Ever since I embarked on my quest to personally test the online functionality of PS3 games in 2025, one game has fascinated me more than all others: Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City. Every time I log on I’m able to join a game within seconds. ORC was panned by critics and players at the time of its release, so why are people still playing it on dead hardware over a decade after the fact? I have a few theories.
Theory one: the franchise. Operation: Raccoon City is a Resident Evil game with familiar locations and characters. Fans may be drawn to it as a curio.
Theory two: trophies. ORC has a difficult platinum trophy that could take weeks to achieve. Great for bragging rights and/or if you’re a Resident Evil completist.
Theory three: ok this isn’t a theory, it’s what I’ve discovered: Operation Raccoon City is fun as hell. It’s a game released at the worst possible time (just months before Resident Evil 6), in a genre that no one was asking for. Like pretty much everyone, I wrote it off when it launched. No regrets. However, the game is much more interesting and far less threatening now than in 2012. The franchise is the best it’s been since the GameCube days: RE Engine-era Capcom has produced banger after banger. A 2012 squad-based multiplayer shooter can’t hurt you anymore.
With stakes and expectations lowered, I’ve found myself able to appreciate ORC for what it is. It’s a ridiculous game, full of arbitrary balancing restrictions, cringeworthy characters, and some pretty clever and addictive ideas.
Maybe ORC didn’t feel unique in 2012, but it sure does now. I’ve played about 5 hours, split between the campaign and online multiplayer, so I haven’t seen everything and have no intention of stopping. The gist of ORC is a typical online shooter with modes like CTF and deathmatch, but in a Resident Evil wrapper. There’s no “zombies mode;” the zombies are ever-present. They go down easier than a human opponent, but can infect players (bad) and if you’re bleeding out, they will swarm you. The presence of zombies and other Bio Organic Weapons lead to absolutely chaotic maps where you are constantly surrounded by threats (and stuff to shoot).
Playing matches (win or lose) increases your rank and more importantly, your XP. Experience points you gain during combat can be used to unlock new abilities and weapons for your load out. It’s incredibly satisfying and addicting to experiment with different classes and builds with what you’ve unlocked.
You can also earn XP and (different) unlocks in the campaign (which can be played solo or cooperatively). As is often the case with multiplayer-focused games, the campaign sometimes feels like a janky afterthought, but it’s far from irredeemable.
The story is goofy and the characters even moreso. The best way I can describe it is if there was a game based on the Paul W. S. Anderson Resident Evil films, it would probably be something like this. But again, being so far removed from the game’s release, it’s fun to see this ridiculous take on the RE story (it takes place between the second and third games). The campaign is nowhere near as fun as multiplayer, but (maybe) worth seeing it through for the XP and trophies.
Time away from 2012-era Resident Evil has made me appreciate it more (I also recently finally came around to RE6). What felt like foolishly chasing trends at the expense of the series’ identity at the time is now something I can enjoy on its own merits. While I wouldn’t necessarily be excited for a new game in the style of ORC today, I’m happy to play the original with a bunch of fellow freaks on my PS3 in 2025.
Played and captured on a PlayStation Triple
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