Capcom talks Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

Unveiled to a baying public last month, Slant Six Games and Capcom's Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City has come under fire for prioritising big bangs and tactical teamplay over the franchise's usual brand of gore-greased terror.

We had a first look at it last month, accompanied by Capcom producer Masachika Kawata. Pick up issue 72 for an exclusive feature, and scroll down for our chat with Kawata.

What are the key ingredients for a Resident Evil title?

There are a few key elements, I would say. One of them is the virus, obviously, to make the zombies, and also different characters, the background music. Resident Evil is a long-established franchise, and there are key elements that we have to cover

How have you found working with an external developer?

First of all, I must say that I love the challenge of working with a western developer, Slant Six especially. Having said that, Resident Evil is very unique to Capcom, we've got lots of people working on that particular franchise.

If we're going to start working with anybody outside of Capcom, Japanese developers as well, we run the risk of losing those particular elements, therefore the first thing we did was pass on the foundation of the Resident Evil history, and we made sure that Slant Six got it - and I'm happy with the results.

Have you had many Resident Evil fan requests to revisit Raccoon City?

In the past, only part of Raccoon City was introduced in the game. However, we did hear from the Resident Evil core fans that the stage set with Raccoon City was especially popular, and that they wanted to revisit that particular part of the Resident Evil history. And we do need larger settings for a shooting game, so Raccoon City was very fitting.

Why was Slant Six the right developer for Operation Raccoon City?

From the concept stage we wanted to create a third-person shooter in the Resident Evil world, and obviously Slant Six have lots of know-how in the shooting genre, so we were very much looking forward to working with them.

This isn't the first cooperative Resident Evil game. Has Capcom learned anything in particular from past projects that applies to Operation Raccoon City?

Zombies aren't just for shooting - they make surprisingly robust shields, too.

 
This time around we are setting the game in the Resident Evil world, but we aren't aiming for another horror game, but a shooting game. And we thought about the elements we'd need not only for Resident Evil fans but for fans of shooting games, to appeal to the shooter fans to play this particular game. So obviously one element we had to include was co-op.

We will have all the regular shooting game specs and features in this game, but on top of that, we will wrap it up with the Resident Evil brand, the universe. This game should be a very, very unique one.

Another aspect of the game is if say for instance you get injured by being hit - zombies can smell your blood. So rather than just worrying about the enemy squad, you now have to worry about zombies being attracted to your injured men.

Therefore, if you're healthy and unlimited ammo's on your side, the zombies are easy to shoot at. However the more you get injured, the further you get into a tight corner, and the zombies can be very formidable enemies. So that sort of contrast will create a different kind of tension in this game.

Isn't it harder to scare people when they have friends fighting alongside them?

We're not so much into letting users experience the horror as such, this time - this is a shooter game, so we didn't go down that road. So probably it's a different direction we're talking about.

Is it refreshing to tell a story from Umbrella's perspective?

Yes, it was very refreshing. We talked about the key phrase, "kill Leon", that you wouldn't have ever seen in the numbered titles. Telling the story from the USS point of view - this is a completely different set of challenges and very interesting to work on.

Do you think the players will challenge players morally by making them do Umbrella's dirty work?

Resident Evil 2's Hunters are at large in Operation Raccoon City.

 
Yeah, probably - it's a work in progress. However there is another challenge that we would like to push the limit, and we'll see how much we can do.

Are you pleased with the character designs, and do you think they'll be as treasured as those of older Resident Evil games?

I'm happy with the concept design. At the moment with the character modelling, we need to lock down more details and features, but I'm confident they will look really good.

Having said that, the good thing about the Resident Evil world is that the franchise isn't based on reality at once. So if Vector was to become half-transparent, nobody's going to argue about it!

How does working with a Western team differ from working with a Japanese team?

Different time zones! And a different language.

You know what, I've never worked with any Western developers besides Slant Six, and I don't know if the same is true of other Western developers, but they work very hard. I didn't find any differences to any of the Japanese developers I've worked with before. Besides the time zone and language, I've had no problems working with them at all.

To be honest, I had my own impression about Western people - being laid back and sitting on sofas, but even yesterday they came in early, on a Sunday, and gave us all sorts of recommendations. They wanted to do it, rather than being dragged out of bed if you like. So they've completely changed my perception about working with Western developers.

How long have you wanted to take the Resident Evil world and turn it into a shooter?

As far as I remember, I started to think about a different aspect of the Resident Evil games around the time of Resident Evil 4, and around the time of Resident Evil 5 as well. The horror games can be pursued in the numbered titles, however, in a different universe in the Resident Evil world, there should be more challenge, there should be something else that I can do.

Are there any other genres in which Resident Evil would work?

Puzzle games!

For more on Raccoon City, pick up Issue 72 of OXM - on sale today. Expect a regular news mushroom cloud later this afternoon, as embargoes go up on coverage of Capcom's Captivate event in Miami last week.

 Source: http://www.oxm.co.uk/27399/resident-evil-operation-raccoon-city-capcom-interview/