Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is a 2012 squad shooter from Slant Six Games and Capcom that drops you into the Raccoon City outbreak as Umbrella’s cleanup crew, not the survivors. It plays like a co-op cover shooter with zombies, not survival horror, and it rewrites a few famous moments from Resident Evil 2 and 3 along the way. Below you’ll find what it is, where it sits in the timeline, how the six Wolfpack classes work, the multiplayer modes, and whether it deserves a night of your time.
What Operation Raccoon City actually is
This is a spin-off, and it knows it. Capcom handed the project to Slant Six Games, the Vancouver studio behind the SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs handheld games. They built a third-person tactical shooter with a cover system, class abilities and a three-way fight between your squad, US government soldiers and Umbrella’s monsters.
You play Umbrella Security Service Delta Team, codename Wolfpack. Your job is to destroy evidence, kill witnesses and keep Umbrella’s name out of the news. That premise is the best thing about the game: you are the faceless goons from the old games, and the protagonists are the obstacles.
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Developer | Slant Six Games |
| Publisher | Capcom |
| Release | March 2012 (PS3, Xbox 360), May 2012 (Windows PC) |
| Genre | Third-person squad shooter |
| Players | 1-4 co-op campaign online, competitive multiplayer |
| Campaign | 7 missions |
| Paid DLC | Echo Six Expansion Set, plus Nemesis Mode |
Where it fits in the Resident Evil timeline
Operation Raccoon City runs alongside Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 during the late September 1998 outbreak. It is a “what if” side story. Capcom’s main timeline still follows the original games, so treat any event here that contradicts RE2 or RE3 as non-canon.
Keep remakes and originals straight. The game draws on the 1998 and 1999 PlayStation originals, because the remakes didn’t exist yet in 2012.
Raccoon City games in release order
| Year | Game | Platform at launch |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Resident Evil 2 | PlayStation |
| 1999 | Resident Evil 3: Nemesis | PlayStation |
| 2003 | Resident Evil Outbreak | PlayStation 2 |
| 2004 | Resident Evil Outbreak File #2 | PlayStation 2 |
| 2009 | Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles | Wii |
| 2012 | Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City | PS3, Xbox 360, PC |
| 2019 | Resident Evil 2 (remake) | PS4, Xbox One, PC |
| 2020 | Resident Evil 3 (remake) | PS4, Xbox One, PC |
Raccoon City events in story order
| Order | What happens | Covered in |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Umbrella’s USS raids William Birkin’s lab for the G-virus | Operation Raccoon City opening, RE2 backstory |
| 2 | The outbreak spreads through the city | Outbreak, Outbreak File #2 |
| 3 | Jill Valentine fights to escape while Nemesis hunts her | Resident Evil 3 |
| 4 | Leon and Claire arrive and head for the police station | Resident Evil 2 |
| 5 | Wolfpack’s cleanup missions overlap both stories | Operation Raccoon City |
| 6 | The city is destroyed on October 1, 1998 | RE2, RE3, Operation Raccoon City |
RE2 and RE3 overlap heavily, so steps 3 to 5 run at roughly the same time instead of one after another.
Expect plenty of cameos. Leon Kennedy, Claire Redfield, Jill Valentine, Carlos Oliveira, HUNK and Nicholai Ginovaef all show up. Ada Wong appears too, still scheming in the background. You’ll also run into Mr. X and Nemesis as boss-level threats.
The six Wolfpack classes
Each Wolfpack member is a fixed class with unique abilities. You unlock and upgrade those abilities with experience points earned in missions. Pick your class for the role your squad is missing.
| Character | Class | What they bring |
|---|---|---|
| Lupo | Assault | Team leader, sturdy, strong with assault rifles |
| Vector | Recon | Active camouflage and the ability to mimic enemy soldiers |
| Beltway | Demolitions | Explosives, mines, extra toughness |
| Bertha | Medic | Healing, stronger first aid sprays, antiviral support |
| Spectre | Surveillance | Sniping, thermal vision, spotting enemies through walls |
| Four Eyes | Field Scientist | Turns infected enemies against your opponents |
Solo players get the most mileage out of Bertha or Beltway, because the AI teammates are unreliable at keeping you alive. In a full co-op squad, Four Eyes and Vector are the most fun to master. They reward planning instead of pure shooting.
Campaign tips that actually help
The campaign has seven missions, and the AI partners can’t carry you on harder settings. These habits make the biggest difference.
- Watch your bleeding. Wounded characters attract zombies. If you take heavy damage in an open area, heal or retreat before the horde notices.
- Carry antiviral spray. Zombie bites can infect you. Left untreated, you turn and attack your own squad, so cure it fast.
- Use the three-way fight. Spec Ops soldiers and zombies hate each other too. Let them thin each other out before you push.
- Melee the zombies, shoot the soldiers. Melee kills on zombies save ammo. Human enemies with rifles need cover and focused fire.
- Spend experience early. Unlock class abilities before buying new guns. A good ability usually changes a fight more than a slightly better rifle.
- Don’t fight Tyrants head-on. Mr. X and Nemesis soak up enormous damage. Spread out and keep moving so only one player gets targeted at a time.
Multiplayer modes
Competitive play pits Umbrella’s USS against US government Spec Ops, with B.O.W.s crashing every match.
- Team Attack: a straight team deathmatch, with zombies and creatures roaming the map.
- Biohazard: teams race to grab G-virus samples and return them to base, like capture the flag.
- Heroes: each side controls named characters from the series, and knocking out the enemy’s heroes is the goal.
- Survivor: both teams hold out until a rescue helicopter arrives, which doesn’t have room for everyone.
- Nemesis Mode: added through DLC, it lets a player take control of Nemesis.
The Echo Six Expansion Set adds a separate campaign from the Spec Ops side. If you enjoyed the base game, it’s the one piece of extra content that changes your perspective on the outbreak.
How to play it today
There is no remaster and no re-release for current consoles. The original PS3 and Xbox 360 discs are still the most straightforward way to play the campaign, and used copies are easy to find.
The Windows version shipped tied to Games for Windows Live, the Microsoft service that was later wound down. That makes PC the fussiest way in. Before buying a digital copy, check the current store page and recent user reviews, especially if you want online co-op.
Online populations for a 2012 shooter are thin on every platform. Plan to bring your own squad of friends. Matchmaking with strangers rarely works anymore.
Is it worth playing?
It’s worth a weekend if you go in for the right reason. This is a goofy, loud co-op shooter set in a beloved place, and it delivers that. It isn’t scary, the AI teammates are weak, and the story is mostly an excuse to visit iconic locations.
Here’s who it suits best:
- Co-op groups of three or four who want a Resident Evil shooter night with zero dread.
- Lore fans curious to see Raccoon City from Umbrella’s side.
- Players who can’t handle scares. Gore is heavy, but tension is close to zero.
Skip it if you want a real survival horror experience. If you want to relive these exact events properly, the RE remakes on Switch 2 or the 2019 and 2020 remakes on other platforms are the better pick.
If you liked this
Resident Evil Outbreak (2003): four-person survival during the same outbreak, with much more tension.
Resident Evil 6 (2012): big-budget co-op action with Leon, Chris and Ada.
Resident Evil Resistance (2020): asymmetric multiplayer set in Raccoon City, bundled with the RE3 remake.
The ending and the big choice
Spoiler warning
This section spoils the final mission and both endings of Operation Raccoon City.
The last mission forces a decision about Leon. Umbrella orders Wolfpack to eliminate him as a witness, and you choose whether to follow that order or protect him.
If you kill Leon, the game ends on its darkest alternate-history note, with Umbrella’s survivors pulling the strings afterward. If you save him, Wolfpack turns on its masters and the story lands closer to the familiar timeline. Neither ending is canon. In the main series, Leon survives Raccoon City and goes on to Resident Evil 4, so the “kill” ending is pure what-if fan service.
FAQ
Is Operation Raccoon City canon?
No. It’s a side story that reimagines events from Resident Evil 2 and 3. The mainline timeline follows the original games and their remakes.
Does it have split-screen co-op?
No. The four-player campaign co-op runs online only. When you play solo, AI controls the rest of Wolfpack.
How long does the campaign take?
Expect roughly 6 to 8 hours across the seven missions on normal difficulty. Higher difficulties and replaying with each class add plenty more.
Is Operation Raccoon City scary?
Barely. It’s an action shooter with heavy gore and almost no tension, which makes it a good pick if you find mainline Resident Evil too stressful.
Who developed it?
Slant Six Games developed it and Capcom published it. Capcom’s own teams weren’t the lead developer, which explains why it feels so different from the numbered games.