There has been much speculation about Resident Evil 6 since the launch trailer and today we’re going to clarify things and hopefully answer some of the questions you have about the latest instalment in the most epic survival horror series ever.

The year is 2013, Chris Redfield has continued the fight against bioterrorism as the leader of the BSAA. He underwent a personal trauma some six months ago but in spite of this he has rejoined his BSAA colleagues in China to uncover a major bioterrorist attack at the coastal town of Lanshiang.

It is feared that this latest outbreak is connected to an incident in the conflict zone of Eastern Europe about six months ago which saw the first appearance of a new bio-organism threat called J’avo. Named by the BSAA after the Serbian word for ‘demon’, the J’avo still exhibit certain human elements – such as the ability to understand speech, work together as a group and use weapons – but they are also incredibly aggressive and a number of their actions have regressed to pure instinct.

When a J’avo takes damage it has the ability to regenerate itself. However if it is receives major damage then it will mutate that affected body part into a number of varied forms, meaning players will have to rethink their strategy and adapt to this unpredictability.

Meanwhile on the other side of the globe Leon Kennedy is also facing a new nightmare. After the Raccoon City incident Leon was recruited as a US government agent by none other than Adam Benford, who would later become the President of the United States. Ever since the nightmare that was Raccoon City Leon has made it his life’s work to eradicate bioterrorism.

Another government agent, Helena Harper, was in the process of transferring to the Secret Service to become one of the President’s personal bodyguards… but that all goes to hell, and she’s the one who admits to Leon that she is responsible for this latest zombie incident. These aren’t the shambling zombies Leon faced in Raccoon City these zombies run, jump, and even use weapons, making them a bigger threat than ever before.

The real identity of the mysterious third protagonist is still unknown but it’s possible that this man is a mercenary currently engaged in a bloody conflict in Eastern Europe where reports confirm that B.O.W.s are increasingly being used. One day, he’s told that he is the man to save the world. Whilst he doesn’t understand the implications of this, he does immediately think how much money he can make from it.

Never before has the bio-weapon threat been more global, more terrifying and more dangerous. You can watch the launch trailer below to see how all this fits together.

Resident Evil 6 launches for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on 20 November 2012, PC release to follow.