Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

[Canas Renvall]

^ I believe he meant the enemy AI.

Edit: Ninja'd by Pikminister.

[GuardhouseMusic]

I'm with Dracarys. The game is fun, and it functions just fine for me. I've encountered only a couple of bugs, and they didn't do anything dire to the game. I can point out and laugh at nearly everything said in terms of the plot, but I don't care. I enjoyed running from Birkin, I enjoyed gunning down Nemesis and the various incarnations of Mr. X, and (especially with a human partner) it's fun to get through the hordes. I wouldn't prefer that Capcom releases a game of this type too frequently, and I sent Slant Six a couple of criticism tweets to the tune of "You succeeded in taking the RE makeup and making a smooth, fun shooter, and you stopped there." Still, I got what I wanted out of this title, and I haven't even started the multiplayer.

[Enetirnel]

The gameplay is decent, there is nothing wrong with the controls at all, the multiplayer is fun. What brings this game down is the apparent bugs (which in 12 hours of play I've not encountered personally), bad AI (though this is multiplayer focused...which reviewers seem to glance over) and the graphics are generally shoddy compared to big budget titles.

Bugs - Smiley, his brother and someone we know played the game with me when I picked up my copy yesterday. We started the game and we couldn't get through the door where you start to run away from Birkin... Despite we were all there.

It happened about three or four times and we just kept killing ourselves off in the steam until it FINALLY opened.

When we got the first running section, I couldn't move Bertha as she was stuck on the floor.

Later on, dying from grenades despite not actually being near them...

Using the anti-virus skill Bertha has on myself, it didn't actually do the skill but it wasted the cooldown time so I ended up getting killed anyway.

I noticed some of the hitboxes are buggy on some of the enemies and quite honestly, the hair textures could have been done better for Bertha when looking at them a bit.

[Wrathborne]

I'm with Dracarys. The game is fun, and it functions just fine for me. I've encountered only a couple of bugs, and they didn't do anything dire to the game. I can point out and laugh at nearly everything said in terms of the plot, but I don't care. I enjoyed running from Birkin, I enjoyed gunning down Nemesis and the various incarnations of Mr. X, and (especially with a human partner) it's fun to get through the hordes. I wouldn't prefer that Capcom releases a game of this type too frequently, and I sent Slant Six a couple of criticism tweets to the tune of "You succeeded in taking the RE makeup and making a smooth, fun shooter, and you stopped there." Still, I got what I wanted out of this title, and I haven't even started the multiplayer.

How DARE you expression your own opinion in support of this game, I- Yeah I think you did the right thing. I blame Capcom for not being more involved in the game.

I do see lots of potential in what they were trying to do and some of it they nailed...but it feels so bare bones,linear, and limited. I think they should have gotten involved with the community on some level when developing the game and tried to get more fan input, rather than just doing their own thing.

[Dracarys]

Too bad all the enemies and their lousy AI doesn't get replaced as well... plus it gets even glitchier on multiplayer.

Enemy AI is decent enough to serve it purpose, soldiers take cover and move about while in cover so you don't just wait for a head to pop back up where it was, they dive away from nades, bullet damage is highly lethal and risks you bleeding. Throw in zombies and other BOWs and better AI is not needed to challenge the player. I have seen no evidence of problems with it in MP, if they are spawned then hunters, lickers, Tyrants and so forth all serve to screw you up while you attempt to kill enemy soldiers, they can do a damn good job at it, Hunters especially since the things have the heath of tank and move fast.

The AI in L4D is not any better but it isn't needed because like ORC the combination of enemies and what is thrown at you provides challenge enough. That is what enemy AI is for right, challenge?

Not that soldier AI is worse than most other games, nearly every shooter nowdays is just 'sit in cover and wait for enemy to stick head out'. Please provide me some choice examples of great AI?

[Wrathborne]

The AI in L4D is not any better but it isn't needed because like ORC the combination of enemies and what is thrown at you provides challenge enough.

Dracarys!!!!*shakes fist*... I disagree, the L4d AI is better than the ORC team AI.

[[STARS]TyranT]

Half Life - from nearly 15 years ago.

[Smiley]

and the linear game design, only having 2 endings, limited BOW monsters(Hunters, Lickers, Nemesis, Tyrant....what about the Gamma hunters, brain suckers, giant spiders, Ivys and other RE2/3 monsters?)

Linear design never stopped RE4 and RE5.

Limited BOWs? They had a great range of monsters. Even brought back the Crimson Heads. Plus when did a short supply of BOW variety make the game automatically poor? Revelations would like a word with you.

This never made much sense, to my way of thinking. Between RE2 and RE3 we see...what? Five or six actual streets of the city and half a dozen back alleys? Even if my memory is utterly failing me and it's actually double that number, that's not exactly a vast section of Raccoon City.

It shouldn't be impossible, or even that difficult, to keep the city plan and simply use the RE2 and RE3 street sections as relatively low level conflict areas, if they're really that poor for run and gun gaming. Maybe move some wrecked vehicles out of the way to open up certain sections. And then the rest of the city can be more extensively run and gun, since much of it hasn't been locked in stone. The actual buildings might be more problematic, but honestly I don't even know which buildings you go into.

Frankly, this smacks more of Slant Six's 'Cannot be arsed to do the research, it's not on the wiki' situation than they absolutely had to change the street plan for gameplay reasons. There just weren't enough streets in the actual games for it to be that huge of a problem.

Right there you just explained why some of the work had to be done. The layout doesn't suit its game play. Things would have needed a change. Not merely opening up a few areas. You're looking at a game where eight players can stroll through these locations using all kinds of tactics and creating all kinds of chaos. In campaign you have more of a threat being taken down by Spec Ops than you do actual BOWs. I know that's a problem for some, but this was how the game was designed. It doesn't copy and paste the look of the PS1 sequels or PS2 outbreaks. It recreates with some similarity, but the main focus is for its game play. That's why these maps are much larger and don't copy the look of the survival horror scope from the early games.

You say it's lazy, and would probably argue it's not creative like others have said. But making your own stuff is never lazy. It does take effort. Regardless, you can still spot each location and know where it's supposed to be in the city.

[News Bot]

Even brought back the Crimson Heads.

Indeed, they even went so far to take a leaf out of Mass Effect 3's book and include magic red energy that makes them stronger, and shit!

[Smiley]

The red energy shows during transformation. The glow does not stay entirely which was my initial fear. You also glow temporarily when you transform to a zombie. I'll admit it's not the best way to show a transformation, but nevertheless it's quick and effective in a fast paced environment.

[News Bot]

The red energy shows during transformation. The glow does not stay entirely which was my initial fear. You also glow temporarily when you transform to a zombie. I'll admit it's not the best way to show a transformation, but nevertheless it's quick and effective in a fast paced environment.

I think seeing Zombies sprinting and emitting some bastard high-pitch wail would be enough to tell something has happened.

[Wrathborne]

Linear design never stopped RE4 and RE5.


Yeah because RE4 was a complete straight shot with no optional routes or anything..oh wait. You are right on RE5 though, while it did have alternate ways around things...they were just little things. Not really alternate paths that took you anywhere new on the way.

Limited BOWs? They had a great range of monsters. Even brought back the Crimson Heads. Plus when did a short supply of BOW variety make the game automatically poor? Revelations would like a word with you.

ORC:
Zombies
Crimson heads
dogs
hunters
lickers
Headcrabs(thats all they are, we just need to accept it)
Nemesis
Birkin
Tyrant
SPEc ops(weapon variants only)

REVELATIONS:
Ooze 4 types(basic,Claw, projectile,exploding)
Rachel Ooze variant
Globster
Fenrir
Hunter
Farfarello
Scarmiglione
Ghiozzos (Infected fish)
Sea Creeper
Scagdead
Scarmiglione
Draghignazzo
Malacoda
Final Form Abyss

10 vs 13, I think Revelations is ahead there, also considering that its on a console that doesnt have as much power as the PS3 and 3 360 that says more about the development team.

[Pikminister]

Hold on, there are Ooze (generic type) and then you got MUTANT Ooze (the exploding, projectile and claw types). Every one of 'em (except Claw) require a different approach to put them down.

And don't forget the GIANT Oozes (there are two types, the big regular looking ones and the others that are grey in color).

Do the baby Ooze Rachels, Baby Draghignazzo's and giant Hunters count? Moving at super speed and stuff?

[Smiley]

I think seeing Zombies sprinting and emitting some bastard high-pitch wail would be enough to tell something has happened.

This happens as well. We're talking transformation wise. A zombie you take down can turn to a crimson head later in the game with a minor instance of red energy showing. But there are some segments that come out of the blue where you are swarmed by crimson heads. Those were great.

Linear design never stopped RE4 and RE5.


Yeah because RE4 was a complete straight shot with no optional routes or anything..oh wait. You are right on RE5 though, while it did have alternate ways around things...they were just little things. Not really alternate paths that took you anywhere new on the way.

Limited BOWs? They had a great range of monsters. Even brought back the Crimson Heads. Plus when did a short supply of BOW variety make the game automatically poor? Revelations would like a word with you.

ORC:
Zombies
Crimson heads
dogs
hunters
lickers
Headcrabs(thats all they are, we just need to accept it)
Nemesis
Birkin
Tyrant
SPEc ops(weapon variants only)

REVELATIONS:
Ooze 4 types(basic,Claw, projectile,exploding)
Rachel Ooze variant
Globster
Fenrir
Hunter
Farfarello
Scarmiglione
Ghiozzos (Infected fish)
Sea Creeper
Scagdead
Scarmiglione
Draghignazzo
Malacoda
Final Form Abyss

10 vs 13, I think Revelations is ahead there, also considering that its on a console that doesnt have as much power as the PS3 and 3 360 that says more about the development team.

RE4 was indeed. The linear path pales in comparison to the earlier games. RE5 as well. And if you're talking about optional routes you have that in ORC. Like RE4 and RE5 you re-visit locations you went through prior, but the games are linear regardless.

As for monster variety. As I said, when did a short supply mean the game was poor? We can stretch and pull out these enemy types all we want to make them sound like it's in more supply. In your case you have a 13-10 range. Pulling three extra monsters doesn't mean the bar is set higher. But again, this is a silly thing to justify as poor to begin with.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories uses even less designs, and that game was still good.

[News Bot]

This happens as well.

I know it does, that wasn't a positive point. They couldn't make the Crimson Heads more different and dramatically less intimidating if they just made them stand there, since they spend most of the time just running around you like chickens.