The only things evil here are Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City and Capcom for putting such a broken and unfinished game on the market. The more I played this game, the more I asked myself, “How could Capcom let such a game that tarnishes one of their flagship series loose on the streets?”
Indeed, like the T-virus, this game will make you a bloodthirsty monster. The only difference between the game and the T-virus is the virus will make you a zombie. Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City will make you shout profanities at your loved ones and land you in therapy.
As soon as I booted up the game, I noticed the company that developed it wasn’t Capcom. Rather, they handed it over to Slant Six Games, a company I’ve never heard of because they only made four other video games. Let me tell you, it really, really shows.
Where do I even start in dissecting this game? How about the plot? It had potential, but like everything else, it fell apart with a lack of a narrative and memorable characters.
The player takes control of an Umbrella Corporation wet works group known as the Wolfpack. The Wolfpack’s job is to dive into Raccoon City in the middle of the T-virus epidemic and erase all evidence linking Umbrella to the outbreak. This could range from documents that need to be burned to survivors targeted for elimination.
A cool feature is that several characters from Resident Evil 2 and 3 appear in story mode, like HUNK (you know, the guy in the gas mask. He’s basically responsible for the Raccoon City outbreak). It is cool to see them again, even if only for a few minutes. Ultimately though, what they do is remind players they could be playing much better games that came out ages ago like Resident Evil 2.
Like I said, this could have been an interesting story. It’s too bad Capcom said from the start of development that this story isn’t considered canon to Resident Evil (meaning it never happened). If that’s so, then why should anyone bother playing this game? I only wish I asked myself that before I bought this game; I could have saved 60 bucks.
The games’ graphics are surprisingly good. The music also gets a passing grade as well. Most of it features remixes of tunes from Resident Evil 2 and 3, and does well in that department. In fact, the music, along with the graphics does make this game look like a next gen version of Resident Evil 2. So, again, it gets a passing grade here (even though there already was a next gen Resident Evil 2. Check out Resident Evil The Darkside Chronicles on the Wii for a much better game).
Unfortunately the story isn’t the only area that dropped the ball. The game play is even worse. It’s like the developers listened to that one idiot who emailed them saying “You know what Resident Evil needs? Gears of War style duck and cover style shooting, and lots of it!”
The developers listened to this. The end result is that the game play is like a poorly translated adaptation of Gears of War.
Half of the time, the Wolfpack will be fighting against the T-virus mutations. The whole mutant crew is here too, ranging from zombies, lickers, hunters and even the crimson heads from the Resident Evil remake. During these segments, the game does have somewhat of a Resident Evil feel to it, but the sloppy controls will more likely have you spraying gunfire all over the area and hitting anything. It’s a good thing there’s no friendly fire, because otherwise I’d be doing this operation solo within the first five minutes.
Now, there are a few things about this style of fighting zombies that I sort of like. You can actually get infected with the T-virus, and if you die while infected, you become a zombie. I like this because it requires you to carry an antidote to cure yourself. But I also hate the idea because your health will drop like a rock in water, and antidotes are scarce. If you’re expecting your allies to carry cures for you, I hope you don’t mind becoming a zombie.
Then there’s the other half of the enemies you’ll be fighting: U.S. Government Special Ops. This is where fans of the series will be screaming “Betrayal!” at the top of their lungs. Here, you’ll be taking cover and shooting at other people ala Gears of War. At this point, you’ll develop a massive hatred for this game and want to get rid of it. It was during these segments of gunfights that I saw another crippling flaw with this game: the computer intelligence or lack there of.
First, put yourself in a soldier’s shoes as a dangerously armed enemy is firing at you. What do you do? Do you take cover to avoid getting shot or stand out in the open and occasionally shoot at whoever pops out of cover? I really hope you didn’t pick the second choice, because that’s the decision the developers went with.
Remember when I said that due to the sloppy controls, if there was friendly fire I’d be tackling this operation solo? I wish I was; I’d stand a better chance than doing it with these incompetents!
At times there are segments during which the computer controlled allies will decide the best course of action in a hostile environment is to stand back and let me do all the hard work. They can’t even be bothered to come heal me in the likely event the enemy is packing grenades and making toast out of me.
This is what ultimately made me quit the game before I was consumed with the rage. The incompetent allies basically force you to play the game online just to beat story mode, even if you’re playing it on the easiest difficulty. That is unforgivable to me. I should never, ever have to rely on someone else to help me beat a game on its most basic of difficulties.
The bottom line is Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City sucks! The terrible computer, sloppy controls, unfair difficulty and the non-canonicity all make this a game to forget. Don’t buy this game.
If you want a good Resident Evil game that just came out, get Resident Evil Revelations on the 3DS. That’s right, pass the console game and get the portable one. It’s cheaper and much better.
This game gets 5 out of 10. It has some good moments, but too many bad ones, so I can’t recommend this to even the most diehard Resident Evil fans.
