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E3 2011: Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

The Resident Evil franchise has always had its quirks, but the new multiplayer-focused Operation Raccoon City sheds all the charm the series is known for. Now, it's "just another zombie game."
Andrew Yoon
17
QUICKTAKE: The Resident Evil franchise has always had its quirks -- from cheesy dialogue, awkward controls, to a limited inventory system -- and those quirks have been able to prevent it from undergoing "just another zombie game" syndrome. Developer Slant Six's new multiplayer-focused Operation Raccoon City, however, sheds all the charm the series is known for. This is, unfortunately, "just another zombie game." THE DEMO: There are a lot of zombies to fight, and not much ammo. I took control of Vector, one of six playable characters in the game's "Umbrella Security Service" team you can choose from. Armed with a submachine gun, I mowed down dozens of the mindless zombies, going in for melee attacks whenever possible. After a few minutes of mindless shooting, a PR representative told me that I had to open a garage door. (There was no indication that was my objective.) After clearing the garage of more zombies, I entered a more open area, with snipers and other government agents. I had to take care of lickers, zombies and human enemies. After a few minutes of fighting, the demo ended. DETAILS: Operation Raccoon City wasn't particularly bad. But it also wasn't particularly memorable. Zombies don't actually make for very interesting enemies, especially when you're as agile and well-equipped as the game's USS. Instead of feeling any semblance of fear, I was presented with a rather boring shooting gallery, one where no one fights back. Even going in for a melee kill wasn't much fun; seeing the same canned animation each time was far less satisfying than the many contextual kills offered in both Resident Evil 4 and 5. The gameplay felt as lifeless as the enemies that inhibit it. The third-person shooting was functional, but not particularly inventive. Beyond my initial inability to discern where to go, (some dialogue or objective markers would be very helpful, guys!) I never felt a sense of peril. Sure, you could die, but so long as your teammates survived, you'd just spawn again. Raccoon City's "gimmick" is that you can become infected by a zombie, and if you don't have any serum to fight it off, you'll lose control of your character and start attacking them. It's an interesting concept, perhaps, but it's a bit too easy to treat, not actually very threatening, and not very mysterious at all. There must be dozens of other ways to make this threat actually feel like one.

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

 Left 4 Dead keep you on edge constantly, by featuring an AI "director" that varies the difficulty, based on your success. It also reminded you of your mortality, and it encouraged team work. The single-player Resident Evil games force you to be strategic about your ammo and target specific body parts to have any chance for survival. Operation Raccoon City doesn't bother to have a unique flair of its own. I felt like I was playing a generic shooter that just happened to have the Resident Evil franchise painted on it. It's a shame too, because I think telling Resident Evil 2's story from the perspective of "the other side" has so much potential. Unfortunately, that potential is being squandered by a development team that has proven incapable of handling large franchises. Watch the Shacknews E3 2011 page to follow all our coverage of this year's show. You can also subscribe to it with your favorite RSS reader.

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

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  • Shacknews legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
    reply
    June 15, 2011 7:00 AM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, E3 2011: Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City.

    The Resident Evil franchise has always had its quirks, but the new multiplayer-focused Operation Raccoon City sheds all the charm the series is known for. Now, it's "just another zombie game."

    • Nixx2004 legacy 10 years legacy 20 years mercury mega
      reply
      June 15, 2011 7:11 AM

      Is there an echo in here?

      Were news stories always posted multiple times but we just didn't know it? Now that they are put into the chatty we get to see the mistakes! ;)

    • cerealSAM2 legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
      reply
      June 15, 2011 7:16 AM

      NO BUGS HERE

    • David Craddock legacy 10 years mercury mega
      reply
      June 15, 2011 7:33 AM

      Disappointing, but not surprising. Capcom really needs to rein in the RE series and focus on outputting quality CORE entries, no side stuff. I'm hoping Revelations on 3DS will hit the sweet spot that this RE fan has been missing since RE4. Well, the Lost in Nightmares DLC slaked my thirst to a degree. Even at 45 minutes long, it was better than all 6-8 hours of RE5.

      • ahducky126 legacy 10 years
        reply
        June 15, 2011 4:16 PM

        agreed about lost nightmares but i liked RE 5 i dont play 3DS or any of those crapy hand help but i realy hate this game its another one of those games they remake because one game got good ratings like drakes fortune oh yea this game look's just like it come on plz go back too the old ways this game is off my list too buy ill just maybe play it at the store and talk crap about it but i wont try it twice. FUCK YOU assholes for selling out i can only hope rockstar dosent do the same for the crappiess creators out there who are activision what did u come up with back in the day crap now you get call of duty and think you can improve were i think no one can on GTA plz ppl stop this crap your thinking of and just stick too the script or planns how hard is it too read in between the lines assholes go die in real life maybe the game will improve then yea die bitch if i meet you ill beat ur ass for the sell out u are im no snitch and a sell out is a snitch so let me see your punk ass and you'll see what i deal with in the south yea its hard not as hard as were anyone els lives everyones got problembs but if you deal with them instead of acting scared in you secluded home away from the city I deal with my problembs wich is why i can act soo bad but im not mean too ppl i know im a nice guy i just hate ppl who are bigger and ppl who talk trash in your face if your gonna fight dont talk shit too me because ill hit your big stupid ass for acting like a kid and i hate sell outs well thats all _I_
        [ | | | THERES YOUR FINGER now stick it up your ass were your head is thats how you think of crap like this oh yea FUCK DRAKES FORTUNE 1,2, and 3 bitch's fuck all of them

    • Unkei legacy 10 years
      reply
      June 15, 2011 8:44 AM

      Is it coming to Steam?

    • jvox legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
      reply
      June 15, 2011 9:38 AM

      I wish they'd go back to the single-player-exploring-a-creepy-old-house format.

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