reaper239

[COLOR=#add8e6]that's right big pimpin's, it is that time again so gather round kiddies as i spin a yarn about racoon city. Resident Evil: Operation Racoon City is the latest installment in the resident evil franchise but instead of an inhouse dev team at capcom, they farmed it out to slant six of SOCOM fame. slant six developed two socom games for the psp (tactical strike, and fireteam bravo 3) and the online only socom confrontation. some people were very worried that the tactical action focused developer would not be able to pull off a good resident evil game, but capcom themselves couldn't pull off re5 so it was hard for me to see how slant six could do much worse. the good news is that i was pleasently surprised when i loaded up this game.

[IMG]http://slantsixgames.com/uploads/03142012/Title.jpg[/IMG]

so there were a lot of complaints about confrontation when it was released, but those were all on the server side (though in an online only game, that's kind of big deal) and slant six's work on the maps and controls was tight and neat. just like in socom con, the controls here are tight, kind of what i imagined playing as an elite military unit in the zombie apocalypse might be like (re5:mad:). ahem, excuse me. so movement is quick, and un-encumbered, the look is responsive, the equipment system, while certainly not traditional to the RE universe, is logical and simple to comprehend, the melee could be better for an action game, but it's most certainly not the worst i've seen. so, let's move down the list: movement. you move at about the same speed in all directions, and it operates just like a standard shooter, you face in a certain direction and you can move along any axis you choose (minus the vertical axis). running is running, nothing special, except that while running you can perform other actions such as diving, tackles, and sprinting into cover. which reminds me, the cover system. the cover system is half decent, sometimes it doesn't work quite right, and sometimes it's hard to find a spot to shoot around the cover, but overall it does it's job with a fair amount of proficiency. looking is, again, standard to any other shooter, but it works and you don't feel like you're swinging through molases to find your target. the equipment system: look at your d-pad, now look at me... jk, so the equipment system is based on the d-pad, left is first aid sprays, down is ant-viral sprays, right is grenades, and up is your special. each character has different abilities that you buy and upgrade with exp that may affect your loadout in different ways. for instance the medic has an ability that let's her carry four first aid sprays when fully upgraded and let's her start with one in her inventory, while the scientist has the same but with anti-viral. those are passive specials, but the explosives expert has an active ability that let's him carry sticky grenades, in adition to his regular grenades, and they recharge so he never really runs out. to switch weapons you use the R2 button on PS3 (not sure on the 360), the problem is that if you are pressing a direction, let's say while evading a zed, and you want to switch weapons, you'll quickturn, definitely not the smartest design feature. but if you hold down the weapon switch you'll do a "quick draw" in which you will draw your sidearm and use the right stick to pick a direction and your character will automatically lock on to an enemy. so that is useful in a pinch. the circle button (i think B on 360) os the melee button. so much like the quickdraw, you just tap the melee button and your character thorws out a flurrie of punches, kicks, and knife strikes, almost looking like breakdancing, and the only thing you really control is the direction that those strikes are aimed. when meleeing, however, you do have the ability to take a zombie sheild, letting you use them as mobile cover until the hail of bullets renders them useless. after taking a sheild you can kick them away (and i would presume into a living enemy) or execute them. you can also use special finishing moves specific to your character. simple, but not the most acurate melee system ever invinted.

[IMG]http://www.popbucket.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/ResidentEvilOperationRacoonCityE32011GameplayMovie2.jpg[/IMG]

so, story: you play as one of six umbrella secret service (uss) and go through the missions in a team of four. as stated earlier, each character has special abilities that play to a specific style. for instance, specter has abilities that make him excellent at spotting enemies and finding items. he has two passive abilites that make items and enemies appear on the mini map at increasing distances. he also has three active abilities (though you may only choose one at a time) one is like an active ping and makes all the enemies in range show up on the mini map for all players, great for knowing about what to expect on the other side of a door. the second is thermal vision which lights up living targets like Christmas trees (no zombies, but you can see hunters) and allows you to engage targets like that. the third is sonar vision, which shows all enemies, but also allows you to see through walls, and unfortunately you also lose a fair amount of spatial perception so not only is it difficult to engage targets, but since you can see through walls, you may engage a target that you don't have a physical line to sight to. specter is the one that i've spent the most time with, in case you couldn't tell, but they all have very useful and unique abilities. for instance the medic has a dart gun that can either cure the t virus in a teammate from any distance, or do damage to an infected enemy. the scientist can program infected enemies and make them fight for you. unfortunately the AI doesn't do any of these things, so if you want to get the most bang for your RE buck, you need a good team. but if you have a good team, you can set up for any playstyle you want and the specials and weapons will support you. there are 23 different weapons in the game ranging from assault rifles to SMGs to machine guns to sniper rifles and shotguns. also pistols. however you want to play the game, you can do that, you just have to spend exp to get it. moving on, your team is sent in to retrieve the g-virus from birkin, birkin flips his lid, hilarity ensues. and by hilarity, i mean zombies. :omgomg:. so then your team gets tasked to perform different tasks, and familiar characters from re2-3 make some special appearances including the nemesis. they did make him sound a little gay though. but no worries, it was just good to see the old guy again.

[IMG]http://thewiredfish.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/re-heroes.jpg[/IMG]

multi pits the USS against the US Special Opsin multiple game modes ranging from Biohavard (capture the flag), TDM, and survivors (horde). there is also heros mode which allows you to play as iconic re characters (seen above). it's all 4v4vZ so no matter what you play, you kind of know what you're going to get. it works though, and it's fun.

[IMG]http://evounlimited.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/img_16990_resident-evil-operation-racoon-city-heroes-mode-multiplayer-trailer-2012.jpg[/IMG]

some people complain that there isn't enough horror aspect to it, but i had plenty of "OH S**T" moments. sure it has some bugs to it, but i have to say that i really enjoyed it. the ai could be better, but rocking it with your homees is an absolute blast. a great return to racoon city, 8/10

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