Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

Raccoon City suffers from poor design and sometimes doesn't quite seem to "get" the point of the style it wishes to emulate, but that doesn't stop it from being a genuinely good time that should satisfy anybody looking for a hardcore romp. As a challenging rollercoaster ride through an iconic fictional catastrophe, Raccoon City provides hours of violent fun interspersed with some exasperated cries of aggravation.

Raccoon City isn't the next real Resident Evil game (though its improved controls do bode well for that game). Instead, it's a mostly solid third-person, cover-based shooter set in the same universe. Granted, it's a little too Evil in spots for its own good, and not Evil enough in others, and certainly not as good as Left 4 Dead unless you don't play well with others. But overall, it's a fun spin-off.

Operation Raccoon City is not the typical Resident Evil Game. It's a fast-paced action game, with many possibilities and great multiplayer options. Its gameplay is not the ideal one for this kind of game, but it delivers good fun.

Another unique look at the events of the original Resident Evil combined with a fun and inventive multiplayer should help Resident Evil fans look past the sometimes clunky controls and poor ally A.I.

It does a nice job putting you back in the zombie infested streets of Raccoon City, and it offers up some decent co-op action for those with the patience to persevere. It may have it faults, but I still think Resident Evil fans as well as co-op shooter fans will still get some enjoyment out of Operation Raccoon City.

If you enjoy easy going zombie fighting with a bunch of friends, Operation Raccoon City is a solid choice. Be warned however, it has little resemblance to other Resident Evil titles and more than one bug managed to crawl its way into the final product.

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is a fun game that is simply buried under too much to be really great.

A pedestrian title with the power of the Resident Evil series behind it...However, with a kickass multiplayer, mixed zombie/contemporary warfare, and a high-definition view of Raccoon City's infection, the game holds its own.

Some diehard Resident Evil fans may be disappointed by Raccoon City for sapping the survival-horror soul out of the series. But the game's satisfying blend of gunplay and teamwork, coupled with its cool references to past Resident Evil games, make revisiting the perilous streets of Raccoon City worth the trip. Even with its failings, Raccoon City keeps the action rolling along; just make sure you bring some buddies to help you slaughter all the undead.

Taking the Resident Evil Universe, the game offers something never before seen in the series: pure, intense and frantic action, always accompanied by three partners. The campaign is not that long, but its multiplayer modes are great and very enjoyable.

The idea of two teams of humans fighting it out in the middle of a zombie outbreak is pretty solid, and it's worth exploring further in another game. Operation Raccoon City is more frustrating than fun, though, with one class dominating the others and a lot of seriously questionable choices marring the co-op campaign. It's easy to imagine a theoretical ORC2 being a great game, both offline and on, but this isn't it.

If you're going into Operation Raccoon City for the campaign, you'll likely be a bit disappointed, as I was, but if you're looking for a multiplayer game that you can jump into with friends, you'll find much to enjoy. The game isn't perfect, but the developers really tried to tweak the multiplayer formula and they succeeded in creating several fun modes that are action-packed and unpredictable.

Slant Six had an opportunity to make their mark on the Resident Evil franchise. Unfortunately, the lasting impression they left is a disappointing one. Squad-based shooter mechanics should have translated really well to the Resident Evil formula, and could have expanded the series beyond the lone-wolf style of earlier entries. It's just too bad that the poor AI, lack of a satisfying story mode, and dated graphics got in the way. What we're left with is merely another average shooter in a market populated with games that do what ORC does way better. Resident Evil deserved better, and so did its fans.

The game has lots of flaws but it's hard to overlook the fact that during a dozen or so hours I had fun. This imperfect collection of ideas has that elusive element of satisfactory gameplay. I can recommend it to gamers with co-op partners that know that it's just a shooter set in a familiar universe.

Operation Raccoon City is not wanting for cool ideas and ambition, but cool ideas don't create a new game experience by themselves. It's a clunky, glitchy third-person shooter that just happens to have zombies in it. You can do better, so you might as well.

In spite of its novel class-based combat and varied multiplayer, Operation Raccoon City can't shake its one-note campaign and fundamental mechanical problems.

Fans of the Resident Evil franchise may enjoy this next-gen look at an earlier classic, but as a serious shooter and tactical gamer, a spooky atmosphere doesn't make up for shallow and repetitive combat mechanics and glitched controls. Not to mention most of your fun relies on the participation of two or three other people. Give it a rental or wait for the inevitable price drop.

Obviously, Raccoon City is not the best Resident Evil game. It's a third person shooter with poor AI, clunky gameplay and standard production values. Its campaign is quite short, but its multiplayer modes provide hours of zombie fun.

As buggy, glitchy and convention-defying as Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is, it's still a buttload of fun. [May 2012, p.68]

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is one of the worst games I've really liked in a long time.

There's some fun to be had with it, but it's few and far between the dissatisfaction that crops in. Ultimately, what we ended up getting is an uninspired campaign with some entertaining multiplayer, though that's not something that I expect from a franchise as big as Resident Evil.

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City feels like a rushed game, like a quick cash in with no soul. It's still good fun to kill zombies in co-op though, but Capcom should be more keen on not exploiting their biggest franchise with mediocre games like this.

ORC is defective in ways I've never seen before. To their credit, Slant 6 has invented new methods to creating a faulty game.

Umbrella may have filled Raccoon City with horrific creatures, but SlantSix has tainted the fabled town in its own way. It's difficult recommending a return to Raccoon when you have to endure buggy AI, clunky gameplay, and terrible glitches like disappearing floors. Yes, on more than one occasion my friends and I had to ditch whole missions because we kept falling into an empty void.

Right now, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City could have used a few more months to work some issues out in beta testing. I know time is money in business, but Resident Evil fans need a more put together title than what REORC offers. I love the arcade feeling to it, but the execution could have used a bit more work.

A limp and generic single-player is aided by a multiplayer offering with a few good ideas, but on the whole Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City doesn't feel like a game that will provide enough entertainment to justify you shelling out.

I may not have been the biggest fan of the previous two Resident Evil outings, but I could respect the elements they introduced to the series and understood the reasoning behind them. Not so much with this one. I recommend you pass on Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City altogether and wait for the next "real" entry in the Resident Evil franchise.

None of it feels much like Resident Evil. [Issue#84, p.85]

The game is so devoid of any atmosphere that it just doesn't feel like Resident Evil. In addition, most elements of Operation Raccoon City are flawed in some way. [May 2012, p.75]

Operation Raccoon City gets fifty percent of the way there. It has some really cool ideas and core concepts that deserve acknowledgement and recognition counterbalanced by almost half-cocked development choices. I hoped that this would set a new benchmark for the series and usher in a new direction, but this isn't the title to do it.

It's abysmal in singleplayer, elevating itself to merely dull and forgettable in co-op and multiplayer. Welcome to a zombie game that's as lifeless and ragged as its primary antagonists.

Operation Raccoon City failed! Fans of Resident Evil will be just as disappointed as anyone hoping for a Left 4 Dead challenger. It is a disgrace for the franchise.

This spin-off not only shoots itself in the foot, but the arms, the head…every nether region, pretty much. Skip it and just wait for RE 6. That'll obviously be the real experience we deserve.

Save your money; don't bother with Operation Raccoon City.

An awkward and clumsy attempt to bring RE fans back to Raccoon City, failing in graphics, gameplay and general mood.

A frighteningly flawed action-heavy spin-off that withers in the shadow of its superior alternatives.

The forgotten chapter that should have stayed unwritten. [May 2012, p.84]

In the end, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City disappoints across the boards. Dropping the ball in every aspect, the game turns the tense and extremely atmospheric Raccoon City into a dull and boring experience that feels more like a chore than a journey, only made tolerable by the 4-player co-op mode, ensuring that you don't have to suffer alone.

Capcom isn't sure what it wants to do with the Resident Evil series. Should it be an action game or survival horror? Scary or thrilling? One thing is for sure, it definitely shouldn't be like Operation Raccoon City. This multiplayer third-person shooter has a few good ideas, but not enough to warrant picking up this disappointing spin-off!

The real trouble with Resident Evil: ORC is that the underdeveloped gameplay and technical issues keep getting in the way of multiplayer fun, which was the point of the game.

The characters, the story, the controls, the difficulty, and even the central premise... all of it seems to be on the right track, but none of it hits the mark. I still think there's a lot of potential here, but like any other game, the basics have to be nailed before it can start reaching for greatness.

A game that doesn't do justice to the name "Resident Evil". It's full of bugs. It's boring. It's a bad, bad game.

Just a mess of a game. The single player is sloppy, feels unbalanced, and is far too focused on action over anything else to really feel like a good Resident Evil game. It's hard to be scared of a bunch of horrific monster charging you with claws bared when you're toting a fully loaded assault rifle, and running out of ammo is more of an annoyance than something that instills a crippling sense of fear or panic.

Operation Raccoon City is an under-designed and under-produced nightmare, a game that delivers the bare minimum in every category and stops right there.

The terrible AI, the lackluster locations and the complete lack of atmosphere or memorable characters destroy what could have been a brilliant offshoot. In the end, Operation Raccoon City is little more than a poor man's SOCOM, and a destitute man's Resident Evil.

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is everything I hoped it wouldn't be: a mediocre shooter hoping to be bolstered by the Resident Evil name. It takes what is arguably the series' best setting and wastes it, forcing players to plod through generic underground facilities and the occasional, oddly vacant street from one boring encounter to the next.

Resident Evil pioneered the survival horror category; this game doesn't even attempt to be in a similar genre. If the box didn't say Resident Evil on it, no one would care about this bland and empty experience, and you'll forget about this as quickly as you finish it.

Even die-hard Resi fans (of which I am actually one), ought to steer clear. None of the game's promises are met, and while you might have thought a Resi co-op experience was a dream come true, you're better off waiting until someone internally pitches it at Capcom in Japan and it's handled by the series' parents, and not their snot-nosed, annoying neighbour's kids (sorry Slant Six, but this effort is inexcusable).

At the end of the day it's just not fun to play, does little with the license on hand, and doesn't evolve the pathos in any meaningful way. It's downright bland, and filled with mechanics that work just enough to make a passable experience, but do little to stand out against other, better third person shooters available.

An insult to Resident Evil fans, a failure at the most basic level for shooter fans, and a possible friendship-ender for those looking for a cooperative experience, Raccoon City is a disaster zone better left abandoned.

If you cannot wait until October's release of Resident Evil 6, then I'd suggest re-visiting the HD remakes of Code Veronica and RE4. If you don't mind a bit of mindless shooting and coming away from the experience with nothing notable then rent this.

Slant Six Games cut its teeth on handheld SOCOM games, but no tactical subtlety has filtered down to this title. Operation Raccoon City is a gory duck shoot in a series that's already produced the definitive action game, and letting you experience its gore-soaked trudge with friends is its only genuine appeal.

The problem isn't with Operation Raccoon City's premise. There's plenty of excellent games that came before and are very worthy of mimicry (Left 4 Dead), but the execution here is all off.

Not only does Raccoon City not deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Valve's zombie-killing masterpiece [Left 4 Dead], a number of poor design choices, narrative missteps, and technical issues combine to make this one of the worst Resident Evil games to date.