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Read more commentary from Eiichiro Sasaki, Director of Resident Evil 6: “This stage provides a great example of Resident Evil 6’s crossover mechanic, with up to four players teaming up to take on a seemingly unstoppable foe, the Ustanak. The Ustanak can attach different devices to his right arm. One of the interesting ones is the apparatus he uses to grab and crush the player. During gameplay he will start taking out the players one by one, so what starts off looking as a four-on-one fight where the players have the advantage can quickly becomes a massacre. With his right and left arms and the cage-like device on his back, Ustanak can hold up to three players at the same time, leaving just one player left to fight him. Of course, players can help each other out if they get captured by Ustanak, but they have to get up close to him in order to rescue their allies. Getting near greatly increases the danger of him killing you, so it’s a risk you have to take for your team. In a way it’s like the variation of tag chase games sometimes called cops and robbers, where the cops capture the robbers and put them in “jail“ where they can’t move. Other robbers can free their companions from jail, but as the cops will keep it guarded closely they risk getting caught themselves... The point of including this mechanic was to increase the stakes not just by requiring players to risk in-game death to beat the enemy, but to help their friends as well. This makes players feel more heroic and they can feel great satisfaction from helping others out. Another great feature of crossover is partner changes. Certain situations in the game will put players together with someone other than their usual partner. In this stage, Leon teams up with Sherry temporarily, and Jake with Helena. It’s a chance to experience some unique teamwork. Since all four characters are working together, there will be some great moments between characters even outside partner-change sections. Fans of the series will be able to read a lot into interactions between certain characters given their histories; for example, if Leon is hurt and in the ’dying state’ where he’s on the ground and unable to move much, and Sherry comes over and revives him.“
