TGS 2015: Being Excited for Umbrella Corps is a No-Brainer - Preview
by VGChartz Staff , posted on 21 September 2015 / 4,774 Views
Resident Evil is a series that has always managed to draw a huge crowd at the Tokyo Game Show. While plenty of people were queuing to play Resident Evil 0 HD Remaster, the main attraction was undoubtedly the recently-revealed Umbrella Corps. Capcom hosted multiplayer sessions of the PC version of the game on the show floor, controlled using DualShock 4 controllers.
Umbrella Corps is a competitive shooter set in the Resident Evil universe after the events of Resident Evil 6. There is no linear story mode to speak of in Umbrella Corps, and even zombies are an afterthought. Instead, your main objective is to destroy the opposing human team.
The mode on display was One Life Match which, as the name implies, is a survival mode in which each player only has one life and no respawns. The competitions were 3 vs. 3 for our session and matches were divided into best of 5 rounds; the first team to claim 3 rounds would be proclaimed the victor. The game adopts the usual FPS controller layout for consoles - L2 is used to aim and R2 to shoot, Circle to crouch, Square to reload, and R3 to perform a melee attack.
One thing that's unique to Umbrella Corps is that by pressing L1 you can equip the Brainer, a hook shaped melee weapon that is used to impale the skulls of enemies and which is also handy for scaling walls and other hard-to-reach places in a flash. If your Brainer heats up enough it can even be used to set enemies on fire with brutally satisfying results.
Zombies do wander about the map, but they do so rather aimlessly and won’t attack you if your character’s Zombie Jammer (a device strapped to your character’s back) is intact. You can shoot these zombies to earn experience points and the game includes a tally of zombie kills in the match stats after each round but by doing so you risk alerting your main enemies to your location.
If a zombie does attack you, you can take control of the situation by pressing the X button before it sinks its teeth into you. This will cause your character to block the attack and then use the zombie as a moving shield, protecting you from oncoming enemy fire. Your last piece of vital equipment is a set of Terrain Spikes which are strapped to your boots and allow you to crush the skulls of zombies crawling on the ground.
The map I played on at TGS boasted a close quarters, multi-levelled design. You can take cover behind walls and other solid objects when prompted to do so by pressing the X button. This particular map is a mix between a research laboratory and a warehouse; poorly lit and drenched in a coating of decay that is typical of horror settings.
There are neat ways to interact with your environment, including opening doors partially or all of the way, breaking through boarded up windows using your Brainer, or hiding beneath tables. This helps make the game feel more tactical than a traditional run and gun multiplayer shooter. Knowing the position of your teammates and different points of entry in and out of certain areas will of course help you get the leg up on your opponents, but so too will making clever use of these new gameplay mechanics. One fun tactic I made use of was destroying an enemy’s Zombie Jammer, which will cause them to be attacked by a swarm of the undead who will do your dirty work for you.
During my time with the game I achieved kills with grenades, the Brainer, knife melees, and good old fashioned weapon fire. The guns are your usual assortment of assault rifles, pistols, and sub machine guns. It only takes a second or two of consistent fire to bring an enemy down, unless they escape long enough to heal automatically. The guns themselves feel rather light and weak; none of them really seem to pack much heat. The one exception to this is the shotgun, which provided a number of powerful and dramatic conclusions to rounds that came down to 1-on-1 duels for supremacy.
I managed to play two full matches during my time at Umbrella Corps' impressively designed and well-manned booth. Each round had a 3 minute time limit. My team won the first match rather one-sidedly, but the second match was much more competitive with both teams tied at 2 rounds apiece before we squared off in s final showdown. I discovered that it’s difficult - but not impossible - to come back from a significant deficit. If you are your team’s last surviving player squaring off against two or even three enemy combatants then you're highly unlikely to emerge victorious.
Umbrella Corps is certainly not the first time that the Resident Evil series has veered away from survival horror (or action/shooter horror) into the multiplayer shooter space - think Operation Raccoon City or Resident Evil Outbreak - but it feels like the first shooter spin-off that could potentially stand on its own merits and carve out a unique space for itself in the competitive shooter arena.
It may not have much Resident Evil DNA at its core, which makes it an unconventional title to release in celebration of the series’ 20th anniversary, but its fresh ideas and fast-paced tactical gameplay should help it attract new fans to the undead proceedings.
Umbrella Corps is set for release in early 2016 for PC and PlayStation 4.
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Call me close minded but I've been playing RE since the 90's and I don't feel this deserves the RE brand. They could've done something like this but with Dead Rising instead.
Doesn't look like a Resident Evil game, plus there's no story. I'll be avoiding it at all costs.
We should get excited by RE Origins Collection and by the remake of RE2 and people waste their time to write news on that garbage which doesn't deserve to get Resident Evil on its title? Seriously...
Resident Evil is not in the title. It will just be called Umbrella Corps in the west.
I thought this was PS4 exclusive. Every time I think I need to buy a PS4 (SFV for example) I feel relieved shortly after. But I also feel I wasted my money on a Xbox One for the same reason. I should just stick to PC gaming.
I couldn't be less excited about this game. One of those games I wish didn't exist.
