Resident Evil Outbreak

"A good experience but with a few flaws"

Resident Evil has traditionally been an offline videogame series. However, with Resident Evil Outbreak the series takes a big departure from the traditional formula with online collaboration as an option of play. Does this equate to a different experience altogether, or a gimmicky add-on not worthy of recognition? Offline, the game's actually not as good as it could be, but online mode comes off better, but not by a whole lot. Online mode is free in the United States but not in Japan. In Japan, dial up is compatible with the game opposed to the broadband-only U.S. version. European gamers will not be online. Over a network, Outbreak requires cooperation among the 2-4 players to accomplish five non-linear scenarios featured in the game. There are eight characters to choose from.

The characters are Kevin, Alyssa, Yoko, David, Jim, George, Cindy and Mark. Each character is different from one another because of their attributes. Kevin is a police officer so his abilities in combat and defense are greater than say, Cindy, the bar waitress who is considerably less strong. Another example is Mark, the big security guard. Being a large man, he runs slower than Jim who is really skinny, but also can take more punishment while only a few attacks can endanger Jim. Unlike the past Resident Evil titles, the character differences in this title are big enough to warrant replays of certain scenarios to see how the other characters carry them out. Alyssa is the only character with a lockpick so she could theoretically finish scenarios faster by unlocking doors at will while other characters take longer by going through vents, finding keys or shooting the doors down. This also means that Alyssa might miss out on certain areas and items, so there is a good amount of balance between making a character ''equal'' to another. The different characters add a flavor to the game overall, making replays as much as drastically different between each other. It's a good feature and a great departure from the narrow character focus in the other RE games.

Resident Evil Outbreak contains a few new twists to the Resident Evil control formula. Biggest of all is the addition of a Devil May Cry-like control scheme using the left analog stick. This means that characters can run and walk in the direction the stick is pushed. The original D-Pad control scheme of ''up = forward'' at all times is back. The R1 and the action button shoots a gun or swings a melee weapon. The Right Analog Stick, optionally in conjunction with the L2 Button, launches the communication aspect of the game depending on the direction R3 is moved or pressed. The controls are as good as they get because of the options offered. The left analog stick is better suited to control the characters because the game's a bit faster that way. However, due to the way the camera angles are set in this game and the way they change (such as when they show a wide shot in a big room or courtyard), you might end up making a slight detours because the direction the stick is facing must be changed quickly. If the default controls aren't working for you, there are several options which mostly are slight variations of each other. There's now very little reason to hate the RE control scheme in Outbreak because there's something for everyone.

A new big feature for Outbreak is the scenarios. They're essentially five different levels, all shorter than a main RE game. What they do is make the length good enough for online players without making any too long or too short. Each scenario is drastically different from one another, which is a good thing. Each scenario resembles a portion from just about every RE game out there. There's a lab, a hospital, a mansion-like area, city streets, and even a bar. The flavors are plentiful as each scenario has different enemies and very different tasks. The first scenario is the only available at the beginning, and is the start of the game's story. If you beat scenario one, you can get scenario two and beating scenario two unlocks scenario three and so on. Alternatively, high completion rates (see below) can unlock new scenarios even if it's never actually beaten. It's great for gamers who like to jump in to their favorite part of the game.

Gameplay-wise, the game is somewhat similar to the past RE games in terms of gameplay core, but naturally with modifications. You shoot zombies and other monsters while finding items needed to progress forward throughout buildings, streets and so on to reach an eventual end. Only previously introduced as a crucial feature in the GameCube Resident Evil Zero is the real-time partnership factor. In Zero, players could control two characters at the same time, which helped solve puzzles and defeat bosses somewhat differently than if there were to be only one character. In Outbreak, in the offline mode, the computer AI controls two other partner characters for you (for story purposes, there might be a fourth character but they won't stick around for long). It doesn't really take two people to solve puzzles this time around, but cooperation does help accomplish faster finishing times for the scenario as well as less deaths in the harder modes. In the game, the paths of the scenarios will branch so tasks can be completed in any order if there were only one character. However, with two or three characters, your partners will go off and complete a task and meet up with your controller character later, shortening the scenario time. This is a huge departure from Zero, where even having two characters resulted in the actual player completing the tasks, but not so with Outbreak.

Naturally, for the offline mode, communication is needed. Offline communication is handled well, with the Right Analog Stick giving the instructions to characters to do a task, such as using or giving an item, or helping a character get passed an obstacle such as jumping over a pitfall. The offline mode works well with this communication because the AI hardly ever goes wrong. This pre-set communication system in terms of voice acting can get pretty annoying and the text when the chat function is used hardly matches the voice. The voices in the communication are extremely general but effective... in offline mode that is. In online mode, chat is a completely different. More on that below.

Furthermore, menus which handle items and weapons are in real-time now - whether you access them or not, zombies can still hit you. This is implemented for the online mode, so gameplay is not interrupted. It's a somewhat undesirable feature for the offline mode for reasons, but it adds a nice amount of difficulty for those who want difficult gameplay. The real-time menu can be undesirable for people who are close to winning a scenario but die because they couldn't use that healing item fast enough, which WILL happen no matter what. It also makes it somewhat of a pain if you want to trade items. But the difficulty has been a nod and so has the panic feeling, so the feature is a give or take; it's loved or it's hated, depending on taste. Summarizing, the main core is similar to the other Resident Evil games but with multiplayer aspects involved and realtime menus.

Sharing, as said above, is crucial because each character except for Yoko can carry only four items that don't pertain to their special ability. So partners need to carry items because there really isn't enough space a lot of the time. In online mode, luckily key items appear 2, 3 or 4 times to prevent a sabotage of the scenario in the event where someone will try to hold items needed to progress to stop the scenario from moving. This is one of the better aspects of the online game. Scenario sabotage is not a problem with offline mode because the AI will always comply. Online is not perfect.

There is one huge flaw in Outbreak and that is online communication. It, to be realistic, is incompetent to many frustrating points. As said earlier, paths can branch so your AI partner may go do a task for you. It's similar in online mode, except obviously the AI partners are replaced by real life people over the network. But what if the partner dies? With the communication method, you'd have no way of knowing, meaning the virus gauge (see below) may get filled up before you find out. Also, if an elevator needs to be taken, players have no way of knowing which floor the character will take, so some experimenting needs to be done. Sometimes, you may never see your team mate again because they (or you) ran into a terrible situation that gets them killed because no one was around to help them. Luckily, Outbreak's servers have chat functions before a game begins, so its best that plans are formulated before entering the game in order to avoid confusion. Server chats can occur with USB keyboards or a soft keyboard. The chatting system is good for servers overall, but poorly implemented for the actual game itself.

The difficulty of Outbreak, like every RE game except for CODE: Veronica in the U.S., varies depending on which mode you select. Easy and Normal Modes offer comfortable ease through the game. Enemies will deal minimal amounts of damage, and bullets and health will be plentiful. Plus, key items will be placed in more convenient locations. In Hard and Very Hard, things get complicated. One hit from an enemy can bleed the character (more on that below). Key items are placed in out of the way locations making them harder to reach, while bullets and health are scare. In the easier modes in a certain location would be a gun, but in the harder modes, a Butcher Knife which is considerably weaker. In the harder modes, cooperating is key to winning or else the game becomes very difficult. What would have been zombies in the easier modes might be even tougher insects in the harder modes. So there's something for everyone. Hard and Very Hard need to be unlocked in the collection section (more on that below as well).

Damage is handled differently in Outbreak than it is in the other RE games. In addition to the Fine, Caution, and Danger levels, a few new complimentary status conditions are added. One of them is bleed, which can accompany any health status. The character bleeds, causing him or her to run slower, be more prone to attack, and to not fight back as much. It goes away after a few minutes. Then there's the Dying zone. If a character is in Danger mode and is hit, they will fall to the ground. Normally, in the other RE games, the game would end, but in Outbreak, the character will still live. So, a healing item will take him/her back to regular danger status. But unless you have two healing items, you're likely to get knocked back down. Another way to get back into Danger status and up is to have a partner character help you. During Dying condition, the character can only crawl and use healing items, and cannot shoot or go through doors. Dying mode usually ends with the virus gauge filling up (more below). Dying mode and the virus gauge can be avoided and result straight to death if a character is fatally wounded, such as through decapitation. Then there's the poison status, which is induced by poisonous enemies, of course such as insects and spiders. The game can either be considerably harder than past RE games, or on a similar level.

The virus gauge is another new feature to gameplay. Your character is infected with a virus that cannot be eradicated directly except in a special circumstance. It can only be temporarily be stopped by healing items and special pills (more below). The virus gauge starts at zero percent but rises (in decimals) as the game goes on. It's actually just a timer that counts down to a game over in random intervals. The gauge goes up whenever a character is attacked, and dramatically rises in Dying condition; it dramatically rises to the point where if you had 20% in Dying condition, you'll get to 100% within minutes. The virus gauge is the main factor which keeps the scenario moving forward and not still phased. In online mode, you'll become a zombie when the gauge fills to 100%. This sounds fun in theory but it really is more in line of torture. The zombie mode lasts for a few minutes, and as a zombie, you can attack for former team mates or not. It's a feature that's best experienced only once or twice. Overall, the virus gauge keeps the pace up in the game and keeps it a bit more realistic, but it is not for people who value time wandering around exploring the game.

Enemy-wise, we have our zombies, lickers, hunters, crows, zombie dogs and bosses. Zombies are most common but also are the least agile. The other enemies, except the crows, take more weapons to kill. Enemies require strategy to kill, and very often team work. Some weapons work better on certain enemies than others will. If a zombie grabs a partner of yours, you can shoot the zombie to assist the partner, both online and offline. In the harder modes, melee weapons usually don't completely kill all enemies except crows due to a new feature implemented in them. Zombies are also smart enough to go through doors, so going into another room doesn't mean you're safe from them, another compliment to the increased challenge. Zombies can also attack if a character is climbing up a ladder, or doing puzzles, since they're all in real time as well (the entire game doesn't pause whenever a puzzle is being done). The bosses in this game are similar to older bosses. We have a stalker enemy too. Enemy variety is good in Outbreak.

Weapons in Outbreak are similar to the past games. We have our Handguns, Shotguns, Grenade Launchers, Knives and such variations to each of those (either in power, bullet capacity, character association or range). A new addition to the weaponry department, a weapon long present in the Silent Hill series is the Iron Pipe. It is a very malleable weapon, a new feature in the RE series. If you attack an enemy with it many times, the pipe will get to bent to keep using, and the character will throw it away (usually at an enemy to deal some last second damage). Weapons such as scrub brushes (or brooms) and crutches are also weapons that can break (due to the fact they're wooden). The RE0 Moltov Cocktails are back, but are a bit harder to make and require a lighter, alcohol bottles and news papers. Also, in terms of guns, bullets are reloaded into a gun one by one rather than completely in a second like the past games. Bullets are only instantaneously reloaded if there is a clip, which is realistic but also makes the game more difficult in the heat of the realtime menus. There is also the Nail Gun which is more of a last resort weapon, but this weapon can also help push zombies away for short periods of time (see below). If one has no weapons, pushing R1 and the action button will initiate shoving which can put an enemy down temporarily, a good and helpful feature that should have been in every RE game (although it was in RE3).

Some, but not all doors in Outbreak can be kicked, shoved, smacked, or shot in with weapons or the characters themselves. This feature too makes weapons break or become unusable. Also, doors can be held back if a zombie is trying to bust in, yet another new feature to Outbreak. Door defending is good in a room where a puzzle is being done that requires some time, because it's likely an enemy would try and bust in.

Another new feature borrowed from the Metal Gear Solid games is hiding. If there is a locker that's completely open, the character can hide in there (one character per locker of course). Other hiding places include the underside of some beds, or narrow niches. The virus gauge rises a bit faster when in a hiding spot.

Completing a scenario isn't as simple as just finishing it. Every scenario has a completion rate. The game lists tasks that have been accomplished. For example, in scenario one, grabbing a key counts toward a completion percentage. Completing all tasks cannot simply be done in one try with one character. Some tasks, such as picking a cabinet or locker, can only be done with Alyssa. Also, some tasks can only be done in the harder modes. It helps the replay value greatly by tipping gamers off to little things in the game they probably never would have noticed. It'll take some patience to achieve 100% in every scenario.

As if Outbreak weren't packed with enough features and variations, the game offers a collection mode. Whenever a scenario is completed offline or online, they earn points depending on his or her performance. These points can buy new costumes for the characters, new characters to use (they're not main or story characters and they're usually background characters from the game). If you liked a particular movie sequence, then you can buy it and view it in the collection anytime. Difficulty modes can also be purchased. There's tons of things to collect and many replays and points are required to collect everything in the game, and it could take awhile.

And finally, saving is not done traditionally in Outbreak. There are still typewriters, but you can only have one game file per memory card. Also, when you save in a typewriter, you are forced to end the game. When you restart, the save is deleted. Why this is used for offline mode is unknown, but the feature itself isn't very good. Luckily, no scenario is very long so the lack of typewriters and save rooms don't matter too much. And a reminder, there are no item boxes in this game, just like Zero.

There's tons of gameplay information, but summing it all up, RE Outbreak contains modifications to many small things while maintaining a predominantly Resident Evil-like formula. These modifications sometimes benefit the game, but many players might find the game overly difficult given the realtime nature of puzzles, enemies and item management. The scenarios break the game's pacing down into pieces but add different flavors to the game.

Graphically, the game's beautiful. It is full polygon 3D, not pre-rendered. It pushes the PS2 to its limit with great looking textures, great polygon counts for environments and characters, and contains many characters on screen at once sometimes. The game is actually comparable, although not better looking, to the GameCube RE0 and REmake games which were pre-rendered and on newer technology. The game contains marvelous detail, portraying an extremely atmospheric look. Graphical flaws include circular shadows in the early scenarios, an ancient and very bothering image to see considering games have used real shadows for years. The later scenarios have realtime shadows. Unfortunately, there isn't really much in the way of lighting and shadows. Unlike the flashlight-reliant Silent Hill 2 and 3, and the lighter-influenced CODE: Veronica, you won't mind much illumination in RE Outbreak. Just in case you wanted to play this on a big screen TV, there's no Progressive Scan Mode. Also, there's slowdown in many areas, and the loading times without a PS2 HDD are unbearably long (as long as 20 seconds in some places). Installation of the PS2 HDD (hard disk drive) takes about 15 minutes, but is fairly easy to install as the HDD option will appear on the menu if it is detected. The loadtimes are a kicker especially when compared to the fast-loading Onimusha 3, which is also fully 3D with a similar level of detail (and twice the framerate and action, too) and doesn't require an HDD. The loadtimes will bother you no matter what. Unlike the older RE games, instead of a door animation, we have a black screen with a heart beat track (the heartrate varies depending on the health of your character) as well as the name of the room you're about to enter in white font. There's also some frame clipping. The game runs at 30 frames per second which is sufficient for RE games. The animations are top notch and more realistic than any RE game before it. Every character animates differently, and the arm and leg movements during combat are accurate to real life animations. Other than that, the game looks great especially when the game was designed to be used over a network connection which naturally poses some limitations.

Outbreak has a nice soundtrack with some enjoyable tunes, such as the main theme of the game which plays during the introduction, and during the game (in a more subtle fashion). In fact the game has an official soundtrack in Japan. The game sounds surprisingly clear and realistic. The footsteps sound very clear and accurate depending on what's being stepped on. Stepping on wood produces a creaky, hollow sound while stepping on concrete or tile produces louder, more echoed sounds. The guns also sound more realistic than ever, and whenever and enemy is slashed with the butcher knife, the sound of cut flesh is convincing and a bit gross. The voice acting is a mixed back. Outbreak has more voice acting than any RE game before it. Some voices sound good and convincing, and others sound terrible. The voice actors tend to read the script up front with very little emotion or tone change. Some characters might also be a little annoying during communication. Overall, Outbreak has a nice soundtrack with accurate physical sounds while maintaining questionable voice acting.

Being a Resident Evil game, is Outbreak scary? Not in particular, especially for veterans of the series. There moments of panic due to the realtime nature of menus as stated earlier, and sometimes enemy pop ins (as in the very first Resident Evil) will occur, but overall, there won't be any killer scares or frightening moments. This is due in part to the multiple character factor. Since there usually will be someone watching your back, it doesn't feel quite as scary (this was a problem in Zero as well but not quite as much). This isn't really much of a harming factor because the series in general stopped being scary five years ago.

The story of Resident Evil Outbreak is supplemental to Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. The game takes place just before those games begin, and moves into the same timeframe. The second and third scenarios of Outbreak actually take place in the exact same locations as RE2 and RE3 respectively, and you'll find explanations for a few things in the plots of each game (small things mostly). The story itself isn't particularly deep, but there is a bit of emotion involved with each character at the end of each scenario, something that's been done in the series but on a bit of a more downplayed level. Each character also has some sort of backstory and in certain scenarios, you'll see why. You'll discover evil henchmen, killers, mutations, friends, partners, and civilians. Don't expect something of Silent Hill proportions, but a laid back and somewhat up front story. Story in Outbreak won't make or break the overall package so try not to worry about it too much.

There is one last factor in the game and that is the Alyssa glitch. In scenario one, if Alyssa performs certain tasks, the game might freeze. This makes it hard to get a completion rating of 100%. But this is only for Alyssa on scenario one in the U.S. version, not the Japanese one.

Judging from this review, Outbreak's a huge game and rightfully so. It's easily bigger than any RE before it. However, the flaws of the game in the communication, load time and menu department are too big to simply ignore or cope with. Outbreak's a fun game with tons of features and replayability, but it's far from perfect and one can only hope that they fix these errors in the upcoming expansion pack, Resident Evil Outbreak File 2.

The Good:
- Gameplay is great
- Tons of gameplay variety
- Great looking visuals
- Great music and physical sound
- Varying difficulty level
- Tons and tons of replay value
- Setting up an online game is easy

The In-Between:
- Real time menus are either loved or hated
- Might not be scary enough
- Story's either loved or hated
- Might be too big of a departure from the traditional games
- Questionable voice acting
- Broadband only in the U.S.

The Bad:
- Load times require a $100 HDD
- Communication in online play is flawed
- The Alyssa Glitch

Score rundown: Each category is scored out of ten. Gameplay counts three times, while online counts twice. The rest are counted once.

Graphics: 8.5
Sound: 8.5
Gameplay: 8.0
Control: 8.9
Presentation: 7.0
Story: 6.0
Online: 7.5
OVERALL: 7.8 = 8.0 = Good

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/25/04