Resident Evil 6 - Dissecting the newest trailer

We just posted fresh impressions of our time with Resident Evil 6 (Resident Evil 6 preview - RE-boot 2.0?), but today also marked the appearance of a brand new trailer for the game. It's full of revelations, action and surprises, so much so that you probably missed something. Come along with us as we take a much closer look at the trailer and try to discern all its secrets.

It's Raccoon City all over again

Leon and Helena start the trailer in Tall Oaks, a town that's under siege by zombies. This scene should be familiar to Leon as the scene clearly evokes Raccoon City in Resident Evil 2. It's also a clear sign that the stage is filled with classic style zombies.

A VHS tape?

The game is said to take place in 2013, so what's with the VHS cassette? Either the bioterrorists are too cheap for DVD, or Leon has stumbled into an old lab. Perhaps Tall Oaks is a former research facility of Umbrella? And maybe this current global threat isn't so new after all?

Meet the C-Virus

The different biological agents used by the villains in the Resident Evil series have covered much of the alphabet, and in RE6 it's the C-Virus causing trouble. Does the C stand for change, demonstrating the transformational powers of the virus? Or perhaps it means chrysalis, which is what surrounds the victim before they transform from a human into a J'avo type BOW?

Ada Wong is back, and she's not playing nice

After her back-stabbing appearances in RE2 and RE4, no one would ever accuse Ada Wong of being nice, but she's never been such a strong villain before. She seems to have her own army, leading these global attacks, and kills innocent people more than once. Could she really be pulling off a terror plot on such a huge scale that she mocks Wesker's plans from previous games? And when did she become such a cold-blooded killer? Is it possible she's under some sort of mind control like Jill was in RE5?

Is the C-Virus airborn?

This new (and particularly gross) BOW seems to have little use other than spreading a gas or powder of some kind. Is this another way of spreading the C-Virus? Or is this a different zombie strain being spread, perhaps the one that creates classic style zombies like we see in the Leon stages?

That's Sherry Birkin

Yes, despite early conjecture from us, turns out your blonde co-op partner isn't RE4's Ashley after all. Instead it's Sherry Birken, the grown-up version of the young girl saved by Leon and Claire in RE2. Like the mercenary she accompanies, she's immune to the C-Virus.

The stories intersect

Though Capcom has been open about the game having three distinct stories, don't assume they'll be completely separate. As you see multiple times in the trailer, all three of the leads and their playable co-op partners meet up. And as we see later on, not all of those are happy meetings.

Ada says Jack is Wesker's son

In the trailer we're also shown the reason for the mercenary's strength, speed and special blood. According to Ada, Jack Muller is Albert Wesker's son. It makes sense based on his abilities (though he seems a little old to be Albert's kid, it's possible he was created in a lab). Of course, it sounds like Jack's learning about his lineage for the first time from Ada, and based on her past history of lies and half-truths, don't take it as a fact just yet.

The trailer seemed to only use cutscenes

Though the two trailers so far have been great, they're missing an important component: gameplay! Though some direct gameplay has no doubt been spliced in, the vast majority of footage seems to be from cutscenes. We see little of what the game really looks like and the above screenshot is the only one we could find even showing the HUD. When are we going to get straight gameplay Capcom?

Leon vs Chris: Who wins?

This is a meeting (and battle) Resident Evil fans have been waiting 15 years for. Chris Redfield and Leon Kennedy head to head, with Ada stuck in the middle. Chris wants to kill her, Leon wants to question her, and both are ready to shoot the other to do it. But who is right? Well, Chris has never been the smartest guy in the franchise, though Leon's judgment could be clouded by his feelings for Ada. Then again, Ada being the big boss is a little too obvious for a conspiracy-riddled series like RE, so we're siding with Leon for now.

When's it coming out?

And last but not least the trailer ends with the huge shock that RE6 is coming out seven weeks earlier than Capcom originally announced. In an age of delays and cancellations, this is a breath of fresh air and indicates confidence on Capcom's part. We'll find out sooner than we originally thought if that confidence pays off.