Fri, Jul 27, 2012 | 16:04 BST
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.


15 comments
#1
manamana
27/07/12, 4:13 pm
They really are late to the Zombie party. Maybe they will also find out or remember what survival horror stands for in future releases …
#2
Judicas
27/07/12, 6:03 pm
Zombies that use weapons… Sigh every time I start to look forward to this I see something ridiculous like this
#3
Hunam
27/07/12, 7:52 pm
Survival horror is dead.
Welcome to more third person cover shooters.
#4
Phoenixblight
27/07/12, 7:56 pm
I never thought of RE as a survival horror even the older games. I left the series because the last one wasn’t horror at all not even action horror like Dead Space. They made it gears of war with zombies. THis game is not looking much better. Definitely a rental though.
#5
Custard Ganet
27/07/12, 10:18 pm
Love his reasoning for why the Zombies can now use guns…
#6
shogoz
27/07/12, 11:07 pm
So, it’s not enough that there’s another military shoot em up but now it’s one where zombies can fire weapons back? In the survival horror games they couldn’t even open doors and now they have weapons. Thank you America for turning what used to be a survival horror game into yet another military shoot em up. There obviously aren’t enough military games out there to keep you happy when you aren’t shooting people in cinemas
#7
Phoenixblight
27/07/12, 11:25 pm
“Thank you America”
You do realize this is a Japanese company doing this and no other dev has done this before?
#8
absolutezero
27/07/12, 11:49 pm
So its Crimson Heads combined with Land of the Dead.
Alright then.
#9
Phoenixblight
28/07/12, 1:50 am
@8
Except in Land of the Dead and Day of the Dead they were poor shooters and it was only the main zombies that would do it. In this they make it sound like its more than just a handful of zombies doing. I guess to utilize that snazzy new cover system.
#10
GwynbleiddiuM
28/07/12, 3:00 am
I should stopped reading at Resident Evil 6… The more I hear about this the game, the more I despise it. I’m just going to stop at commenting about this, definitely a pirate play for me, if I even bother myself with downloading…
#11
stretch215
28/07/12, 4:33 am
He never says the zombies will have guns. Not once. Actually, he says that they aren’t using the weapons purposefully. So a carpenter zombie might be slinging a hammer around, that sort of thing. I doubt there’ll be zombie snipers with night vision and suppressors. Let’s try reading the article before flipping out
#12
GwynbleiddiuM
28/07/12, 7:25 am
@12 He doesn’t specify a weapon type, a weapon can be anything including firearms. A hammer slinging zombie wouldn’t be the first thing you take from “it’s in the back of their mind because they used to use weapons before they became zombies.” it’s pretty self explanatory, no one before becoming a zombie knew in the back of their head that they were used to use a hammer as a weapon, except, well, serial killers.
#13
stretch215
28/07/12, 4:53 pm
@12 oh please. If you are dense enough to think he meant guns in this article there is nothing I can really say to you except… wow. If anything, there may be a dead cop randomly shooting. But with no purposeful action(as said in the article) how would they aim/reload?
#14
osric90
28/07/12, 6:50 pm
Haters go die. You want to run aound 3D style seeking for notes and gems and keys, you’ll always be able to do it with RE1, 2, 3, CV, remakes… it’s 2012 now so grow up. Resident Evil was always action oriented in its script and style it was obvious that it was going to become something like this when technology allowed.
#15
aza13
21/09/12, 6:49 pm
after resi 6 they should make a 7nth but make all the enemies normal zombies