Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City
Developer(s)	Slant Six Games[1] Capcom[1]
Publisher(s)	Capcom
Director(s)	Adam Bullied[1]
Producer(s)	Masachika Kawata[1]
Composer(s)	Shusaku Uchiyama
Series	Resident Evil
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows PlayStation 3 Xbox 360
Release date(s)	PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 NA March 20, 2012 AUS March 22, 2012 EU March 23, 2012 JP April 26, 2012 Microsoft Windows NA May 18, 2012 EU May 18, 2012 AUS May 24, 2012 JP July 26, 2012 WGoD September 20, 2012 (2012-09-20)
Genre(s)	Third-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, known in Japan as Biohazard: Operation Raccoon City (バイオハザード　オペレーション・ラクーンシティ, Baiohazādo Operēshon Rakūn Shiti) is a third-person shooter video game for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, co-developed by Slant Six Games and Capcom. It was released on March 20, 2012 in North America, March 22, 2012 in Australia, March 23, 2012 in Europe and April 26, 2012 in Japan.^[2]

It is part of the Resident Evil series, being set around the same time as Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, and featuring the characters from these two games, though it is a non-canon hypothetical scenario.^[3] The game follows a group of elite paramilitary mercenaries for the Umbrella Corporation during the zombie outbreak in Raccoon City.

The game was met with a mixed critical reception. It was a commercial success, selling more than 2 million units.

Plot

Umbrella Security Service (USS) Delta team enters the Raccoon City Underground Laboratory, where they meet up with Alpha team leader HUNK. Their mission is to assist Alpha team in stopping Dr. William Birkin from handing over his T-virus research to the U.S. military and retrieve the G-virus. On their way to Birkin's lab, they find Birkin has paid numerous Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service (UBCS) mercenaries to work for him while the deal goes forward. When they reach Birkin's lab, the doctor is shot, and HUNK and another Alpha leave with the samples. They soon find that Birkin survived the attack and infected himself with the virus. The Birkin creature proceeds to kill off most of Alpha team before disappearing; HUNK offers to go back in search of the sample.

Not long after the battle, it becomes evident that the T-virus has leaked city-wide, and people are beginning to transform into flesh-hungry zombies. In what they see as a punishment by USS command, Delta team is ordered to remove evidence of Umbrella's role in the outbreak. Heading into Raccoon City Hall, Delta team meets with a UBCS mercenary and their monitor Nicholai Ginovaef; he is soon revealed as a traitor and attempts to kill Delta team.

Later, the team is sent out around Raccoon Park to find the Nemesis-T Type, which has gone rogue. A second parasite is injected into its body in order to bring it back under control. Shortly after this mission is completed, the team is then sent out to the Raccoon City Police Department, ordered to kill any surviving police officers and destroy evidence linking the company to the outbreak. When this is done, the team exits the station, and soon after encounter Leon S. Kennedy, whom they begin to hunt down along with Sherry Birkin. After they find and corner Leon, Claire Redfield and Sherry, the game can end in two ways: in one ending, the two surviving members of the team resign from Umbrella over their abandonment during the mission and betray them by letting the three live; in the other, Leon and Claire are executed and Sherry is sent to an Umbrella facility.

Gameplay

There are 12 playable characters in the game, with six characters for each side. On the Umbrella Security Service team there is: Vector (Andrew Kishino), the team's recon expert and is equipped with a cloaking ability; Lupo (Nika Futterman), who is the team leader; Beltway (Ramon Fernandez), who is proficient in the use of explosives; Spectre (David Cooley), the marksman; Bertha (Lydia Look), the medic; Four Eyes (Gwendoline Yeo), the scientist, with the ability to program the bio-organic weapons (BOWs) and on the United States Special Ops team, Dee-Ay (Robin Atkin Downes) is the team leader; Willow (Rebecca Riedy) is the recon expert; Tweed (Tess Masters) is the demolitions expert; Harley (Gregg Berger) is the medic; Shona (Imari Williams) is the field scientist; and Party Girl (Catherine Taber) is the sniper.^[4]

Alongside the single player mode, the game also offers four-player co-operative Raccoon Mode, which pits the USS against the U.S. Special Ops teams.^[5][6]

The zombies in the game are able to attack the player in a multitude of ways. A zombie mutant that gets too close to the player will usually attempt to grapple the player, prompting the player to rapidly shake his/her analogue stick to avoid getting bitten. Players who are unsuccessful in doing this will be infected for a limited amount of time. Whilst they are infected they gain small bonuses at the expense of a slowly depleting health bar. If a player is successfully bitten and later runs out of time after becoming infected, the player will lose control of their character and begin attacking their former teammates until killed, allowing the player to respawn. There are additional enemy types in the game besides zombies, such as Lickers, Hunters, and Cerberuses. Furthermore, the players are able to control them under certain circumstances.

Heroes Mode is an online multiplayer feature allowing to play characters such as Leon S. Kennedy, Claire Redfield, Jill Valentine and Carlos Oliviera, plus Ada Wong, HUNK, Nicholai Ginovaef, and a new character, Lone Wolf.^[7] Xbox 360-exclusive Nemesis Mode allows one player to control Nemesis and use him to kill the other team.^[8]

Development

Operation Raccoon City at the E3 2011

The idea for the game came about during the development of Lost Planet 2.^[1] On November 1, 2010, Kotaku reported on a rumor that Slant Six Games, developer of SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation, was developing Resident Evil: Raccoon City. On its website, Slant Six Games wrote that it was currently developing "an amazing new project" that was unannounced, which was developed in conjunction with a "new publishing partner on a world class franchise."^[9] In March 2011, the game's producer Masachika Kawata estimated it to be 45% complete. According to Kawata, there were discussions on introducing new "bio-organic weapon" enemy creatures into the game.^[10]

Release

Free downloadable content containing playable missions for Spec Ops arrived on April 10 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and May 10 for Microsoft Windows.^[11]

Umbrella Security Service

• Andrew Kishino as VECTOR (born 1960s), Japanese, the team's recon expert.

Little is known about the background of the operative known as "VECTOR;" his true name and origin remain a mystery. Trained by HUNK and Japanese masters, VECTOR relies on his agility, speed, hand-to-hand knife battles. He is an extreme loyal operative of the Wolfpack and Umbrella. He dreams of being team leader just like HUNK. His talents can't be even matched with HUNK and Japanese masters, having developed a highly lethal proficiency in martial artistry - especially in knife combat. VECTOR's prowess was noticed by HUNK, one of the Umbrella's best operatives, who took a special interest in the new recruit's potential. After VECTOR fought HUNK in single hand-to-hand combat to a draw, the U.S.S. veteran personally oversaw the young trainee's progress. Once his training was complete, VECTOR proved to be one of Umbrella's most effective assets; his achievements-in-the-field were matched only by his former mentor, HUNK. The Corporation noted how his movements were instinctive and smooth, in contrast to his motionless behavior when at rest. Given his skills in stealth and reconnaissance, Umbrella determined that VECTOR was ideal for the role of recon in the reformed U.S.S. Delta Team. Although VECTOR and HUNK preferred to continue working together as they had a low tolerance for anyone of lesser skill, the company felt that their interests would be better served by distributing their two top assets into separate teams, rather than focusing them both in a single unit. Hence, VECTOR was assigned to fellow U.S.S. operatives BERTHA, FOUR EYES, SPECTRE, BELTWAY and LUPO in the new Delta Team, otherwise known as "Wolfpack". His weapon of choice is SMG.

• Nika Futterman as Karena LesProux/LUPO (born 1960), French, the team leader.

A former experienced French Special Forces operative who retired to concentrate on building a domestic life by raising a family of her own. She eventually married, but her husband proved to be a violent man, although she tolerated his abusive nature for the sake of their children by relying on her training and discipline as a former soldier. However, she ultimately killed her spouse with her bare hands when he began abusing one of their children. After she was acquitted of murder by a sympathetic judge, LesProux tried to raise her children as a single mother, a task she proved incapable of carrying out. Despite her efforts to assimilate into a civilian environment, LesProux's instincts as a soldier remained deeply embedded in her nature. Thus, she returned to work as a private contractor, selling her services as a mercenary to the highest bidder in order to provide for her children. Unlike Vector or other members of the Wolfpack, she works for Umbrella only for money but not loyalty; she is mercenary, while others are fully members of the Umbrella. LUPO s the most experienced member of the Wolfpack. Her weapon of a choice is Suppressed Rifle.

• Ramon Fernandez as Hector Hivers/BELTWAY (born 1969), Puerto Rican-American, demolitions expert.

Originally from Puerto Rico and a former U.S military soldier, who was discharged from service because of the incident he caused, in which he lost his leg. He was later saved by Umbrella from court martial and was offered a second chance, to work for Umbrella. As a U.S.S member, BELTWAY seems to be happy to work for Umbrella as they gave him more freedom with using explosives, unlike U.S military. BELTWAY is reckless, funny and friendly out of all members of the Wolfpack, however these traits can be quickly faded away, as most of the time he shows vulgarity and anger, especially towards his former Spec Ops comrades, due to being dishonorably discharged from the job, that he "loved". His weapon of a choice is Pump-Action Shotgun.

• David Cooley as Vladimir Bodrovski/SPECTRE (born 1964), Russian, the marksman.

A veteran of Cold War, former spy, SPECTRE was an intelligence technician working for Soviet Union's security services. At age 18, during Cold War, he was drafted to the national services where he learned how to shoot a rifle, orientate on area and even succumbing into the cannibalism. He never had friends in childhood or even in adulthood due to lack of any standout physical or social characteristics, which helped him to be virtually invisible in any situation. His work brought him into contact with the seedier side of life, something he soon discovered he had affinity for. He later found a home with U.S.S, and his surveillance have regularly ensured that the corporation stays well informed skills and that the Wolfpack keeps the upper hand in combat situations. SPECTRE is a cold and quiet member of the Wolfpack and lacks social characteristics, especially it is noticeable from speech he has. His weapon of choice is Militia or Semi-Auto Rifle.

• Lydia Look as Michaela Schneider/BERTHA (born 1964), German, the team's medic.

Prior to her service under the Umbrella Corporation, Michaela Schneider developed exceptional skills as a German medic, becoming an excellent healer with a keen interest in making the human body operate at maximum capacity. However, her extreme aptitude for medicine contrasts with her disregard for human life. Rather than placating her patients, she enjoyed causing them terror by detailing the exact amount of pain that they could expect to endure under her care. Her personal delight in a person's agony is further evident in the fact that she rarely ever resorts to using anesthetics on her subjects. Following Schneider's discharge, the retired soldier made an unsuccessful attempt at reintegrating into society; her lack of concern for other people's well-being made her completely unsuitable to continue practicing medicine in a civilian role. However, Schneider's skills as a medic, combined with her lack of ethics or sentimentality, ultimately qualified her for employment in Umbrella's Security Service unit, under which she gained the codename "BERTHA." In addition to her new affiliation with the Umbrella Corporation, BERTHA also sold her services to the private contractors, utilizing her expertise as a professional torturer-for-hire. As effective as she is as a healer, she is just as efficient at causing pain. Through her extensive knowledge of the human anatomy, BERTHA has developed certain interrogation techniques that enable her to cause immense agony in her subjects, but without killing them. Hence, she can repeat the process multiple times. Her personal work is also a vast source of top secret and back channel information.

• Gwendoline Yeo as Christine Yamata/FOUR EYES (born 1970), American-Japanese, the scientist.

Dedicated to science since she was a child, as a result, she did not develop the social skills needed to operate successfully in later life. She is detached from normal human emotions, seeing people merely as breeding grounds for her singular love: virology. This particular branch of science is the sole reason that she is part of the U.S.S. Her motivation is that this is the best place for her not only to study some of the deadliest outbreaks in the world, but to experiment with some of Umbrella's own cutting edge viral breakthroughs. She has no compunction when it comes to gathering and experimenting on live human subjects, and on many missions she has been discovered experimenting on the wounded, and often on captives. This has occasionally proven to be detrimental to the ongoing mission. However, her practical knowledge of virology use in the field is unparalleled. She loves her job more than her private life, making virology her only "friend".

Spec Ops

• Robin Atkin Downes as Crispin Jettingham/DEE-AY (born 1970), American, the team's leader.

Talented, young and skilled, Crispin is a born leader. He served the US Military for much of his adult life and has been a soldier for so long that he has experience with just about any weapon and know how to handle any combat situation. Consequently, he was the top choice for the position of team leader for Echo Six and acts as the captain, but his actual rank is unclear.

• Rebecca Riedy as Caroline Floyd/WILLOW (born 1972), American, the team's recon expert.

Caroline's early life was marked by poverty as she lived with her parents on the Cree/Ojibwe reservation in Montana - of which she was of Cree heritage. It was here that she developed specialist skills in speed and blending in to her surroundings. She joined the Army straight out of school. She excelled at the intense curriculum of the SPEC OPS, establishing herself quickly among her peers. A perfectionist, she is hard on herself and will never accept failure. She continued to look to her people's spirits for guidance and mythical determination.

• Tess Masters as Marissa Ronson/TWEED (born 1975), British, demolitions expert.

A boyish, highly trained recon specialist with an immense sense of pride. She has a sharp and witty tongue, sometimes to a fault. At some point prior to 1998, Marissa was an agent for the Secret Intelligence Service, the United Kingdom's secret service-equivalent. An injury sustained during a bomb-disposal operation led to her being taken out of active service and her resignation. However, due to her unique demolitions expertise and her highly regarded reconnaissance experience, the US Army sought her service within their Spec Ops division. She was successfully recruited into their elite "Echo Six" unit.

• Gregg Berger as Erez Morris/HARLEY (born 1964), American, the team's medic.

Before joining the US Army sometime before or during Operation Desert Storm in early 1991, Erez was a stereotypical biker; rude, foul-mouthed and a criminal. His reason for signing up was solely as a means of avoiding a jail sentence. During the Gulf War, Erez excelled himself as a medic, earning his place in Echo Six.[1] Always putting others' lives before his, he will always do his best to make sure no man is left behind.

• Imari Williams as Lawrence Kimbala/SHONA (born 1971), South African-Zimbabwean, the scientist.

Lawrence was an African of Shona descent, who grew up in Southern African nation of Zimbabwe, where he helped treat diseases. In Zimbabwe, he studied a number of viruses and diseases such as Ebola; HIV; typhus; cholera and staphylococcal infections with his father, who was a biologist. After his father's death, Lawrence attended the Harvard medical school, where he studied virology and discovered he had a skill for controlling viruses instead of curing them. With this knowledge, he was selected for the Army's special weapons program as a military doctor.

• Catherine Taber as Sienna Fowler/PARTY GIRL (born 1976), American, the marksman.

Sienna Fowler grew up in South Carolina, where she took advantage of her sex appeal to gain insight into her targets. The story behind Sienna's codename originates from her "wild" parties she organized for businessmen and officials in her youth. The reason for this was to record incriminating behavior and information, which would then be sold to those wishing to blackmail or discredit them. After she managed to dupe the US Federal Government's top surveillance expert at one of her parties, she was offered a job. How she became a sniper is unknown.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate scores Aggregator Score GameRankings (PC) 52.67%[12] (X360) 52.62%[13] (PS3) 48.17%[14] Metacritic (X360) 52/100[15] (PS3) 52/100[16] (PC) 48/100[17] Review scores Publication Score Destructoid 7.5/10[18] Edge 3/10[19] Eurogamer 4/10[20] G4 3.5/5[21] Game Informer 6/10[22] Game Revolution [23] GameSpot 4.5/10[24] GamesRadar [25] GamesTM 3/10 (offline)[26] 3/10 (online)[27] IGN 4/10[28] OXM 7/10[29] The Guardian [30] GameShark B[31]

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City received mixed reviews from critics. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PC version 52.67% and 48/100,^[12][17] the Xbox 360 version 52.62% and 52/100^[13][15] and the PlayStation 3 version 48.17% and 52/100.^[14][16]

Official Xbox Magazine gave it a score of 7.0, as a "satisfying blend of gunplay and teamwork."^[29] Destructoid said that the game "suffers from poor design...but that doesn't stop it from being a genuinely good time that should satisfy anybody looking for a hardcore romp."^[18] The Guardian said "It's important to bear in mind that it's best experienced multiplayer rather than solo. But it's great fun and adds a fresh spin to a key time and place in the Resident Evil universe."^[30] GameShark said: "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."^[31]

IGN's review stated "An actual zombie outbreak would have been less tragic," calling the game "little more than a poor man's SOCOM and a destitute man's Resident Evil."^[28] GameSpot echoed these sentiments, stating that the game "is a frighteningly flawed action-heavy spin-off that withers in the shadow of its superior alternatives".^[24]

GamesTM gave the game 3/10, criticising the team mate AI, glitches, and unimaginative set pieces after having played the single player mode^[26] GamesTM would revisit the game after its release to review online options, and largely came to the same conclusions, criticising the poor AI and mission design, although they did state that the game was better online than offline. Once again, they awarded the game 3/10.^[27] Eurogamer called it an "under-designed and under-produced nightmare...that delivers the bare minimum in every category."^[20] GamesRadar summed up its review with "poor design choices, narrative missteps, and technical issues combine to make this one of the worst Resident Evil games to date."^[25] Game Informer ended their review with "Not even online play is enough of a reason to warrant checking out this botched experiment with the Resident Evil brand."^[22]

Edge gave the game a 3 out of 10, concluding that "it’s hard to see what this distinctly low budget shooter has to offer beyond yet another return visit to already blood-saturated and well-trodden ground."^[19] Game Revolution even went as far as to say that the game has hurt the Resident Evil brand name, and that the game "should never have had the Resident Evil name attached to it. It smacks of purely business-oriented decision-making. Players are guaranteed to walk into the store and see that name and expect something completely different. It's not fair to consumers and Resident Evil fans alike."^[23]

In May 2012, Capcom announced that Operation Raccoon City shipped 2 million units worldwide. Although Capcom considers the game "a big success", the development team found the critical reception "challenging."^[32] As of June 2012, the game has sold 2.1 million units worldwide.^[33]

References

External links

• Official website
• Official Biohazard: Operation Raccoon City website (Japanese)
• Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City at Resident Evil Wikia