Setting action-heavy spinoff Operation Raccoon City in the sweet spot between fan favorite survival horror series entries Resident Evil 2 and 3 is already enough to get our hearts fluttering. Even if the game feels more like Ghost Recon than Dead Rising, though, it’s still able to recall some of the series’ highest points, story-wise. Here’s how they do it.

We were able to check out the game’s prologue chapter, featuring two of RE2’s favorite non-hero characters. In the level, masked commando Hunk leads the Umbrella Security Service Alpha Team in the hunt for William Birkin and his supply of the G-Virus. The stage features plenty of standard run-n-gun teamwork action (in stark contrast to Hunk’s escape sequence in RE2), but there are interesting breaks in the action, too, as the team has to sprint away from and slow down the mutated doctor with trip-mines and gunfire.

But don’t expect Raccoon to forget its roots once the game puts you in the shoes of Hunk’s six lesser-known cohorts (Lupo; the well-rounded leader, Spectre; who can pull up detailed maps and see through certain walls, Vector; who can take on enemy form, Bertha; who can control infections, Four-Eyes; who can subdue and control infected creatures, and Beltway; the tank-like destruction dealer). Capcom showed off a trailer featuring Leon, Claire, Nicholai, Nemesis and the Super-Tyrant, who we’re hoping all make appearances and are willing to suffer the canon-divergent deaths Operation Raccoon City promises.

PUBLISHER: Capcom  •  DEVELOPER: Slant Six Games  •  Multiplayer: Yes  •  RELEASE DATE: March 20, 2012  •  FOR FANS OF: Tactical shooters, Left 4 Dead, destroying canon