Yeah, it’s me with another post about zombies. Yawn, yawn bloody yawn. I just can’t get enough of the buggers, you see. Shambling about as they do, hunting for the next trace of human flesh to gnaw on.. aren’t they just adorable? Aww..
Fellow zombie enthusiasts can today feast their eyes on some new footage of Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City. First revealed last month alongside a slew of other new announcements, REORC (I know, sorry in advance for the terrible acronym) now has it’s first full fat trailer, featuring the odd snippet of gameplay and an introduction to some of the games primary characters.
Exciting? Unfortunately not. At the risk of being bitten, I’m even going to stick my neck out here and say that this trailer sucks. You can have a look yourself after the break, and as a bonus I’ll also string together some of my own opinions about why I think it sucks. Lucky you.
So, without further ado, here’s the trailer:
Now here’s my problem with it.
1.) It’s Not a Looker.
Traditionally, Resident Evil games have always done OK for themselves in terms of visual presentation. The original game pushed boundaries back in 1996 and subsequent releases have always been able to hold their own relative to the available technology of the time. By comparison, REORC looks pretty lacking for a shooter released five years into the current generation. It’s not terrible, but it’s not exactly great either. I certainly wouldn’t leap to suggest that this was any better looking than 2009’s Resident Evil 5. Screenshots have shown some pretty rough textures and there’s a sort of grainy effect which I don’t think is doing the visuals any favors at the moment. To be honest, it looks a little below par, particularly given what’s being achieved by other studio’s at this point in the current console cycle.
2.) The Animation.
Not only am I totally underwhelmed by the visuals on display so far, there’s also some pretty poor use of animations. Case in point? Check out the scene where the player kicks forward a zombie, in turn making another zombie explode into several pieces. Not only does kicking forward a zombie look ridiculous, but it never even makes contact with the one which explodes right next to him. I’m not even sure kicking one zombie into another would actually trigger any sort of explosion anyway, but the fact that the two don’t even make contact in this instance is pretty sloppy. Also, take a look at the bloke running over the proximity mine a few seconds later. I make a more convincing job of collapsing when I fall into bed at night. He looks less like the victim of an explosion and more like someone who got lost staggering home from the pub after ten beers, collapsing into a pile of dustbins and garbage sacks in the alleyway behind a XXX theatre.
3.) Kill Leon Kennedy? Do I Have To?
For me, Resident Evil has never been interesting because of the characters you get to play. What gives Resident Evil character is the locations and the freaks who inhabit them. The Spencer Mansion, Raccoon City, Mr. X, Tyrants, Zombies, William Burkin, Wesker and Nemesis. These are the reasons I have played and enjoyed the Resident Evil franchise for the last fifteen years, not because of Chris or Claire Redfield or Jill Valentine. The single exception to this rule however (other than the criminally underused Barry Burton) is Leon Kennedy, who appears to be the only universally likable character in the entire franchise. So what happens in REORC? You get the opportunity to kill him. Not only is this total nonsense from a narrative perspective (which I’ll get to shortly), but it also seems like a pretty cheap way of forcing unnecessary interaction with recognisable characters in an attempt try and flesh out the experience or make it appear more authentic. I’m not sure if Im prepared to buy it, personally.
4.) I Know It’s Not Canon, But Don’t Take The Piss.
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City isn’t canon with the rest of the Resident Evil lore. I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it. REORC might be intentionally setting up a “what if?” alternative scenario, but I’m not sure if this gives it the license to take this many liberties with the established story. From what we’ve seen from the minutes worth of footage so far and the scraps of info divulged to the press, we know that Leon Kennedy not only battles with the Umbrella Delta Team, but also potentially dies as a result; two events that cancel out everything we already know about both Resident Evil 2 and 4. Alternative history is one thing, but it’s not something I can ever take seriously when the end result essentially wipes out the two best games in the entire series.
5.) Vectre, Spectre, Bertha and Beltway.
Yes, you read right. Those are the names of the Umbrella operatives you’ll be controlling. From the looks of things, every stereotype you could possibly think of is here in abundance, including terrible character design, a class system (recon, heavy, surveillance blah blah blah) and a dodgy German/Russian accent. Ooo, Biological Veapons!
What’s also annoying is the presence of a stealth suit. What is this, Crysis? Metal Gear? As far as I’m aware, there’s absolutely no evidence of stealth abilities anywhere else in the entire Resident Evil fiction, either in the games prior to or several years after the events of the 1998 Raccoon City outbreak. Yet here we have Umbrella operatives wearing it as if it were a rain coat. This might seem like a trivial gripe (especially in a fictional story about zombies which is equally as ridiculous in all manner of other ways), but it’s one that’s grating on me. Particularly as I’m sure the only explanation for the use of a stealth suit will probably just be “Well we’re Umbrella! Duh!”, and that’s bullshit.
6.) Zombie Meat Shields.
Oh please. The first three games in the Resident Evil series built their reputation on the fear created by being surrounded by the walking dead. Raccoon City is an urban location brought to total and utter destruction due to the outbreak. Everything we’ve played so far tells us that zombies are a dangerous enemy to be taken for granted at ones peril. Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City on the other hand now features the use of zombie meat shields. So giving them a big hug, basically. Why wouldn’t they chew on your arm? Why would you even attempt it? Wouldn’t a decomposing corpse also disintegrate relatively quickly under anything other than handgun fire? What an absolutely terrible idea on all counts.
7.) It Looks Like SOCOM.
Consider any skepticism you had about SOCOM developers Slant Six fully justified. REORC looks more like a re-skin than I ever expected it to and I don’t think that’s a particularly good thing. Create a check list of modern third person shooter conventions and you’ll be able to tick them all off here. Diving behind wrecked vehicles? Enemies popping in and out of cover? A “Wow! Look how fast I am!” haze around your characters when they sprint? Check, check and check. Resident Evil 5 received a heap of valid criticism from series veterans for the amount of balls out action it wedged into the latter parts of the game, but that looks like a slow paced cakewalk compared to REORC. From the trailer and a select few hands on impressions elsewhere, this certainly looks like the fastest, most action filled take on the series so far.
What’s important to remember at this point – especially for fickle, stubborn and stuck in their ways Resident Evil traditionalists like me – is that Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City isn’t yet the finished the article. With months until release and a summer full of trade shows to demo at, there’s plenty of time for Slant Six to potentially sort out things such as the visual quality and the animations. This is certainly a very different way to experience the Resident Evil franchise, hence it’s spin off status and none-canon story, but what concerns me more is how Slant Six can stack up against the competition to make REORC stand out. As a squad based zombie shooter, comparisons with Left 4 Dead are obvious and easy to draw, while it’s launch window puts it in direct competition with Gears of War 3 and Uncharted 3 in the third person shooter market. Whether Slant Six can step up from a middling SOCOM series and deliver to compete with such established franchises remains to be seen, but I’m not particularly hopeful after watching this opening gameplay trailer. I suspect that Slant Six may be relying on fan service alone to make their product stand out from the crowd, which could be a dangerous game to play.
Although an interesting concept, Operation Raccoon City currently looks like a project in need of some polish. As a fan of the series I’ll continue to monitor it’s progress, but other than nostalgia for the characters and locations showcased so far, I hold out little hope that we’ll get a worthwhile experience at the end of it.
Prove me wrong, Slant Six. Please?
Email the author of this post at matc@tap-repeatedly.com
*simply nods*
All correct. I don’t see this as being in any way truly connected to Resident Evil. A cash in making use of the setting to further flog the ‘four players coop against zombies’ pony corpse.
Pity, but.. Resident Evil had a good long run, and the fourth was actually a decent game despite the gameplay reboot and new style. We should be grateful. It couldn’t last forever.
.. pity about the films too ._.
I love the fact one of the operatives stealths..in a HELICOPTER!
This is such a missed opportunity and is an example of how not to gift a franchise to a shit company. It could have been great, I genuinley don’t mind operative classes or parallel story lines.
What I do mind is awful everything else. This could have been so good. As we chatted about Mat, a trailer is there to sell a product. Who ever felt this was a good one, needs to resign immediately.
Especially since the press cycle has just moved past the Dead Island trailer, which – like it or not – got a huge amount of attention for that game and will almost certainly impact sales.
Meanwhile look at this: as Mat says, its graphics seem dated, it doesn’t take Resident Evil mythology into consideration, and it doesn’t make the game seem tantalizing. If you release a trailer like this one, the very best you can hope is that it won’t help you. Same for demos and betas – if you do a Darkspore or APB demo, and it’s as bad as those were, you’re killing your own product.
Capcom and Slant Six are counting on the Resident Evil brand name to sell this one. Very disappointing. I like the idea of handing off storied franchises to other developers, whether to Westwash a franchise or simply give it new energy. But for the love of god, people, choose more carefully.
Stop that, Steerpike! Someone important might read it and return us to the dark ages of ‘no demos’. We’ve only just entered the Second Age of Demonstration Before Purchase and you’re reminding them when they stopped in the first place! D:
*laugh*
Well, here’s the thing. I’ve worked with clients who agonize over whether to release a demo. And there are two reasons for not doing so.
The first is “what if they hate it?” That one’s not too defensible. If they hate it that means the game’s bad, and at least you might have a chance to fix it before release. Though you’ve hurt your sales even if you do.
The second, though, is “spending time to make a demo is like building assets and throwing them away.” It takes a lot of effort to make a demo. You can’t just insert a cookie cutter into a game, extract a chunk of it, and call it a demo. Often teams stop production on their game for months in advance of, say, E3 in order to prepare a demo. It could be reasonably argued that the time would be better spent making the game.
Don’t get me wrong, I like demos. I have purchased games I didn’t mean to and not purchased ones I did based on demos. I’d rather be in an Age of Demonstration than not be in one. But don’t be too hard on devs who choose not to make one; it’s not always for the worst reason.
Let’s assume I’m drawing a connection between the drop in quality of the average game and the drop in the frequency of demo releases since the early 2000s 😉
I’ll draw it out fairly simply; if you’re going to release a game for £15, like a special edition DVD, I might accept reviewscores, word of mouth and advertising.
If you’re going to release a game at £30-£50 without offering demonstration, I will have to lend, rent or steal the game first in order to ascertain its quality before such an exorbitant price becomes remotely feasible. In short, given the economic climate and the financial situation I and most of my friends are in, the current asking price for a new release is beyond reason.
I’ll clarify; I am not targetting developers. Surely it’s more often the publishers, in charge of pricing, advertising and release dates who make the decision to demonstrate or not?
I wonder why demos are coming back into fashion. Internet speed increases, digital distribution, piracy, easy access to youtube gameplay videos? There’s not much to be gained by denying the public a trial run anymore. It’s harder to keep people in the dark, and the consumer has to some degree lost faith in impulse purchasing…
.. maybe?
*speculates away into darkness..*
The last demo I played was Crysis multiplayer, which in all honesty was great as it allowed me to test that my PC could in fact run it. For the most part, it’s all I needed.
I’m sorry, did I drift off and wake up in a different universe?!? The BioShock demo not only generated 99% of the hype for that game (wisely, within a week of the full game’s release) — which I will add was viewed skeptically, if optimistically, known only as “the spiritual successor to System Shock 2” — but I would also argue that it acted as the Xbox 360’s killer app.
A shoddy demo or fear of exposing your own shoddy game is a bad excuse.
But a brilliant and engaging demo, ala BioShock, will pay for itself.
It’s usually a mixed bag with me and demos. Based on the demo alone, I would have never bought Bulletstorm. I hated the demo for that. Thought it was garbage. But thanks to some good feedback online and Matt’s impressions I bought it anyway, and it’s one of my favourite games of recent times.
The flip side to that is the WWE Allstars demo, which convinced me 100% to buy the game and I’ve had no regrets since.
I can’t say demos have ever really done much for me in terms of convincing me to buy a game – I’ve never been able to afford games new anyway. But they provided about 80% of my entertainment between the ages of 11-13.
Ah, my first big downloads.. begging permission from my parents in order to be allowed to spend 2-4 hours on the 56k modem downloading the demos of House of the Dead and Postal 1.. <3
FIFTEEN MEGABYTES EACH?! They must think we’re made of bandwidth..
Professionally, the classic example of “perfect” employment of a demo is Crackdown. There was very little interest in this game until the demo came out, and while its tie-in to the Halo 3 beta certainly helped, about a million people worldwide chose to buy Crackdown based on the demo.
Xtal’s right, Bioshock is another great example. I had been planning to buy it but the demo really convinced me that Irrational was going to hit this one out of the park.
Demos are equal parts science and art. Making a good one can be really tough, even if your game is good. Take Bulletstorm. That demo is okay, it’s fun, but it’s nothing to write home about. It does an injustice to the game, which is absolutely worth the money.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’d rather games have demos than not. Had I been able to play a demo of Dungeons I never would have bought that piece of shit. It’s just that they can be misleading sometimes… the demo for Anachronox didn’t impress me all that much, so I held off buying the game. Turns out I was missing one of the all time classics.