Raccoon City is burning again. Capcom has released the debut teaser trailer for Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, giving fans their first moving look at the team based shooter that sends players back into the series’ most famous disaster zone.
The teaser is short and light on gameplay, but it sets the mood effectively. It shows zombie filled streets wreathed in fire and smoke, wrecked cars scattered outside a gas station and bursts of gunfire as the undead close in. TheHDRoom’s look at the teaser noted that the area appears fairly open, although how much freedom players will actually have remains to be seen. Longtime fans will also catch a brief cameo from Leon S. Kennedy.
Playing As Umbrella’s Cleanup Crew
That cameo matters more than it might seem. Operation Raccoon City takes place in September 1998, during the events of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3, and it puts players on the other side of the story. According to Dread Central’s rundown of the premise, Umbrella sends an elite team into the city to destroy evidence of the outbreak and eliminate survivors, while the United States government dispatches its own special forces unit to uncover the truth.
Players take on the role of an Umbrella Security Service soldier, either solo or with up to three friends in four player cooperative play. The two human squads are not the only danger, as zombies and Umbrella’s bioweapons act as a third force that can turn on anyone. Familiar creatures return, the Raccoon City Police Department makes an appearance, and Leon, still a rookie cop in this timeline, is reportedly one of the targets your squad is ordered to eliminate. Capcom has also promised competitive online multiplayer modes alongside the cooperative campaign.
It is a bold reframing of events fans know well. Rather than surviving the outbreak as a cornered police officer or civilian, you are now the cleanup crew, and the game reimagines key moments from the classic PlayStation era entries from Umbrella’s point of view.
Slant Six Takes Resident Evil Into Squad Combat
Development is a collaboration between Capcom and Slant Six Games, the Vancouver studio best known for its work on Sony’s SOCOM series for PSP and PS3. Its experience with squad based shooters makes it a logical fit for a game that leans this heavily on team tactics, though it is a sharp turn for a franchise rooted in survival horror.
Operation Raccoon City is planned for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC, and Capcom’s announcement points to a release this winter, although at least one outlet has reported a fall window. No firm date has been announced, so expect more footage, and hopefully a proper look at gameplay, in the months ahead.