Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

This spin-off not only shoots itself in the foot, but the arms, the head…every nether region, pretty much. Skip it and just wait for RE 6. That'll obviously be the real experience we deserve.

Save your money; don't bother with Operation Raccoon City.

An awkward and clumsy attempt to bring RE fans back to Raccoon City, failing in graphics, gameplay and general mood.

A frighteningly flawed action-heavy spin-off that withers in the shadow of its superior alternatives.

The forgotten chapter that should have stayed unwritten. [May 2012, p.84]

In the end, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City disappoints across the boards. Dropping the ball in every aspect, the game turns the tense and extremely atmospheric Raccoon City into a dull and boring experience that feels more like a chore than a journey, only made tolerable by the 4-player co-op mode, ensuring that you don't have to suffer alone.

Capcom isn't sure what it wants to do with the Resident Evil series. Should it be an action game or survival horror? Scary or thrilling? One thing is for sure, it definitely shouldn't be like Operation Raccoon City. This multiplayer third-person shooter has a few good ideas, but not enough to warrant picking up this disappointing spin-off!

The real trouble with Resident Evil: ORC is that the underdeveloped gameplay and technical issues keep getting in the way of multiplayer fun, which was the point of the game.

The characters, the story, the controls, the difficulty, and even the central premise... all of it seems to be on the right track, but none of it hits the mark. I still think there's a lot of potential here, but like any other game, the basics have to be nailed before it can start reaching for greatness.

A game that doesn't do justice to the name "Resident Evil". It's full of bugs. It's boring. It's a bad, bad game.

Just a mess of a game. The single player is sloppy, feels unbalanced, and is far too focused on action over anything else to really feel like a good Resident Evil game. It's hard to be scared of a bunch of horrific monster charging you with claws bared when you're toting a fully loaded assault rifle, and running out of ammo is more of an annoyance than something that instills a crippling sense of fear or panic.

Operation Raccoon City is an under-designed and under-produced nightmare, a game that delivers the bare minimum in every category and stops right there.

The terrible AI, the lackluster locations and the complete lack of atmosphere or memorable characters destroy what could have been a brilliant offshoot. In the end, Operation Raccoon City is little more than a poor man's SOCOM, and a destitute man's Resident Evil.

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is everything I hoped it wouldn't be: a mediocre shooter hoping to be bolstered by the Resident Evil name. It takes what is arguably the series' best setting and wastes it, forcing players to plod through generic underground facilities and the occasional, oddly vacant street from one boring encounter to the next.

Resident Evil pioneered the survival horror category; this game doesn't even attempt to be in a similar genre. If the box didn't say Resident Evil on it, no one would care about this bland and empty experience, and you'll forget about this as quickly as you finish it.

Even die-hard Resi fans (of which I am actually one), ought to steer clear. None of the game's promises are met, and while you might have thought a Resi co-op experience was a dream come true, you're better off waiting until someone internally pitches it at Capcom in Japan and it's handled by the series' parents, and not their snot-nosed, annoying neighbour's kids (sorry Slant Six, but this effort is inexcusable).

At the end of the day it's just not fun to play, does little with the license on hand, and doesn't evolve the pathos in any meaningful way. It's downright bland, and filled with mechanics that work just enough to make a passable experience, but do little to stand out against other, better third person shooters available.

An insult to Resident Evil fans, a failure at the most basic level for shooter fans, and a possible friendship-ender for those looking for a cooperative experience, Raccoon City is a disaster zone better left abandoned.

If you cannot wait until October's release of Resident Evil 6, then I'd suggest re-visiting the HD remakes of Code Veronica and RE4. If you don't mind a bit of mindless shooting and coming away from the experience with nothing notable then rent this.

Slant Six Games cut its teeth on handheld SOCOM games, but no tactical subtlety has filtered down to this title. Operation Raccoon City is a gory duck shoot in a series that's already produced the definitive action game, and letting you experience its gore-soaked trudge with friends is its only genuine appeal.

The problem isn't with Operation Raccoon City's premise. There's plenty of excellent games that came before and are very worthy of mimicry (Left 4 Dead), but the execution here is all off.

Not only does Raccoon City not deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Valve's zombie-killing masterpiece [Left 4 Dead], a number of poor design choices, narrative missteps, and technical issues combine to make this one of the worst Resident Evil games to date.