Had a lot of potential
Developer: Slant Six Games
Publisher: Capcom
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Genre: Action Adventure
Rating: M
Online: 2-8 Players Online Multiplayer – 2-4 Cooperative
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City had a lot of potential to become a Resident Evil game by focusing on cooperative action based gameplay and setting it in a beloved universe. Taking the series back to where is all began the developers at Slant Six Games attempt to revisit, and in one instant revise, one of the most notorious events in the Resident Evil series with a new focus on action and squad based shooting. Unfortunately due to a lot of poor decisions Operation Raccoon City fails to deliver a solid experience that could have been a great title.
In the main campaign players take control of one of six members of the elite Umbrella Security Service known as Wolf Pack, each with their own special talents. Taking place during the events of Resident Evil 2 and 3 you are charged with collecting valuable virus samples and eliminating any evidence that might link Umbrella to the outbreak. However due to poor character development, uneventful situations, and a lack of comradery you never truly care about the people you take control of or the story.
Operation Raccoon City host 4 player drop-in drop-out cooperative campaign, allowing players to join games quickly. There is not lobby system and players are unwillingly placed into a group at random and limited to selecting what stage and difficulty they wish to play. If players are put into a game that is currently in progress then you are only limited to choose what characters are in play. This system isn't perfect but allows for quick access to games, but a lobby system would have been an good option to add.
Throughout the seven campaign levels you'll encounter old characters from the Resident Evil 2 and 3 such as HUNK and Leon. The more notorious characters you encounter are well-designed and voiced, but the levels you travel through are not and involve moving through poorly designed stages. Although it is fun to revisit old areas such as the Police Station from Resident Evil 2 while listening to an adequate soundtrack, some areas suffer from sound tearing. The missions themselves follow the same formula of eliminating targets, gathering intelligence, and walking in the next area to do the same.
While playing through the campaign you are encouraged to play with other players since the A.I. controlled teammates are extremely poor. Computer-controlled allies are completely unreliable and since you have no control over any of their actions only adds to the vexation. Allies will spend most of the time trying to get themselves killed by not taking cover, walking into trip mines, and for some reason lack the ability to revive players.
The enemy A.I. suffers from the same poor design. All the zombies and BOW's follow the same tactic of simply charging and attempting to overwhelm the targeted player. This is expected from the infected enemies but not the human enemies. Mostly the human enemies will wait for you to shoot them while they either stand still or remain in the same cover as you visually flank them. There is rarely a challenge to kill these enemies other than heightened damage due to higher difficulty or becoming overwhelmed with enemies.
The flaws don't end and continue to flood Operation Raccoon long list of difficulties. For example the cover system is one of the most essential and core element in any third-person shooter like Operation Raccoon City. Instead of pushing a button someone thought it would be a great idea to have your character automatically stick to cover. This can cause you to unwillingly take cover, unable to stick to a wall, or expose yourself in vexing ways.
The shooting mechanics are functional but like the rest of Operation Raccoon City are saturated with problems that should have never made into the final product. There is large amount of enemies for you to shoot but due to inconsistent damage and aiming you'll end up relying on luck more than skill to hit each target, leading to a constant shortage of supplies. Although items are usually plentiful in each area the limited carrying capacity will cause you to constantly look for items. Instead of being in close proximity to pick up items you are require to move the aim cursor over specific things in order to gain access to the command prompt. Operation Raccoon City attempts to do a lot of things that are different but sacrifice fun in order to do so.
With all its flaws Operation Raccoon City does have something positive, a great leveling system. As you complete cooperative and competitive games you gain experience to purchase new weapons, unique abilities, and level up. Anything you unlock becomes available in every mode, and Operation Raccoon City offers a large assortment of upgrades for you to toy with. It's a shame that most of these upgrades don't make of difference due to imbalance combat.
In addition to the campaign Operation Raccoon City includes four multiplayer modes with up to eight players. There is no free-for-all mode but you will be able to choose from Team Attack, Biohazard, Heroes, and Survivor. Team Attack is team deathmatch and Biohazard is variation of CTF which each must collect 5 G-Virus samples before time runs out. In Heroes you take control of signature characters from the Resident Evil universe that includes Leon, Claire, Jill, Carlos, Hunk, Ada, Lone Wolf, and Nicholai. In Survivor players fighter against both human and A.I. enemies until the extraction helicopter arrives. In each of these modes enemies from the cooperative campaign are scattered throughout the battlefield that grant you points if killed and forces players to adapt to both human and A.I. opponents on the spot.
However the issues that plague the cooperative campaign also exist in the competitive field. Both enemies and players can suffer from technical difficulties such as clipping or getting completely stuck. In one multiplayer match I was constantly taking damage from an invisible zombie with no way of fighting back. The spotty aiming and random damage combined with overpowered moves such as the tackle, melee attacks, and auto-aiming handguns make multiplayer a frustrating experience. There might be a lot to unlock in Operation Raccoon City but after a couple matches you'll probably just want play a better game.
With the varied class-based system and large amount of unlockables Operation Raccoon City attempts to entice the player into coming back for more but unfortunately fails to create an appealing reason to revisit the biochemical tragedy. Seeking to establish itself within the Resident Evil franchise Operation Raccoon city does little to create a fun squad based shooter in this universe because of fundamental problems, poor story, and forgettable characters. You can go back and play through the five hour campaign to gain a S+ ranking in each stage but with other more enjoyable shooters available why would you?
3.5/10