Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City sees the franchise return to a zombie-infested Raccoon City through the guise of a third-person shooter. Developed by SOCOM's Slant Six Studios, it focuses more on action and team-based gameplay than previous games in the series, and promises a few narrative twists along the way.
Those expecting a Left 4 Dead style co-operative experience from Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, or something like recent offerings Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5 games will be surprised; this is very much standard third-person shooter stuff, with familiar over-the-shoulder controls and cover points. While mechanically it's not quite as honed as say Gears of War, it more than holds its own, with a sharp and precise feel, and a list of elements that use the Resident Evil lore in all kinds of interesting ways.
Playing as Umbrella
Narratively Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is also a bit of a departure since it places you in the shoes of the franchise's up-to-no-good enemy corporation Umbrella. As a highly-trained task force, you're employed to clear up links to the company's involvement in the Raccoon City outbreak, whether it be physical evidence or people. Chronologically it's set between the second and third games, featuring various locational and character cameos. It also takes few liberties of its own with the timeline, with early teasers saying that players can kill off Leon Kennedy if they so wish.
One of the opening missions sees you and your squad enter City Hall to dispose of various documents, moving through corridors and open courtyards filled with various enemy types. Slow-paced, shuffling zombies feature heavily, and while they're easily cut through with automatic fire - especially as a group - they can very quickly swarm and surround players if not careful. Zombies can also infect players, and if left untreated, will turn undead, lose control and attack their squad mates until taken out, where they will respawn and join the team once more.
Special Operatives and Lickers
After a few zombie-filled areas a Spec Ops team is introduced, which ambush the team in a plaza. While fairly predictable in their behaviour - expect them to hide behind cover, throw grenades and flank you - they offer more bite than zombies in terms of challenge, and provide ample opportunity to try out the meatier side of combat. As well as their own backstories and interesting names like Vector, Four Eyes and Beltway, each team member will have their own ability, such as an invisibility cloak and improved strength for a limited amount of time.
These various factions - you, the armed Spec Ops team and the undead masses - can also be played off one another in combat, where an injured soldier will bleed and attract zombies from nearby areas, allowing you to lay waste to both or move past undetected. Near the end of the level were Lickers, the fan-favourite enemy type from Resident Evil 2, who are just as difficult to fight as they were back then, with their wall-climbing abilities and snapping tongues that temporarily disable your movement.
Searching for evidence
Palette cleansers during the mission include several rooms which hold the evidence the team was looking for. One area has you spray bullets at computer servers, and in another, explore a hall filled with rows of shelving looking for blueprints. Interestingly, they weren't highlighted on any map or on-screen marker, requiring you to pace around and search manually while the corridors were booby-trapped with landmines. The end of the mission sees the squad make it past another horde of zombies in one piece, before being notified that its next target is a group of survivors.
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City looks to take well-known elements from the franchise, such as its popular array of undead creatures and iconic Raccoon City locations, and implement them successfully from both a narrative and gameplay standpoint. Although it has a few unique ideas with the rival factions and infection system, whether it'll have broad appeal, particularly to shooter fans unfamiliar with Resident Evil, remains to be seen, but long-running fans will have plenty to get excited over when it releases early next year.
Watch the Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City Trailer below:
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