Hands On with Resident Evil : Operation Raccoon City

I was fortunate enough to get my hands on the newest installment of the Resident Evil franchise for consoles at PAX Prime 2011. After passing by the game my first day at PAX, I immediately put it on my things to do list.

It’s a visual feast for the eyes, even from a spectator perspective. The bright blue glow of your team’s eyes and from certain points on their armor may remind some of Gears of War. Dynamic and beautifully done explosions abound and add some color and light to the dark and foreboding Raccoon City. As well as being so far from release, there’s already a nice level of polish that comes with the visuals.

While having a simple completion point of each level, get from point A to point B, it’s not so simply done. As you move from point A to point B you’ll fight your way through a wrecked Raccoon City with your three squad mates. (Playing solo or up to three other players.) Zombies, Lickers, Hunters and even the Army are just a small taste of some of the enemies you’ll fight thru to get to your mission objective; Leon Kennedy.

RE:ORC takes place during the same time as RE 2, you’ll even notice a familiar cutscene in the very beginning of RE:ORC. Only this time you’re Umbrella. You play as a special elite force of the Umbrella Corporation. Your mission kill all survivors of the virus ourbreak (Umbrella doesn’t need anyone telling on them) and especially, Leon.

You’ll have 4 characters to choose from, each representing a different type of class with their own unique weapons and abilites. These weapons and especially your abilites do their best to give you the upper hand in the chaos of some of the more intense battle sequences. Some of the sequences can be extremely chaotic as you are attacked from all angles. Team work is a must if you’re to survive. Spread too thin and it’s almost guarantee that your team is screwed. If that wasn’t enough Capcom throws in two new mechanics into the action, Bloodlust and Infection.

Infection is just what it sounds like. Get a nasty enough bite from a zombie and you’re now infected. Take too long curing yourself will lead to the zombifaction of your character. You’ll watch as they drop their guns, thrash around violently, then run straight for your teammates to kill them as well. Hopefully your teammates will realize you’re not yourself and blow you away before it’s too late.

Bloodlust is also a joy. Take a large amount of damage in a short period of time, you’ll now continue to bleed. Losing life slowly and it gets better, zombies can smell your blood. After smelling your bleeding wound nearby zombies scream and alert other zombies of your weakness, at which point all zombies in the area ignore evefrything else besides you.

RE:ORC is shaping up to be an outstanding title. Recently pushed back, I saw this as a good thing. Where I did believe that some the controls definitley need to be tweaked and polished. I felt sometimes as if not only I was a fumbling idiot with the controls but my character as well. Getting stuck on certain level elements was a common occurrence. Same goes for getting lost in the chaos of the action. Many times my team ran in circles not knowing how or where to go to progress through the level. My time with RE:ORC was greatly enjoyed and I can say I’m eagerly awaiting Slant Six Game’s next move.

Check out the video below that was filmed at PAX Prime 2011. Sorry though, not the greatest quality.