Star Wars The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition Star Wars The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition

It’s been several years since LucasArts first asked its fan base, “Would you be interested in playing as a Star Wars villain?” Apparently, this idea was met with some enthusiasm, and the result was The Force Unleashed for console gaming systems. TFU makes its PC debut with the Ultimate Sith Edition with its flashy new packaging and additional game content. Unfortunately, this updated release is just a few banthas short of a herd.

To its credit, The Force Unleashed does a lot of things extremely well. You don’t need to be a Star Wars junkie to appreciate the story, which is lavishly presented in high-quality cinematic sequences. The characters are brought to life not only with terrific voice acting, but facial motion capture that impressively conveys the fluidity of human emotion. For those unfamiliar, The Force Unleashed follows the adventures of Darth Vader’s secret apprentice, who is exceptionally talented and trained as an instrument of the dark side. This makes the apprentice a true “wrecking ball” of the Force, indiscriminately blasting through rebel soldiers and stormtroopers alike.

Although dazzling as always, the lightsaber is not really the focal point of the combat. Most of the fun lies within the clever integration of Force powers. TFU is an action game at its core, and the available moves for the apprentice certainly reflect this. Hurling objects at your foes, electrocuting them with lightning, or simply blasting them into oblivion offers players the chance to channel quite a bit of aggression into the game. As you become increasingly skilled, you’ll be able to string powers together for devastating results; lifting a stormtrooper into the air, then impaling him with the lightsaber, might be one of the coolest things seen in any Star Wars video-game.

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EA stock tanks on Star Wars: The Old Republic fears EA stock tanks on Star Wars: The Old Republic fears

US markets are largely positive today, due in large part to positive earnings-season economic data and strengthening unemployment data, according to a consensus of financial reporters. However, such is not the case for Electronic Arts, which is trading down more than 6 percent after Brean Murray Carret & Co. analyst Todd Mitchell lowered the company's price target from $28 to $22.

As reported by Market Watch, Mitchell's reassessment of EA came about due to what he termed "creeping concerns" over the future of EA's recently launched massively multiplayer online role-playing game Star Wars: The Old Republic.

"Specifically, initial sales appear to be below expectations, and casual observation of early play is causing us to rethink our churn assumptions," Mitchell said in a note to investors.

Released to a strong critical reception on December 20, The Old Republic sold more than 1 million units during its first week of availability. That tally proved to be more than what EA could handle, as the game's launch was marred by long wait times to access many servers.

Mitchell's analysis of The Old Republic's situation isn't without its detractors. Speaking with GameSpot, Electronic Entertainment Design and Research's Jesse Divnich emphasized that it is far too early to measure the game's long-term potential.

"Some sell-side analysts have such bad tunnel vision on the market that they fail to understand the mechanics of the MMO vertical," Divnich said. "Whether MMO, console game, mobile, or social, each have a completely different business model. It is erroneous to apply success metrics from other verticals to the MMO market and that is exactly what a lot of analysts are doing."

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SoulCalibur: Broken Destiny SoulCalibur: Broken Destiny

Up until now, Tekken has been the only massive 3D fighter to arrive on the PSP. Years ago when Tekken: Dark Resurrection arrived on the PSP, I praised it for being a superb game that brought the very same console experience into the portable world, complete with a story mode, endings, and all. So with SoulCalibur: Broken Destiny on the way, I expected to see that same kind of treatment. And while Broken Destiny delivers in many areas, it fails in one critical aspect...

...That aspect is a proper story mode that comes complete with individual endings. A mission-based mode called The Gauntlet serves as this game's core experience and quite frankly it's pretty terrible. Essentially the game pits you against numerous rivals, but instead of full fledged fights, you have to carry out specific tasks/requirements that are displayed on the screen in order to progress. Now, each one of these "missions" lasts, on average, about five seconds, with a select few going as much as 20. These "missions" will often require you to dodge an attack, block an attack, block then counter an attack, or dodge then counter an attack. Needless to say, these mission requirements are pretty repetitive and tire quick. Sure there's a mildly amusing story behind The Gauntlet, but it's not nearly amusing enough to play the mode for.

Now, as far the gameplay transition from console to handheld goes, SoulCalibur: Broken Destiny does everything just right. Just like how Tekken: Dark Resurrection found its way flawlessly onto the PSP, you can expect that same level of quality from Broken Destiny's battles, complete with its superb fluidity. In total, over 30 fighters are found in the game, one of which is Kratos, in addition to an all new fighter Dampierre. Kratos is one of the heavier pushes for Broken Destiny, as he is actually the most prominent figure on the game's box art.

Of course, naturally, Kratos was my first pick to fight with, and it felt absolutely fantastic to kick some ass with him. He retains all of his signature attacks from the game, and they're particularly awesome to pull-off, too. Also, thanks to Sony, Namco-Bandai had the proper help when integrating Kratos into the SC universe. In fact, from what I was told by a Namco rep, the Kratos model in the game is actually the same one found in God of War: Chains of Olympus, which is very cool.

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Gran Turismo Gran Turismo

A collective holy sh*t has probably dropped from every last one of you guys reading this. Or maybe not. Yes, you're looking at a Gran Turismo review that has scored, for the first time ever, nowhere near the practically perfect grades we've graced this franchise with since day one. Okay, maybe some of you have read some of the other reviews out there and are aware that something has gone really wrong. Well, first off, allow me to preface the remainder of this review by stating that Gran Turismo for the PSP has, allegedly, been in development for five years. I say allegedly, because I'm certain that the development cycle for the game had been temporarily sidelined numerous times in between all of the work Polyphony had to do for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3. Gran Turismo's development was most certainly not a continuous effort of five years...and unfortunately, it shows.

Now, after re-reading this review, it definitely comes off harsh, but with good reason. Gran Turismo PSP is a flawed game. But, on the other hand, I still had a lot of fun with it, as at its core, GT PSP is still very enjoyable, accessible, and fun game. I put in tons and tons of hours into the game just making money and collecting cars, which is one of the purposes of GT PSP. Many of these cars are transferable, allowing you to sync GT PSP to GT5 and transfer cars you've bought or won into your PS3 game. Again, GT PSP is a very fun game. But a "fully specced Gran Turismo", Kazunori Yamauchi said, this is not.

The first major disappointment came when I realized the tiny little size of the game file Sony had forwarded me. 937MB? Gran Turismo 2 was a PlayStation 1 game and it boasted two separate discs, essentially making it a game worth 1.2GB. Okay, so I held out hope. So the game boots up, and immediately I run to the dealership to look through the list of amazing cars, only to realize I can only choose between Bugatti, Bentley, Chevy, and Polyphony. "Oh," I said, "Sony must've sent me a demo file accidentally. Oh, those crazy guys, I'll just contact them agai...what? This is normal?" You see, as the days cycle in-game, the dealerships you can browse through change, as do the cars you can buy.

Allow me to explain in a bit more detail. When you boot up the game, you'll have four dealers to access and 100,000 credits to spend on a car, which is a gracious sum. Once you buy a car, you can participate in a few events. As the days roll on in the game, a new set of four dealerships will be made available to you. But, just because you can access a Nissan dealer, doesn't mean you can have the ability to buy any of their cars. No, no. If you don't see a GT-R or a 300ZX TT, you have to wait until the next time Nissan becomes one of the four dealers you can shop at and see if the assortment of cars features the ones you want. Yes, it's that complicated, confusing, and stupid.

Some of you may say, "but Arnold, why didn't you mention this in your GT PSP hands-on preview? Why is this such a shock to you?" Because when I played Gran Turismo PSP a few months ago at a New York City event, I recall being able to sort through a complete listing of every car in the game, through every single make; none of this four dealers only bullcrap. So to see this absolute lunacy on my PSP, in a game I had so long waited for made me livid, quite frankly, as I'm sure you can tell by the tone of this diatribe.

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3DS getting new 2D Mario 3DS getting new 2D Mario

Nintendo fans will soon be getting a new Mario game and a new way to take the company's systems online. Today, Nintendo announced that a new 2D Mario side-scroller is in development for the 3DS and detailed the plans for an online hub called the Nintendo Network for the Wii U and 3DS.

Nintendo shed little light on the new Mario title outside of acknowledging its existence. The company assigned the game a broad release window, saying it will ship during Nintendo's next fiscal year, which runs April 1, 2012, through March 31, 2013.

Nintendo also announced today the Nintendo Network, a new online service for the 3DS and Wii U that will cover "competitions and communication among users, as well as the sales of digital content." According to the company, the Nintendo Network will run parallel to the current Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service.

Additionally, the Nintendo Network will introduce a personal account system for the Wii and will allow for multiple accounts to be registered to the console. According to Nintendo, offering this has been "a challenge we needed to tackle."

Further, Nintendo said it is exploring the possibility of offering full-game downloads through the Nintendo Network for the 3DS and Wii U. Nintendo said it already has the required infrastructure to allow for full-game downloads, and the concept was "built into the design" of the 3DS.

Nintendo indicated that full-game downloads for the 3DS and Wii U may still be far off. According to the company, it has not yet finalized partnerships with wholesalers and retailers, and storage capacity on SD memory cards is also an issue needing to be considered.

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Valkyria Chronicles 2 Valkyria Chronicles 2

To this day, Valkyria Chronicles remains one of the most under-appreciated PlayStation 3 exclusives out there, regardless of how often the avid fans sing its praises. Some of those same fans were a little disappointed when the sequel came exclusively to the PSP, and it doesn’t help that the third installment also seems to be leaving PS3 owners out in the cold. That being said, strategy/RPG aficionados will most certainly want to dive into this sequel; it’s very much like the original, and although I’m not the biggest fan of the new school sim feature, Valkyria Chronicles 2 manages to retain much of its charm and intricate appeal. The depth is here, the storyline suffers only a bit due to extra emphasis on the aforementioned school feature, and above all else, that unique and oddly addicting gameplay is as good as ever. Honestly, if you were a super huge fan of the first title and you don’t yet own a PSP, VC2 might be enough of a reason to snag Sony’s portable.

As you might expect, we have to make allowances for the graphics, which obviously can’t be as accomplished or polished on the PSP. Even so, the cut-scenes are still super pretty and the in-game visuals are more than competent. I was actually surprised at how well detailed many of the characters were, the effects enhance the experience as always, and there’s only the anticipated lack of clarity and sharpness. If you can handle the latter and accept you’re playing this sequel on a lesser machine, you’ll be good to go. I do think there could’ve been more diversity in the environments, though, as there were three or four battles in a row where I began to get a little tired of my surroundings. I don’t remember this drawback being evident in the original on the PS3, which is why I mention it here. That aside, VC2 looks just fine and really, the story-driven scenes are pretty darn impressive for a handheld.

Concerning the sound, both the voice acting and soundtrack are definite highlights, although I might call the effects into question (due to an occasional lack of balance and intensity). Some of you probably know my favorite game of all time is Final Fantasy Tactics, so maybe I’m unfairly biased towards the musical talents of Hitoshi Sakimoto, but the quality and emotion of the tracks in VC2 is undeniable. I’m most thankful this one particular element of the first PS3 presentation carried over; it really gives the game that extra “oomph.” To me, the voiceovers in this sequel are solid, but a bit more hit-or-miss in comparison to the original. There are also less voices overall – again, to be expected – and like I just said, the effects don’t always do it for me. But man, the music is just so perfect and the complete sound package fits the style, theme, and structure of the game. So we definitely shouldn’t nitpick.

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Geoff Keighley announces The Final Hours of Mass Effect 3 Geoff Keighley announces The Final Hours of Mass Effect 3

Geoff Keighley, host of SpikeTV's GTTV, has officially announced his next project, "The Final Hours of Mass Effect 3." Keighley tweeted today, "I'm excited to announce my new project, The Final Hours of Mass Effect 3. Sign up at http://www.me3finalhours.com to be notified of release."

According to the website, The Final Hours of Mass Effect 3 will take you behind the scenes at BioWare to unveil all of Mass Effect 3's mysteries. In addition, the project will include interviews with various spokespeople at BioWare, including the notorious Casey Hudson:

Take a trip inside BioWare to experience The Final Hours of Mass Effect 3, one of the most anticipated video games of 2012. Reporting from Edmonton, Canada, journalist Geoff Keighley (The Final Hours of Portal 2) was granted unprecedented access to document the creation of this epic sci-fi trilogy, with insights from the team, led by executive producer Casey Hudson.

By entering your email address, you will be notified of the project's release date when it becomes available. Mass Effect 3 has been a thrill ride thus far, and we're excited to see the work that it takes to create such a vast galaxy with in-depth characters and races. Will you be joining Keighley in The Final Hours of Mass Effect 3? Let us know your thoughts on the upcoming project by commenting below.

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World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria beta World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria beta

Beta testing for World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria will begin shortly, Blizzard has announced. The developer launched a beta opt-in FAQ late last night for the upcoming expansion, filling gamers in on the trial's details.

Players interested in participating in the Mists of Pandaria beta can opt in today via their Battle.net accounts. Blizzard did not say when the beta will begin, but noted that players chosen for the trial will be alerted via email.

Players will not be forced to sign a nondisclosure agreement to participate in the Mists of Pandaria beta period. The developer made clear that Mists of Pandaria is an in-development product, and anything gamers encounter in the trial is not necessarily representative of the final product.

Blizzard did not say how many gamers it plans to invite to the Mists of Pandaria beta test, but did say its "primary focus" will be making sure all WOW Annual Pass holders are granted access to the trial period. Announced in October 2011, the WOW Annual Pass rewards gamers who make a 12-month commitment to WOW with a free copy of Diablo III, among other items.

Mists of Pandaria is WOW's fourth expansion. It follows The Burning Crusade (2007), Wrath of the Lich King (2008), and Cataclysm (2010). The add-on is set on the new continent of Pandaria and focuses on the Pandaren as well as the monk player class. The expansion pack, which does not have a release date, will also increase the player level cap to 90. 

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Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown

When Sega first released Virtua Fighter 5 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, it entertained the masses with its slick animation engine, quality 3D backdrops, and elegant fighting style. The 360 version came with extensive online fighting options, making it a clear-cut winner — for the time being — with players who earned their skills in the arcade. Since that time, fighting games have moved on extensively, between Capcom’s crossover brawling affairs and Midway’s rebooted Mortal Kombat. Now Sega is eager to get back into the ring with a new version of Virtua Fighter — one that offers a number of new options and a much cheaper price. We recently got a chance to try it out at the company’s Digital Day event in San Francisco.

First off, most of the options that were in the original game are present in the Final Showdown expansion. You’ll find all the modes included, along with a Practice Dojo. Here, you’ll attempt to complete objectives and master moves using one of the game’s numerous characters. It’s a great mode to simply pass the time with or perfect your skills before you head online to take on the world.

Yes, for the first time in the series (the original game didn’t offer it), Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown will bring online play to the PlayStation Network. (It’ll be compatible with Xbox Live Arcade as well.) The game will introduce a great new matchmaking feature, where you won’t always be paired up against those who could thrash you in a heartbeat with the drunken Shun Di. Instead, it carefully examines your skill level and pairs you up against someone with an equal set-up, so you stand a better chance of winning the match. You’ll still have a fight on your hands, though, so be ready.

Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown’s cast of characters is quite the delight. A lot of old favorites return, including the leather-clad Sarah Bryant, still as sexy as ever; the traditional brawler Akira, who also appears in Dead Or Alive 5 (obviously, he’s much more natural here); the crazy Shun Di, who powers up with a new move every time he takes a swig from his bottle; and the returning Taka-Arashi, a Sumo wrestler who first debuted in Virtua Fighter 3. A new character, Jean Kujo, also joins the fracas, bringing a number of charge moves that make him devastating.

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Shoot Many Robots Shoot Many Robots

 ndie developer Demiurge Studios cuts right to the point with the title of Shoot Many Robots. Blowing away mechanical hordes of bad guys is what this simple-yet-addictive actioner for Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network is all about, so there is no mystery as to what you get. You may not get anything like originality here, but you do get a lot of robot-shooting action for the $10 asking price, along with such amenities as a huge range of weapons and gear, full co-op support in the campaign, and a great sense of humor.

You take on the role of P. Walter Tugnut, an amiable hick who manages to deal with a robot apocalypse just fine until the metal bastards blow up his truck. From that point on, it's war. So you hop into your RV and head off on a kill-crazy expedition to make the walking toasters pay for wrecking your ride. And, uh, for destroying all of humanity. That too.

That's it for the storyline. From there, the gameplay is all about shooting many thousands of robots. The RV serves as a command base where you trick yourself out with various weapons and other gear in the bathroom before hitting up a map by the steering wheel to select a destination. Standard platform carnage ensues. You tromp, stomp, jump, slide, and brawl across well over a dozen levels in the campaign, either solo or with up to three buddies in co-op. Combat plays out from left to right, with you blasting everything that moves with two weapons: a shooter with infinite ammo and a cannon with limited shells. Kills result in leveling up. Dead bots explode into nuts that you collect to buy new weapons and armor. If you kill fast enough, you trigger combos that multiply nut numbers up to five times. Bottles of beer (juice in the oddly alcohol-free PlayStation version of the game, which seems otherwise identical to the Xbox 360 one) are chugged to earn health. Movement is handled with the left stick, while everything else is done with the face and trigger buttons.

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Ninja Gaiden 3 Ninja Gaiden 3

 Not everyone is going to be accepting of the fact that Ninja Gaiden 3 exists without the assistance of former Team Ninja leader Tomonobu Itagaki. For the longest time, this producer defined what the hardcore ninja experience is supposed to be, and since his hasty departure from Tecmo Koei’s camp, many were wondering how the legendary Ryu Hayabusa would fare without him. Well, now that the game’s here, we can honestly say that, yes, it is a different venture for him, but that doesn’t mean it sucks. In fact, this ninja is still as sharp as ever, mind a slight misstep or two.

The third chapter follows Ryu as he carves his way through an enemy army, before coming face-to-mask with an evil alchemist who has a trick up his sleeve in the way of sorcery. Following a fierce battle, Ryu finds his arm infected with a strange demonic force. Desperate to get back to his normal self – and save the world in the process – Ryu sets out on his most difficult task yet, stopping this madman and his mutant army.

Yeah, the story goes off the rails at times, but that’s just part of the fun. One minute, Ryu finds himself in a test facility, facing off against mutating creatures and narrowly escaping death by jumping across chasms; the next, he comes face to face with a robotically enhanced T-Rex, charging at him from all directions and then, just when you think he’s disposed off, popping up again. This is probably the most lively we’ve seen the Ninja Gaiden series be, even if it’s slightly unbelievable.

To make the gameplay feel a little more fleshed out, Tecmo added a few things to the sequel. For instance, you can now climb up walls using your daggers, and while it takes a bit of practice (one hand needs to be firmly planted or you’ll lose grip), it’s an interesting new technique. You can also call upon occasional dragon ninpo to clear the screen in an explosion of brightly lit fire, or use your demon arm to cut some enemies to shreds in a hurry. There are quick-time events too, though they aren’t nearly as annoying as we’ve seen in previous games. In fact, some are pretty damn slick, particularly when you’re getting the jump on a surprising enemy, stabbing him without looking.

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Kingdoms of Amalur Kingdoms of Amalur

Electronic Arts and 38 Studios are giving gamers an incentive to pick up a first-run copy of the fantasy role-playing game Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. An online pass included with new copies of the game unlocks seven House of Valor faction quests inside the gameworld.

A new copy of the game for the Xbox 360 provided to GameSpot includes the online pass, and a statement to Joystiq confirms that first-run PlayStation 3 copies will also sport the pass. Downloaded versions of the game for the PC will include the content by default.

It was not made clear if the House of Valor questline will become available as downloadable content for those with a secondhand copy of the game. As of press time, EA had not responded to GameSpot's request for comment.

Writing on the game's official forums, 38 Studios community manager "Muse" noted that the House of Valor quests were not included on disc and then taken out.

"The House of Valor content was not in the finished game/disc at one point, then removed. It isn't there and we're locking you out of it. The House of Valor was created as stand-alone content, and was always intended to be the first DLC. Instead of holding onto it and charging for it later, we opted to give it to everyone who purchases the game new, for free, on launch day."

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is not the first EA-published title to sport an online pass. New copies of Battlefield 3, Dead Space 2, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, and several EA Sports titles all included onetime-use codes to download additional content.

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God of War: Ghost of Sparta God of War: Ghost of Sparta

How does Sony manage to do it all the time? No, allow me to rephrase that. How does this franchise always manage to do it? How does it manage to not change its formula, but always win us over? God of War: Ghost of Sparta plays not much differently than the GOW games before it, and yet, we don't care. Has this franchise stumbled upon something that defies age? I'm not sure just yet, but what I do know is that I wholly enjoy this game. Much like every other God of War title, you're thrown into the eye of the storm immediately, so the game wastes no time in delivering the goods - and that's par for course. Traditionally, GOW games were never about long and tiresome training intros, and that's because the game is so accessible, there was never a need for them. Yes, occasionally you'll get gameplay hints towards the beginning, but they aren't very intrusive and allow the gamer to focus on the action.

And that's what makes God of War so great. Not just this game, but the franchise as a whole. It has never strayed from what's made it a superb series in the first place; it never lost its focus. God of War never tried to be something more than a balls-to-the-wall, super fast, super violent action game, and I respect that. It never decided that it had to become an RPG midway through, or that it needed strategy elements. No. God of War's focus has always been: 'pressing a series of buttons makes the character furiously whip around and spill lots of blood'. Perfect. And those boss battles? Let's face it, the reason we love them so much isn't because of how epic they can be, but it's because of how gruesome the boss' death ends up being. Those are just some of the reasons why we love God of War, and all of the reasons continue to exist with Ghost of Sparta.

The upgrades, the mayhem, the weapons, the boss battles, and even the always engrossing storyline - Ghost of Sparta continues the faithful God of War tradition of being the total package, despite coming in a package that only fits inside the UMD slot of your PSP. Perhaps the only drawback to all of this, and this may be considered a technical limitation, is that Ghost of Sparta is nowhere near as lengthy as other games in the series. The UMD can only store so much, and that impacts the length of the game to about eight hours. Though are a variety of challenge modes for you to partake in once you finish the game, which increase the amount of time you can spend with it considerably.

Bar none, Ghost of Sparta is the best looking PSP game available today. The same way that the franchise has set a bar on the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3, it has done the same on the PSP. Chances are, considering the age of the PSP, it's unlikely a better looking game will come along and unseat Ghost of Sparta - I simply don't see it happening. So not only is Ghost of Sparta one of the best playing games for Sony's handheld, but it's the best looking one. Ready At Dawn has pushed this little unit to its limits by increasing the texture clarity, smoothing out the edges around game characters, allowing the framerate to run silky smooth, and employing some really spectacular effects. Chains of Olympus already looked great, but Ghost of Sparta simply looks better.

If you're a God of War fan, you know what to expect from the audio. Voice acting courtesy of TC Carson, who continues to deliver some of the best voice acting this industry sees on the regular, in addition to a soundtrack that's made to raise your tension, thanks to its fully orchestrated arrangements. Ghost of Sparta's brilliance knows no bounds, as the audio will leave you in a more than satisfied state. I also found it best to have a pair of nice headphones plugged in while playing, because the audio simply sounds that much more rich when it's streaming directly into your ears, as opposed to the PSP's speakers.

All in all, God of War: Ghost of Sparta is the PSP game you should have no reservations about. It's a well deserved $40 purchase that'll stay in your collection of portable titles for a long time. It's the ultimate example of the full console experience in the palm of your hands. God of War: Ghost of Sparta boasts everything you'd expect out of the franchise: superb visuals, great audio, massive gameplay, epic story, and great controls, all in a package that fits in the palm of your hand.

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Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City delivers a true third person team based shooter experience set within the dark and sinister Resident Evil universe and a reinterpretation of the events depicted in Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3. Zombies and Bio-Organic Weapons (B.O.W's) add to the mix as players not only compete against an opposing squad but also tackle this third unpredictable element, creating a brand new style of gameplay and breaking the conventions of traditional team based shooters.

It is September 1998 and the action centers once more on the ill-fated Raccoon City and the horrific consequences of the deadly T-virus outbreak from the Umbrella facility. With a cover up required, Umbrella orders an elite team into Raccoon City to destroy all evidence of the outbreak and eliminate any survivors. Hearing of this plan, the US Government dispatches its own special forces to uncover any evidence that exposes the cause of the viral infection and Umbrella's actions. Players take on the role of an Umbrella Security Services soldier (U.S.S.), competing alone or in four player co-op in a battle against all the competing forces at play in Raccoon City. 

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