You can run, you can’t hide – Resident Evil: Resistance review

Bundled with Resident Evil 3 Remake is the multiplayer Resident Evil Resistance / Project Resistance. This title sees 5 players in an asymmetrical 4 on 1 “battle”, featuring four Survivors and one Mastermind stirring up trouble, on the PS4 and PC Steam platforms. Let the games begin!

It’s time to play

Resistance is basically one whole throwback to Resident Evil: Outbreak, with a mix of Left 4 Dead and World War Z, with the modern workings of current day asymmetrical games like Dead by Daylight. As a Survivor, you will need to move from location to location and make your way out before the time ticks down. As a Mastermind, you’re an Umbrella-employed “director” of sorts, determined to not let these hapless Survivors escape by placing a variety of traps and enemies in the map.

The Great Escape: Survivor Playthrough

As a Survivor, you can either go solo, or with up to three other friends for a total of 4 players. You’d be basically moving from one area of the map to another, and along the way, you can collect money in the form of “Umbrella Credits”. All four players will need to work together to take down or avoid enemies until you reach the target zone before you run out of time.

During our playtime, there were six playable Survivors, each possessing their various unique skills and traits. With Valerie, January, Tyrone, Samuel, Martin and Becca – Jill Valentine will also be in the roster – who will  you want in your team? A balance of positions would be helpful, certainly, and we would recommend Valerie, Tyrone and Becca. There are four “classes”, with Damage, Hacker, Support and Tank. It’s hard to do meme runs when your goal really is to get the hell out ASAP. Coming from the RE3 Remake, the control schemes are identical.

Survivors can be gradually upgraded, and work on unlocking all their stuff. Skills will have cooldowns, as you might expect. Each Survivor will be able to throw grenades if they’re caught by the “Big Boss” until you’re released, though preferably, you’d rather not get caught, of course. The various “search” objectives aren’t that tough, but zombies would very likely be harassing and distracting you.

One of the key things to successfully complete objectives is to destroy the CCTV cameras. Doing so will mean the Mastermind will be unable to see you. Games can differ accordingly to the skill of the players: a good Mastermind would be able to plant obstacles strategically and throw you in for a loop. If you hadn’t already realized, this is a multiplayer game through and through, really asking for your teamwork to ensure success.

You can somewhat recklessly use the firearms you find, as ammo is relatively easy to find. Melee weapons are also useful to smack away zombies, as L4D players can attest to. Use the Umbrella Credits you find in the maps to purchase supplies from a supply box, like that sweet gun you were eyeing.

Be sure to escape, because otherwise, it’ll be the Mastermind’s victory…

Maniacal laughter of choice: Mastermind Playthrough

Here is where the power hungry maniacs all end up! Jokes aside, your job as the Mastermind is simple: don’t let the Survivors escape. Control zombies, biochemical weapons, lay down traps or even directly shoot Survivors via the cameras you look through.

The variety of biochemical weapons, basically souped up zombies, have their own strengths and weaknesses. They also differ from Mastermind to Mastermind:

• Annette: William G. Birkin
• Alex: Yateveo
• Spencer: D. Field
• Daniel: Tyrant

You’d still need to raise your ranks high enough to use them though.

Playing the Mastermind may seem easy, but you require a level of quick thinking or better Survivors will run rings around you. Lock doors to make it more difficult for Survivors and easier for you to slap some bad boys in. You will have a variety of skills at your disposal, too. To start the game, it would be recommended to set up traps before the zombies.

The CCTV cameras are especially key for the Mastermind, as you’ll need to see through them to actually commit to actions. Swap around the various cameras to keep tabs on the Survivors, or, if a camera has been hacked or destroyed, the next best thing will be to get the grand sandwich of traps and zombies ready for the poor fools. Zombies are deadlier when in your control since the AI makes them more like the mindless things they are. The “Big Boss” zombie AI work better but hey, what’s stopping you?

There’s a Store?

You can obtain cosmetics from the Cosmetic Chests, with skins, sprays, gestures and voice lines. Other than that, you can buy Equipment Chests that will have skill cards for both Mastermind and Survivors. You purchase them with points you obtain from the game. If you don’t get to purchase any of the chests yet, you can clear missions to get research points along with the chests.

Experiment concluded

With only one Mastermind slot, it can be difficult to get your turn. Still though, it’s not like being a Survivor is all that bad, when the connection is fine. The zombie action could use a bit more polish, and as a whole, can be made more thrilling. It’s a title where you can get a bunch of your friends for some merciless ragging on each other for fun times.

Pros	Cons
Mastermind gameplay is fun, with traps etc to set up	Mastermind can always bother Survivors and make it that much harder to win
Graphics are pretty good	Biochemical weapons are hard to kill
Survivors need to work together for tight gameplay	Playing for too long can be quite boring
Fun with friends

FINAL SCORE

7/10