Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City Review for PlayStation 3 (PS3)

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City Box Art

System: PS3*, Xbox 360, PC
Dev: Slant Six Games
Pub: Capcom
Release: March 20, 2012
Players: 1-4 (Online)
Screen Resolution: 480p-1080p	Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language

And then there are the glitches. Zombies will pop in out of nowhere, only inches from your face. Controls will flat-out fail to respond sometimes. Hit detection is so awful that you can barely tell when you have landed a shot. Camera control is either too slow to be useful or too random to ever point you in the right direction. It feels like you are fighting against the game more than you are fighting against the zombies.

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City Screenshot

I would even go as far to say that Operation Raccoon City is nothing more than a poorly made SOCOM ripoff. In fact, Slant Six Games, Operation Raccoon City's developer, was the company behind SOCOM: Confrontation, which suffered nearly all the same problems this game has. It honestly appears as if they have learned nothing. It almost feels like the Resident Evil atmosphere was copy/pasted over into SOCOM: Confrontation's glitchy engine.

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is a game that I don't want to hate. The ideas behind it are pretty creative. It's a class-based, squad-based co-op shooter based in the Resident Evil universe where you get to play as the bad guys. Not only do you have to complete missions, but you also have to contend with zombies all the while. That sounds like it should be this brand new blockbuster shooter, doesn't it? Unfortunately, the game just feels sloppy and unfinished. It controls poorly, looks bad, and completely misses the point of the Resident Evil franchise. Honestly, I wouldn't even recommend this game to Resident Evil fans. If you want a better co-op zombie shooter, you should probably just go back to Left 4 Dead.

As for Resident Evil, Capcom should stick with what they're good at. Survival Horror? Sure. Action zombie shooter? Yeah, it could work. Heck, even the Resident Evil rail shooters for the Wii were more fun than Operation Raccoon City. Just don't try to make a squad-based shooter again, okay guys?

By
Angelo M. D'Argenio
Contributing Writer
Date: March 20, 2012

RATING OUT OF 5

RATING DESCRIPTION

2.5

Graphics
It looks like a toned-down, glitchy version of the Resident Evil 5 graphics engine.

1.7

Control
Controls are stiff, characters move too slowly, and the difficulty jumps between non-existent and unfair.

2.0

Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
The soundtrack and voice performances are wholly forgettable.

2.1

Play Value
I had a small amount of fun when I first booted up the game, but this faded quickly.

2.0

Overall Rating - Poor
Not an average. See Rating legend below for a final score breakdown.

Review Rating Legend
0.1 - 1.9 = Avoid	2.5 - 2.9 = Average	3.5 - 3.9 = Good	4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
2.0 - 2.4 = Poor	3.0 - 3.4 = Fair	4.0 - 4.4 = Great	5.0 = The Best

Game Features:

Team-based shooter set in the dark and sinister Resident Evil universe.

Triple-threat battle as zombies and B.O.W's add to the action.

Compete alone in Campaign mode as an Umbrella Security Service member or in a four-player co-op team battle.

Rewrite the history of the Raccoon City outbreak. Revisit classic moments from Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3.