Resident Evil Outbreak
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Resident Evil Outbreak (Japanese: Biohazard Outbreak) is a single player game with online playability for the PlayStation 2 initially released in 2003. This game is the first in the Resident Evil series to feature online multi-player support. However, online support was not available for European and Australian players.
Plot overview
Resident Evil: Outbreak takes place during the beginning of the outbreak, immediately preceding the point when the various incidents across an already violated Raccoon City fall into complete chaos. Events lead to the final moments when Raccoon City is destroyed via surgical missile strike. The player controls one of eight survivors or numerous inferior NPCs during the T-Virus outbreak in Raccoon City. Although the game takes place in the same Resident Evil universe, its relevance to the official plotline has been fiercely debated amongst fans of the series.Main characters
- Kevin Ryman - Kevin is a member of the Raccoon City Police Department. He has applied for membership in the S.T.A.R.S. unit twice, but both times he has been denied due to his slack and irresponsible nature. Kevin is also considered to be part of the R.P.D. Select Police Force unit. Kevin carries his own M1911 pistol, a more powerful alternative to the Beretta 92FS, and can inflict additional damage by taking careful aim. Kevin can also kick enemies that are close enough.
- David King - David, a quiet plumber and a former juvenile delinquent, is skilled with a knife and can use his toolbox to create weapons from various items (such as building a spear from a long pole and knife, a crude flamethrower from an aerosol can with a lighter, a hammer from a pipe and rock, a stun rod from a pipe and battery) or to repair some broken weapons.
- Mark Wilkins - Mark is a war veteran who moved to Raccoon City after the Vietnam War. He later became a security guard, and carries his own standard-issue Beretta 92FS. Furthermore, he is very handy with melee weapons, and can inflict additional damage in close quarters combat by charging up a heavy melee attack. Mark's best feature is a block which prevents most forms of damage but increases his infection rate.
- George Hamilton - George is a recently-divorced surgeon at Raccoon General Hospital. He is an avid collector of watches. George's skill is transforming the healing herbs found in the various scenarios into pills which can be stacked and therefore more easily carried than herbs.
- Cindy Lennox - Cindy was a waitress working at J's Bar in the heart of Raccoon City. After the T-virus outbreak in the Arklay Mountains, Cindy was one of the few survivors trapped in Raccoon City. Her special attributes include a duck and a case for carrying herbs.
- Yoko Suzuki - Yoko is a quiet college student with a mysterious past, seemingly linked to Umbrella Corporation. Yoko can hold twice as many items as other characters by using her backpack, and she is the least susceptible character to infection. She has a quickspin-crawl move.
- Alyssa Ashcroft - Alyssa is a newspaper reporter with the ability to pick locks and evade her enemies' attacks. By aiming more carefully, Alyssa can do extra damage with handguns. It is thought she may be responsible for the memos and photos that are collected during Resident Evil 2 and 3. She has a quick backstep move to avoid enemies.
- Jim Chapman - Jim is a subway employee who can fool enemies by throwing himself onto the ground to play dead (although his infection rate goes up quickly when on the ground). Jim is highly superstitious, often flipping a coin to see if his luck will change for the better. This translates to a 15% increase in the chance for a critical hit for each successive "Heads" that he flips. He can easily determine the location of items in a room, as they appear as question marks on the map.
Supporting Characters By Scenario
Outbreak
- Bob - Bob is Mark's best friend and a fellow security guard. Bob was infected with the T-virus sometime before the city descended into chaos. As a result, he is already on the verge of complete infection when the game first begins.
- Will - Will is the bartender at J's Bar. While working at the bar, Will was attacked by a zombie that he believed was simply a strange customer, and received a mortal wound to the jugular. He successfully locked his assailant out of the shop before collapsing on the ground, just before the player enters the scene.
- Raymond - 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 hundreds of survivors to escape the dangerous street through an apartment building opposite J's Bar. Raymond is one of several officers largely responsible for evacuation operations throughout Raccoon City.
- 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.
- 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 .
- 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, offering the player his Beretta 92FS for defense.
Below Freezing Point
- Monica - Monica is a researcher in the Umbrella Corporation's underground laboratory located directly beneath Raccoon City. A cunning and treacherous individual, Monica murders one of her fellow researchers after he discovers her attempting to steal a G-Embryo from the laboratory. Monica apparently recognises Yoko from past encounters, and threatens to kill her if she doesn't give Monica her Umbrella security card.
The Hive
- Hursh - Hursh is a doctor at Raccoon General Hospital and one of George's closest colleagues, 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. After successfully bringing the elevator back online, he is attacked by the leechman and is killed.
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 and Gill - Two members 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.
Decisions, Decisions
- Greg Muller - 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 that he named 'Thanatos'. However, when Umbrella begins to mass-produce the Tyrant, Greg becomes furious, believing that this would take away from the individuality and unique-ness 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. (It is believed that the result of this unfinished mass-producing product is the result of the creation of the Bandersnatch) To spite Umbrella, Greg helps Dr. Peter Jenkins create a cure for the T-Virus, Umbrella's most prized viral weapon.
- Peter Jenkins - Peter has been a close friend of George Hamilton from a young age, two having attended the same schools as children. A researcher and lecturer at the prestigious Raccoon University, Jenkins assisted in the creation of Daylight, a serum capable of purging the T-Virus from the body.
- Nicholai Ginovaef - The notorious U.B.C.S. supervisor who first appeared in . Nicholai makes an extended appearance in Decisions, Decisions. While on a mission to collect a blood sample from Thanatos, he successfully assassinates rogue Umbrella researcher, Greg Muller, although 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. His appearance is one reason for the game's status as only semi-canonical, as it would seem difficult for Nicholai to move freely throughout Raccoon City with so many objectives and encounters.
Development History
Resident Evil Outbreak (Biohazard Outbreak in Japan) was originally known as Resident Evil Online. Capcom released various pieces of media under this name in 2002, including pictures featuring the eight main characters wandering around the Arklay Mountains and a trailer demonstrating the AdLib system and character communication.The title was later changed to Resident Evil Network and information was given that the game included over twenty scenarios. The title was changed again to Resident Evil Outbreak with reduction in the number of scenarios to five.
Communication
Resident Evil Outbreak received low ratings from various websites and gaming magazines for its use of an ad-lib communication system. As opposed to using USB headphones or a Computer keyboard, players would use an ad-libbing system which consisted of ten key phrases and a button which shot out lines depending on the situation (E.g. Announce the status of the player).Several of these phrases include:
- Help.
- Come On
- Wait.
- Yes.
- No.
- Thanks.
- Go.
The ad-libs themselves only covered the basics. (E.g. if a character was using a stronger weapon on a weaker enemy, the player has no option telling the player Stop using it. The player could only shout various phrases such as No or Wait hoping the player would understand.) The system was also criticized on how the ad-libs were integrated into the control scheme, with the player often removing their fingers from the controls to give these commands.
DVD and HDD
Resident Evil Outbreak can be played on either DVD or through a Hard disk drive. DVD mode loads everything off the DVD-ROM and is the only way to play if a PS2 hard drive is not available. HDD mode installs around one gigabyte's worth of files onto the hard drive so that the game loads characters, items, textures and such off the Sony Hard Disc Drive while sounds are spooled from the DVD-ROM.The DVD-ROM version takes a long time to load; the average loading screen is well over 12 seconds. This becomes a problem in the networking mode, where a player will go to save someone in another room, but end up stuck in a loading screen for a long period of time.
With HDD mode, the rooms load at an average rate of four seconds, making the game much faster.
The player can host both of these versions online, and switch between the two (if they own the HDD).
Weapons
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 punches), 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 zombies have the capacity to do the same.Healing Items
Herbs- First Aid Sprays heal the player to full health.
- Green Herbs are used to restore some health.
- Red Herbs combine with Green Herbs to heal 3 times more health than the green herb alone.
- Blue Herbs cure poison.
- Recovery pill are used to restore some health. They restore a little more health than Green Herbs.
- Antidotes cure poison.
- Hemostat pills cure bleeding.
- Anti-virus pills stop the T-Virus's growth for some time.
Scenarios
Resident Evil 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, , includes levels which can be used to bridge the original five together.
Outbreak: The first scenario in the game, the player starts out in J's Bar, and must race against time and the flesh eating undead (or the Scissor Tails in the Very Hard mode) to join the police officers leading evacuated citizens out of the city. This scenario has two ways to be finished: the player can either destroy a street with a bomb, taking several hundred zombies with it, or escape via a van which follows a trail back down the alley. This scenario was copied and reused as "Training Grounds" in .
Below Freezing Point: The player and companions explore the Umbrella lab from Resident Evil 2. Yoko is an important part of this chapter; thus she will always appear with the team regardless of which character(s) the player(s) choose from the start. If she is not directly controlled, Yoko will separate from the team early on, only to reappear later in the level as a zombie.
The Hive: Seeking refuge in Raccoon City Hospital, the player(s) and companions desperately seek a way out while being constantly harassed by the "Leechman." At the end of the scenario, the player(s) face off against a queen leech after attempting to escape via boat down a sewer tunnel. The Raccoon City Hospital was originally seen in Resident Evil Nemesis.
Hellfire: Seeking refuge in the Apple Inn, the player(s) must battle fire, zombies, and a new, fearsome brand of Licker. There are two ways to finish this scenario. The player(s) can collect the dog-tags of two firefighters and give them to a friend of theirs. This alters a scene during the ending.
Decisions, Decisions: When George receives a message, the survivors head to Raccoon University, oblivious to the horror that awaits. The player(s) find documents which show that Peter, George's friend, was betrayed by the current head scientist on campus. The player(s) find Peter dead in his secret office, and depending on the difficulty, he may come back to life and attack the player(s). There are different ways to complete this scenario, depending on the actions taken during the last few minutes. The player, if he or she chooses to do so, may take a cure (called Daylight) for the T-Virus and use it on themselves. This cures them of the virus. However, if they take an extra Daylight, the ending is changed to that of a better one, where the player acts as if they plan to give the cure away for mass production. If the player does not cure his or herself, they end up transforming in the helicopter and the camera cuts just as they attack. However, certain endings shows two characters (the player's and another character). There are two conditions: You must have a specific character in your team alive at the end of the scenario and you must not have taken the cure. The ending depicts them talking or watching the sky as Mission Code Double X (the destruction of the city using nukes) is carried out. Examples include Kevin realizing his impending doom while being annoyed by Jim's constant whinning, moments before discovering that the Tyrant whom they fought is still alive. Another example is a farewell plan elaborated by Mark and David to repair an abandoned tank and use it to crush as many zombies before dying in the "sanitation" of the city.
Network Mode
If the player wishes to do so, he or she can connect to the internet using a broadband connection and a network adapter. When he or she connects for the first time, they must register an account using the in-game web browser. This account is based on the SNAP system, and can be used on all Capcom online titles, which are (as of Feb. 4 2006) - Auto Modellista, Monster Hunter, Resident Evil Outbreak, Resident Evil Outbreak File 2.Once the player connects and logs on, they can then choose between Free Mode and Scenario Mode. Free Mode takes place in a lobby and allows the player to create their own game, scenario, and difficulty. Scenario Mode chooses the scenario and players automatically. When the player first starts out, they begin on the Outbreak scenario and go off from there. If the player wishes to stop playing, they can save their data and start off from the scenario they were to play. If the player beats the scenarios, they acquire a star by their name.
The network portion is considered poor and low in quality. The game lags with just four players (as opposed to most shooters that run 16 without a problem). There is a full second pause when a player goes to pick up an item, leaving them open for attack. And because of the long loading times, if a player falls to the ground, it can be a while before they are saved.
Another point made by the Outbreak community is how the enemies lag. If an enemy lags and attacks the player, the player takes full damage. Meaning, if an enemy lags onto the player and hurts them, when the enemy resumes their actual position, there is a chance the player can be struck again. However, if the player attacks and lags, their damage doesn't count at all, leading to quick ammo loss and frustration.
Trivia
- The Handgun Item (A Beretta M92F/S) is called the RPD's standard issue handgun. In Resident Evil 2, the RPD standard issue is either the HKVP70 or the Browning HP. Also, in the Resident Evil novelization City of the Dead, the RPD issue was changed from the Browning to the VP70. The VP70 doesn't appear in Outbreak, while the Browning HP makes an appearance in File #2. Though the novels aren't canon and must be disregarded.
- Resident Evil Outbreak was originally known as Resident Evil Online/Biohazard Online. In this state of the games name, there were to be over twenty levels with branching paths. However the ad-lib system was already in place and fully functional.
- On May 28th, friendly fire, an option which allowed players to shoot each other using fire-arms (or to hit each other with melee weapons) was activated on the servers in Network mode. During the night in which this option was activated, the total player count in the lobby was over 30 (compared to the relatively low count of 10 to 15).
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