Resident Evil 6 marks the return of zombies due to fan feedback and popularity

Capcom has said it brought zombies back with Resident Evil 6 after being absent from the series in the last two iterations, due both fan feedback and because the undead are "popular."

Speaking with Siliconera, executive producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi said based on feedback from Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5, and the fact the enemies "weren’t classic zombies," people "really wanted them" in RE6.

"We tried to respond to the requests and put them in this game," he said. "We tweaked them a bit so they aren’t the same zombies you would expect.

"The zombies when you first see them, they shamble around slowly. But, if they spot you or they get closer they break out into a sudden dash and try to grab you. We tried to make this as instantaneous as possible. Some of them will leap out at you. For the most part, they are zombies, but they have a bursts of energy here and there that give them a little extra oomph."

Zombies will have weapons this time out as well, and addition Kobayashi attributed to the fact they used to be human beings.

"It’s not that we decided zombies should use weapons per se, it’s just that we wanted to get across the feeling that these used to be people and people either picked up weapons when they were fighting or they used certain objects when they were alive," he explained. "They have this instinctual ability to pick up these things and use them.

"It’s not that they are purposely using weapons, it’s in the back of their mind because they used to use weapons before they became zombies."

Kobayashi said there will other ways the player can interact with zombies when fighting with them, and this "key component" will be shown at a later date.

Resident Evil 6 hits PS3 and Xbox 360 in November.