Resident Evil Multiplayer Flops Yet Again With Resident Evil Re:Verse

Resident Evil is currently thriving, perhaps more so than ever before. For nearly a decade, the franchise has been consistently successful, both critically and commercially, with its survival horror games regularly being hailed as some of the best in their genre (often reaching heights that most games can only aspire to). Furthermore, alongside the Monster Hunter series, Resident Evil consistently contributes significantly to Capcom’s annual revenue. Despite this remarkable period of success, it must be acknowledged that Resident Evil still falls short in one area – it fails to deliver a satisfying multiplayer experience.

In other words, it’s important to note that the successes Resident Evil has had with multiplayer aren’t absolute, as they primarily stem from cooperative modes, while player-versus-player offerings have often led to significant setbacks for the series. A recent example of this was Resident Evil Re:Verse, which after numerous delays and underwhelming previews, was released in 2022 to widespread criticism. The multiplayer third-person shooter was poorly received due to its rushed, chaotic design that failed to embody the charm of Resident Evil, instead focusing on exploiting potential monetization opportunities in a thoughtless and aggressive manner.

Verse’s servers would be shut down permanently in June, few were surprised (and even fewer were sad about its demise).

In summary, the latest addition to Capcom’s Resident Evil survival horror series, Re:Verse, follows a pattern of multiplayer failures for this franchise. Prior to its release as an expansion pack for Resident Evil Village, Capcom had already introduced another PvP game based on the Resident Evil series, Resident Evil Resistance, which was launched alongside the 2020 remake of Resident Evil 3. Despite the innovative concept, Resistance’s multiplayer experience, unfortunately, was far from perfect – offering at best a fleeting diversion and at worst a fundamentally flawed game.

In contrast to the Resistance, we encountered Umbrella Corps, which might have been a record low for the series. Launched in 2016, it was released before the franchise had regained its footing, making the community’s patience for disappointing Resident Evil games at an all-time low. Even under better circumstances, it’s doubtful that Umbrella Corps would have been well-received. It’s one of the most critically panned Resident Evil games, and those who played it will confirm that its negative reviews were warranted. The game was poorly structured, not enjoyable to play, and essentially a shameless cash grab in the realm of multiplayer first-person shooters, which made Capcom’s decision to brand it as a Resident Evil product even more irritating.

Essentially, Resident Evil consistently stumbles in the realm of Player versus Player (PvP) multiplayer games. The closest the series has come to being acceptable in this category was with Resident Evil Resistance, but even that game fell short of fully realizing its promising concepts. This pattern suggests a poor history for the series in this type of gameplay. Instead of pursuing PvP trends, Resident Evil should concentrate on its strengths.

Over time, the franchise has managed to achieve some success in its multiplayer games, particularly those offering cooperative experiences. In fact, whenever it’s been successful in this area, it’s largely been due to these cooperative campaigns. Games like Resident Evil 5 and Revelations 2 offer remarkable co-op campaigns, though they differ significantly from the traditional single-player Resident Evil (RE) campaign that most people associate with the series. Surprisingly, even Resident Evil 6 can be quite enjoyable when played cooperatively.

Afterward, you find the “Outbreak” games. Released in 2003 and 2004, this two-part series known as “Outbreak” has built a substantial (and passionate) fanbase over time, and it’s not hard to understand why. By blending traditional fixed camera survival horror mechanics with immersive and well-balanced cooperative gameplay, “Outbreak” and “Outbreak: File 2” laid the groundwork for how to create a multiplayer “Resident Evil” game that dedicated series enthusiasts would eagerly participate in. However, it’s disappointing that Capcom has been reluctant to adhere to this design blueprint.

For years now, fans of the Resident Evil series have been eagerly requesting the reappearance of Resident Evil Outbreak, but unfortunately, Capcom seems unfazed by this demand. What’s infuriating is that a game like this could potentially be structured around a successful live service model that players would enjoy, provided it was executed skillfully. If Capcom were to create such a cooperative game, they could continuously expand it by incorporating locations, characters, and enemies from other Resident Evil games through regular updates. This would provide a continuous stream of content, presumably making production somewhat easier given the combined resources of the series.

It’s uncertain if Capcom will change its approach, but we can only hope they do. Instead of continuing to produce poorly planned, rushed, heavily monetized multiplayer Resident Evil games that waste our time and resources, it would be better for them to focus on more engaging projects. The success of the series’ single-player experiences suggests there are many potential ideas waiting to be explored, so perhaps Capcom should abandon failed concepts and instead consider those that fans have shown they enjoy repeatedly.

Please take note that while this article reflects the opinions of its writer, it may not align with the general perspective or official stance of GamingBolt as a publication.

2025-02-14 06:42

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