Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City – Review (PS3)

The premise of Operation Raccoon City is a great one – you’re a team of operatives that work for Umbrella, the evil corporation at the heart of all the trouble caused in the Resident Evil universe. So for one thing you’re seeing the universe from the other side for a change, add in the fact this is all taking place alongside the events of Resident Evils 2 & 3 and you have something full of promise.

The setting is pretty cool, obviously this isn’t the first time we’ve seen Raccoon City but the developers do a good job of bringing it (back) to life and it was interesting to see the more open, chaotic side of the virus outbreak as opposed to the tight corridors etc the genre usually introduces. Of course there are also enclosed environments but these were your standard internal locales.

Graphically the game wasn’t great – it certainly wasn’t terrible but no boundaries were being pushed here. That’s not a bad thing necessarily, it just meant having played games recently like Max Payne 3 and Mass Effect 3 that excelled graphically, Operation Raccoon City looked pretty flat in comparison.

One of the biggest pluses for me alongside the story was the soundtrack, which helped drag you in during intense moments. Sound effects in general and the voicework for the characters weren’t great though, which was a shame.

The game can be played as 4 player co-op although I’m not really sure how much this would really add to the experience. I already felt like I was doing the lions share of the work when playing on my own and not enjoying it massively, so would doing less be better or make it more boring? I guess it would depend on who you were playing with – regardless it’s nice to have the option.

The combat wasn’t great, with shooting in particular feeling slightly off. I couldn’t really put my finger on exactly what the issue was but it made for some frustrating gun battles. The melee combat was ok but if you get overrun it’ll likely be game over.

I like the idea of becoming infected if you get bitten but the mechanic here is simply ‘find and use a blue potion to cure yourself’ within the next 20 seconds or die. I would’ve much preferred them to explore a path whereby if you get bitten it can last for a few levels before you fully succumb to it – maybe give your character a slight shake as they aim that gets worse over time until you’re cured. Or have enemies appear that aren’t there as you unravel. I think it sums up the entire game that with all that potential the developers went with the easiest out.

As well as Zombies you’ll be facing off against special forces operatives (for story reasons that I won’t divulge) and these guys can be a real pain in the ass. Their AI seems to be much better than your team mates and at times I felt the game just threw loads of the special forces guys at you to lengthen some of the gun fights.

Overall then Operation Raccoon City is a great idea executed poorly. There were a few excellent moments but they don’t do enough to make this a must-play. Fans of the series will no doubt enjoy the crossover and nods to Resident Evil lore but the whole time I was playing the game I just couldn’t get over how stale it felt. Not bad, not good just… average.

Rating: 5/10

Top 20 Kick Ass Female Characters: Part 2

So we kicked off our Top 20 Kick Ass Female Characters earlier this week with numbers 20 down to 11, which can be found here.

And now the countdown continues…

 

10. Chun Li (Street Fighter)

Chun Li was one of those characters that everyone remembers, with her Lightning Kick and Spinning Bird Kick moves.

She enters the Street Fighter competition to avenge her father’s death as he was killed while investigating Shadaloo, M. Bison’s crime syndicate.

Chun Li was the first playable female character in a fighting game, which is pretty kick ass in itself.

But anyone who’s played as her only needs to hear her shout ‘Spinning Bird Kick!’ to know how kick ass she really is.

 

9. The Boss (Metal Gear Solid)

Well without giving too much away from the (already confusing and downright wacky) Metal Gear Solid storylines, The Boss is a former C.I.A operative who was active throughout World War II and the Cold War as part of The Cobra Unit.

She has elite army training and is the founder of a specific type of close quarters combat using a combination of knife and gun to take down opponents.

The Boss was  a superspy who worked with lots of different organisations but her hand to hand prowess was almost unmatched and would easily take down squads of men before they realised what was going on.

 

8. Sarah Connor (Terminator)

Sarah Connor is a prime example of the maternal instinct – although in this case it’s also for the world’s benefit that she protects her son from harm.

After becoming pregnant following a liasion with a time travelling soldier Sarah Connor conceives her son John – who goes on to save humankind in a war against the machines.

Quite frankly anyone who can survive the advances of a Terminator is pretty hardcore in my book and you’re spoilt for choice with this entry as you have Linda Hamilton (film series) and Lena Headey (TV series) both playing the role so there’s twice as much carnage!

 

7. Miho (Sin City)

I think when I saw Sin City I was completely blown away by Miho – but in compiling this list all I could recall was her being handy with Shuriken. Well I checked out a clip on YouTube which confirmed her place in the Top 10.

Be warned this is VERY graphic violence from Sin City so don’t click the link if you like body parts remaining where they started:

Well I don’t feel like I have to add much but for those who didn’t watch the clip it basically showed Miho using her Shuriken and samurai swords to take out several bad guys.

Great skills but it’s the fact she doesn’t flinch once when killing these guys that makes Miho out as particualrly hardcore.

 

6. Buffy Summers (Buffy The Vampire Slayer)

Buffy Summers has done her fair share of kicking vampire ass over the 8 seasons of Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

While the show had a kind of camp, comedic quality the actual fight scenes and hand to hand combat were really well done.

Her ‘Watcher’ (mentor) Giles always had her training with the heavy bag and her skill set included lots of different types of martial arts.

She had to be at the top of her game to battle with the undead every night and there was a lot of high kicking and vicious punching in amongst the stakes through the heart.

Plus she was pretty handy with a crossbow.

 

5. The Bride (Kill Bill)

If you are looking for an assassin you could do a lot worse than The Bride, the cream of the Deadly Vipers assassin clan.

Her outrageous battle with The Crazy 88 is the stuff of legend and her use of the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique is hard to better.

She’s able to wield swords, guns… you name it, she’ll use it. The Bride is also good at adapting plans on the fly and just using whatever she can get her hands on to kill her target.

You better hope it’s not you she’s coming after.

 

4. Jill Valentine (Resident Evil)

One of the survivors of the original T-Virus outbreak in Resident Evil, Jill has been non-stop ever since.

Initially a member of the Special Tactics And Rescue Service (STARS), Jill is highly skilled in hand to hand combat and gun play.

After leaving STARS, she helped Chris Redfield try to blow the lid on the Umbrella Corporation in various other games in the series.

She’s survived so many Zombie attacks it’s a testament to her skills that she is still alive to tell the tale.

 

3. Cherry Darling (Planet Terror)

 

You might not think a go-go dancer from Texas would be such a kick ass character but then again perhaps you haven’t encountered Cherry Darling.

Following on from a virus being released into the atmosphere that has turned the locals into flesh eating zombies it’s up to Cherry and a gang of uninfected peeps to save the day.

After a car accident sees Cherry thrown from the vehicle and one of her legs eaten by zombies she recovers in hospital and is eventually given a custom made machine gun instead of a false leg

Cherry uses her new found weapon to help stop the spread of the virus but unfortunately the spread does continue, albeit on a reduced scale.

From there on out Cherry leads what remains of mankind to a fort on the sea line, where they will do battle, defending the fort and living the best lives they can in the meantime.

 

2. Ripley (Aliens)

Ellen Ripley’s nightmare began when her ship the Nostromo encountered a distress signal and decided to investigate.

We all know how that ended but Ripley shows guts and determination during the Alien series of films.

Protecting Newt and even some Colonial Marines in the second film, she has a sense of leadership that others look to in times of trouble.

Ripley might not have the combat skills of the rest of the Top 20 but her heart and all out action style would give any of them a run for their money.

 

1. River Tam (Firefly/Serenity)

River is smuggled aboard Firefly by her brother Simon as the pair of them are on the run from The Alliance.

Upon coming out of hiding on the ship she is shown to be simple and most of the crew presume she has learning difficulties or the like.

That wasn’t true. Her emotional problems stemmed from botched brain surgery at ‘school.’

River came from a rich bakground and was considered a child prodigy. Sent to a private school called The Academy at age 14, which turned out to be an undercover government experiment that was trying to create the perfect assassin.

Highly skilled with firearms and deadly in hand to hand combat River can be triggered at any time, which activates her assassin ‘mode.’

Check out this fight scene from the film Serenity – absolutely kick ass

GregHorrorShow’s Top 100 Games: 10-6

Here we go, The Top 10 begins!

A quick recap on how I decided who came where:

I decided, as so many games mean so many different things to me, I should come up with a fair way to judge them. This is what I came up with:

Time Spent Playing

Storyline

Difficulty

Fun

Ground Breaking?

A few provisos before we hit the next ten games…

Firstly this is my list of my Top 100 games. I certainly don’t expect you guys to agree with it (though hopefully you’ll agree with some of the choices  ) and would welcome any comments.

Secondly, I’m not planning on putting the scores or totals up, just listing the games in the order they came out in.

Lastly, I never owned a Nintendo or Microsoft console so my experiences on these games were limited to friend’s houses etc – bite me

Let’s crack on with the Top 10…

 

10. SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (Sega Master System)

Sonic The Hedgehog was a legendary game – sadly it’s been let down recently by some terrible games that while having the Sonic name don’t have the heart of the original. This was truly groundbreaking stuff – we’d never seen anything so fast! We had the Master System version and it was so good we played it for days on end. It could be finished in about half hour but the replayability was immense. This really is a seminal game – the music, the graphics, the gameplay… it all still stands up today and the blue hedgehog was a worthy adversary for Mario.

 

9. STREET FIGHTER II (Arcade)

Well if it isn’t the arcade classic that is Street Fighter II. This was one of those games everyone went crazy for. I remember playing it in the arcade and the only move I knew was Blanka’s electricity (just keep hammering punch). Once it got a home port and the games mags gave out the move lists I spent hours, literally, reading and learning the moves with no copy of the game.

That in itself is pretty sad – but on the other hand it meant by the time I got a copy or went to the arcades again I was a very good player. I remember pulling off my first Dragon Punch in the local chip shop (where the nearest arcade machine was) and hearing a little gasp from the kids behind me – geeky but awesome Guile was always my favourite character though – it was the hair!

 

8. RESIDENT EVIL (Sony Playstation)

Resident Evil was a groundbreaking title in that it was the first mainstream survival horror game. Limited ammo, slow characters – it wasn’t something gamers were used to and that really made it stand out. That and the appalling dialogue. Seeing Jill Valentine narrowly escape being crushed to death in a trap where the ceiling was lowering Barry quips: “You were almost a Jill sandwich!” Cue laughter from both characters. Erm… what? But what a game though – everyone who’s played it will remember finding ‘Kenneth from Bravo Team’ or the moment that made gamers everywhere jump like never before… the dogs through the window

 

7. METAL GEAR SOLID 4: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS (Playstation 3)

We had to wait three years for the return of Metal Gear Solid after MGS 3: Snake Eater and when it did arrive Solid Snake was an old man. I kid you not. He had prematurely aged what with being a clone and all that (like Dolly The Sheep) and was left with no choice but to enter the fray with old age fast approaching. And what a fray it was, warring factions and the ongoing arms race provided the backdrop for MGS 4.

As we expected this was no ordinary game – with the ability to listen to his ipod to relieve stress and hiding in barrels added as well as the old classic – being able to hide in a cardboard box, MGS 4 took things even further than previous games. A complex moveset and a major storyline with some cutscenes lasting an near enough an hour might have been enough to put some people off but the reward was great. Even though I felt the ending was a cop out

 

6. GRAND THEFT AUTO IV (Playstation 3)

The move to next gen was a great one for the Grand Theft Auto brand and the fourth game in the series clocked up plenty of amazing reviews when it was released. Liberty City is as close to a fully realised city as we’ve seen within a game. You could stand on the street and listen to people getting on with their (virtual) lives. I’m not saying it would be fun but the fact that it’s possible is testament to the dedication of the makers. Niko Bellic was a fun character to control and his motley crew of friends and girlfriends kept us all entertained long after they should have.

The choices you could make that impacted the story were great and the ending, well I won’t spoil it but it was certainly a fitting end to the Bellic’s story. But it was the random happenings that make all the GTA games great and this one was no different. When I first fired it up I went for a joyride as you do. Ran a red light and smashed into the side of another car. As we both came to a halt I could hear the other driver holding down his horn at me. I jumped out my car in a moment of road rage and ran over to his car. The side was caved in, the window smashed and the guy was unconscious with his head on the steering wheel – hence the horn. I was so shocked for a second I didn’t know what to do. Moments like that make games and there were plenty in GTA IV.

 

So we’re down to the final 5 – all will be revealed in the next, and final, installment of the Top 100 Games!

Trophyitis or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the PS3 Trophy System

I’d been aware of XBox ‘Achievements’, a set of unlockable awards that you got by completing certain tasks in games, for some time when Sony announced their own version which were to be termed ‘Trophies.’

Myself and my friends greeted the news with a shrug in an Alan Partridge ‘revamped current news and affairs’ style:

“Why would that be of interest to me?”

“Surely that’s for kids.”

“I won’t be bothering with them.”

Only we changed.

Somewhere between the announcement and now, something clicked. Was it a general surge of opinion in favour of Trophies? Perhaps it was the ‘twing’ noise of a pop up confirming a trophy?

Regardless of how it happened it seems people have been infected with a very different T-Virus to the one that features in Resident Evil – ‘Trophyitis.’

I have a fairly low level case – I enjoy getting the trophies, the satisfaction at looking back afterwards: “oh yes, I’d forgotten I got 50 headshots” or “what a tough one it was to beat that last boss in under 20 minutes on Killzone 2″ I’ll maybe check what trophies an upcoming game has but usually won’t go out of my way to try and get them all.

At the other end of the spectrum are the Indiana Jones’ and Nathan Drake’s of the trophy world, the guys who live and breathe for that rare beast – the *platinum* trophy.

A word to the folks who don’t know, the trophy structure is thus:

Bronze: awarded for menial tasks ‘oh you’ve opened a door’, ‘you shot 500 enemies’, ‘you found a secret room’ etc.

Silver: a bit tougher here. More likely to be ‘you killed 1000 enemies’, ‘you collected every weapon in the game’ and for a lot of games ‘you finished the game (on anything under hard difficulty)’.

Gold: Ah the gold trophy – awarded for beating great games on ‘hard’ or for completing bad games who just want you to stick with them til the end. Also awarded for generally near impossible/heroic/mental feats such as ‘you found all 250 pieces of intel’, ‘you completed the game just using the pistol’ etc

Platinum: the crème de le crème. Platinum trophies are awarded for getting every other trophy for that game. It’s like the trophy icing on the cake.

But surely it’s just an artificial demonstration of how much you play games? Is there really any pride to be had in having racked up hundreds of trophies?

I don’t think so.

I guess it depends on your point of view but personally I think it’s like any numbers based social activity. Take Facebook or Twitter for example – how many people are solely interested in how many friends/followers they have? It’s exactly the same with trophies.

The real pride comes not in number but the actual trophies you have. I would rather have a difficult trophy (say being an expert in one field) that not a lot of people have than 20 bronze ones that everyone has.

One of my friends is the next step up from me – having gone from not really being fussed to playing Call Of Duty: World At War on Veteran so he could get two Gold trophies. He ended up taking more than twice as long to finish the game as normal simply to secure that extra gold trophy.

I’m sure the sense of achievement was immense having struggled through the levels but for me personally I don’t have the time or energy to do that. I simply wouldn’t finish the game as my tolerance level peaks around the hour mark in levels.

I can understand the trophy buzz in some instances – my favourite ever trophy was the one that popped up on LittleBigPlanet because over 50 people had played my created level. I was pretty proud of that. (EDIT: The level is called Kitchen Kaper! by GregHorrorShow for those LittleBigPlanet players out there )

I’ll keep playing through games and picking up trophies here and there but I think I’ll leave the trophy hunting to others!

This certainly isn’t a piece bashing peeps that collect trophies and I’ll be interested to see what comments you guys have and if you chase the platinum or are happy to pick them up as you go along.