Contents 1 Cutting to the chase 1.1 Pros and cons 1.2 The multiplayer experience 2 To gamers 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City 2.2.1 What is it? 2.2.2 Functional review 2.2.2.1 Accessibility 2.2.2.2 Gameplay 2.2.2.3 Graphics 2.2.2.4 Multiplayer 2.2.2.5 Sound 2.2.3 Nitpicks and shortcomings 2.2.3.1 Really!? What do you want!? 2.2.3.2 Melee trumps all 2.2.3.3 Human sponges 2.2.3.4 Other details 2.2.4 Did we like it? 2.2.5 Will you like it? 2.3 Conclusion 3 To Slant Six 4 To CAPCOM

Cutting to the chase

Our spoiler-free reviews can significantly improve your overall gaming experience. Yet, we know some of you prefer short pieces. This section is for you.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• An excellent reproduction of the Resident Evil universe.
• Good shooting mechanics with recoil implemented right.
• A good variety of characters, character abilities and weapons.
• An original complement of mutliplayer modes.
• Good engineering in all areas.

Cons:

• Gameplay miscues often mislead the player's intuition.
• Out-of-balance melee combat.
• Lack of diversity in zombie character models.
• Linear levels with little opportunity to go beyond mission objectives.

In terms of ratings, our breakdown is as follows:

The multiplayer experience

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City offers a pretty astounding online experience. In competitive multiplayer modes, melee combat throws the balance out of kilter, but once you know, you are better prepared to handle it...until a patch addresses the issue, hopefully. Otherwise, the game brings forward new, engaging game modes that bolster competitive play and teamwork.

Very few games are built to support co-op play through their entire single-player campaign. Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City delivers that and more. Alas, this comes at a cost, since you will often feel the game was not designed to be played solo. If you played Left 4 Dead before, you may already know how that feels. Your AI squad mates are poor substitutes for 3 of your friends.

As far as our Multiplayer Strength Assessment goes, here is how Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City scored:

To gamers

This section is addressed to gamers ; other parties may benefit from its content, but gamers are its intended audience.

Introduction

In 1996, Umbrella Corporation unleashed a virus that took Raccoon City and the whole world by surprise: Resident Evil, published as Biohazard in Japan. The game featured hordes of zombies, experimental creatures, devious puzzles and a small amount of shooting, accompanied by a nasty case of amateurish dubbing (in the US) and clumsy controls.

But, the game was engaging and fun, so much so that it turned a then budding category into what is known today as the survival horror genre. As the infection spread, 3 more Resident Evil games joined the original in rapid succession: Resident Evil: Director's Cut, Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, in 1997, 1998 and 1999 respectively.

It seemed gamers around the world could not get enough zombie action to satiate their appetite.
Yet, by the time Resident Evil 3: Nemesis was played and replayed, the then established Resident Evil franchise had already begun to repeat itself. But, no less than half a dozen titles followed nevertheless...until the release of Resident Evil Outbreak, in 2003. Resident Evil Outbreak was indeed an intriguing experiment in the franchise.

In 2005, the series rebounded and brought a lot of love to the struggling GameCube, reinventing itself by mutating from the familiar overtones of a stereotypical survival horror affair to the mainstream appeal of a horror-themed action-adventure third-person shooter.
As no success ever goes without an attempt at a successful clone, Resident Evil spread to Africa in 2009, as Resident Evil 5.

If we consider the Resident Evil timeline carefully, we must acknowledge two facts:

1. It takes more and more time to develop a videogame.
2. A marvelous thing can get old.

So, we cannot be surprised, but we should instead marvel at the fact that, once again, CAPCOM is keen on reinventing Resident Evil. Such a franchise needs the courage of such a publisher to perpetuate itself.

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is a new step in a new direction for Resident Evil, and we are pleased to discover where it will lead this series we all hold dear...

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

What is it?

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (ORC hereafter) is a third-person shooter set in the Resident Evil universe. More specifically, the events of the game take place during the Resident Evil 2-Resident Evil 3 time frame.
If you have not played those games, this won't tell you much, so, here is a synopsis:

Umbrella Corporation, a pharmaceutical conglomerate, leaked a virus onto the unsuspecting population of Raccoon City. If this weren't serious enough, the virus started to turn people into zombies.
Obviously, no reputable company wants to be associated with such a fiasco. So, Umbrella dispatches a special team to destroy all evidence of its involvement.

Two factions are involved in the resulting conflict: The U.S.S. and SPEC OPS.
U.S.S. stands for Umbrella Security Service. The U.S.S. is the corporate division whose mission is to eliminate any entity that may link Umbrella to the outbreak. "Wolfpack" is the name of a newly formed U.S.S. squad, also known as Delta team.
SPEC OPS constitutes a Special Forces team that conducts secret missions for the American government. "Echo Six" is the name of the SPEC OPS squad sent in by the government to investigate the outbreak.

During ORC's single-player campaign, you will play as a member of "Wolfpack".
In multiplayer modes, you will either play as a member of "Wolfpack", a member of "Echo Six", a Hero (Leon, Claire, Jill, Carlos) or a Villain (Ada, Hunk, Lone Wolf, Nicholai).

We will correct ourselves immediately and bring to your attention a third faction that plays a critical role throughout ORC: Those Resident Evil creatures you have come to fear and love. In fact, every gameplay stage in ORC is a three-way confrontation where Resident Evil creatures bring in an element of chaos and tide-shifting panic. Zombies and other BOWs (bio-organic weapons) take no side and attack U.S.S. and SPEC OPS indiscriminately. This gameplay twist adds a welcome touch of spontaneity to the otherwise linear, mission-based structure of the game.
Elsewhere, in terms of gameplay, ORC gives the impression of Resident Evil Outbreak crossed with SOCOM. At times, the atmosphere and quirkiness of the game are quite reminiscent of these other games. However, the pace of the gameplay is extremely high and involves a lot of shooting. Granted, ORC is a shooter, but we didn't expect it to be the breakneck shooter that it turned out to be. The game does not bet on ambiance and immersion. On the contrary, it gives the initial impression of a shooter romp.

The single-player campaign features 7 missions, which take place across Raccoon City's landmarks of old, such as Raccoon City Hall, Raccoon General Hospital, Raccoon City Police Department and the Raccoon City Underground Laboratory. For those of us who played Resident Evil 2 and 3, the nostalgia factor is distinctly high on that count. Indeed, it is quite a treat to revisit these locations in high definition. If you never played Resident Evil 2 and 3 before, all of that will be lost on you.

ORC also supports co-op play with up to 4 players across the entire single-player campaign. Quite nice! It's drop-in, drop-out co-op as well, so it's all convenient and works well. You can play in that mode with friends you specifically invite to your party or play cooperatively with other online players at any time. We have rarely seen this work as well as it does here.

Finally, ORC features a full complement of competitive multiplayer modes arranged in 4 vs. 4 matches. The game does support private matches, includes an effective party system and many other essential features that truly bolster team-based gameplay.

Functional review

Functional reviews do not determine how fun or how worthy a game is. Yet, they cover aspects that directly affect your enjoyment of a game. Therefore, read or skip this section as you see fit.

Accessibility

In general, you know a game's controls are excellent when you don't notice them, when they feel natural enough to keep you immersed rather than tinkering with buttons or button combinations.

ORC's controls feel right, intuitive and in line with the precedents established by generations of third-person shooters.
Weapons recoil in a very pleasing manner, no randomized spray here.
Movement controls are also well implemented.

From a presentation standpoint, ORC scores high.
Title screen and menus make an excellent first impression. They are remarkably crisp, fluid and responsive.

The structure of all game modes is clearly laid out in the game menus:

• In both Campaign mode and Versus mode, you may decide to make your experience public or private. If you make it public, other players will be able to join you via Matchmaking. If you make it private, only players you explicitly invite will be able to join your game. Again, this applies to the cooperative campaign and all multiplayer modes.
• If you would rather join a match already in progress, you may also do that after selecting the game mode you wish to play.
• Public matches are allowed to begin when at least 4 players are present.
• Private matches are only allowed to begin when at least 2 players have joined. Obviously, if one side has no players, the match will not start. This, in effect, doesn't give a solo player the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the various maps.

Gameplay

ORC is a squad-based shooter. During the single-player campaign, you will either play with AI squad mates or invite your friends and play cooperatively.
Your AI squad mates will often bumble around carelessly or experience path finding issues.
When under attack, your AI squad mates will also frequently become incapacitated: Locate their body to revive them. In general, you are better off with them up and running: They are not geniuses, but they are helpful most of the time.

From a challenge/difficulty standpoint, ORC will trigger mixed reactions.
The game sometimes sends you confusing signals. Should you fight this main character or should you focus on your mission's objective? If you pick the wrong answer, you will repeat some sequences a lot more than you should have to.
Set pieces often use timers, which requires the player to carry on a certain action until some secondary gameplay element gets thrown into the mix. It's often hard to tell when that is the case, but a pattern emerges after the first few levels: If you can't seem to take down an enemy or complete an objective, consider that something else needs to happen before you can move on with it.

Otherwise, ORC innovates in several areas:

• By offering varied character classes.
• With novel multiplayer modes.
• Using engaging gameplay elements.

Here is a quick rundown of the character classes:

• Assault: Provide offensive firepower.
• Demolition: Make stuff go boom!
• Recon: Apply stealth when stealth is needed, which is rare in ORC.
• Medic: Heal and bolster the abilities/skills of their squad mates.
• Surveillance: Employ the latest technology to collect tactical information on the battlefield.
• Field Scientists: Control Resident Evil creatures to the benefit of their squad.

These classes are available in all game modes.

We will cover multiplayer modes later on, so let's skip this category for now.

Engaging gameplay elements include:

• Blood Frenzy: Bleed or preferably make your enemies bleed to trigger an onslaught of zombies. Some weapons will cause bleeding more often than others, check the Blood Frenzy rating of any weapon you plan to use.
• Character abilities:
  • Passive Abilities: Take immediate and permanent effect as soon as you unlock them.
  • Active Abilities: Come into effect when you select them as part of your character set-up and use them in-game by pressing a specific button.
• Infection: As you "interact with" Resident Evil creatures, they will eventually infect you. In those instances, your health bar will change color from red to blue and will start draining. Unless you locate an antiviral spray, you will eventually turn into a zombie. This gameplay element has two compelling consequences:
  • While infected, you are susceptible to friendly fire. In fact, your allies may decide to "terminate" you before you locate an antiviral spray.
  • While infected, Resident Evil creatures cause you very little harm and may ignore you entirely, since you are well on your way to becoming one of them.

These features truly add some diversity to the gameplay in all modes but more particularly in multiplayer modes.

We found the following gameplay elements to be controversial:

• Levels do not stray from the usual mission-based agenda. Go there, turn that off. Go there, destroy that evidence. Etc.
• Special weapons: In Campaign mode and in Versus mode, you will find special weapons (flamethrower, grenade launcher, etc.) in locked weapon crates located across the maps. Ammunition for these weapons is scarce, but they often give you an edge, particularly in competitive multiplayer modes. While you learn where those crates are located, expect to face opponents with a leg up on you.

Finally, these notes round up what you should know about ORC's gameplay:

• The cover system works very well, although you will sometimes stick to cover inadvertently.
• The game does not bet on ambiance and immersion. On the contrary, it gives the initial impression of a shooter romp.
• Levels unfold very linearly. Way-point markers leave no doubt: You must go this way.
• Lots of enemies, coming in waves.
• A lot of pick-up items, green herbs, ammunition, grenades, antiviral spray, etc. Clearly, the game invites the player to splurge and spare nothing. But, you will run out of ammo quite often nevertheless.
• Excellent feel overall, this is unquestionably Raccoon City, incredibly more modern and coherent than in Resident Evil 2 and 3, which left a lot to the player's imagination.
• You receive experience points in all game modes. Killing enemies and collecting items is the main way you acquire experience points. (You will also score points if you take the time to destroy surveillance cameras or locate the famed Resident Evil typewriters.)
• During gun fights, the game features a distinct audio cue when your bullets reach their target. It sounds a bit like a thud that conveys the idea of a bullet impact. We found this auditory aid quite satisfying.

Graphics

ORC's graphics are top notch throughout.

Character design and animation are excellent.
Environments are detailed and visually striking.
Visual effects are well put together and fit perfectly in the Resident Evil universe.

Truly, ORC offers exceptionally nice graphical elements, sometimes overly concealed in dark environments.

Besides, Slant Six' Hexane engine pulls it off while maintaining a very stable frame rate.
Even when a rather large number of zombies are shambling or pouncing, even when hordes of burning zombies occupy your screen, even when fire and explosions of all sorts create chaos, the game performs admirably.

Ultimately, we would only regret two minor faults:

• Some areas overuse darkness, probably to showcase the excellent lighting techniques.
• The variety of zombie character models is too limited. For instance, police men and girls-in-shorts are in enormous supply. It makes the game feel like a shooting gallery.

Multiplayer

We already alluded to the quality of the co-op play, so we won't cover this aspect of the game in this section.

Beyond co-op play, ORC brings forward original multiplayer modes:

• Team Attack plays like Team Deathmatch, with Resident Evil creatures mixed in. Players compete to score the most points. Killing creatures and other players earns points. Using special abilities in that mode allows you to earn bonus points. The team that reaches the target number of points within the time limit or that finishes with the most points, wins. Theoretically, you could win a round focusing on killing creatures, while totally ignoring the opposing team. This aspect distinguishes Team Attack from the usual Team Deathmatch mode.
• Biohazard: Both teams compete to gather G-virus samples scattered throughout the map. The first team to collect five samples wins. Or, the team with the most samples when the time limit is reached wins. In essence, this mode is similar to the Collection mode of Warhawk.
• Survivor: Players must work as a team and survive until a helicopter is dispatched to evacuate them. Risks of infection are considerably heightened in this mode and space on the rescue chopper is limited: Board early or be left behind. There may not be enough seats for your entire team! This mode often turns into a king-of-the-hill battle when all surviving players fight to gain control of the site where the rescue helicopter will land.
• Heroes: Choose either Heroes (Leon, Claire, Jill, Carlos) or Villains (Ada, Hunk, Lone Wolf, Nicholai) and hunt down the opposing team to win. Whichever team eliminates all Heroes from the other team first wins. If you are killed as a Hero, you will be able to re-spawn as a regular SPEC OPS or U.S.S. character...so you won't get bored waiting for the round to end. As is the case with all other modes, Resident Evil creatures will populate the world and attack either side indiscriminately.

We must emphasize that ORC's multiplayer modes promote fun over competition alone.
Indeed, instead of encouraging players to focus on their kill/death ratio, the game splits the field in three:

• The player
• Other human players
• Resident Evil creatures

You will score a kill when you kill a human player or when you kill a creature.
So, at the end of a round, every player ends up with a glorious kill/death ratio. (Umbrella's creatures don't stand a chance against highly-trained human players!)

Obviously, in terms of experience points, killing a human player will net you more points than killing a mere zombie. Similarly, a Hunter or a Tyrant are worth more points than a Crimson Head (a damaged zombie that mutated into a more powerful kind of zombie, a.k.a. a Crimson Head). So, players who routinely dominate other human players will often finish first, nevertheless. Fun for everyone.

Multiplayer modes take place across 8 maps "only", but each map covers an interesting location within Raccoon City.

Everything that works well in the single-player campaign also works well in multiplayer modes. The cover system, the wide variety of weapons, the environments, the choice of characters and character abilities...absolutely everything contributes to an enjoyable experience.

We only have one gripe to report: Melee combat can be extremely frustrating. It is possible for an attacking player to literally plaster their opponent with blows, preventing them from riposting evenly. These melee storms only end when the victim dies or manages to flee. Worse, some players will focus on performing tackle-brutal kill combos, which make any riposte unlikely.

From a technical standpoint, we are pleased to report that:

1. Lag appears to be minimal. The game is not immune to cheating techniques commonly used to induce lag, but no game can be.
2. Voice chat is crystal clear and works flawlessly.
3. Matchmaking is extremely quick, taking mere seconds.
4. The party system holds together reliably and makes it possible to practice teamwork without obstruction.

Our first reaction to ORC's multiplayer experience was one of astonishment. For the first time in a very long time in a multiplayer game, everything works! Lag is very minimal. Parties do not split at the start of a round. Voice chat is clear and doesn't cut out. Disconnections are nonexistent or very rare. Hit detection is quite accurate.
Frankly, the Battlefield, Call of Duty and SOCOM of the world should pay notice and learn.

Sound

ORC's soundtrack strikes the right balance between syncopic Electronica and neo-classical Ambient/Industrial tracks.

Generally, sound engineering is strong, although some technical issue may lead to silent cut scenes. (In one instance, we had no sound in the final cut scene. Ouch!)

Voice acting is typical for this kind of game: Exaggerated character traits often lead to overemphasized voice acting. This rule applies here.
This doesn't mean voice acting is dreadful. It only follows the norm that comes with the genre.

Online, voice chat is very well implemented, delivering the clearest voice audio we have heard in years.

Nitpicks and shortcomings

Really!? What do you want!?

ORC's main flaw is its relative inability to clue the player as to what actions lead to what outcomes.
Spend an endless amount of time fighting a fight that will not end, or fight just long enough for a pathway to open up and run for it? That's the dominant question most of the time.
Do I need to finish this confrontation or am I supposed to run for it?
Should I focus on defeating Nicholai or should I focus on disabling the Power Plant? Should I dispatch the SPEC OPS team first or can I ignore both the SPEC OPS and Nicholai and focus on disabling the Power Plant?
The player has to figure it out, alone, and that can be frustrating at times, because there are many wrong answers. Eventually, the game will tell you explicitly "Nicholai is not a priority, focus on the objective at hand!", but this ultimate assistance comes only after frustration has taken hold.

Simply put, ORC will often contradict or mislead your intuition.

Melee trumps all

In competitive multiplayer modes, it is fairly easy to find yourself on the wrong side of a tackle followed by a brutal kill.
Many highly-ranked players will spend entire rounds rushing towards their opponents, putting them down before they can even lift the barrel of their gun.

It is hard to deal with and constitutes a significant balance issue.

Human sponges

Resident Evil creatures are known to stomach bullets with ease. They are constantly mutating and regenerating atrocities, after all.

Human characters, on the other hand, should not scoff at or brush off bullets reaching their skull.

Arguably, this is only a matter of taste. Many other games behave similarly.

Other details

• The difference between Blur Studio's promotional trailer and in-game cut scenes is jarring. Yet, in-game cut scenes look nice.
• Drowned as we were in the chaos of Raccoon City, we had trouble following the storyline.
• Some sections feature "cheap", repeated knockdown moments, keeping you from getting back up.
• QTEs (Quick Time Events) are not overly used, but they break immersion without fail.
• Levels are linear. Not more so than in any other game of this type, but it's still worth noting.
• We noticed some lip synching issues in some of the cut scenes.

Did we like it?

Did we like it?
Absolutely! ORC is a new, exciting experiment from Umbrella CAPCOM.

Even though the single-player campaign has limited replayability, we will replay its missions with a higher difficulty level.
When ORC flows, it is an incredibly satisfying game.

Knowing what we know now, we are convinced our second playthrough will be even more enjoyable.

Will you like it?

The question we asked ourselves is the following: Is ORC more than Resident Evil fan-service?
In other words, can ORC be enjoyed by players who are not already established fans of the Resident Evil series?

We have played a great many Resident Evil games ; can we really answer this question? Probably not.

However, there is no doubt that ORC deserve a chance. We found it enjoyable, so it could mean something to you too.
Just make sure you are ready for a lot of shooting!

Conclusion

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is an intriguing entry in the Resident Evil series. While the game doesn't add to the most fascinating aspects of the story arc, it certainly delivers what CAPCOM asked of Slant Six: A third-person shooter set in the thick of the Raccoon City incident.

However, Operation Raccoon City raises many questions: Is there an appetite out there for such shooter? Will military buffs find such a game appealing? Is it representative of what Resident Evil fans have come to expect from the series? Does it fit in the continuously mutating spectrum of survival horror? Will it bring new players to Resident Evil?

At a time when publishers try to reach new audiences, leaning on established franchises, Operation Raccoon City is an expected and welcome experiment. With Operation Raccoon City, Slant Six delivered a game that oscillates between a shooting gallery and a tactical shooter. The game is fun and, at the very least, will satisfy fans of Resident Evil.

To Slant Six

This section is addressed to Slant Six Games ; other parties may benefit from its content, but Slant Six is its intended audience.

Overall, we think you are correct to call your mission accomplished. The game is pretty much what we expected it to be.

However, make sure you review the Nitpicks and shortcomings section of this review.

Also, since perfection is a long journey, we will offer the following remarks:

1. The game does not bet on ambiance and immersion enough. We know it's hard to do with such a fast-paced shooter, but...the pace is probably too high.
2. If you run ahead faster than you probably should, you can witness zombies spawning out of thin air, before your eyes. Sorry, but no one wants to see this in a Resident Evil game. Resident Evil games follow a principle of verisimilitude. If there were 100 human beings in a building and all of them were infected, you would end up with 100 zombies. No spawning zombie, no disappearing zombie.
3. Resident Evil creatures, such as Lickers, Hunters and Tyrants, are precious icons in the Resident Evil universe. If you throw them at the player in large quantities, their aura, horror and mystique become diluted to that of plain fodder.

But, those are choices you or someone else made. We can disagree with them, but we cannot fault you for them.

A few more details:

• After playing the game for several hours, we were totally confused about all the different factions that face each other in the game.
• Invisible barriers are bad. Don't use invisible barriers.
• A checkpoint system that forces the player to repeat half a level is...not helpful. (even if it adds length to the game)

Finally, with regards to AI and squads:

• It would have been nice to be able to switch from squad mate to squad mate at any time depending on the situation.
• We often wished for more control over the behavior of our AI squad mates, if only to instruct them to be stealthy, aggressive or to provide suppressing fire.

Otherwise, great job! You made a nice game.

To CAPCOM

This section is addressed to CAPCOM ; other parties may benefit from its content, but CAPCOM is its intended audience.

Sorry to be blunt, but you are doing Public Relations wrong.

Several times, we contacted you with straightforward questions about Operation Raccoon City. You had unusually good answers to give out. Answers that would have made the game more appealing to a lot of gamers around the world. Yet, you answered none but a few of them. Why? Were you afraid to admit to any particular feature of the game?

Traditional Public Relations has always been the process of broadcasting a certain message to a certain audience, for the benefit of an organization and to "inform" its public.
Yet, the business world has changed. The separation that once stood strong between Advertising, Communications and Public Relations barely exists today.

Furthermore, today, Public Relations is more than a one-way distribution of information.

Your public is aware.
Your public is informed.
Your public is connected.

The advent of social networking has transformed Public Relations into a bi-directional exchange of influence-carrying data.
In other words, your public has demands and expects certain answers. The new role of Public Relations is to be available to deliver those answers if at all possible. Of course, it would be terrible to misrepresent the products you need to promote, but it is equally bad to retain information the public would happily acknowledge.

So, when you come forward and ask your public to submit questions about an upcoming game, and when your public responds with questions, please answer those questions. If you don't, many potential buyers conclude that you are only interested in letting out what you believe will maximize your chances of success.
While this is understandable in general, it makes no sense at all when you clearly have good answers to give out.

Beyond Public Relations, or maybe to further your Public Relations, you should also spend more time building communities around your games, particularly when you intend to market a game with a strong multiplayer component.
Operation Raccoon City's portal is nothing more than a 1-page marketing brochure with a video and a few links. The only positive aspect of it is a link to a forum where less than a thousand threads have been posted.

Finally, we must commend you for your stewardship of the Resident Evil series. We realize it must be difficult to guide the evolution of such a successful franchise. You must keep innovating to bring Resident Evil forward, and we appreciate that you have the fortitude to finance experiments such as Operation Raccoon City.
While the game may not receive critical acclaim initially, we think it will leave a positive mark for what is to come...with Resident Evil 6 and beyond.