After spending time killing non-zombie beings in Africa and Europe, Capcom returns the Resident Evil series back to it's true origins. I got a chance to play a live demo of the game's four player co-op mode, and as a Resident Evil fan I have to admit it was nice seeing a return to where it all started.

Resident Evil: Operation Racoon City takes place between Resident Evil 2, and Resident Evil 3. The story starts with the second game's heroes, Leon and Claire, encountering an explosion from a gasoline truck. Just when Leon is able to slip away into an alley, our characters, who are mercenaries from the Umbrella corporation, are tasked with the mission of executing Leon and Claire. Along the way we learn that the United States Special Forces decided to interfere with the Racoon City epidemic, and becomes another threat to our mission, alongside the hordes of infected Racoon citizens.

Players are given the option to choose which Umbrella special force character they would like to play, each coinciding with a different role that attributes to how your team will work together. Each role will have their own unique abilities, with six characters in total. Some of the character could be classified as a standard class role that many find in co-op and online games. Classes such as a healer, a damage dealing character, and a tank. Even though this helped give a sense of how a player should perform in order to work with their team, I never felt restricted to just one role. The healer character, with the right gun, could be just as effective as a damage dealing character.

The graphics may not be the best in the series, they definitely do not surpass Resident Evil 5, but what is more important for a tactical co-op game like this is a consistent frame rate. There were times where legions of zombies, groups of U.S special ops, and gangs of bio-enhanced zombies all ran amok amongst a city block landscape that seemed too small. However, in none of these instances were there ever lag, or frame rate issues. Even in a game such as Valve's Left 4 Dead, which has great graphics and is very similar to Resident Evil: Operation Racoon City, the amount of zombies they unleashed on the player was monumental, but they had to sacrifice having the level of graphics that an HD console is able to produce. In Resident Evil: Operation Racoon City, the graphics are never sacrificed, even when hordes of zombie are craving for your flesh.

Another great aspect about the graphics is the mood that it sets for the game. I always felt that Resident 5 strayed too far from the horror roots of it's predecessors, and felt more like a supernatural action game then a full blown horror-suspense game. The atmosphere created in Resident Evil: Operation Racoon City feels closer to the tone of the first three games, generating some legitimate frights from the players.

The controls feel more refined then any of the past entries. That could have something to do with the developer's past experiences with the SOCOM franchise, who must have taken a lot of elements from their popular tactical shooter. Resident Evil 4 was the entry into the series that fixed it's frustrating gunplay mechanics, but Resident Evil 5 took those controls and found a way to make it perfect. After playing the demo, I feel comfortably enough to say Resident Evil: Operation Racoon City has a less constricted feel to it's controls, truly perfecting what Resident Evil 5 had already perfected. The controls feel like they give the player more freedom, and are simple enough for anyone to pick up the controller and know how to play. My only complaint is that I feel vulnerable every time I aim my gun, but that may be an aspect the developers want you to feel so that players can work together with their comrades. You watch my back, I watch yours.

Fans of the Resident Evil series will also notice the changes in gameplay. Resident Evil has gone from a survival game, to a third-person shooter, and with Resident Evil: Operation Racoon City it will have ventured into the tactical shooter territory, similar to games like the developer's SOCOM. Players must work together if they want to survive, and the gameplay aids this goal by setting up multiple challenges throughout the level. There was a portion of the demonstration where U.S. snipers are up on rooftops, aiming right at the players while they try to defend themselves against the ferocious zombies. The only effective way to pass the level is to have one of your team members kill the snipers, as you, or another teammate, deal with the zombies. Just like with any good tactical co-op game, teamwork is a vital element.

My biggest complaint about the gameplay was the behavior of the enemy. Although the Capcom representative lingering nearby promised that the zombies will attack U.S. special force enemies, there were times during the game where the zombies were right next to the U.S. enemies, and they did nothing but run side-by-side to attack me and my teammates. Capcom of all game companies should know a zombie is never patriotic, and would chomp on any living flesh right next to them, whether it was Barack Obama himself.

Flaws could also be found in the cover system. The actual act of making your character cover was very simple, however the characters would sometimes not cover themselves completely. I would hide for cover behind a car, only to find my character vulnerably squatting instead of kneeling. An in-game sniper could easily get a clean shot off to kill my character.

Although the change in scenery for the last two Resident Evil games proved to be the necessary change that Capcom needed to revitalize the series, Resident Evil: Operation Racoon City will remind true fans why we fell in love with Racoon City.