Resident Evil Outbreak

Resident Evil Outbreak (Biohazard Outbreak in Japan) is a single player game with online playability for the PlayStation 2 released in 2003. This game was the first in the Resident Evil series to feature online multiplayer support. However, online support was not available for European and Australian players. These features were added in the successor title, Resident Evil Outbreak: File 2. The game was produced by Tsuyoshi Tanaka.

Gameplay

Resident Evil Outbreak received low ratings from various websites and gaming magazines for its use of a command and ad-lib communication system. As opposed to using USB headphones or a computer keyboard, players would use a command "ad-lib" system which consisted of ten key command phrases, used with the right joystick on the PlayStation controller, and a button which shot out lines depending on the situation. The player can select items from his/her teammate's inventory and request it, or ask them to use it. While some people preferred this type of system, many despised it with people claiming the phrases would not cover enough during gameplay.

The commands and ad-libs themselves only covered the basics. (For example: if a character was using a stronger weapon on a weaker enemy, the player has no option telling the other player/players to stop using it. The player could only shout various phrases such as "No" or "Wait" hoping the other player/players would understand.) The system was also criticized on how the ad-libs were integrated into the control scheme, with the player often having to remove their fingers from the controls to give these commands. However, one helpful feature included was an option to ask a teammate to use an item, such as a health item if wounded, or a weapon during a battle.

Moving a cursor over an item in the inventory will show a brief description below the EKG (heart monitor). Selecting an item will bring up a series of actions related to that particular item: Use, Equip, Combine or Present. If the player presents an item, the character will offer it to the other players who can come up and take it but he/she will still be in the inventory screen. When picking up an item from the ground, the player can choose to swap it with an item in his/her inventory or combine it with herbs or ammo already inside. However, key items cannot be combined in this way nor can weapons be reloaded without first having both items in your inventory. Item swapping is an excellent way to stock up an area for a battle or to leave items for partners behind.

Resident Evil Outbreak presents the first time in the series that players have been given multiple melee weapons, and even their own bodies (via kicks, shoves and rams), to use against enemies. However, many such weapons are very weak and still no match for a firearm of some kind, and should only be considered a last resort. Weapons and physical strikes can also be used to break down doors instead of opening them manually, although some enemies have the capacity to do the same.

Outbreak doesn't progress like standard Resident Evil titles. Instead of choosing a character and following a straight path, the player chooses a scenario, difficulty, and a character. The difficulty is strongly tied to what enemies and items the player sees as he or she progresses through the game. Each scenario has an event checklist which consists of special actions the player must perform to reach 100% completion. Upon doing so, the player will unlock Infinity Mode, where all weapons never break or run out of ammo.

Each scenario also has its own fair share of SP Items. These are invisible items hidden throughout the level. They are randomly generated on two paths - A and B. If the player finds them all, they receive special items for their gallery. There are twenty scenario items for each scenario, and twenty items specific for each and every character hidden across the five levels. They are hidden around the levels, and if acquired, unlock new costumes and the option to listen to their ad-libs.

The scenarios do not follow a basic format. They tend to swap places a lot. Many players think that the stages were chosen out of the original twenty from the beta version of Resident Evil Online. This helps explain why the story isn't linear. The game's sequel, Resident Evil Outbreak: File 2, includes levels which can be used to bridge the original five together.

Characters

Main

Enemies

Zombies
Crows
Moths
Zombie Dogs
Lickers
Giant Spiders
Hunters
Neptunes
G-Larvae
G-Creature - the boss of the "Below Freezing Point" scenario.
Thanatos - the boss of the "Decisions, Decisions" scenario.
Leech Man - the strange and mysterious creature that lurks through the vents and pursues the characters throughout the hospital. Its appearance is a figure covered from head to knees in leeches.
Giant Leech - the boss of "The Hive" scenario.
Suspended - the boss of the "Hellfire" scenario.

Supporting

The game features a large supporting cast, all of which are playable after purchase with scenario result points.

Outbreak

Bob Park - Bob is a security guard and Mark's friend. He is already on the verge of complete infection when the game first begins. The players can choose to help him, but he ultimately decides to commit suicide to stop from turning into a zombie and killing the others. In Hard and Very Hard mode, Bob becomes a zombie on the roof of J's Bar and attacks.

William "Will" Kennedy was the bartender at J's Bar. While working at the bar, William was attacked by a zombie that he believed was simply a "strange customer", and received a mortal wound to the throat. He successfully locked his assailant out of the shop before collapsing on the ground, just before the player enters the scene. If one waits long enough in the main bar area, he will eventually turn into a zombie. His diary can be found as a special item and in it is implied that he had a crush on Cindy Lennox, it is hinted through Cindy's comments that she cared for him and was stricken with grief over his untimely death. He seemed to have been a brother figure to her. After becoming a zombie, William becomes harder to kill than all of the other zombies and is constantly running at his target. Some fans debate over if he was related to Leon S. Kennedy, or if it was just coincidence.

Raymond Douglas - Raymond is one of several R.P.D. officers responsible for aiding hundreds of civilians to reach evacuation points in the early hours of the crisis. A close friend of Kevin, Raymond is fearless and resourceful; using the SPAS-12 he carries to help the survivors escape the dangerous street through an alleyway opposite J's Bar. Raymond is later bitten to death by a swarm of zombies trying to help the survivors escape, but his lighter can be used to trigger an explosion.

Arthur - Arthur is another R.P.D. officer charged with assisting in the evacuation of the public and the lockdown of the "riot zones" throughout Raccoon City. When Raymond and Arthur are dispatched to handle the evacuation of downtown Raccoon City, where J's Bar is located, Arthur is killed by the zombies chasing down the terrified citizens that he is attempting to evacuate. He carries a loud megaphone.

Aaron - Aaron is one of many R.P.D. officers to arrive on Main Street after the survivors destroy the area with explosives. Aaron manages to survive the incident, and ends up one of the handful of survivors barricaded within the precinct alongside Marvin and Rita in Outbreak: File 2. According to Kevin, Aaron is his hero.

Dorian - Dorian is another R.P.D. officer assisting in the evacuation, and is in possession of a S.W.A.T. van to help with the task. Dorian tries to relocate the survivors and several other citizens to a safer region, but is stopped by one of the many roadblocks set up throughout the area. While Dorian succeeds in evacuating the survivors when a large R.P.D. taskforce arrives to secure the area, his eventual fate is unknown.

Elliott, Eric, and Harry - Elliot, Eric, and Harry are the three R.P.D. officers tasked with destroying Main Street to halt the progress of the zombies. Elliot and Eric are overcome by the horde as they attempt to cover Harry, who retreats to the walkway and contacts the other survivors. The injured Harry asks the survivors to retrieve the detonator pieces and destroy Main Street, handing over his Beretta 92FS in fear, which the survivors can use for defense. Harry's help was later enlisted by a fellow officer, Rita, who was attempting to return to the R.P.D. to evacuate the survivors barricaded in the station.

Below Freezing Point

Monica Stevens - Monica is a researcher in the Umbrella Corporation's underground laboratory located directly beneath Raccoon City. Monica murders one of her fellow researchers after he discovers her attempting to steal a G-Embryo from the laboratory. Monica apparently recognizes Yoko Suzuki from past encounters, and threatens to kill her if she doesn't give Monica her Umbrella security card. Near the end of the level, Monica is attacked by the giant moth in the main shaft, and the embryo somehow breaks out of its container and implants itself into her body. As the survivors leave, the embryo bursts out of Monica's chest, killing her. The embryo then follows the player to the top of the platform.

The Hive

Hursh - Hursh is a doctor at Raccoon General Hospital and one of George's associates, who chose to stay at the hospital and treat the sick and wounded for as long as possible. The survivors encounter Dr. Hursh when they seek shelter inside, attempting to locate medical supplies. Dr. Hursh explains to the survivors that the hospital is no longer a safe place to stay and that they should escape as soon as he can find a way to repair the elevator. When he restores power to the elevator, the "Leech Man" appears. Hursh tries to escape by climbing over a barricade that is blocking his way and he falls in the process. Hursh regains his composure and he realizes his wounded hand, that is then bleeding, has attracted the creature, and he screams before his inevitable death. After he dies, the barricade that was once blocking the path will be gone. He will also appear as the new "Leech Man".

Hellfire

Charlie and Len - Two Raccoon Fire Department officers who assisted the R.P.D. with the evacuation of the Apple Inn and surrounding area. As they scour the basement for survivors, the poorly maintained boiler explodes, killing them both. The survivors discover their corpses as Danny, another R.F.D. officer, attempts to re-establish contact with the pair via his tactical radio.

Danny - Member of a firefighting team stationed beneath the exit overpass, evacuating the wounded from the area. When the basement boiler of the Apple Inn explodes, Danny attempts to contact his friends, Charlie and Len, who were inside at the time. Receiving no answer, Danny rushes to the scene and rescues the survivors from the lobby of the Apple Inn by destroying the jarred door blocking their escape route. He later reappears in "Decisions, Decisions" alongside another firefighter, Gill.

Gill - A firefighter, Gill appears with Danny (from "Hellfire") in an R.F.D. helicopter following the destruction of the university. After the player defeats Thanatos, Gill and Danny pick them up in their helicopter and fly out of the city before the bomb hits. Depending on the ending, he and Danny can either escape or get killed when the player's character turns into a zombie and attacks them.

Decisions, Decisions

Greg Mueller - Greg is an unethical Umbrella researcher assigned to conduct various experiments at Raccoon University. Greg creates a powerful creature similar in size and strength to the Tyrant model, naming the creature "Thanatos". However, when Umbrella begins to mass produce the Tyrant, Greg becomes furious, believing that this would take away from the individuality and uniqueness of his subject. Like many Umbrella researchers, Greg views his creations as works of art, and not mass produced weapons as the Umbrella Corporation intended, and refuses to help them any further. To further spite Umbrella, Greg helps Dr. Peter Jenkins create a cure for the T-Virus, Umbrella's most prized viral weapon. Due to his rebellion, Greg is marked for death by Umbrella, who sends a U.B.C.S. team to assassinate him and retrieve a blood sample from Thanatos. Anticipating this, Greg intends to have Thanatos eliminate his would-be assassins. Thanatos largely achieves this, quickly massacring the squad, although one member, Nicholai, escapes and ultimately manages to kill Greg.

Peter Jenkins - Peter was a fellow alumnus of George Hamilton, the two having attended the same university and having similar interests. A researcher and lecturer at the prestigious Raccoon University, Jenkins assisted in the creation of Daylight, which can instantly destroy the T-Virus cells. He is found dead in his office, slumped over his desk. How he died is never revealed. However, in the days before his death, he became terrified of Greg believing his life was in danger (according to his journal).

Nicholai Ginovaef - The notorious U.B.C.S. supervisor who first appeared in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. While on a mission to collect a blood sample from Thanatos, he successfully assassinates rogue Umbrella researcher, Greg Mueller, although he fails to retrieve the blood sample. Nicholai then destroys Raccoon University using C4 to cover up any evidence of the Umbrella Corporation's research. Unlike other non-playable characters, he cannot be used as a skin for any of the character models, since his only appearances were in full motion video sequences.

Bonus

These stick figure of five of the eight main characters obviously are not featured in the storyline, and are alterations of the characters' statistics, some better and some much worse.

Mr. Red - representing Kevin, Mr. Red starts in Danger condition, moves very slow, but deals 50% more damage to enemies.
Mr. Blue - representing George, Mr. Blue is unlocked by finding every Special Item in the game.
Mr. Green - representing Jim, Mr. Green is able to potentially deal the most damage from the Lucky Coin and can squeeze through crawl spaces, but has the highest infection rate in the game.
Mr. Gold - representing Mark, Mr. Gold can push heavy objects out of the way, has a shoulder butt attack and moves fairly fast.
Mr. Black - representing David, Mr. Black is equipped with a tool kit, but moves very slowly and starts in Danger condition.

Story

Resident Evil Outbreak begins a couple of days after the initial outbreak in Raccoon City, moments before the crisis erupts into complete chaos. The game ends in the final moments of the incident, with the player attempting to escape Raccoon City before the U.S. government launches a missile strike to eliminate the threat posed by the T-Virus. The player controls one of eight characters, or numerous supporting characters who can be selected in their place. Events transpire across various regions of Raccoon City and over a period of several days. Events also span from Resident Evil 2 through Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.

Resident Evil Outbreak is broken up into five chapters, or scenarios.

1 - Outbreak

After zombies attack J's Bar, everyone takes the stairs to the roof. After jumping across to the building next to it, the survivors take the elevator down to escape. Having exited the bar, Officer Raymond Douglas instructs players to make a barricade while he blows a door open with his shotgun. After Raymond is killed, leaking gasoline from a truck can be ignited with Raymond's lighter. This engulfs the entire section in flames, forcing players down a manhole into the sewers. After riding an armored van driven by Dorian to Main Street, players must make a choice to either backtrack to the van and talk to the officer, or combine both parts of the detonator to make an explosion on Main Street, killing every zombie in the process, except your character, partners, and Officer Harry. The latter is the "true" ending of the scenario.

2 - Below Freezing Point

In the Umbrella facility's escape tunnel miles below the lab, Yoko is nearly shot by a researcher, who reveals herself to be Yoko's colleague, Monica. After Monica steals Yoko's ID card and escapes, players proceed up a ventilation shaft to the upper floors. Everything has been frozen, and needs to be thawed before escape from the facility is possible. After finding a blowtorch, players use it to melt the ice covering a lever, switching it on. This not only unfreezes the entire floor, but also a group of frozen Hunters that were encountered earlier. As they rush back to the exit, the survivors defend themselves from the Hunters. Monica reappears and collapses on the ground without saying anything. As the elevator they are using rises up, Monica's chest bursts open with a G-Larvae, presumably from being attacked before, killing her instantly. The larvae makes its way up to the marshalling yard, where it grows to a giant complete "G". When the creature is finally dead, they board a locomotive and operate it, moving on to a power plant.

3 - The Hive

The survivors take shelter at the Raccoon General Hospital, last seen in Resident Evil 3. With power to the elevators having gone out, Dr. Hursh leaves to turn it back on. He is attacked by leeches, and is used as a vehicle in which they can assume a humanoid form. Players eventually wind their way down into the waterways of the sewers for a boss battle with the Giant Leech.

4 - Hellfire

Two firemen - Len and Charlie - inspect the boiler room of the Apple Inn. After the boiler shows signs of a malfunction, the two retreat, but are too late to avoid an explosion. The ensuing damage to the building forces the structure to block the door within the Inn's courtyard, where survivors are gathered. As the survivors travel around the burning hotel, they run into various zombies, lickers, and dying or already dead hotel visitors. When the group reach the Apple Inn's front lobby, they fight a half-transformed Licker known as "Suspen-Dead" which appears to be a zombie-licker hybrid. Soon after the Suspen-Dead's death, a firefighter breaks open the door and helps all of the remaining survivors out.

5 - Decisions, Decisions

George reads a note from his friend Peter Jenkins, asking for his help at the university. A few hours later, George leads a group of two or three other survivors into the university. The survivors find Peter, apparently killed by a gunshot to the back. His notes suggest that he was working on an anti-virus called "Daylight", which eliminates the T-Virus from the body. The survivors spread out to locate the three components needed to make the anti-virus.

Meanwhile, a team of Umbrella mercenaries encounter Thanatos, an experimental Tyrant created by former Umbrella researcher Greg Mueller, who was instrumental in creating the Daylight anti-virus as a means of combating the T-Virus. Meanwhile, U.B.C.S. operative Nicholai Ginovaef tries to obtain a blood sample from the Tyrant, shooting it with a capsule. The creature resists, and quickly annihilates the team of mercenaries before leaving. After the survivors temporarily disable Thanatos by electrocuting it, the capsule falls out, enabling them to retrieve the T-blood, one of the three components.

A pre-collected sample of V-poison is recovered on the top floor of an emission tower. The P-base, a sample of the unaltered Progenitor virus which "t" derives from, is found in a water-processing facility deep under the University. When finally synthesising the vaccine, the power to the machine is cut. They are confronted by Greg who discusses having them killed by Thanatos. Greg is then shot through the neck by Nicholai, allowing the survivors to escape with the "Daylight" samples. The harried survivors reach the courtyard, and a rescue helicopter circles around to pick them up. Before it can descend to reach them, however, they are forced to deal with Thanatos, which has mutated into a Super Tyrant. After defeating the beast, the helicopter rescues them and they escape the city as it is bombed, with the Daylight in hand and hope for the future.

Development

Resident Evil Outbreak was part of an initiative from Capcom's Production Studio 1 to develop three games, the other two titles being Monster Hunter and Auto Modellista, that takes advantage of the processing power and online capabilities of the PlayStation 2; according to one of Capcom's producers Ryozo Tsujimoto, the system had begun to match arcade games in capabilities.^[1] Capcom's plan was that at least one of the games would sell a million copies. Both Monster Hunter and Resident Evil Outbreak eventually sold a million copies each.^[2]