Review: Sherry Birkin, Resident Evil 6

For long-time fans of Resident Evil, Sherry Birkin is fondly remembered as the plucky little girl who survived the viral outbreak in Raccoon City with the help of Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield. Over a decade later, Sherry Birkin is all grown up and ready to kick butt as an NSA agent tasked with bringing in the mercenary Jake Muller to fashion an antidote for the virus that creates zombies.

Of all the characters in Resident Evil 6, Sherry Birkin is probably the most welcome inclusion. There’s a sense of nostalgia attached to the character and seeing her once more is like catching up with an old friend. Of course, much has changed in Sherry’s life since she survived Raccoon City. As an NSA agent, she knows a thing or two about gun-slinging and she comes across as resourceful and intelligent. She’s still spirited but there’s a slight sassiness to her character that obviously comes with age. Sherry is also now eligible for romantic plotlines due to her age and her interactions with Jake Muller are dripping with sexual tension. Their chemistry is quite notable and comes across as more believable than that of Leon and Ada. Naturally, this is to be credited to the animators and voice actors. Above all else, Sherry is so interesting due to her emotional transparency and her desire to stick to her moral convictions even when that means going against orders.

As far as ‘The Mercenaries’ mode is concerned, Sherry is a tank. Her default costume comes with a well-stocked inventory that is tailored to zombie smashing and racking up combos. Her Triple-Shot handgun is fairly standard but it’s quite effective since it allows the gamer to follow-up with melee attacks. When it comes to tougher enemies, Sherry’s Lightning Hawk magnum is very useful. It doesn’t have the same crowd control effect that shotguns do but it efficiently deals damage to boss-level opponents. Sherry also carries a Stun Rod that is a decent back-up weapon should ammo run out or if the gamer is seeking to conserve ammo. Sherry’s inventory is rounded out by essential healing items – two red herbs and a First Aid Spray. Those red herbs are especially useful since they are scarce otherwise. While her default costume is great, her alternate is even better. Her inventory in her alternate costume is about as good as it gets. Her primary weapon is a high-powered assault rifle which has an alternate function that can utilize explosive rounds. The Bear Commander rifle is strong and takes care of enemies with incredible proficiency. Sherry’s secondary is the Assault Shotgun. It’s an excellent weapon for crowd control and for downing boss-level baddies. As with her previous costume, Sherry carries those essential red herbs and First Aid Spray. The only drawback to this alternate costume is that her inventory is clogged with the less-than-useful Flash Grenades that should be ditched at the start of the level to make room for more effective items. Of course, in order to play as Sherry the gamer first needs to achieve a B-rank on the Mining the Depths level and then achieve an A-rank as Sherry on any stage in order to unlock her alternate. The former task is a little more difficult but it’s well worth it since Sherry is probably the best character in ‘The Mercenaries.’

Though Resident Evil 6 has its share of faults and mistakes, Sherry Birkin isn’t one of them. She’s a fantastic character whose presence helps to ground Jake’s campaign. Additionally, Sherry’s well-stocked inventories in ‘The Mercenaries’ makes her an essential character that is most certainly more adept at dealing with bad guys than her male cohorts. Not bad for a girl whose speciality used to be running and hiding from enemies.

Grade: A+