Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

TRAILER

Plot

See also: List of Resident Evil characters

Umbrella Security Service (USS) Delta team enters the Raccoon City Underground Laboratory, where they meet up with Alpha team leader HUNK. Their mission is to assist Alpha team in stopping Dr. Birkin from handing over his T-Virus research to the U.S. military and retrieve the G-virus. On their way to Birkin's lab, they find Birkin has paid numerous Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service (UBCS) mercenaries to work for him while the deal goes forward. When they reach Birkin's lab, the doctor is shot, and HUNK and another Alpha leave with the samples. They soon find that Birkin survived the attack and infected himself with the virus. The Birkin 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 beginning to transform into flesh-hungry zombies. In what they see as a punishment by USS 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 Ginovaef; he is soon revealed as a traitor and attempts to kill Delta team.

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 done, the team exits the station, and soon after encounter Leon S. Kennedy, whom they begin to hunt down along with Sherry Birkin. After they find and corner Leon, Claire Redfield and Sherry, the game can end in two ways: in one ending, the team resigns from Umbrella over their abandonment during the mission and betrays them by letting the three live; in the other, Leon and Claire are executed and Sherry is sent to an Umbrella facility.

Gameplay

There are twelve playable characters in the game, with six characters for each side. On the Umbrella Security Service team there is: Vector, the team's recon expert and is equipped with a cloaking ability; Beltway, who is proficient in the use of explosives; Bertha, the medic; Spectre, the marksman; Four Eyes, the scientist, with the ability to program the bio-organic weapons (BOWs); and Lupo, who is the team leader.[citation needed] On the United States Special Ops team there is: Willow is the recon expert; Dee-Ay is the team leader; Tweed is the demolitions expert; Harley is the medic; Shona is the field scientist; and Party Girl is the sniper.

Alongside the single player mode, the game also offers four-player co-operative Raccoon Mode, which pits the USS against the U.S. Special Ops teams.

The zombies in the game are able to attack the player in a multitude of ways. A zombie that gets too close to the player will usually attempt to grapple the player, prompting the player to rapidly shake his/her analogue stick to avoid getting bitten. Players who are unsuccessful in doing this will be infected for a limited amount of time. Whilst they are infected they gain small bonuses at the expense of a slowly depleting health bar. If a player is successfully bitten and later runs out of time after becoming infected, the player will lose control of their character and begin attacking their former teammates until killed, allowing the player to respawn. There are additional enemy types in the game besides zombies, such as Lickers, Hunters, and Cerberuses. Furthermore, the players are able to control them under certain circumstances.[citation needed]

Heroes Mode is an online multiplayer feature allowing to play characters such as Leon S. Kennedy, Claire Redfield, Jill Valentine and Carlos Oliveira, plus Ada Wong, HUNK, Nicholai Ginovaef and a new character, called Lone Wolf.[citation needed]

Xbox 360-exclusive Nemesis Mode allows one player to control Nemesis and use him to kill the other team.[citation needed]

Free DLC pack containing playable missions for Spec Ops arrives on April 10 for the Xbox 360 and the PS3.

Development

The idea for the game came about during the development of Lost Planet 2. 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 March 2011, Masachika Kawata estimated the game to be 45% complete. According to Kawata, there were discussions on introducing new "bio-organic weapon" enemy creatures into the game.

Reception

Operation Raccoon City received a mixed critical reception. IGN's review stated "An actual zombie outbreak would have been less tragic," calling the game "little more than a poor man's SOCOM and a destitute man's Resident Evil." GameSpot echoed these sentiments, stating that the game "is a frighteningly flawed action-heavy spin-off that withers in the shadow of its superior alternatives". GamesTM magazine gave Operation Raccoon City 3/10, criticising the team mate AI, glitches, and unimaginative set pieces. They played through the first four levels on single player and did not review the multiplayer modes. Eurogamer called it an "under-designed and under-produced nightmare...that delivers the bare minimum in every category." GamesRadar summed up its review with "poor design choices, narrative missteps, and technical issues combine to make this one of the worst Resident Evil games to date." Game Informer ended their review with "Not even online play is enough of a reason to warrant checking out this botched experiment with the Resident Evil brand." Edge gave the game a 3 out of 10, concluding that "it’s hard to see what this distinctly low budget shooter has to offer beyond yet another return visit to already blood-saturated and well-trodden ground." Game Revolution even went as far as to say that the game hurt the Resident Evil brand name, and that the game "should never have had the Resident Evil name attached to it. It smacks of purely business-oriented decision-making. Players are guaranteed to walk into the store and see that name and expect something completely different. It's not fair to consumers and Resident Evil fans alike.

Some reviews were positive. The Official Xbox Magazine gave it a score of 7/10, as a "satisfying blend of gunplay and teamwork."[Destructoid said that the game "suffers from poor design...but that doesn't stop it from being a genuinely good time that should satisfy anybody looking for a hardcore romp." The Guardian said "It's important to bear in mind that it's best experienced multiplayer rather than solo. But it's great fun and adds a fresh spin to a key time and place in the Resident Evil universe." GameShark said: "Raccoon City isn't the next real Resident Evil game (though its improved controls do bode well for that game). Instead, it's a mostly solid third-person, cover-based shooter set in the same universe."

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Minimum

CPU: Core 2 Duo E4600 2.4 Ghz, Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5400+ 

GPU: GeForce 9800GS, Radeon HD 3250

RAM: 2GB

OS: Win Xp 32

Direct X: DX9

HDD Space: 8GB

Adjusted Requirements

CPU: Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0 Ghz, Phenom II x2 511

GPU: GeForce GT545 DDR5, Radeon HD 5670 1024MB

RAM: 3GB

OS: Win 7 32

Direct X: DX9

HDD Space: 8GB

Recommended Requirements

CPU: Core 2 Quad Q9400 2.66 Ghz, Phenom II X940

GPU: GeForce GTX560, Radeon HD 6950

RAM: 4GB

OS: Win 7 64

Direct X: DX9

HDD Spac: 8GB

MARK: 5 Bad control, stupidity at a full level, really (BOT) AI, but good graphics and storyline. 2 endings.

As Far As I Can Tell:

I like the 2 way endings and graphics... That's ALL! I mean, bad control, repetitive, INCREDIBLE STUPID MONSTERS! 

I prefer the OLD Resident Evil. Zombies and Boss battles. 

So: Played = Deleted! 

Share your point of view! 

Risen 2

TRAILER

Risen 2: Dark Waters is a single-player fantasy-themed action role-playing game and the sequel to Risen by Piranha Bytes. It is published and distributed by Deep Silver. Risen 2 is a pirate themed game, but it transfers the classic Caribbean pirate themes to a fantasy world where monsters, ancient gods, and voodoo magic exist.

The game was officially announced by Deep Silver on August 18, 2010, during a press conference a the GamesCom exhibition of Cologne. The official site was opened on February 19, 2011. The game was released for Microsoft Windows in the UK and USA at the end of April 2012, and is scheduled to be available for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms in the late summer of 2012. The PC version is directly developed by Piranha Bytes. The French firm Wizarbox is in charge of the console versions for both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. Risen 2 will be the first Risen game to be made for the PS3.

Plot

The story begins in the Fortress of Crystal at the port of Caldera, last fortress of the Inquisition (a military/religious group last seen in Risen) and of the Old Empire. The mountains surrounding Caldera are aflame, as ancient gods called Titans (also last seen in Risen) assail the land to the north. Two of the Titans, Ursegor and Ismael, have fallen to fighting each other. This has relieved the pressure on Caldera, although parts of the city are on fire and have been abandoned. But one of the two Titans must soon fall, and the winner will then try to find a way to crush Caldera. Only the power of the mysterious crystal cave, located under the Fortress, gives the small depleted garrison some hope that they might keep the victorious Titan at bay. A more immediately pressing problem is a sea monster called the Kraken, which attack ships at sea and is under the command of the Titan goddess Mara. The Kraken attacks thus prevent Inquisition equipment, soldiers and supplies from reaching the last remaining haven of Caldera. The monster also prevents the Inquisition from fleeing from the Titans and the Old World, over the ocean to the New World. To add to the garrison's troubles, what little supplies Caldera has left are threatened by pirates who try to rob the storehouses.

One stormy night, Commandante Carlos (head of the Harbour Town garrison in the first Risen) spies an Inquisition ship on a course into Caldera harbor. Before it can reach safety, it is sunk by the Kraken. Carlos asks the hero to help any survivors. Among the survivors who are found washed up on the beach, there is a key character from Risen, the pirate's daughter Patty. Patty is always in search of her father, the famous pirate Gregorius Emanuel Steelbeard, and his treasure. Rumor says Steelbeard has found a way to sail the seas safely, using what may be a possible weapon that could kill the Kraken. Commandante Carlos decides that the Hero should infiltrate Steelbeard's pirates and try to learn any secrets they have. Patty and the Hero decide to team up, for the journey to the pirate's island of Takarigua. The Hero is officially stripped of his position in the Inquisition, and sent on his mission.

Main character

In the tradition of games developed by Piranha Bytes, the main character has no name. He is simply called the Nameless Hero. The main character of Risen 2 is the same hero of the first Risen. After the event of Risen he fled with the soldiers of the Inquisition, and joined with them - since they were then the last real remnants of organised humanity. But he is now older and wiser, and in the face of catastrophe he has become a frequent heavy alcohol user. He wears a patch over one eye that hides the Inquisitor monocle, obtained at the end of Risen.

Gameplay

The player doesn't choose his character or his class. One gains glory points (XP) as rewards for fighting monsters and solving quests. When enough points have been accumulated, the hero levels up and ranks up several attributes which together with equiped items govern the actual skills of the character (lockpicking, blademastery etc). The player can also invest gold with Trainers - special NPCs that are scattered around the game world - to refine his character with new skills.

The player can use a wide range of weapons, including, for the first time, guns. (Note the major revamp of the world also removes crossbows/bows from the game, in favour to guns/pistols, and that any type of shields and or two-handed weapons are not available in the vanilla game.)

Risen 2 offers the player a semi-open world: each island is a separate area that requires loading; but once the area is loaded, one can move freely without hindrance or pause for loading new items. At the beginning of the game, not all islands are initially reachable, but they become so as the story unfolds. Even though the game takes place in a faux-Caribbean pirate world, it doesn't include ship combat.

The magic system also recived a significant change with voodoo being focused on mind control and curses instead of the traditional flame/ice/magic bullet system.

One major difference form the prequel is the less important impact of factions in the actual plot, instead of game defining as previously (with certain armours/skills/weapons and quest lines being available only to cerain paths) Risen 2 features a much more focused main questline with factions being only secondary and not exclusive as before.

Development

In late May 2007, JoWooD Productions Software AG, Austria, and Pluto 13 GmbH, Germany (owner of the trademark "Piranha Bytes") announced the end of their cooperation. Following contractual agreements binding the two companies, JoWood temporarily holds the right to publish games in the Gothic series as well as the copyright for the "Gothic" trademark. As Piranha Bytes temporarily cannot further develop any game for the Gothic series, the company announced June 17, 2007 that they were working on drafting a new RPG. The next day, Deep Silver announced they would be the publisher and on August 6, 2008, the official name of the game was revealed: Risen. While Piranha Bytes developed the PC version of the game, the French company Wizarbox was responsible for bringing the game to the PS3 and Xbox 360. Following numerous criticisms of the poor quality of the original game's console port, the publisher decided that the sequel would be jointly developed on the three platforms from the project's inception, with experts from Piranha Bytes preparing elements for Wizarbox and with test controls every 30 or 60 days. The official name of the sequel: Risen 2: Dark Waters, was announced on February 19, 2011.

In late July 2011, the company Deep Silver announced that they had selected Steamworks as the form of DRM for the PC version of the game. This will allow users to add their retail keys to a Steam account and play the game via the service. This will also include unlimited installs on any PC, and no requirement to have the DVD in the drive to play.

Risen 2: Dark Waters was released on April 27, 2012 for PC in both Europe and North America. It was scheduled to be released the same day on consoles, but was delayed twice. The first anouncement was that the release had been delayed by a month. The current statement is that it will be released with extra content not present in the Windows-release on July 31, 2012 in North America and August 3, 2012 in Europe for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Marketing

In 2012, gaming licenser ESRB announced that the original cover art of Risen 2 was not suitable for release in North America, and Deep Silver was told to change it. Instead of a spray of red blood in the backdrop, behind the skull, it has since been changed to the color blue. The cover art remaining unchanged in other territories.

Reception

As of May 1, 2012, Risen 2 for Windows has gotten mixed to favorable reviews from critics, holding a 71% rating on Metacritic (6 percent lower than the previous title in the series). Critics praised the new setting, but criticize it for being over-reliant on stereotypes and being underdeveloped in general. IGN calls it "a role-playing experience that uses convention as a crutch and marginalizes or strips away a lot of elements that made the studio's past games stand out." Destructoid calls it what "...could have been a thoroughly supreme game, one that could have gone toe to toe with the heavyweights of action role-playing. Due to a number of highly questionable design decisions, however, a lot of that potential has withered away."

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	68.11% (PC)
Metacritic	71/100 (PC)
Review scores
Publication	Score
1UP.com	n/a[
GameTrailers	6.7/10
IGN	6.5/10

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Minimum Requirements

CPU: Pentium Dual Core e2180 2.0 Ghz
Athlon 64 X2, Dual Core 4200+
GPU: GeForce GT530, Radeon HD 3850
RAM: 2GB
OS: Win XP 32
DISK: 5.5 GB


Adjusted Requirements

CPU: Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4Ghz
     Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5600+
GPU: GeForce GTS240
     Radeon HD 6670 2GB DDR3
RAM: 4GB
OS: Win XP 32
DISK: 5.5 GB

Recommended requirements

CPU: Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0Ghz
     Athlon II X2 270
GPU: GeForce GTX260
     Radeon HD 489
RAM: 4GB
DISK: 5.5 GB
DX 9 All


MARK: 7.7 (personal)

- Repetitive gameplay and fight scenes.
 - Ungainly control.
+  Story
+  Theme

As Far As I Can Say:

I prefer Risen 1 for storyline, gameplay, no linearity, challenges and the level of difficulty. Share your point of view and let me know what you think about this game! 

XBOX 720 Is Coming!

While gossip surrounding the next Xbox has been churning around inside the rumour mill for a good few years now, there's no doubt that we're getting closer to learning some cold, hard facts.

It would be absolutely no surprise if the Xbox 720 - if it is indeed to be called that – were to launch in time for Christmas 2013. And with the increasing frequency of new rumours, reports and leaks, an official reveal from Microsoft cannot be too far away.

Many think that a 2014 release is more likely though, and Microsoft has already ruled out making any kind of announcement in relation to the next Xbox at E3 2012.

So what can we expect from the Xbox 720 when it is finally revealed by Microsoft, and when will it finally hit the shelves?

We've pulled all the rumours together in this video, which we strongly suggest you take a look at:

What We Want To See

Xbox 720 to pack AMD graphics and CPU?

If the next Xbox is to be as popular and last as long as the Xbox 360 – without the frankly appalling hardware failures which blighted its early days – it's going to need some reliable and powerful components.

Latest rumours suggest that the console will contain a revision of AMD's 7000 series graphics, which is based on its 28nm Graphics Core Next (GCN) Southern Islands tech.

Anonymous sources are being quoted on VG247 as saying that the graphics setup in the Xbox 720 will be "like two PCs taped together" which sounds like waffle to us. What does that even mean?

The same sources say that the two GPUs in the Xbox 720 "aren't structured as they are in a normal dual PC set-up," with each chip working separately to draw different items simultaneously.

Again, this sounds rather wooly to us, so let's try and make some sense of it...

Perhaps it depends what the source is referring to as different 'items'. The traditional usage of multi-GPU tech is Alternate Frame Rendering (AFR) where each GPU renders a frame in turn; if the source is saying that is not the case in the Xbox 720 then it will be a whole new usage of twin graphics chips.

It's possible this simultaneous rendering of different items could be referring to using the twin GPUs to display 3D outputs – where each chip is rendering a different angle of a scene to generate the 3D effect. This would then minimise the stress that 3D gaming puts on graphics chips.Still, if that secondary GPU is lying dormant during non-3D gaming it would be rather wasteful, so the GPUs must surely still be used concurrently to render the games.

It's also possible the confusion here could be arising from the difference between AMD's old GPU architecture, used in the Xbox 360, and the new Graphics Core Next technology. The old Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW) architecture of AMD's last gen GPUs essentially batched up instructions before outputting them.

But GCN is made up of more independent microprocessors capable of carrying out more instructions concurrently.

Either way, the inclusion of AMD 7000 series graphics would put the new Xbox on a par with the current rumoured specs of the Sony PS4 which is in turn expected to also contain AMD Southern Islands graphics as well as an AMD x86 CPU.

(Just A Little Concept)

It would put the two consoles on level footing in terms of performance as they will essentially contain the same hardware, though by the time they actually go on sale they would to be hopelessly out of date compared to modern PCs.

Are we really to believe that the 'next generation' of games consoles would essentially be out of date mini AMD PCs, with just the operating systems and scale of fun-sucking DRM the only levels of differentiation? We can't see that being the case, and a report in April 2012 suggests that Microsoft does indeed have something more exciting up its sleeve.

Xbox World reported that the Xbox 720 will pack a 16-core CPU, which would certainly add some much needed muscle to the maybe-possibly underpowered graphics.

What will the Xbox 720 actually be called?

It's entirely possible that Microsoft could call it the Xbox 720, but we reckon it'll have something a bit more exciting up its sleeve.

Noted Microsoft blogger MS Nerd outed the name Xbox Loop, claiming that the long-awaited console will be "far smaller", cheaper and quite Kinect-focused when it finally lands on our shelves.

Rrecent reports indicate that Microsoft's internal codename for the new Xbox is 'Durango'. Sean Tracy, a technical designer at games developer Crytek, said on Twitter: "Enjoying the Durango developers summit in London. So far, great swag and interesting talks". The tweet was very quickly taken down but the codename was out of the bag by then.

Xbox 720 storage and disc format

It now seems highly likely that the new Xbox will arrive packing a Blu-ray drive. There have been too many rumours suggesting this is the case for it not to be true.

Microsoft was, if you remember, a staunch member of the HD DVD Promotion Group and went so far as to launch an external HD DVD drive for the 360. So it represents a bit turn-around for Microsoft to embrace Blu-ray, but it also makes perfect sense.

Read speeds from DVDs are still faster than from Blu-ray discs, but BDs can hold vastly more data. A standard dual-layer BD can contain 50GB of data compared to the Xbox 360's dual-layer DVDs which contain between 8 and 9GB.

Many current Xbox 360 titles come on two or three discs, and with the size of Xbox 720 games destined to dwarf current titles, that extra capacity is a fundamental requirement.

There are other wildcard alternatives to Blu-ray and DVD, of course. You'll find flag-wavers for flash drives, Nintendo-style game cartridges, even the resurrection of HD DVD.

There were even some rumours speculating that the new Xbox would ship without a disc drive at all. The report on MCV said that the console will use "interchangeable solid state storage" which would indicate that games would be both downloadable and available on PS Vita-style memory cards.

Omitting a disc drive would certainly save money and reduce the weight and power consumption of the final device but we honestly don't see it happening.

Xbox 720 games are in development

It looks as though games developers are already playing with Xbox 720 hardware - a recent job advert from Peter Molyneux's Lionhead studio asks for developers with a background in DirectX 11 - a platform not used by any of the current consoles but is rumoured to be used in the AMD-powered Xbox 720.

It's a bit of a no-brainer that titles are in development from all the big studios if you ask us.

What about the Xbox 720 controller?

Many rumours suggest that the second version of Kinect will sit at the heart of the Xbox 720 experience. A console built around motion detection has lots of promise and it seems highly likely that this is the direction Microsoft is taking, given the way it's currently pushing Kinect hardware and software.

However, you can be sure that the trusty control pad will remain a core component for hardcore gaming. The 360 control pad is wildly popular amongst both console and PC gamers so we can't see the design changing too radically, either.

Will Microsoft kill the second-hand games market?

There have been rumours cicrulating that the new Xbox console will feature a system aimed at preventing owners playing used games. That would mean no trading-in of old titles in order to fund the purchase of new ones - a move that would not be warmly received by gamers or highstreet store.

The rumours centre around the concept of the new Xbox demanding an always-on internet connection. That sounds like a horrifying idea to us – say it ain't so!

The Xbox 720 release date

According to a "high-ranking source at Crytek," the successor to Microsoft's Xbox 360 console is likely to be unveiled at E3 2012 - Microsoft has already denied this, which just goes to show how trustworthy even 'reliable sources' can be.

Microsoft has said publically that the Xbox 360 will have (at least) a 10-year life lifespan to match the PS3. That puts a new Xbox launch into 2015… However, we reckon it's far more likely that the console will launch either in 2014 or maybe even in time for Christmas 2013.

It goes without saying that neither Microsoft nor Sony will want to launch their new consoles after the other. The 360 stole a huge march on the PS3 by launching a year earlier and so it seems a safe bet that both consoles will arrive well before the 10-year life cycle of the Xbox 360 and PS3 are up.

Over on VG247 an anonymous source is being quoted as saying Sony is very confident of being able to launch the PS4 before Microsoft can release the Xbox 720. Quite how Sony or this source can be so sure is another matter. But if there is truth to this particular rumour, it might suggest a Christmas 2013 release is indeed on the cards for the PS4. Whether Microsoft can match that is one for the rumour mill.