Reviews// Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

Then we have the cover system. And by “System” I mean “Walk up to or near something and crouch behind it, then pop straight back out of cover because you've accidentally pressed 'Back' whilst shimmying along.” But there's more... you can simply come to a corner and you'll break cover.

That’s right, you cannot peek round corners to get the sneaky drop on an enemy unit. Instead you will pop out of cover at the most inopportune moment possible and be wounded to the point of bleeding, which brings down a ravening horde of Undead nasties upon your head.

To top off this repugnant cake with a festering cherry you are gifted with three
companions who can be either controlled by other players or given over the game AI to control. At least you have a choice... neither of which is good nor right.

On one hand you can deal with artificial intelligence so stupid you will often find your goons stood motionless at some invisible barrier behind you. You see, there is no way to issue commands or request help, so you are completely at the whim of a mad programmed God determined to make you bald as you tear your hair out at the roots from frustration.

But wait! There is online co-op, surely this is what the game was made for?

Sure it was, until you hit epic lag on a game breaking scale. I also ran into numerous people who didn’t seem interested in playing cooperatively and would run off on their own, ultimately getting team-mates and themselves killed along the way.

I chose to suffer through the game using the AI companions, but I get the serious impression that this game was intended to be played online, preferably with friends who know how to communicate.

The one saving ‘Grace’ is that you can run through whole sections of the game, ignoring enemies and dying companions alike and just race towards the next checkpoint safe in the knowledge that your team will re-spawn on passing through a save point. You can use this strategy for about 95% of the game, the remainder is reserved for boss battled and timed survival stages.

Graphically the game looks dated, there are a few nice touches, such as the blood splatter from successful hits on the zombies that cause a gory mess, but for the most part the animation is stiff and bug ridden; enemies will disappear or get stuck on scenery. Textures are middling to bland, although I do like the leather and latex materials used on the protagonists’ uniforms, even if it does make them look like polished faeces.

The sound has a habit of tearing during explosive moments or when there are numerous enemies on screen. I can honestly say that I cannot remember any of the music featured in Resident Evil - Operation Raccoon City; if there was any in there at all it was completely forgettable.

As I mentioned near the beginning of this review the voice-acting is atrocious, but not in the way we would want from a Resident Evil game. The only returning voice actor that I can find from previous entries in the series is for Jill Valentine and that is for the 3DS game Revelations and she's apparently uncredited, also it might be worth mentioning that I cannot recall seeing Jill once in Operation Racoon City.

Overall I would not suggest playing game, not even if you are a diehard fan of Resident Evil. It is not because it will tarnish your opinion of the series as a whole, but because it is a total waste of your time playing. If you want an action packed Resi game go (re)play Resident Evil 5. If you want a shooter that includes zombies then either Left 4 Dead or Dead Island are more worthy of your time.

Pros
+ Revisiting the Resi 2/3 Police Station
+ Hunting down Leon and Claire
+ Lacklustre narrative picks up in final third.

Cons
- Atrocious controls
- Terrible AI
- Takes two-thirds of the game to get into the narrative.

SPOnG Score: 4/10