Resistance was/is Capcom's first proper foray into the Resident Evil multiplayer realm – and I'm not going to lie, it was an interesting one. Instead of the lazy, uninspired slop that formed years later with Re:Verse, Resistance seemingly had a lot going for it, at least on paper. Resident Evil's theme is practically made for some kind of asymmetric multiplayer, where it is monster's vs survivors or, as Resistance presents it, "masterminds" vs escapees. It is a fairly complex idea that, in many ways, is realized well, but ultimately, it follows the same fate as its younger brother, Re:Verse - being abandoned and forgotten soon after release.


Unlike the Re:Verse, which simply cashed in out creating an asset mush from previous game made into a bare-bones asymmetric multiplayer deathmatches, Resistance instead went for true asymmetry with four players assuming the roles of unwilling test subjects who have to overcome obstacles and escape Umbrella testing facilities while one other player becomes a "Mastermind", or an operator who observes the survivors escaping through cameras and tries to prevent them from doing so using a variety of ingenious traps, monsters, and other utilities. That is where I feel Resistance greatest strength lies - whereas the survivors play in much of the same way as the Resident Evil Remakes (albeit in a more arcade-y way), the Mastermind offers a truly unique experience that I've personally not seen repeated anywhere else. After you select one of the known RE universe villains, you'll get changing selection of "cards" you can play out which can be anything from simple landmines all the way to summoning Nemesis. You can then choose to be either reactionary and place it around the survivors as they progress, or be more proactive and tactical and prepare the spaces they are going to have to enter eventually. Not only that, but you can also take things into your hand and become a more active participant in the battle by taking control of any creature you have summoned. Mastermind is where the game truly excels as the 4 different survivors and the endless combinations of cards and abilities offer unlimited outcomes that can come into place. So why not recommend it?

Despite Resistance being the only active full-on multiplayer game that still works and is not planning to be shutdown (well, apart from maybe Umbrella Corps) as it relies on peer-to-peer connections (meaning it might survive long into the future), the fact still is that Capcom abandoned the game not long after its release without adding much content. Resistance was initially supposed to have a single-player campaign, which would have been amazing (imagine having a story mode for the Mastermind mode), but this was ultimately scrapped. What you've got is a game with incredibly interesting concept but very little to actually keep you engaged past a couple of hours after which the novelty wears off and you are just feeling underwhelmed because you understand what could have been if this game got the love it deserved. The lack of support also nowadays directly translates to no one playing this game as there no reason two, so as a newcomer, you will be hard-pressed to find any online matches. Additionally, since the single-player content boils down to just practice mode with survivors, which is fine, and stripped-down Mastermind mode where the AI for the survivors is always turned off so you can even experience a basic version of the match.

There is simply nothing that you are looking for that you'd find in this particular game nowadays. While you can't buy it directly anymore, it is still bundled with some Resident Evil bundles, so you might think it would be a good idea to give this a shot - don't, cause it's not.

Capcoms attempt to cut into the dead by daylight market by forcing people who wanted to play resident evil 3 remake to take a copy of this game as well. its boring, unbalanced, broken, and overall not something I could ever see succeeding.

Play Resident Evil Outbreak instead