Capcom Announces Umbrella Corps, a Resident Evil-Themed Third-Person Shooter

Nothing says happy 20th anniversary to Resident Evil like a Ghost Recon-esque online shooter... right?

Capcom has announced it is making Umbrella Corps to celebrate two decades of the Resident Evil franchise. When you think Resident Evil, you tend to think of slow-moving zombies, bio-organic weapons, tank-style controls, scarce ammunition and confined inventory. Resident Evil 5 and 6 sort of threw these concepts out the window in flushing out Resident Evil 4's over-the-shoulder style of gameplay and cranking up the amount of action in order to rally in non-horror and shooter fans to the series. In Umbrella Corps, we see this concept taken to the max. Umbrella Corps is a third-person shooter that is all about co-op online gameplay and fast-paced action.

I have to admit, this does absolutely nothing for me, and that's coming from someone who has been an avid fan of the series for about 19 years. The HD remasters of Resident Evil 1 and 0, Resident Evil 2's remake and the conflicting nature of Resident Evil 6 suggest that Capcom doesn't know where they really want to take the franchise. Capcom wants to tap into the successes of modern action games and shooters, but in my opinion failed to do so with RE6 and the abysmal Operation Raccoon City (just as Visercal tried with Dead Space 3). What's the best way to celebrate a survival horror series' 20th birthday? NOT an online shooter. I'm just glad they didn't try to give it the name Umbrella Corpse to suggest that there's any kind of an actual horror to this action game that happens to feature zombies.

In related news, the HD remaster of Resident Evil 0 will launch for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC in early 2016. Also, an official remake of Resident Evil 2 is in development. Umbrella Corps will digitally launch for PlayStation 4 and PC in early 2016 for $29.99.

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