Review of Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

The Resident Evil series is a very popular series since 1996 whereas initially the first game ( originally called BioHazard ), as corny as the cut scenes were, had great gameplay which involved a variety of puzzles and pushed you to actually survive with its “typewriter” saving system through being able to manage your inventory (puzzle pieces, ink ribbons and ammo), and being able to realize the game doesn’t want you to kill every enemy but to actually survive the experience, hence the survival horror genre title. Over the years, they have evolved into a more third-person “kill everything that moves” kind of shooter. Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City follows the trend of a third-person shooter but seems to have a faster pace compared to the series after Resident Evil 4. RE: ORC is not cannon but if you are a RE fan then you will see a lot of familiar faces.

In this installment, you play as a member of a splinter cell unit of the Umbrella Security Service called Delta Team, which each member has their own specialty (or class) that can be upgraded with in-game points. At first you are ordered to try to recover the T-Virus from William Birkin with another Umbrella operative HUNK. Obviously shit hits the fan relatively quickly and Delta Team has to clean up the mess to gain back into Umbrella’s good graces. Not only do you have to eliminate legions of zombies from Raccoon City you have to collect evidence and destroy cameras and other objects linked to Umbrella to erase their involvement in the disaster. RE: ORC is fun in the respect that you get to shoot, shoot and shoot a lot of zombies and other B.O.W. (Bio Organic Weapons). Resident Evil fans will see cameos of Leon Kennedy, Clarie Redfield, Jill Valentine, etc and along with familiar enemies like Nicholai Ginovaef, Ada Wong and even Nemesis while playing the game. And since you work for Umbrella, none of these people are your friends, so most of the time, you (and your team) are assigned to eliminate these familiar people while also completing other objectives. The game does keep you busy with one thing after another so there is not really a boring moment. There are also a lot of weapons to choose from ranging from assault rifles, submachines, shotguns, handguns and a personal knife. There are also a few weapons that you collect while on mission, like grenade/rocket launchers and sniper rifles, that you cannot purchase or own but you will be able to use once you acquire them in that mission.

However, there are only seven levels in the game. Huge levels with multiple sub-stages that does tend to be full of hordes of things that want you dead but when you finish the game, you will be wishing there was more. The AI won’t be much help when it comes to saving your ass if you are in a pinch so you will mostly be relying on yourself but it is nice to know that you do have “suppression fire” in the single player mode. Now another thing that they did that I wasn’t too crazy about was that there is a reverse side to this story where you play as Spec Ops ( think S.T.A.R.S. for those who are familiar with the RE franchises ) and the set-up is kind of the same but with different people ( still same class set up ). Same number of missions as the Delta Team for Umbrella and the missions take place almost simultaneously along the same story line as Delta Team. However, to play as Spec Ops, you have to either purchase the DLC for it or play them online in the multiplayer matches. Slightly upsetting because it would have made the game a lot better to have the Spec Ops section as part of the actual game rather than just an have it as part of the original game to not only prolong the game but to give it a little more “meat”. The game’s multiplayer mode, which even though not as big as it used to be, can still be very fun with other gamers who still find the game enjoyable. Some modes require you to kill the other team or to recover virus samples that the other team is also trying to get (kind of like a Capture The Flag mode) and there is a mode called “Heroes” where you play as main characters from Resident Evil 2 and 3 (both good and bad guys/girls) and you are to kill the other team’s main characters. Personally, I wished they were able to find a way to make it all connect to make it cannon because I felt they had a really had a good story here and the game was really fun to play. I feel that you could play and when finally beaten and then leave it for a few weeks (if bore), you can then play it again with a decent level enjoyment, especially if you are a Resident Evil fan. If you are a RE fan, however, than you already have this in your collection for RE GP (Resident Evil Gamer Pride). But for those who liked either the old school RE or the new school RE, you will find elements of each here but know that this is neither. This is a new beast in its own way. Take it or leave it, but I think that this is a refreshing (non-official) addition to the Resident Evil series and I believe that it is at least worth checking out. Trust me if you don’t own it already then rent it to see if it is worth the final purchase.

#residentevil #3rdpersonshooter #zombies #wolfpack #deltateam #STARS #tryitout #rent