Resident Evil Outbreak

"Zombies learned how to get online. What will they think of next?"

When the concept of a cooperative Resident Evil game was first introduced to me, I was filled with a strange sense of joy that only a true fan of a series could feel. I was so excited to be killing zombies and solving puzzles with a friend, but then all of that went away when I found out that Outbreak was online-only multiplayer. Still, despite the shortcomings in the multiplayer department, Outbreak is a great Resident Evil title and easily one of the strongest gameplay-wise in the series.

Outbreak is way different than most of the Resident Evil games in that it has a larger focus on nonlinearity. You can choose between eight characters, all with their various quirks and differences that provide for a somewhat different gameplay experience with each different character. Unfortunately, some of these characters are absolutely useless. Another big difference from the other Resident Evil game is that Outbreak is separated into five scenarios with multiple outcomes and different parts of the plot occurring depending on what character you chose.

Kevin is more or less the main character in Outbreak and he has the ability to kick zombies, a first in the Resident Evil series. His health is larger than anyone else and he can focus his aiming to take down enemies with less shots. Kevin is the easiest character to play as and is probably the one most people will choose to be simply because he looks way cooler than the other characters that you can choose.

David carries around a toolbox that contains items that can be thrown at zombies if need be. He also has the ability to combine items to create better items. Mark is another one of the more important characters story-wise in some of the scenarios, but his only really useful ability is that he can block zombie attacks.

One of the more useless characters is George. He is a doctor and therefore his main purpose is healing, but he can combine herbs into pills so they take up less inventory space. That's about all he can do really and this makes him one of the most useless characters in the entire game. Another character that is relatively useless is Cindy. Her ability to duck in order to avoid zombie attacks rarely works the way you want it to and the only other redeeming quality about her is that she has more inventory space specifically designed to carry around healing items.

Yoko is another useless character, but her extra inventory space makes her a great partner to have with you. She has some dodge abilities that other characters don't, but that's all. Jim has the ability to see where items are in a room on his map, can flip a coin to decide various decisions, and can play dead to trick the zombies, but playing dead will leave you susceptible to infection, which I'll get into later. Alyssa has the ability to lock-pick her way through the rooms and has much better aiming than the other characters, similar to Kevin's ability.

Depending on what character you choose, a couple of other characters will join you, but you can't choose who yourself. I don't know why Capcom didn't allow this, but it would have made much more sense and would have helped a lot strategy-wise.

What makes Outbreak so awesome though is that you have much more freedom than other games in the series. You can crawl under beds and hide in lockers if you so wish. Boarding up doors is always an awesome thing to do and if you don't feel like looking for a certain key in order to progress, you always have the option of knocking the door down. Unless you kill them, zombies will pursue you through the rooms and attempt to take you out, which really makes the game more thrilling.

Squad mechanics work excellently in Outbreak, despite the sometimes spotty artificial intelligence. Basically, the buttons on the d-pad tell your partners various things. You can call for your partner to come help you out or to stay put. Since the squad mechanics are so simple, it works much better than in other games that try, poorly, to incorporate squad mechanics into their games.

Choices will affect how a scenario plays out and depending on what character you are different choices will be presented to you. This adds to the replayability, which is a good thing because the game does turn out to be painfully short, even shorter than most games in the series which already usually run for about six hours during your first play through.

Earlier I mentioned something about getting infected. Well, no matter what is going on, you are always in danger of becoming infected. You must ward off the infection by taking the “anti-virus”, but certain things quicken your infection. When you are attacked by an enemy, your infection level rises and when you are on the ground it also rises at an alarming rate. Your partners can become infected as well, so you'll have to pay attention to their infection levels, too. If you're playing online and get infected, you actually get control your zombie form which is pretty awesome, but it would have been cool if this option was available offline as well.

Outbreak is the first Resident Evil game that can be played online, but the online mode isn't that great. Since you are limited to the choices on the d-pad, interaction is low and the only reason you'll want to play the game online is to mess around, not actually try to complete the scenarios (of which there are various difficulty settings). I really wish Capcom would have included an offline mode, too, that was split-screen because the sound of that just sounds simply awesome.

A major letdown in Outbreak is its story. The scenarios take place at different times and drastically different locations, meaning that the plot is really, really sketchy. Characters that may die in one scenario can appear in the next scenario, which really makes it feel weird. Dramatic moments are practically non-existent, but the game does manage to be a little scary sometimes. Taking place chronologically between Resident Evil 2 and 3, Outbreak also makes some references to the very mediocre Resident Evil movie, including a visit to The Hive, so fans of the movie will find some extra stuff to love in this game.

During the sixth generation, Capcom was known for providing games with above average graphics, and Outbreak definitely has those. Environments are varied and while they sometimes look a little dull, they always provide something refreshing for your eyes. Character models are great, but the online functionality suffers from some lag. Monsters are awesome, but it's a shame that there weren't really any new creatures added to the series in this installment. Surprisingly, the game does manage to put quite a few zombies on the screen at one time, and players who are familiar with Capcom's Xbox 360 title Dead Rising may feel a little nostalgic when they play this game. Graphics during cut-scenes are amazing and on par with Final Fantasy X.

Constantly giving your teammates commands can quickly grind on your nerves since you'll have to hear your character shout the same stuff over and over. Voice acting is almost non-existent since the game doesn't really use cut-scenes that much except for some select few moments. Background music isn't really anything to be proud of and doesn't build the tension adequately either. Some of the minor sound effects are sufficiently annoying as well, and I'm very surprised that Capcom didn't include headphone support for communicating with players online.

Outbreak only has five scenarios for you to play so the game definitely won't last you that long, maybe an hour per scenario. However, there is added replayability by hidden items you can find to unlock extra costumes and an Infinity Mode where your weapons never break or run out of ammo. Messing around is a blast in the game and there is an online mode (as of 2008, however, there isn't), but Capcom didn't include an offline cooperative mode that would have really given the game some extra legs.

Outbreak had the potential to be the greatest Resident Evil game there is. However, Capcom failed to provide an offline cooperative function that would have made the game so much better. A lot of interesting ideas were brought forth in this title that really made the series better, plus there was so much more freedom than in previous titles in the series. Hopefully, Capcom continues this series into the seventh generation, adds an offline cooperative mode, improves their online mode, lengthens the game, and makes the useless characters more useful. Outbreak was a great idea with just some minor flaws holding it down, but with all of this room for easy improvement, I'm sure Capcom can create a much better game in the future.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/07/08

Game Release: Resident Evil Outbreak (US, 03/31/04)