10 Biggest Gaming Disappointments of 2012

5. Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

Operating Raccoon City certainly had a lot of promise, taking place around the same time as Resident Evil 2 and 3 and having the player trawl the streets, trying to eliminate the zombie hordes. The big appeal was that it had an online co-op mode, but of course, like previous online Resident Evil games such as Outbreak, it's a game ruined by poor mechanics through and through. It shouldn't be hard for a game like this to succeed on a basic, visceral level, but a patent lack of thoughtful design ruins the fun, instead making for a frustrating gaming experience. Clearly attempting to ape the likes of SOCOM, ORC is instead rife with issues; your team-mate AI is unwaveringly atrocious, there are countless glitches throughout, and the vast majority of the set-pieces are both boring and repetitive. Though it delivers a few thrills online when you're not saddled with brain-dead computer partners, the inherent shoddiness of the design, the poor narrative and the dull missions hamper the fun. It's clear that this was produced on a pretty thin budget, owing to all of the technical issues, and simply, this feels like a cheap bargain bin title that's trying to copy Resident Evil's success. That it has Capcom's name on it makes the failure all the more embarrassing.
 
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Frequently sleep-deprived film addict and video game obsessive who spends more time than is healthy in darkened London screening rooms. Follow his twitter on @ShaunMunroFilm or e-mail him at shaneo632 [at] gmail.com.