Resident Evil Outbreak

"Single Player Review: Why I should have bought $50 worth of scratch tickets instead"

Before I even begin let me say I understand from most opinons of this game its strength is online play, something I don't go near with my fantastic 56k connection. I also heard the single player mode was terrible. So, after weighing these points against a complete lapse in logical thinking I still bought the game for no apparant reason and saw the single player is even more dreadful than people are rumoring it to be. Worse yet, I wanted a ''dark'' game, one that would get something out of me, a jump in my seat, a gasp, anything. Sadly, one thing has been constant in the RE series, the steady drop from early installments creepy and for brief moments even scary sequences to a shambling moaning group of rotting idiots who at this point are not going to get you to jump out of your seat if you're ODing on caffiene.
Unfortunately, the enemies, as inspired as your average freycook aren't the problem. The problem is the game flows like a junior high play. The load times will be noticed right off the bat after the approximate six years you wait for the game to load. Warning, here comes a kinda spoiler for a kinda game. You'll start in a bar with a couple of your classic doofy looking zombies coming at you painfully slowly. Naturally panicking, you'll run along the side of the bar, into a wall or four and maybe see a corner of a zombie to shoot at thanks to the camera, which not unlike the rest of the series, is just awful. Its as if the main challenge of the game is to try playing it when you can't see what the hell is happening, and kept me asking ''why give me a gun when I can't see anything that isn't within the range of my fist?'' Anyhow, running to the first door you see, you'll notice a screen blank save for ''womens bathroom'' and ''loading''. If you're like me, at this point, you're wondering why theres a 30 second load time between a bar and the vast, highly detailed, fascinating womens bathroom which you'll get to go into, stare at, and walk back out to load the bar again. At this point, again, if you're like me, you already hate this game. To call this game frustrating would be like saying ''Kangaroo Jack was a below-average movie.'' The loading can't be stressed enough as it single handedly ruins a game that appears to suck anyway.
Another true crap-fest is the ''call'' feature, which I can only assume is mainly for online play as its close to completely useless in single. The ''help me'' call seems to work when it feels like it, though many of the times I used it were attempts to get somebody to drag me out of the room, break the TV or do anything to make this stop. otherwise these supposed calls to make your group work together seem to just be another useless feature to fill a truly empty game.
The bright point, and I mean as in the single part of this game that isn't worth screaming angrily at the sky and eventually crying about, is the cutscenes and graphics in general. In fact, before I started PLAYING and got my first 10 or 15 minutes of visually checking the game out, I was almost pleased (then of course the game itself came along and stomped a mudhole in that for me). The cutscenes simply out-do everything else in the game, no other aspect of it has even a tenth of the quality. They're awfully good looking and for the most part pretty cool with a decent smattering of good looking gore, maybe enough for a while to keep you playing a game I honestly don't think Capcom gave a damn if anybody enjoyed.
In short, if poor camera angles, barely average AI and a game as empty as FFX-2 sounds good to you, factor in the load times. The ''minute of play, minute of load'' formula will eventually make you want to tear the stars from the sky to crush them in your angry hands. Want a good action game with a dark background? Try Manhunt, or the Suffering.

Rent or Buy: I can't speak for the multiplayer review, but I hear its pretty good. If you're thinking straight single player action though, few titles in history come to mind that are a poorer choice than this. There are worse games out there, but this one is just dead inside. Either Capcom should go personally thank with their fist whatever test group said they enjoyed this game, or Capcom personally should be ashamed of putting out such a half-assed product. This game honestly doesn't feel completed to me. Theres not something missing, theres about fifty things missing. It barely feels like an action game.

Reviewer's Score: 2/10, Originally Posted: 05/01/04