JBoc924Ever since it was made official, fans have been wary of Slant Six’s upcoming Resident Evil title, Operation Raccoon City. Maybe it’s because of an external developer taking on the development of this title, or perhaps because it’s a squad-based shooter set within the Resident Evil universe. Whatever the case may be, fans don’t want another Resident Evil 5 to happen: a game that was all about action with barely any horror (I personally loved the game, though).
Maybe being set between the events of Resident Evil 2 and 3 isn’t enough. Maybe even having classic characters in the game also isn’t enough to win fans over and make them excited about what they think is just a mere cooperative shooter disguised as a RE title. Whatever the case may be, after that amazing new “Triple Impact” trailer we got this week, along with Game Informer’s recent preview of the game’s first four levels, I think we should all be very, very excited about this game– even if it doesn’t end up providing thrills and scares reminiscent of the classic games.
Let’s talk about that “Triple Impact” trailer first. After being exposed greatly to the main characters of the game, the USS squad, this trailer finally gave us a look at the other part of the equation: the Spec-Ops soldiers. And you know what’s interesting? They seem to mirror Umbrella’s posse, ability-wise (as our reader Red-Dragon pointed out). This also brought forth a really neat transition scene when Shona takes a virus sample from a zombie, then switching over to when Four-Eyes does the same in the game’s E3 2011 trailer. Yes, Capcom’s marketing guys found an awesome way of intertwining the E3 trailer with brand new footage here, showing us how both the USS and Spec-Ops run into each other. Having already seen the USS scenes in said trailer, let’s just focus on the Spec-Ops’ perspective for now.
And what was the highlight of this trailer? Well, if you ask me I would say that downright balls-to-wall awesome scene where Willow goes one-on-one with a Licker, without any firearm (not recommended!). She sees this licker, who appears in a manner not unlike his classic first appearance from Resident Evil 2, and drops her gun, whipping out her knife to start the attack. And oh man does she attack. The Licker’s tongue wasn’t enough to get a hold of Willow, and she ended up cutting it in half, then finishing the classic BOW off by stabbing it in the heart (thanks, Resident Evil 5). It was quite an amazing scene, that wouldn’t be out of place in one of Paul W. Anderson’s RE films.
Things then get even more crazy once the Spec-Ops cross paths with the USS. No, they’re not regular civilians. These guys are powered-up Umbrella operatives making sure nothing’s left behind that could link Umbrella back to the outbreak. So, yeah, that means eliminating the Spec-Ops team. And with this new trailer we got to see an all-out shootout between both factions. Then things got even more serious once the big guy joined the fray. Big guy referring to the T-103 Tyrant, of course.
Breaking through a barricade, the Tyrant hurls a car through, causing both the USS and Spec-Ops to shift their attention towards the brute. It’s moments like this that get me all giddy like a little girl when thinking about possible action sequences in the game. You’re just trying to get the job done and kill any survivors, with zombies and other BOWs caught up in the mix, until a Tyrant strolls along and suddenly it turns to an all-out fight for survival. Now, put Lickers and Hunters into the fray and you can see how insane things can get. The trailer then ends when the Tyrant picks up a car and throws it towards the screen. Ah, March 20th can’t come soon enough…
But that’s not all. Game Informer subscribers have been recently getting the newest issue of the magazine delivered to their mailbox. This latest issue not only contains a review of Revelations (spoiler: it got a 9), it also houses a preview of ORC, detailing the first four levels of the game. And suddenly, I can’t stop getting my mind off the game.
Things start out with quite a bang in ORC, giving us another perspective of that classic scene from Resident Evil 2 where HUNK and his team retrieve the G-virus from William Birkin, after shooting him up. William bounces back, after having had injected himself with his own creation. Resident Evil 2 showed us one side of this classic event (Outbreak’s intro also showed us another cool look at it as well), now we’re actually going to get to play another side of it, through the USS’ perspective as they’re waiting outside Birkin’s lab to rendezvous with HUNK. You all know how much I adore Resident Evil 2 (it’s my favorite game of all time), so when I read that ORC’s first level has you being attacked by a raging Birkin after being ambushed by HUNK and his team, I was beyond ecstatic.
This intro level has you learning the basics of the game’s cover-based shooting as you seamlessly move from cover to cover, trying to escape the unstoppable force that is G-Birkin. This boss battle should be quite exciting, and the tension will certainly be kept quite high as Birkin is charging at you while you try to take cover and put in some shots on the incoming baddie. We all know how this scene ends then, thanks to recent footage from GameSpot. HUNK comes out and tells the USS to get out and that he has to go back in for the sample he dropped. We then get an epic look over-the-shoulder view of HUNK fighting BIrkin before the scene ends. Yeah, talk about one hell of an intro!
The next level has you making your way through the town’s City Hall. The zombies are lesser in number in this early part of the game, rightfully so since the outbreak has just started. As the level goes on the amount of zombies does increase noticeably, making the USS’ mission of burning Umbrella’s paper trail even harder. Their objective is to get rid of any documents that could expose Umbrella as the culprits of this outbreak, revealing all their secret experiments. So to the City Hall’s archives you go, with zombies giving you a tour! Before making your escape you’re ambushed by a relentless horde of Lickers. After that you make it outside to the mean streets of Raccoon City.
The third level brings forth another boss fight of sorts. This time it’s against Nicolai. He’s situated in a tall building, sniping at you and your team in a vast, open courtyard. Oh, and there’s also zombies to take care of, of course. The preview’s writer detailed how Nicolai enjoyed sniping at him to make him bleed out, so that nearby zombies could gang up on him. Seems like it’s going to be one tough battle, but it should be really satisfying nonetheless. After this encounter with Nicolai you’re off to complete the level’s mission: reach the power plant and cut off all forms of communications in the city. To do this players will have to set explosive charges on three generators within the plant. It’s a job that’s easier said than done, as the generators are surrounded by hordes of the undead, and Spec-Ops soldiers looking to teabag some corpses, too! After completing the third level, it’s off the fourth and last one detailed in the preview.
Lo and behold, the game’s fourth level has you facing off against none other than the STARbucks-craving BOW himself: Nemesis. The objective here is to head over to a secret warehouse to put a dormant Nemesis under control. Once again, this isn’t an easy task, because much to Umbrella’s surprise, Nemesis is…um…malfunctioning. Luckily for Umbrella, the USS squad was able to extract a controlling agent from one of the T-103 Tyrants so they could inject it into Nemesis. Nemesis, now wielding a gatling gun, isn’t too happy, and probably isn’t a fan of needles, so yeah, he’s raging. It’s described as being one hell of a boss fight what with Nemesis being surrounded by his zombified fans (and Spec-Ops soldiers, too). After taking enough damage, Nemesis was knocked back to his senses, dropping the gatling gun and picking up his iconic rocket launcher. Then off to the streets of Raccoon City he went, growling out “STARS!” God speed, Jill (though we know how that ends).
Now let’s talk multiplayer. In the same week we also got a multiplayer-centric trailer detailing all the online modes in the game. Some of these modes may seem like standard multiplayer staples, but when you take into account all the zombies and BOWs that’ll be in the fray, and the fact that we’ll be spilling blood in classic RE locales, you know you’re in for one hell of a good time. And plus, there’s always Heroes mode to tackle, where we’ll be able to take on the role of classic characters. I call dibs on Jill…just sayin’.
Out of all the modes, excluding Heroes because we all already know that’s going to be a joy for longtime fans, Survival mode intrigues me the most. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some good ol’ team deathmatch, and Biohazard sure sounds fun, but Survival is something that I think I’ll be playing extensively with my pals. I love survival modes in online games in general (I always love me some good ol’ Horde mode), but when you have it set within the Resident Evil universe I’m beyond completely sold. The thought of fending off hordes and hordes of zombies and BOWs as me and my squad await a chopper is enough to make parts of me turn into Ooze without the need for a T-Abyss injection. Get to the choppahhh! Sorry, I just had to do that…
This multiplayer trailer also revealed something else to us, that really should’ve been expected: the inclusion of crimson heads. These guys (or girls, as we see in the trailer) don’t play around, and they’re surely going to be a pain in the ass when they come at you in packs. I don’t know about you, but I get a feeling they may be this game’s equivalent of Left 4 Dead’s sexy Witch. On top of that, we have the NE-Beta parasites to worry about, too. These guys are not only creepy-looking, but they’re a big threat also, especially when they pounce on a zombie and take full control of them. That’s exactly what we’re going to be faced with in the game, with Game Informer’s preview giving us a look at one such NE-Beta controlled zombie.
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All in all, my body is ready for this game and all the cooperative and competitive craziness it’s going to bring. I’m also ready to learn about what Umbrella was coordinating while the outbreak was going on. I know I may be bashed for saying this, but sometimes I find myself talking about ORC more than Revelations! Yeah, crazy, I know. But at the end of the day, we should all be truly excited for both games. Sure, Revelations is the game that’s going to bring horror back to the series and the more traditional of the two, but ORC should also be the catalyst for much excitement, especially amongst diehard fans of the series. After everything we saw this week alone, I honestly believe we’re going to be in for a wild ride with this game.
