun to be had with the sixth mainline title in the series.
It’s janky and eyeroll-inducing at times, but there are some charming ideas in the game. It’s also a fascinating playthrough once you’ve experienced the newer games like Village and Requiem; arguably, if the series hadn’t returned to its horror roots with 7, we might not have seen an eighth or ninth entry at all.
FAQs
Resident Evil 6 was released on October 2, 2012.
Resident Evil 6 can be played on PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4.
The best Resident Evil games are Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 7, and Requiem, along with the original title, the remakes, and Resident Evil 4.
Yes, Resident Evil games can be scary, although some of them are much more frightening than others. Titles like Resident Evil 4 are slightly more action-oriented, while Resident Evil 7 is more of an intense experience.
