Capcom defends Resident Evil: ORC

If Capcom decided to only make survival horror-orientated Resident Evil games, fans would soon tire of the franchise, so says series producer Masachika Kawata.

In an interview with Gamasutra, Kawata explained that that was the thinking that led to forthcoming squad-based FPS Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City getting the green light.

"At the core, basically, we want to make the best use of our brand," he said.

"Resident Evil is an IP, and a franchise, that people have loved for a long time. It's still very, very popular and we're very, very happy about that, and we want to basically answer all the requests that we get about the series.

"People want to see a lot of different experiences within the Resident Evil universe, and so we've been fortunate enough to be able to answer those requests with a lot of different experiences, in different forms, in games."

He added that he's "not too concerned" that the decision to put out an FPS will dilute the brand.

"All these different Resident Evil games that are coming out are focused on very different things. I'm thinking that if we would have brought out all these Resident Evil titles, and they were all focused on survival horror, absolutely I think people would be really sick of Resident Evil.

"But in my mind, we've got this online shooter game, we've got other things like Mercenaries that are even more action-focused, and some other games. And by going in a lot of different directions, I'm pretty confident that people are going to still be enjoying Resident Evil for a long time."

Kawata added that upcoming 3DS effort Resident Evil: Revelations should satisfy those gamers craving a more traditional Resi experience.

"Revelations, which is a 3DS title, is very much going to be core-fan focused and survival horror-focused," he insisted.

"It's going to be a more deliberately paced-game, a little bit more classic Resident Evil, solving puzzles, things like that. So definitely there is the plan to go that direction as well."

Operation Raccoon City, developed by Canadian studio Slant Six and due out early next year, has had a hostile reception from some corners of the Resident Evil fanbase.

"Judging by what's been shown so far, this game is at risk of being another generic, by the numbers third-person shooter with underwhelming visuals," read Eurogamer's Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City preview.

"It also feels experimental, as if it's a low-risk precursor to something we may see in the inevitable Resident Evil 6."