Resident Evil Outbreak: Files 1+2 Review

Oh boy, the online Resident Evil games that allow you to take control of an ordinary citizen of Raccoon City (yet they still can survive having their throat bitten out as long as they spread a herb over it?) and make your escape from the city. The game was an intriguing idea, especially with its multiplayer online co-op mode. Offline the game doesn't fare so well. Unfortunately I was never able to play online, so the fun factor dropped a bunch for me. I'll try and be fair and remember this consideration when reviewing this game.

Outbreak's story obviously takes place in September of 1998, given that Raccoon City is still around. The intro depicts the deaths of the Umbrella Special Forces by William Birkin, shortly before the outbreak began (and the cause of it...) The game begins in J's Bar with an oddly coughing transient making trouble for the playable characters (who all just happen to be in the same bar)

There really is not much to say about Outbreak's storyline, as it mostly just revisits locations from past Resident Evil games. Some scenarios has self-contained storylines that aren't very compelling, but enough to keep you playing. At least they did for me back in 2003.

Graphics are quite good for a mid life PS2 game; there are clear signs that the problems that plagued the PS2 port of Code Veronica were simply a lack of PS2 programming knowledge at that point in 2001. Lighting is well done and the characters all look distinctive. I especially like seeing familiar RE haunts in PS2 graphics, the improved details really make it a treat.

Music, ugh, there is so little of it in this game! If I remember correctly, only some cutscenes and boss battles have any at all! Why has this happened to Resident Evil? Ambient music can be effective, but here it just feels like a place in which Capcom could cut costs. What music there is very ordinary and does little to stand out.

Gameplay is done in the standard Resident Evil style, with limited inventory, green herbs, and tank controls. Some new innovations include the ability to exchange items with multiple partners, certain characters can combine items to make weapons, and the virus gauge.

The virus gauge is this game's way of hurrying the player along. As the developers want us to believe that the T Virus was aerosolized in the initial infection period (despite RE2 saying rats spread the virus throughout the city), all these characters have been exposed. That T-Virus is a real deus ex machina, it does whatever the plot needs. Anyway, the virus gauge slowly increases no matter what you are doing, taking damage and being fatally wounded will cause the gauge to rapidly increase. If it reaches 100 percent, the player dies. If you are playing online, you become a zombie and can stalk the other players. Luckily there are items to stall the rate of infection.

The virus gauge is a nice and interesting new addition but the rest of the gameplay changes don't fare as well. Most characters don't have guns or other long-range weapons; so running from enemies is often preferable. Saving is the worst though. Games can only be saved once and when you do so, the game will end. Basically it is like a checkpoint, as restarting the data will then erase it. LAME!

Challenge is affected by these handicaps, as there some characters, like Kevin, who have it pretty easy, while others like Cindy, really should only be used when playing online with competent players. Some scenarios are quite easy, but the last one is challenging because of its random nature. If you play with the comp, the players must split up to look for key items in different areas. It seems random if the comp will actually be able to survive the trek to the item, let alone get back safe to get it to you...

Because challenge is so dependent on what kind of mode you are playing, it is really difficult to take this into account when scoring the game. Despite the presence of a score, remember to keep in mind what this reviewer was able to play when going through this game.

Replay value is high as there are tons of bonus items, artwork and more to unlock. Most of these items did not interest me, but higher difficulties would be ideal for online player.

Finally, I feel I much say this about Outbreak. When it first came out in 2003/2004, I wanted to play it simply because it was part of the RE series, I did not require much, I liked the games the way they were, and I did not think it was possible for it to fail. I've read the criticisms of playing by yourself, but I was able to make it through the game and have a pretty fun time. Things were quite different when playing it again for this review...

I literally feel ill and tired as I tried the game even after I knew I disliked it now, I wanted to make sure I was not just chickening out to convince myself it was bad. IT IS just horrible trying to play it offline these days. I really recommend that fans of the series skip the pain of the clunky mechanics and just watch speed runs on Youtube. Thanks be to Youtube for distracting me from the pain of offline mode! If any game needs to be put on Xbox Live with voice chat, it is this game! It could be saved from its bad reputation in one fell swoop!

- Ugly Bob

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