Resident Evil is a well-established franchise known for its in-depth narrative, various viruses and (quickly vanishing) horror elements. While Capcom has been behind every entry thus far, that is now changing as the SOCOM developer Slant Six is trying its hand at the zombie survival game. Since their expertise lies in fast-paced third-person shooters, they’re bringing some of their style to the new Resident Evil spin-off subtitled Operation Raccoon City. With 2012 containing three separate Resident Evil titles, can Slant Six’s interpretation maintain the classic Resident Evil vibe while still venturing into more action-packed territory? More importantly, will the fans enjoy this departure from the series’ norm?

Let’s take a look at what’s HOT and what’s NOT in our review of Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City.

HOT

From the Eyes of Umbrella
Gamers who have played the first three Resident Evil games on the PlayStation 1 should know the incident that took place in Raccoon City. While we saw the destruction of the city in the eyes of the good guys before, the new Resident Evil title dubbed Operation Raccoon City will allow fans of the series to play through the game through the eyes of Umbrella’s armed forces. The six new elite members of Umbrella are the main characters and you will fill one of their shoes as you replay the events that took place in Resident Evil 2 and 3 from their point of view. Your mission within the game is to prevent any leaks of Umbrella’s involvement with the outbreak that happened in Raccoon City. Going through familiar places, you will team with up to three people or AI-controlled team mates and get that objective done. Hunk’s mysterious appearance in past Resident Evil games will finally be answered here and his involvement in the whole incident. For fans of the series like myself, the story of the game’s campaign mode is somewhat interesting and I’m sure fans will find it intriguing as well.

Solid Third Person Shooter
Operation Raccoon City isn’t developed by the team who usually makes Resident Evil games, but, instead, it’s made by the team who brought us SOCOM: Confrontation on the PlayStation 3 and other well-known third-person shooters in the gaming industry. While majority of the titles they have released are somewhat average, the studio’s attempt to make Resident Evil to be more shooting-oriented is pretty spot on. The developer managed to bring what fans love in the third-person shooter genre (primarily, solid controls), fast paced third-person action, and pretty much everything SOCOM had is in Operation Raccoon City. For those who have played SOCOM, the moment you start playing this game, you’ll realize that it’s SOCOM with zombies and a Resident Evil theme!

Some Resident Evil Elements are Intact
As you know by now, Operation Raccoon City is a third-person shooter. That being said, the game managed to retain some of the Resident Evil elements that we’ve become fond of. Pickups like the Green Herb and First Aid Spray are among the items that will be in the game. Adapting the Circle HP health system in Resident Evil 4 & 5, the health of your character depends on it. With Green Herbs and First Aid Spray scattered throughout the field, you will pretty much be looking out for your health circle bar on the HUD. The bullets that you take in both single player and multiplayer will drain your circle HP bar and, once it’s gone, you’ll see the ‘You Are Dead’ sign. At this point, you’ll either respawn or restart from checkpoint in campaign.

Along with the herbs and spray, another element that Operation Raccoon City managed to retain in the game is the recognizable enemies. The game will not be carrying the Resident Evil title without its memorable monsters like the Zombies, Hunters, Lickers, Nemesis, and a lot more. The designs and the physiques are pretty much left intact and fans of the series will be glad to see them back in action in a different genre.

Addictive Online Multiplayer
Slant Six not only specializes in third-person shooters, but they have also crafted some of the best multiplayer games. Following the success of Confrontration on the PS3, I can see a future for the multipayer section of Operation Raccoon City. Those who love playing online will find the game addictive due to its handful of online modes. Think of the well-known modes implemented in Operation Raccoon City and add the enemies of Resident Evil to distract you? Now that sounds like a challenge, huh?

The multiplayer portion of Operation Raccoon City has four modes: Team Attack (Team Deathmatch with zombies added into it to distract both sides), Biohazard (Capture the Flag where two teams have to get the five viruses and bring them to HQ), Heroes mode (eliminate the “Heroes” that know the secrets of Umbrella and the players who swear allegiance to a certain team) and, finally, Survivor (similar to Horde mode, but near the end of the timer all teams must compete for their survival as they race through the helicopter that has only limited seating). Three out of the four multiplayer modes in Operation Raccoon City are enjoyable, while I find the Heroes mode confusing and annoying.

As with all multiplayer portions of shooter games recently, it is bare without customizations and a leveling system. Every time you complete a mission and perform a kill, an Experience Point will be awarded to you at the end. These points are used in a lot ways in Operation Raccoon City as you’ll be needing them to purchase items and abilities that your character can use for leveling purposes. These customizations and all that mumbojumbo about the leveling system are all pretty common in shooter games today. One new thing, however, is when you get bitten by a Zombie or any of the enemies within the game, you can become a Zombie for a short time and attack your own teammates.

NOT

Disappointing Campaign Mode
Aside from having a solid multiplayer, Operation Raccoon City also highlights the campaign mode. While the story behind the campaign is interesting and top-notch, you will be disappointed however in how it’s structured. Since everything about the game is built around the idea of playing with other people, you will have a hard time enjoying the campaign alone if you can’t find anyone to join you. This is due to the terrible artificial intelligence of your squad. The A.I-controlled characters that “help” you do a pretty bad job in providing support and sometimes they’ll simply not shoot at enemies or they’ll stand in your way as you try to kill an enemy. It’s nice that there’s no friendly fire enabled as you’d most likely kill your teammates on accident fairly often.

In addition to the poor A.I, the campaign mode also has some identity crisis. It isn’t sure whether it should retain the survival elements of past Resident Evils or if it should just be all about mindless shooting. Throughout the short campaign, you will have two options: run and reach the objective marker to proceed to the next mission or take your time to kill your enemies as you waste bullets, not knowing if they’re really worth your time. Even on the hard difficulty, I managed to finish a certain mission by simply running through the objective marker without firing a single shot. For those who play with a friend or people online, it’s a different experience as you’ll want to pretty much play as a team. However, with so many character classes that you are able to choose from, does it even matter which one you pick? Not really.

Another problem that I found in the campaign is the use of the cover system. For some reason, it is sometimes hard to get into cover as all you have to do is approach a wall or something and the game does the rest. While it works occasionally, most of the time it won’t. Since you can now run and gun, you will find yourself utilizing that method rather than the broken cover system because death is inevitable if you insist on using that useless cover mechanic.

During an early part of the campaign, you’ll encounter another problem that causes an invisible wall to stop you dead in your tracks until the boss reaches you at a certain point. When you are fighting someone during a section that requires that you run away from a boss, you will have to shoot them first to slow them down because, otherwise, an invisible wall will appear right in your face. This greatly limits where you can go and increase the risk of dying. The unbalanced pace of the campaign is troublesome as you can sometimes just skip the firefight and go to the objective marker to finish the mission or, in other instances, face the dreaded invisible wall.

Those who love Quick Time Events from other games will find them here in Operation Raccoon City, but they are executed in an annoying way. While every game gives you a specific amount of time before you can respond, Operation Raccoon City will give you less than a second. If you don’t see that button indication on the screen within a second, you will get hit so bad that it can lead to the death of your character. While what we discussed here in the campaign mode is mostly negative, there are positives ones as well, such as providing a true third-person shooter experience. However, you’ll see that the negatives outweigh the positives and, for this reason, players might want to skip the campaign mode and jump straight into the multiplayer.

Screen Tearing
On the PlayStation 3 version, I noticed frequent screen tears throughout the game. While it’s not really as bad as you may think, it will definitely annoy some gamers. As for the visuals, they are satisfactory as you revisit familiar and new places in Raccoon City. Those who played Resident Evil 2 and 3 will be surprised to see certain characters enhanced tremendously when it comes to the physiques and areas, like the Raccoon City Hospital. Areas like that are sure to bring back some nostalgic feeling.

Don’t Expect Horror in this Game
Please don’t be misled by the Resident Evil title that was slapped on the game. Those who are expecting to have some classic Resident Evil experiences will not be finding them in Operation Raccoon City. There is no point in the game where you’ll feel that you’re playing a true Resident Evil game. Sure, the zombies are there, but your craving for horror will go unsatisfied because the scares simply don’t exist here. The game is pure shooter with no feeling of real horror and suspense whatsoever. Just because it has the Resident Evil title doesn’t mean it will have that experience. Think of this game as a SOCOM title with Zombies and nothing more.

$60 Price Tag
Since the campaign is short and is not innovative enough for everyone to enjoy, what’s left in this game is the multiplayer portion. And $60 is a steep price to pay for a game that players will only enjoy 50% of. A campaign mode that can be completed in one sitting combined with mediocre co-op gameplay leaves much to be desired and will push players toward the multiplayer section right away. A price of $39.99 would have been reasonable, but paying $60 for this game? I wouldn’t recommend it.

VERDICT

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is a title that only hardcore shooter fans should get as Slant Six did a remarkable job in providing a solid online experience. However, for a game that carries the Resident Evil name in the title, fans of the series that are expecting something more along the lines of a traditional Resident Evil experience will not find that here. The game is pure third-person shooter and it is highly unlikely that long-time Resident Evil fans will actually like this entry. With a mediocre campaign making up half of what the game has to offer, it fails miserably and paying $60 for multiplayer only is too much cash to shell out for this subpar title.

If there’s one thing you can count on, it’s that you never have to wait long for the next Dynasty Warriors game. 2014 had yet to see this franchise, so Koei remedied the situation by bringing Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition to the PlayStation 4 (and Vita). The series’ next gen debut combines the PlayStation 3’s base game with its Xtreme Legends expansion in a single package, along with other additions and alterations. Now you can really break in your new DualShock 4 controller and mash away at its buttons through this Romance of the Three Kingdoms-inspired title. But is it a mash-fest worth adding to your next gen collection? Let’s find out in our review of Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition.

Dynasty Warriors 8 Xtreme Legends Complete Edition is the same tried and true formula we’ve seen time and time again with a few minor tweaks. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it, right? That seems to be the motto tattooed on the brain of every developer over at Omega Force and, in this situation, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The game contains four modes: Story, Free, Ambition and Challenge. As nearly everyone who has ever touched the series (even just once) should know, the Story Mode revolves around notable clans Wei, Wu and Shu as they struggle for territorial dominance. Here is where you will find one of the most notable additions: Lu Bu’s campaign. Players can take on the role of this iconic character in his own storyline, which lasts a few hours. These few hours are packed with quality entertainment, especially as Lu Bu palms enemy faces and slams them into the ground as lightning erupts from his hands. Free Mode lets you carve a path of your choosing with whichever officer and stage you wish either offline (local co-op available) or online. Ambition mode acts as a watered down version of Empires, allowing you to capture territories and strategize from camp as you build your city. Lastly, there’s the Challenge Mode. This leaderboard-driven option offers multiple challenges, as the name implies, ranging from the fast-paced Speed Run to the timed bloodlust Rampage. Regardless of the selected game mode, expect to combo your way through thousands upon thousands of soldiers as you clear the battlefield and reach each objective.

The character selection for these modes has also seen a boost, with the character total now sitting at 82 thanks to the addition of five new combatants. These include Yu Jin, Zhu Ran, Fa Zheng, Chen Gong and Lu Lingqi. Fa Zheng’s “Hazy Reality Cloth” and Chen Gong’s “General’s Command Scroll” provide some truly unique playstyles, the latter allowing you to command troops to drop in and fight for you. The weapons wielded by each character now benefit from a second EX attack (if the character’s preferred weapon is being used) and the new Weapon Fusion system, a mechanic found in Omega Force’s crossover series Warriors Orochi. Weapon Fusion allows the combination of weapons to gain better attributes and effects, such as healing or elemental damage. Gems are the new currency used to take advantage of this feature and they require significant grinding to obtain. Building a weapon of mass destruction can be an engrossing process and addictive process. Having your dream sword by your virtual side will definitely come in handy when taking on the new difficulty level “Ultimate”. Depending on your desire to reach the new level cap of 150 (up from 99), you might find yourself dabbling in this punishing setting. Personally, I found the new “What If?” scenarios to be a bigger draw.

In terms of visual presentation, Dynasty Warriors 8 Xtreme Legends Complete Edition on the PS4 is easily the best looking entry in the series. That’s not to say that the game is visually impressive, however. While character models have been smoothed out and have been given a little extra detail, the game doesn’t carry that next gen feel in this department. Surprisingly low res textures can still be found throughout the game as well as the off-putting haze that distorts the background, robbing it of the lush detail we had hoped to see. At the very least, the Complete Edition runs smoother than its last gen counterpart and only sees a few hiccups here and there, which is commendable in its own regard given the vastly increased on-screen enemy count.

Maybe you’ve played Dynasty Warriors 8 on the PlayStation 3 and are currently wondering, “What’s in it for me?” The Complete Edition is compatible with any save data on the PS3. Both Xtreme Legends and Complete Edition-specific content await players on Sony’s next gen console, providing some incentive to purchase the game again and continue their one-man army adventure. If you happen to own a Vita, you can partake in the cross-save feature and pick up your Dynasty Warriors 8 campaign even when you find yourself away from home. The only downside is that this game is not a part of Sony’s cross-buy program, meaning you are forced to buy the same game twice if you want to swap saves back and forth between your console and handheld.

Dynasty Warriors 8 Xtreme Legends Complete Edition brings Omega Force’s long-running formula to Sony’s shiny new system in a comprehensive package. Newcomers and hardcore fans alike will find plenty to enjoy here, until the repetition inevitably becomes too tedious for all but the most dedicated. This isn’t the game you will pull out to show your friends what Sony’s sleek powerhouse is capable of, but that was never the intended selling point. The mindless annihilation of entire armies still manages to be an addictive, time-consuming endeavor. And sitting side by side with a friend for some good old fashioned couch co-op while you rack up a bodycount reaching quadruple digits is always welcome in a world where local play is becoming scarce. If you skipped Dynasty Warriors 8 or the Xtreme Legends expansion last year, the Complete Edition brings enticing new content that manages to provide an overall enjoyable experience despite its shortcomings.

[Editor’s Note: Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition was reviewed on the PlayStation 4 platform. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]

Accel World VS Sword Art Online is an interesting title. Despite sounding like a fighting game, it’s actually an action RPG, similar to previous Sword Art Online titles. Since the two worlds are similar, the crossover actually makes some level of sense. Both involve video games and crazy mechanics, so the similarities allow for a fairly seamless transition. With crossovers tends to be more fan service than anything else, is Accel World VS Sword Art Online worth investing in or is it yet another lame crossover?

Like all crossovers, Accel World VS Sword Art Online’s story exists to justify the two worlds coming together. The basic gist is a portal allows players from the future to travel to the past and appear in Alfheim Online. Together the two groups need to stop an evil from a more distant future from destroying Yui.

It isn’t much of a story, but it does a decent job approaching the tired subject. It doesn’t take long for the two groups to come together and after some quick explanations, like how the system adapted elements of Accel World to ALfheim Online, it isn’t far from what you’d expect from Sword Art Online. Kirito leads a team to defeat an evil force.

Similar to the story, Accel World VS Sword Art Online plays a lot like Sword Art Online: Lost Song. Every character has a normal and heavy attack, plus a number of magical abilities. Attacks vary depending on the weapon and include sword, twin swords, spear, bow and more. Magic includes dashing attacks, whirlwind moves, healing and other standard RPG fare.

One of the biggest strengths and weaknesses to Accel World VS Sword Art Online is that it isn’t a hard or complicated game. Most enemies can be defeated by mindlessly pressing attack, though there is blocking and dodging if you so choose. This sometimes comes in handy, especially during boss fights, though having an advantageous location helps more.

Enemies a what you’d expect from a fantasy game. There are slime creatures, lizard men, dragons and much more. Each of these enemies have their own advantage and disadvantage, in addition to having resources you can collect. These will give you materials you can use to enhance/create items or sometimes give you an item outright.

In addition to completing story levels, players can also complete side quests, talk to people in town, work together with others and more. A lot of these things aren’t required to have fun, but are a nice option to have. However, don’t expect a lot from them.

Like previous titles, Accel World VS Sword Art Online is not the most complicated game out there. The menus menus are very simple, with the quests being equally simple. Most are just killing or collecting something. They offer a nice bonus to exploring the world, but that is about it. A lot of the dialogue in town is similar. Characters have plenty to say, though missing it won’t impact enjoyment.

The biggest problem is how Accel World VS Sword Art Online has issues directing players where to go. While some of this is because you need to read what characters say, so skipping dialogue might be confusing, there are times when directions are very vague. You might be told to find a portal and then proceed to spend an hour looking at the map. Thankfully, the pause screen typically gives you a better idea of what to do, but it’s still easy to get lost or confused.

This won’t be a problem for those who like to explore, which there is a fair bit to see, but will be annoying for anyone who wants to finish or progress to the post game stuff as quickly as possible.

Verdict

Accel World VS Sword Art Online isn’t a bad game, but it isn’t a great game either. The simple gameplay will appeal to anyone just looking for a good time, with enough depth to keep things interesting. Combine this with plenty to explore and the ability to fly almost anywhere and you have a pretty good experience, if you can overlook some things. These include a cliché story and familiar story, so so flying mechanics and poor directions. Outside of that, Accel World VS Sword Art Online should appeal to fans of the series or anyone looking for simple fun.

[Editor’s Note: Accel World VS Sword Art Online was reviewed on PS4 platform. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]

Fallout 4 is perhaps the most highly anticipated game of the year, and rightfully so. Coming from Bethesda, the team behind The Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises, expectations are automatically through the roof. However, fear not fans of the series as you will not be disappointed. All the elements that make the previous games stand out are back with a range of new gameplay improvements and mechanics to add even more replayability to the game.

Compared to Fallout 3 or New Vegas, Fallout 4 has a story that is quite interesting compared to older games in the series. There are two time periods that you will get to experience in Fallout 4, the pre-war which takes place in 2075 where you find your customized character is living harmoniously with your family in the Sanctuary Hills, Boston. Just before a nuclear fallout happens, your family, including yourself, are lucky enough to get into Vault 111. Just when you thought you will be safe, you and your family are cryogenized in a pod. You will then find yourself awaken 200 years later with your spouse dead and kid kidnapped by some group of people. This will then start your journey in finding the culprit behind the abduction of your child and the mystery that happened in Vault 111.

First up, Looting has been dramatically improved by the use of a new looting interface system and as an integral part of any RPG, this is only good news. Unlike previous Bethesda titles, where the player were taken into a menu when attempting to pick up loot from even a small footlocker, Fallout 4’s looting is done by simply looking at an object to determine what loot is available within an object and grabbing it. For gamers who horde a lot of junk from the world, to collect junk for crafting or to sell on at vendors, this speeds up the game. It is also nice to see the back of the immersion breaking trip in and out of menus.

Due to the ease of looting and the new incredible crafting system, the inner hoarder in every player will surface at some point throughout the game. In previous Fallout titles, some players looted everything, including cutlery, to obtain huge amounts of bottle caps. However in Fallout 4, it is hard to let go of even dirty ashtrays and empty milk bottles simply for their materials that could be used for some sort of crafting. The constant thought of “what if I need that later?” will see players going as far as dropping weapons and armor so that they can hold onto materials such as adhesives solely for crafting. Never before has Wonderglue been so sort after. In other words, crafting is big in Fallout 4 as you can craft pretty much every items that you would need from stimpacks, armors, and weapons.

In addition to crafting, one main feature of Fallout 4 is the addition of making a settlement for the survivors of the nuclear fallout. Those who have played Fallout Shelter on mobile, you will get somewhat of an idea on how rebuilding a settlement works. Using the Workshop feature, you can scrap any items that you find in the settlement and use the scrapped items in crafting things for the settlement like furniture, generator, water resources, and many more. Your objective is to keep that settlement alive by giving them their needs like food, electricity, and water. You will know if you’re doing a good job in rebuilding settlement through the happy face indicator on the world map.

Aside from new features, Bethesda has stepped up its game for the main storyline; the writing for its games, with the length of side quests and faction missions, can never be called into question or referred to anything less than great but the main stories haven’t always lived up to the huge billing of the games. Fallout 3’s originally concluded with an abrupt ending, although this was tweaked via downloadable content and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim’s journey as the Dragonborn was lacklustre and forgettable. This time around, despite Liam Neeson not being your father, players will find a more emotional attachment to the storyline. It is a deeper story which players will strive to complete and take pleasure in being a part of.

The story is also a great way for players to visit the bigger settlements around the huge game world. This vast world is more varied than previous titles without creating the feeling of being entirely different themes strapped together. The overarching theme of the post apocalyptic wasteland draws everything together, but color has crept back into parts of Boston to breathe life into the city. This doesn’t mean the city is by any means back to its lively nature of current times. By a clever use of a brighter color pallet, part of the city shows signs of hope whilst parts of the wasteland still offer the grim desperate side of a desolated region which is barely clinging onto life.

When it comes to combat, not much has changed but it does feel more refined and closer to a first person shooter experience than before. As before, as you venture through the wasteland, you will encounter a lot of mutated monsters and raiders that will stop you from doing your objective. Luckily, there are a lot of weapons that you can equip in the game, especially with the crafting now readily available. If at some point you feel that the weapons aren’t strong enough, you have an option to customize it by doing upgrading its barrel or ammunition capacity, and they can be done through crafting.

The most notable change to combat is that the VATS targeting system no longer stops time: instead slowing time down to a fraction of the normal speed. This allows players to still select individual body parts and target multiple enemies but without disrupting the flow of the gameplay. It also means that the players can no longer use VATS to evaluate oncoming threats free from the possibility of damage. Aside from weapons, there’s that Power Armor Suit that you can wear. Using an Armor Suit makes you tougher when facing enemies but using it will cost you a fusion cell, which can be hard to come by.

In terms of character progression, it’s done through the Perk Chart. For every time you level, you will gain a skill point that you can use in the Perk Chart. Depending on what build you started with at the beginning of the game, your character can have different kind of skills that they can use in the wasteland like, they can be an expert in sniping, hacking, and lock picking. In reality, you have the freedom to make whatever build you want your character to become. And yes, there is no level cap in the game, therefore you can make your character even stronger, even after beating the main story.

The game world may be huge, but Bethesda has once again smashed it out of the park with its attention to even the smallest details. The quality and level of details that make it into the game is hard to believe: including entertaining posters that can be seen on walls, the little quips that make it into the dialogue of passersby, notes left on random terminals across the wastelands and so much more. Bethesda as always has managed to squeeze such detail into the lore of the game world and draw even more detail from the lore of the franchise; this combines together to create a believable living breathing world which players will gladly explore for hours upon end.

For those who will be picking up the game on either Xbox One or PS4, the graphics are decent and on-par with the quality the PC version gives. It might not be the most prettiest games you may have played, but it certainly has the most deepest gameplay yet. There is not a lot of differences between the console and PC versions, so those who will be picking up the game on either platforms shouldn’t worry much the quality they’ll get. They all include solid textures, impressive character models, great draw distance, and an impressive post-apocalyptic environment. Similar to Fallout 3 and New Vegas, you will certainly feel the atmosphere of the game.

The only major issue which will face PC gamers is that the user interface feels like it has been designed for consoles and being played on a controller. From the chat arrows to the perk chart the UI is more intuitive for use with a controller, rather than mouse and keyboard. It does little to detract for the game, but for those wanting to play with mouse and keyboard will find using some of the interfaces less intuitive. This is a problem which PC players of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim did endure and as with Skyrim it is safe to say a mod will most probably be created to fix this.

In case you were worried that the 400 hours of developer created content, with the promise already from Bethesda of multiple pieces of downloadable content, more content will be made by fans for Fallout 4. In the past, PC gamers were the only to get their hands on a lot of creative fan made content, and some rather adult extras. From tweaking visuals of towns to adding entire new regions with uniquely voiced quest lines, mods have added plenty of content and for the first time console gamers will get to experience them. The only issue that may occur for added quests is the player voicing: not including any may be an immersion breaking experience and will be hard to get around.

Our Verdict

Fallout 4 is exactly what fans are hoping for, ever since its initial announcement.. Boston gives the game a new location to explore which offers a mix of environments. The core game remains as solid as ever and the new features only add to the game. You can wander for hours, discovering as you go, or follow long quest lines across the sprawling wasteland. The game lets you play your character in the style you want. All of this makes Fallout 4 the front-runner for Game of the Year.

[Editor’s Note: Fallout 4 was reviewed on a Xbox One and PC platform. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]