Capcom has given us our first look at gameplay for their upcoming Resident Evil spinoff, Project Resistance. I had originally speculated (and hoped) that Project Resistance would be a sequel or perhaps even a spiritual successor to the criminally underrated Resident Evil: Outbreak series, but my hopes were swiftly dashed when a teaser trailer released earlier this week revealed that it would not be so.
Now we know: Project Resistance is going to be an asymmetric PVP game more akin to Evolve or Dead by Daylight than what was to be my last-ditch effort for caring - a Left 4 Dead clone set in the Resident Evil universe. Alas, my excitement for the game has gone from "Wesker just injected himself with the T-virus" levels of enthusiasm to "Wesker just got bazooka'd into a lava pit" level of disappointment.
In an attempt to be unbiased, I will say that Project Resistance - despite not being anything similar to what I wanted it to be and reeking of Operation: Raccoon City's failure - does seem fairly unique, particularly with the fifth player's role as a JIGSAW-esque evil mastermind that gets to unleash zombies, lay traps, and "give it to ya" courtesy of one Mr. X.
As is typically the case for an asymmetric game, the survivors make a career out of getting shafted. Unlike genre contemporaries such as Dead by Daylight, where everyone opposite of the killer is essentially defenseless fodder, Project Resistance at least provides its survivors with guns, melee weapons, and an assortment of other perks to give them a fighting chance. Additionally, each playable character fulfills a specific role within the group. For example, one character possesses heightened defensive capabilities and thus will serve as the group's "tank", while another will have healing abilities to keep everyone alive. You get the picture.
Project Resistance may not be the game that I wanted it to be, but that's not to say that it won't be good. After all, Capcom has been on a roll as of late with actually anticipating player's wants and delivering titles that have been, for the most part, well received. Perhaps this will be one of those games that I didn't know I wanted until I get to play it - but I doubt it.
