Resident Evil: Raccoon City is 'a spin-off', takes series in 'new direction' - CapcomProducer discusses Resi's latestCapcom's discussed its just announced Resident Evil shooter, Operation Raccoon City, telling the French OPM it sees the title as "a spin-off" from the main survival horror series.
The game, which is being developed by SOCOM studio Slant Six, looks to be quite a departure for the Resident Evil series, with 4-player squad shootouts replacing the traditional slow-paced monster scares.
Producer Masachika Kawata told OPM France (via NeoGAF): "For us, it's about a new direction for RE. It's kind of a spin-off. That's why it doesn't have a number. It's not necessarily entirely in the canon, but it's totally immersed in the mythology.
Asked why Capcom chose to move the series into third-person shooter territory, Kawata-san said: "As you know it's our fifteenth anniversary, which is a long time for a video game series... Some players came to the series when it made a turn towards action [in Resident Evil 4] (still with horror elements, though). This design led the series towards third-person shooter.
"The idea [to work with a Western developer] came up when we were working on Lost Planet 2," he added. "We didn't have any other teams internally to work on it. Western studios are known for their ease of development, and in terms of gameplay, this genre.
"We just bought a studio in Vancouver (Blue Castle) and when we were looking for external partners Blue Castle talked with Slant Six, and they were well known for their online games and their coding skills. We met them and they were big RE fans. A good starting point!"
He added, calming fan fears: "I want to clarify something, even though [this is] a shooter, there are still tons of horror elements."
Yesterday Capcom promised a "dark and sinister" atmosphere and "thrilling triple threat battle" for the shooter. See more Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City details
here.