Resident Evil Outbreak

"One could argue how far this takes the series in terms of variety"

The Series

As you all know, the Resident Evil series, known as Biohazard to the uber leet, has, since 1996, never really changed. The mechanics have always remained the same, the puzzles have been reused over and over, and the whole flow of the games have been absurd, and the plot has more holes then a meteor with craters.

The series has become very popular, not just because of the campy dialouge, bad camera angles, and tank like controls, but because they always give the player alot of tension, and the game has, since Biohazard 1, become more realistic and better. Ammo becomes sparse torwards the end of the games, and guns become harder and harder to find. Enemies, depending on what they are, always do good deals of damage to the player, and sometimes, you would have no choice but to just downright run away from them.

Welcome to the Future

Biohazard Outbreak was first shown at a special press event by Capcom as Resident Evil Online. The video and screens showed several characters running through areas, and scanning the enviroments for items and enemies, or, running from them.

There was a man in a Yellow jump suit, a little girl, a man in armor, and a woman with a skirt on. People speculated as to running through Raccoon City with other people, and trying to escape.

The game would later be changed to Biohazard Network, then Biohazard Outbreak, because of the new addition of a offline mode (most online only games don't sell well in Japan).

The outcome of the game is something different then what people expected. It was more of a Resident Evil game, then a mega Massively Multiplayer Online game. 4 people would team up, and choose from 8 characters, then head online and compete in 5 different scenarios. Each character had their own items and abilities, as well as personalities.

This would be Outbreak as we know it today.

Gameplay

In the offline mode, a player will choose a level, then a character, and finally their difficulty (Easy, Normal, Hard, Very Hard), then play through the level. Beating it would unlock another level, then beating that level would unlock the next level. There are a total of 5 levels in all. These range from Outbreak, the escape from J's Bar, Below Freezing Point, the lab snooping level, The Hive, exploring a hospital that man-eating leeches call home, Hellfire, a hotel on fire, then Desicions, Desicions, a level where the players must help George, the doctor character, find the ingredients of the T-Virus Cure Daylight, and escape. After each level, they get a time grade, and scenario points which can then be used to buy new costumes, modes, etc. Using the right analog stick and the L2 Button, players will be able to shout commands and sayings, as well as adlib for each situation with the Square Button. Each scenario needs to be beaten in a certain time limit, before their virus gauges go up and hit 100%. When it hits 100%, the players then die.

When players had their practice in the offline mode, they can then use their network adapters and broad band connection to head online, and team up with 3 other players, and take on each 5 levels, with all 4 difficulties intact. Players connect to the SNAP servers, and choose their areas. Downtown, a mode where players get placed together randomly, and take on the levels without any chat or communication, and then Uptown, a mode where players talk in a chat room, then make a game in one of the 40 Areas, and choose their level, difficulty, etc. After each level, they get a time grade, and scenario points which can then be used to buy new costumes, modes, etc. Using the Right Analog Stick, L2 button, and Square button, players will be able to chat with each other. However, in online mode, when characters get 100% virus level, they will become zombies and have to turn on their teams.

Both the Network Play and Single Play have their things. Offline, monsters are weaker, and items are placed closer together. Players are placed with 2 AIPCs who help the player kill monsters, gather items, and support each other. Online, items are laid farther apart, monsters are alot stronger, and there are time rankings and point rankings, as well as more points and awards.

When players beat a scenario offline and online, they're given scenario points which can then be used to buy new items that you have unlocked in the collection menu. These range from the music tracks, costumes, videos from the game, new modes, etc. Players who play offline only won't get as much points, but online, players will receive over 10k if they play the right modes and do the right things.

Talking about Scenario Points and the Collections, there are alot of things to be unlocked in this game. There are well over 100 items in the collection menu, which can be unlocked by beating levels in certain terms ( beat a level with a certain character, beat a level on a certain difficulty). This game will have you playing for over 40 hours in an attempt to collect everything, however, you will need to buy a stradegy guide or use one here on GameFaqs to be able to find everything. The SP Items, special items that can only be found by playing as certain characters, getting certain layouts and sets, and playing on certain modes, are invisible to the human eye. And seeing as there are 260 in all, the players will soon get frustrated and quit after awhile. Replay value could have been fun, but it turns out to be a chore.

There are 8 characters total in the game. Each character has a special item, and two special skills. There is Jim. He can play dead, see items on his map before anyone else, and use a lucky coin to raise his critical hit damage. Yoko, a girl who has a backpack for extra item slots, and can crawl on the ground. She also has a very low virus rate. Kevin, the cop, with his special 45, kick ability, and potshot skill for more damage with Pistols. Alyssa, with her lockpick, backstep, and potshot skill. Mark, with his high strength, special melee skills, and guard ability. Cindy, with her herb case, the ability to aid people, and duck skill. David, with his special knife combo, wrenches, and the ability to fix broken weapons, and make new items. And last, but not least, George, who can tackle harder then the others and make pills from herbs.

Each character has a different speed level, health level, and virus rate. Also, you can unlock other costumes, such as cops, civilians, and doctors, but these are just the characters with a new look, items, and stats. Some of them even begin in danger.

Graphics

The graphics are very good, if not, the best for Ps2. Each enviroment makes alot of sense (besides The Hive level), and they're just bombed with beauty. Players will notice facial expressions on the characters get hit, but also, notice they don't move their lips when they speak with the communication system. Lighting effects are very good. Gun blasts come very bright, and fire burns with furry. Just wait until you see the fire effects in Hellfire. However, the character shadows are very bad. You'll see circular shadows that have been dead since 2000. Sometimes, Rarely, you'll see stick figures for shadows, too, that look more like manequins then humans.

The game keeps at a steady frame-rate. Almost never dropping below 30 FPS. Online, the game will occausionally drop with 4 characters and a bunch of enemies on screen, as well as fire and gun effects going off, but that is ok, for it is very rare.

Animations are amazingly well done. Some characters share animations, but that is ok. Each one has a basic running animation, and walking animation. However, in offline, the beauty of the animations kind of fail, as you'll see people running around, and gliding on the ground. Same can be said for zombies and other enemies you will encounter.

Sound

The voices of the 8 main characters have taken a dramtic leap forward to what we are use to with normal Biohazard voices. All Jill Sammich and Monster claims aside, the voices are very well done, however, some of them just don't match the characters. Jim, while his voice is very well done, and you can feel the fear and pain he is going through, in no way sounds black. NPC voices are average at best, and you'll see alot of over-dramtic samples. You've never seen a fireman get this excited over someone making it out of a hotel alive since Berry showed off his Samurai Edge to Jill in Resident Evil.

Sounds come clear, very clear. Gunshots are not reused samples from previous RE Games, however, a few of them are. You'll see the gun shoot out its rounds and ding on the ground, and footsteps change depending on what you're walking through.

Vets will hear the similarities from other RE games, such as doors opening and closing, but these sounds have taken on and defeated the test of time.

Control

The game uses an all new, 2-D control scheme ripped straight from Devil May Cry. Using the Right Analog stick, players will be able to move and aim with more accuracy and persicion then before. However, old school bets can use the D-Pad for old School 3-D control scheme. However, it still remains as tanky as before.

Camera angles once again hinder the game, but not by much. The only time you feel pissed at them is when there is a zombie around the corner, and you can't really see them, or not see them at all. Players will have a hard time manuvering through them. Also, Auto Targetting doesn't always work as needed.

The communication system is simple and easy to pull off. Help is triggered to the left direction on the right stick, and thank you to the right. Holding down L2 allows you to call out names and respond with a simple yes or not. Square will shot out adlibs, relaying your status and position to the others.

Overall

Resident Evil Outbreak is the biggest leap forward in the Biohazard series, or atleast until Biohazard 4. With an all new interface, and control scehem, as well as new modes and tons of unlockables, players will find themselves enraveled in a whole new type of game in the series. While vets will have a good knowledge of how to handle things, the new settings and characters will give them a challenge.

Good Luck.

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Scores:

Gameplay - 10/10
Graphics - 9/10
Sound - 9/10
Control - 8/10
Overall - 9/10
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Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/07/04