Mention the word zombies in a room of gamers and two franchises instantly come to mind. Resident Evil and Left 4 Dead. While other zombie franchises have tried to claw their way to the top, these two from Capcom and Valve respectively sit atop the zombie food chain. With Capcom’s recent affinity for crossing over franchises with other publishers, it is great to see that they have come together with Valve to enable the Resident Evil 6 x Left 4 Dead 2 project.

In a completely free download, Resident Evil 6 PC players will be able to experience a new mode, “The Mercenaries No Mercy” featuring Left 4 Dead 2’s signature cast – Coach, Nick, Ellis and Rochelle – as playable characters. Each will have a custom weapon load-out for the mode. Also making their debut to the Resident Evil world alongside the foursome of survivors are going to be the Witch and the Minitank. This mode will be going live on April 5th.

With Halloween fast approaching, it is time to look back at some of the scariest moments in gaming. The horror genre of gaming extends from platformers and puzzlers to FPS and even point and click adventure games. Now while the delivery of the scary moments listed below all differ, every one below has given us an “Oh s*%t” reaction. Some were instant scares while others were reactions that took some time to really hit home. But be warned, there will be spoilers ahead.

Doom 3 – Mirror Scare

While Doom and its successor Doom II took players through the gates of hell, they weren’t exactly scary games. There were some moments when an attack would come from a newly opened door that players were not expecting but it wasn’t until Doom 3 that the series had its first horrifying moment. With updated graphics and sound, Doom 3 was able to explore atmosphere in a way its predecessors never could. With a new lighting engine, shadows played a huge part in the game and players had to choose between holding a flashlight or a weapon, making the game incredibly tense.

As a result, when players find a well lit bathroom early on in the game they don’t expect the glimpse of hell that quickly pops up on screen when they face the mirror. Music crashes, flames burn around the player and then almost instantly everything goes back to normal. From then on, no place in the game feels safe. Between the poorly lit corridors seen only through a flashlight’s bulb or the uneasy tension from walking into a bright open room, everywhere a player goes now feels like evil is lurking around the corner.

Who do you turn to when there is no hope left? Chris Redfield, Leon Kennedy and Jake Muller obviously. Or at least that’s what the latest trailer from Capcom out of last week’s Tokyo Game Show for Resident Evil 6 leads us to believe. If you don’t believe us, take a look at the full trailer after the jump.

But what makes this trailer special? Well for long time Resident Evil fans, the TGS Resident Evil 6 trailer has hordes of story hints, some largely important and others subtle. It also contains a brief cut scene of all three main characters crossing paths as well.

For those new to the Resident Evil series, there are glimpses are some of the newest machinations of the twisted staff at Capcom in action during the course of Resident Evil 6. The virus that transforms people into inside out scorpion monsters or the ball that explodes into a spray of needs that make people’s skin melt off are two personal favorites.

At Comic Con, Capcom took the time to let us check out some of their newest titles coming out over the next year. During our time at the Capcom booth we got hands on with Resident Evil 6, the rebooted DMC and the next installment to the Lost Planet franchise.

For Resident Evil 6, we were treated to extended versions of the demo currently available to those who purchased Dragon’s Dogma. In the campaigns we got to play, the action was fast and furious but there was also that intensity often found in Resident Evil games where every bullet needs to count. In addition to deranged people with firearms of their own there were creatures that would assault us with a blast of spikes that would knock you off your feet, leaving you open to further attack.

Also, check out the newest Resident Evil 6 trailer after the jump. Don’t forget that Resident Evil 6 hits the XBox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 2nd, 2012.

The Resident Evil films are shameless, they are non-stop action filled cacophonies that are filled to the brim with characters that together share about three brain cells. So why is it that these films are so much fun? Because, for the most part, the series know what it is and it revels in it.

Director Paul W. S. Anderson is not trying to speak to the core of the human condition, he is trying to entertain the masses with well produced zombie violence. He is aiming for fun and stupid, not heady and contemplative. That is a big reason why he is my favorite of all Paul Anderson filmmakers, his goal in film-making is to entertain, and he is damn good at it.

Point of example. In the past Resident Evil films several fantastic characters have come and gone, including the immensely bad ass Oded Fehr. So what does ole W.S. do to spice up the fifth film? He brings nearly all of them back. Why, because it would be cool, that is why! No further explanation needed in this series.

Some times films should exist to put a smile on your face, to provide fun on visceral level. In that the Resident Evil movies have always succeeded, trying to reach down and entertain that inner 13-year-old inside all of us. If you want to be perplexed and challenged by a film, that other Paul Anderson has a movie coming out too, by all means enjoy it. I for one will be front and center for this particular celebration of entertainment for entertainment’s sake.

Resident Evil: Retribution hits theaters this September, check out the full trailer after the jump.