Overview
Developed by NeoBards Entertainment and published by Capcom, Resident Evil Resistance is a video game released on April 3, 2020. The platforms listed in this entry are PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. The associated genres are action, horror, FPS and survival. The specified game modes are Single player and Multiplayer, and the engine listed is RE Engine.
The game is primarily built around an asymmetric 4-vs-1 multiplayer formula. Four Survivors must escape from an Umbrella experimental facility before time runs out, while a Mastermind attempts to delay them long enough to exhaust the timer.
Each map is divided into three successive areas. In the first, the Survivors must collect three puzzle pieces and place them in the mechanism that opens the exit. In the second, they must obtain a security card and then deactivate three devices. The third requires them to destroy three Bio Cores before opening the final exit.
This structure gives matches a progression based on successive objectives rather than a simple race toward the exit. The Mastermind can disrupt this progression at every stage, while the Survivors must divide their efforts between searching for items, fighting, supporting one another and completing objectives.
Survivors are directly controlled from a third-person perspective and have access to weapons, an inventory, usable items and a map displaying information including their position, the location of their teammates, exits and certain important objects.
Each Survivor has their own Fever Skills, Personal Skills and passive abilities. These abilities define different roles: healing and support, disabling cameras, resilience, close-range combat, traps or enhanced firearm use.
Cooperation therefore relies on the complementary abilities of the characters. Valerie can, for example, support the group with healing abilities, January can disrupt the Mastermind’s cameras, Tyrone can improve the team’s resistance, while Becca can take on a role more heavily focused on firearms.
The Mastermind follows a very different gameplay logic. They mainly observe the Survivors through the map’s network of security cameras and can only place creatures and traps within the field of view of those cameras.
Their actions notably rely on Skill Cards that consume Bio Energy. These cards can be used to deploy creatures, place traps, use camera-mounted weapons, apply different effects or activate passive modifications.
The Mastermind also has access to the Environment Interaction System, or E.I.S., which notably allows them to turn off lights, lock or reinforce certain doors, activate traps, move elevators or directly control certain creatures.
Each Mastermind also has their own abilities and an Ultimate Skill. Some of these abilities allow direct control of a bio-organic weapon, such as G-Birkin or a Tyrant, while others use specific devices such as a disintegration field.
Time is a central resource in every match. Survivors attempt to complete each area’s objectives quickly enough, while the Mastermind’s actions are designed to remove time, isolate members of the group and increase the pressure placed on the players.
General progression allows players to increase their character rank, unlock new skills and earn RP, or Result Points, used notably to acquire equipment. Menus also provide customization of skills, equipment and certain map-related settings.
The game also includes quick matches and custom matches. Quick matches always bring together one Mastermind and four Survivors, while custom matches notably allow players to choose a map and play with fewer Survivors.
Separate tutorials are also available for both roles. The Survivor tutorial introduces the objectives of the three areas, while the Mastermind tutorial teaches the use of Skill Cards and the Ultimate Skill.
Resident Evil Resistance therefore builds its gameplay around two opposing systems: a team that explores, fights and completes objectives under time pressure, and an opponent who remotely controls the environment, traps, creatures and certain bio-organic weapons to interrupt that progression.
Key takeaways
- Resident Evil Resistance is built around an asymmetric 4-vs-1 formula pitting four Survivors against one Mastermind.
- Each map is divided into three areas with different objectives before the final exit opens.
- Survivors have Personal Skills, Fever Skills and passive abilities suited to different roles.
- The Mastermind uses security cameras to monitor the map and determine where creatures and traps can be placed.
- Skill Cards can notably deploy creatures, traps, camera weapons and different effects.
- The E.I.S. allows interaction with the environment by locking doors, turning off lights or controlling certain creatures.
- Masterminds have Ultimate Skills, some of which allow direct control of a bio-organic weapon.
- Progression provides new skills and equipment through character ranks and RP.
Conclusion
Resident Evil Resistance structures each match around a direct opposition between collective progression and map control. The four Survivors must complete the objectives of three areas before time runs out, while the Mastermind attempts to slow their advance.
Survivors rely on their weapons, items and individual abilities to divide roles within the team, while the Mastermind primarily intervenes through cameras, Skill Cards, traps and the environment.
Ultimate Skills and bio-organic weapons add a more direct form of intervention to the Mastermind role, while the different Survivor profiles reinforce the complementary nature of the group.
The asymmetric structure therefore relies on two distinct but interdependent ways of playing: physically progressing through the facility on one side, and remotely manipulating the conditions of that progression on the other.
Good to know
- Resident Evil Resistance was released on April 3, 2020.
- The game was developed by NeoBards Entertainment and published by Capcom.
- The platforms listed in this entry are PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
- The associated genres are action, horror, FPS and survival.
- The specified game modes are Single player and Multiplayer.
- The engine listed in this entry is RE Engine.
- A standard match pits one Mastermind against four Survivors.
- Maps are structured around three successive areas with specific objectives in each one.
