Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, is a 2012 third-person shooter video game with online playability for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. It is developed by Slant Six Games and published by Capcom. The game will be a new installment in the Resident Evil series of video games and will be developed by Slant Six Games instead of Capcom. It is set at the same time as Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, but is unrelated to the main series storyline and is a "what-if", non-canon entry in the series.

Plot
The game is separated into two sides: the U.S.S. side and the SPECOPS side (Playable in DLC). Each side has six chapters, where players can choose four of the six playable characters per side.

U.S.S. storyline
U.S.S. Delta team (also known as "Wolfpack") enters the Raccoon City Underground Laboratory, where they meet up with Alpha team leader HUNK. Their mission: to assist the Alphas in stopping Dr. Birkin from handing over his G-Virus research to the US Military and retrieve the G-Virus. On their way to Birkin's lab, they find that Birkin has paid-off numerous UBCS Mercenaries into working for him while the deal goes forward. When they reach Birkin's lab, the doctor is shot at from behind a closed door, HUNK and another Alpha leave with the samples. Heading up the elevator to meet up with Goblin 6, they soon find that Birkin has survived the attack and infected himself with the virus. The creature proceeds to kill off most of Alpha team before disappearing; HUNK offers to go back in search of the sample.

Not long after the battle, it becomes evident that the T-Virus has leaked city-wide, and people are begining to transform into zombies soon after. In what they see as a punishment by U.S.S. Command, Delta team is ordered to remove evidence of Umbrella's role in the outbreak. Heading into Raccoon City Hall, Delta Team meets with a UBCS mercenary and they monitor Nicholai Zinoviev; he is soon revealed as a traitor and attempts to kill the Wolfpack.

Later, the team is sent out around Raccoon Park to find the Nemesis-T Type, which has gone rogue. A second parasite is injected into its body in order to bring it back under control. Shortly after this mission is completed, the team is then sent out to the Raccoon City Police Department, ordered to kill any surviving police officers and destroy evidence linking the company to the outbreak. When this is all done, the team exits the station, and soon after encounter Leon S. Kennedy, whom they begin to hunt down.

The Wolfpack chase Leon through a dozen streets despite his pleas to stop shooting at him. U.S.S command grow anxious and abandon Wolfpack in favour of Plan B (The deployment of several Mr.X and Hunters from drop pods) Eventually after much fighting Leon successfully evaded the squad and they decide to find shelter for a breather. They mop up a small Spec Ops force at a barricade outside city hall aswell as a bunch of hunters. The Wolfpack then find themselves ambushed by 2 of Mr.X and barely manage to take them down. The team retreat into an abandoned Barber shop to catch their breath making failed attempts to get back in touch with U.S.S command.

Shortly after though the Wolfpack are making a last stand and take down just over 1000 B.O.W's attacking their position, Umbrella command decide to give the team one final chance and order them to return to Birkin's lab to find Leon. The team find themselves back at square one and eliminate countless enemies as they make their way through the labs. They engage in battle with Ada Wong briefly before she makes her escape. The self destruct sequence activates and Wolfpack see Leon kiss Ada and her supposed death on the control room's camera monitor. Wolfpack then fights their way to the power room to find Leon and Ada missing with little choice left they abandon the facility but not without fighting the super tyrant which emerged from the boiler earlier on.

Taking place after RE2 Leon Claire and Sherry are at Lonsdale Yard where they team up with whatever is left of Spec Ops to defend the trainyard. The Wolfpack break through their lines despite Claire's attempts at decimating them with a grenade launcher aswell as massive mobs of crimson heads and zombies. With Claire going into retreat Leon comes out of hiding with a sniper rifle firing at the Wolfpack. The Wolfpack then fire upon the spec ops guarding Leon's platform and cause a soldier to bleed heavily causing a blood frenzy amongst the B.O.Ws. They smash down the barricade and overwealm the last of the Spec Ops. Wolfpack make their way to the ladder and subdue Leon using him as bait to lure Sherry and Claire out of hiding. Leon questions what they fight for and the Wolfpack engage each other 2 on 2. The defenders of Leon believing they can use him as leverage for evac whilst the assassins believe carrying out these orders will finally earn them evac aswell.

Saving Leon Ending

The player character and the other survivor of Wolfpack capture Leon, Claire and Sherry and negotiate they be paid triple for Umbrella leaving them for dead and making them do more than what was hired of them. U.S.S command are angered and deny the deal. Wolfpack cuts off all ties with Umbrella and vows to destroy the company presumably with the data that they did collect but not destroy throughout the story. It is unsure how they escape the city with Leon and Co. But they most likely went into custody when the Spec Ops Evac finally arrived.

Kill Leon Ending

The Wolfpack defectors are killed and Leon lies dead on the floor. The player despite Claire's pleas shoots her in the head. It is presumed Umbrella finally sent a chopper and evacuated what was left of Wolfpack and captured Sherry.

Development
In May of 2011, The 2011 edition of the Official Xbox Magazine, to be released on April 5, shows an image of an individual in a gas mask along with an Umbrella Inc. logo on the issue's cover. On November 1, 2010 Kotaku reported on a rumor that Slant Six Games, developer of SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation, was developing Resident Evil: Raccoon City. On its website, Slant Six Games wrote that it was currently developing "an amazing new project" that was unannounced, which was developed in conjunction with a "new publishing partner on a world class franchise."

In an interview with 1up.com, Masachika Kawata estimated the game, as of March 30, 2011, to be 45% complete.

Wolfpack
An elite team of the Umbrella Security Service sent to kill any survivors and destroy all the evidence about the company's culpability for the infamous outbreak.
 * "VECTOR" - Master of stealth, real name unknown
 * Hector Hivers - Explosives expert, codename "BELTWAY"
 * Karen LesProux - Team leader, codename "LUPO"
 * Vladimir Bodrovski - Designated marksman, codename "SPECTRE"
 * Michaela Heinzwaffen - Team medic, codename "BERTHA"
 * Christine Yamata - Field scientist, codename "FOUR EYES"

Echo Six
An elite squad of the SPEC OPS FIELD UNIT sent by the US Government to find the truth about the outbreak and rescue the civilians of Raccoon City.
 * Caroline Floyd - Recon, codename "Willow"
 * Crispin Jettingham - Team leader, codename "Dee-Ay"
 * Marissa Ronson - Demolitions expert, codename "Tweed"
 * Erez Morris - Team medic, codename "Harley"
 * Lawrence Kimbala - Field scientist, codename "Shona"
 * Sienna Fowler - Marksman, codename "Party Girl"

Classic characters
Currently, seven playable classic characters from Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 were confirmed as playable in the new Heroes Mode and encounters in the main story line of the game. Characters like Leon, Claire and Jill can be killed by the USS to change the events of the series, HUNK, Ada and Nicholai serve as support in specific chapters.

Also, a new character nicknamed LONE WOLF was confirmed to enter in the Heroes mode.
 * Leon S. Kennedy - A rookie cop and one of the surviving Raccoon City Police Department, and as a cop, he is targeted by the U.S.S.
 * Claire Redfield - College student and sister to Chris Redfield. She was "prosecuted" by the WOLFPACK.
 * Jill Valentine - A former S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team member and a survivor of the "mansion incident".
 * Carlos Oliveira - One of the few surviving U.B.C.S. mercenaries, he was confirmed in the same trailer as Jill.
 * HUNK - A U.S.S. veteran member known as "Mr. Death", confirmed via Inserted Evil clue #4; the Wolfpack met with him after he obtained a G-Virus sample.
 * Nicholai Zinoviev - A Russian mercenary of the U.B.C.S., he was confirmed to play a important role in the main game.
 * LONE WOLF - A legendary helicopter pilot of Umbrella. He does not appear in the main storyline.
 * Ada Wong - A female spy sent by The Organization to obtain a G-virus sample.

Non-Playable Characters

 * Sherry Birkin - Appears along with Claire and Leon on the final mission.
 * Brian Irons - Has a brief cameo in mission 5.
 * Chris Redfield - Has a brief cameo in mission 4.
 * Barry Burton - Has a brief cameo in mission 4.

General gameplay
The game includes six selectable characters from the U.S.S. : FOUR EYES, LUPO, VECTOR, SPECTRE, BERTHA and BELTWAY. However, the players can choose only four characters for the on-line modes.

The game has players taking the role of one of the members of a U.S.S. clean up crew. Alongside a single player mode, the game will also offer a 4 player co-operative mode as the player experiences the events of the game. Operation Raccoon City will allow the player to make decisions that could have major repercussions on series canon, such as causing the death of Leon S. Kennedy, Claire Redfield or Jill Valentine during the course of the game.

The game was focused in the action and shooter genre, depicting the survival horror origins of the series, in a third person perspective, like in Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5, but with the addition when characters can walk/run and shoot, aim or reload his weapon.

If the players are shot they're blood will attract zombie hordes and BOWs. Players will be infected and turn into a zombie if they got bitten and didn't cure they're infection with an antiviral spray. The infected players will have no control over they're character and will attack they're teammates, and must be killed.

After a campaign scenario or multiplayer match is completed, the players will earn XP points, depending on the enemies killed, secret items found and time taken (during the campaign missions). The XP points can be used to buy new weapons or upgrate the classes abilities.

You can only carry two weapons: a primary and a secondary. A new CQC style was introduced into the game, merging the blades, cuts, and physical hits.

Classes
Each character of the game has a unique class. Each class has five unique abilities, all the abilities can be upgraded using the XP points.

During the Heroes multiplayer reveal trailer, some classic characters use the abilities of specific classes, like the main protagonist of the game. Currently, Claire can throw pheromone grenades (Field Scientist), Nicholai can put down mine traps (Demolition), HUNK can turn invisible (Recon), Ada can inject herself with a serum (Medic), and Leon can shoot fire rounds (Assault).

Enemies
The enemies from the game were selected from Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 Nemesis. Zombies return as the main enemy, if a Zombie grapples a player they will have a chance to get them off by moving the joystick left and right rapidly, if the player fails to do so the zombie will bite the player allowing them ignored by zombies, eventually the player will turn into a zombie if a team mate does not use an anti-virus spray on them. Crimson Heads also return from the original game remake, the Field Scientist class players can turn a normal zombie into a Crimson Head using their special ability. Other B.O.W.s like the Hunters, Lickers and the T-103 tyrant roam in the city. A new enemy called Nemesis-beta was introduced into the game.

Bosses for the game include: William Birkin's first transformation, Nemesis T-type, and the T-103, it is unknown if there are more.

The very first human enemies are introduced in the series. The players will fight against the Government Spec Ops operatives, UBCS mercenaries and RPD officers during certain chapters of the game. Also, in the DLC campaign for the Echo Six, the players will take control of Echo Six and will fight against the U.S.S. members. the players can kill classic characters from the early games like Leon S. Kennedy, Claire Redfield and Jill Valentine.

New additions
On March 27 of 2011, Capcom shows it's first details of Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City in the French magazine of PlayStation. At the time, only four U.S.S. characters were confirmed to be in the game: VECTOR, SPECTER, BELTWAY and BERTHA.

In the 2011 E3, Capcom-unity anounced two new playable characters for the Wolfpack: LUPO, and FOUR EYES.

In early 2012, Capcom reveals the new protagonist team called EchoSix, an elite squad of the US Goverment Spec Ops. The characters are the countpart of the U.S.S. sent to rescue civilians, discover the truth about the outbreak and eliminate the U.S.S.

In January of 2012, Capcom shows the details of the four multiplayer modes: Team Attack, Survivors, Biohazard and Heroes, the Heroes mode includes several classic characters seprated into two teams:
 * SpecOps: Leon S. Kennedy, Claire Redfield, Carlos Oliveira and Jill Valentine.
 * USS: HUNK, Nicholai Ginovaef, Ada Wong and a new character called LONE WOLF.

In addition to the multiplayer modes, a confirmed Xbox 360 exclusive has been added. Players will engage in a new versus called "Nemesis Mode". Players will engage each other as the Government Spec Ops versus the U.S.S. Players will engage in combat to find a control panel to activate Nemesis and program it to help eliminate the opposition. Nemesis Mode will be available for download on the release date of Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City for 320 Microsoft Points.

In March of 2012, according to the Capcom Blog, a free DLC mission will be released in April of 2012. The mission will be played as the SpecOps members and resembles some events of Resident Evil 3, including the Jill and Nemesis encounter.

Confirmed weapons
The weapons for the game were taken from the first Resident Evil games, as well from SOCOM titles. The players begin the game with five basic weapons, but they can buy some others using their XP points. Currently more than 45 weapons were confirmed from the Kendo Gun Shop webpage.

The players need to choose a primary weapon before the game begins. The primary weapons are separated into six categories: Shotguns, Sniper Rifles, Submachine Guns, Assault Rifles and Light Machine Guns, with between 4 and 6 weapons in each category. the players can also choose a secondary weapon, the handguns and magnums.

During the game, the players can unlock other weapons kept in metalic cases, these weapons include flamethrowers, grenade launchers and some others, the players can take these weapons from the killed humans enemies and allies.

Grenades return in three categories, like in the past two games: Frag Grenades, Flash Grenades and Incendiary Grenades. The field scientist class can carry a fourth, special grenade called pheromone grenade, used to attract the zombies to a specific point.

All of the players begin the game with a melee weapon, used in the new martial arts CQC style, impaling and slicing the Infected and Government Spec Ops enemies. The players can reload their ammunition reserves by approaching an ammo box in the chapters for a full reload of their weapon's ammo.

According to a Trophy/Acheivement leak in the game, "Secret weapons" were confirmed.

Downloadable weapons
Operation Raccoon City is the first game in the series to include DLC weapons, currently eight in total. Some weapons resemble past firearms from the early Resident Evil games, but with new designs and forms. Depending on the pre-order retailer, the weapons are separated into four packs: The special edition of the games includes all the eight DLC weapons, alongside with the six alternate costumes for USS members.
 * Classic weapons: Matilda and Classic launcher.
 * Elite weapons: Combat SMG and Perforator.
 * Power weapons: Anti-materiel rifle and Combat shotgun.
 * Renegade weapons: Automatic pistol and Cowboy shotgun.

Players can now buy the weapon packs and outfits on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace or the PS3 Store.

Inventory
Operation Raccoon City doesn't include an inventory system like the past games.

The new inventory system can be changed depending on the players class, it esembles the Resident Evil 5's quick selection of items using the game pad, the game separated the most important items for the gameplay into four easy buttons.
 * Up button: Reserved for special items for each class like the Hypo Gun, the Sonar and Thermal Visions and Bombs Detonators.


 * Left button: Reserved for the first aid sprays. The Medic Class can carry multiple sprays, all the remaining classes can carry only one spray


 * Down button: Reserved for the antiviral spray. The Field Scientist Class can carry multiple sprays, all the remaining classes can carry only one spray.


 * Right button: Reserved for grenades. The players can carry three types of grenades: Frag Grenades, Flash Grenades and Incendiary Grenades, with the new Pheromone Grenade being used only by the field scientist class. All the remaining classes can carry only 3 grenades per type, the demolitions class can also get a timed sticky grenade along with laser trip mines.

Release
The release date has been confirmed to be March 20th 2012 (North America), March 23rd 2012 (Europe) and April 26th 2012 (Japan).

A special edition of the game includes a steel cover for the game, 8 exclusive weapons and one alternate costume for every member of Wolfpack.

If you pre-order the game at GameStop, BestBuy, Amazon.com, GAME (gets the same as GameStop), you will receive two DLC weapons different for each retailer.

Downloadable content
On March 15th 2012, Capcom announced the first downloadable content pack for Raccoon City. The pack, which is set to be released on April 11th free of charge. It will have the player enter Raccoon City as a member of a Spec Ops team deployed to determine the source of the deadly virus outbreak. The player will have to fight off countless waves of zombies, and trying to stop Umbrella Security Service and the B.O.W.'s to succeed in their mission. The storyline of the pack takes place between Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3, and will re-visit the moment where Jill Valentine encounters the Nemesis.

Trivia

 * Originally shown was that the U.S.S only had four playable characters, that number was later increased to six.
 * According to Kawata, there are currently discussions on introducing brand-new B.O.W.s into the game; However, only a new B.O.W type made it to the final product.
 * In the demo, signs written on walls written in blood are seen around (often asking for HELP), this was already in the beta version of the original Resident Evil (1996), but for unknown reasons, blood signs were cut from the final product.
 * It is interesting to note that any recreated cut-scene in this game from RE2 or RE3 has the original lines of dialog.
 * Barry Burton and Chris Redfield make cameo appearances during the level "Gone Rogue".
 * In the Saint Micheal's Clock Tower, the Moon light sonata can be heard looped in the chapel/piano room area. This sonata can be heard in most games such as: Resident Evil Zero, Resident Evil (and its other versions) and teaser of Lost in Nightmares.
 * In the Saint Michael's Clock Tower Chapel, the location of the third E.M.P device is located on the altar where Jill rests after being infected with the T-Virus.