PlayStation 2

Resident Evil: Outbreak

Assessed soley on the single-player mode this game is a sizey, different and diverse lump of still-classic Resi gaming.

Resident Evil has always focused on the solitary experience, often times putting you, the lone survivor of a biohazard apocalyptic catastrophe, against an army of monsters and time-consuming, awkward puzzles. Outbreak opens up the playing field with an online component that makes you and three others to rely on each other to survive. It's an interesting concept that for the most part works.

So, this game gets the backhanded compliment of being "high concept" like Crystal Chronicles and Steel Battalion, for example. My ideal setup i splaying this game with four friends, four TVs, and four PS2s all in the same room. Get this setup, and the game is a real gem.

While purists love to cite I*Motion's classic Alone in the Dark series as the father of the survival horror category, it was Capcom's Resident Evil franchise that truly pushed the genre forward. Combining a stylized mix of spooky camera perspectives and a slew of horrid-looking things that go bump in the night, Biohazard (as it's known in Japan) has set new standards in the in the realm of digital terror -- even if its control scheme and lack of progression between sequels has irked some of its more casual fans.

The virus has spread online, and Resident Evil’s gameplay has never been so infectious. Fighting for life with three human-controlled characters at your side definitely adds an element of unfamiliarity to the survival horror mix, but make no mistake, this is still Resident Evil. Whether you find yourself jumping out of your seat as a zombie crashes through a window, marveling at the action in the cutscenes, or complaining about the stiffness of control and awkwardly placed camera angles, this is just another trip to Raccoon City. Only this time, you’re with friends.

Pity the poor developer working under feature bloat: whether it happens later in the process (as with Champions of Norrath) or earlier (as with Resident Evil Outbreak), adding gameplay elements as huge and labor-intensive as a cooperative online mode can only end in tears.

Outbreak can be a fun experience--online and off--for diehard fans of the series, but the trite conventions and clumsy gameplay will probably turn off the average player. When Capcom first began making indications over two years ago that an online Resident Evil was in development, fans began to speculate about the potential for the game, envisioning a vast Raccoon City overrun by zombies in which many players could work together to escape the shambling menace.

Resident Evil : Outbreak dispensé de ses fonctions Online perd beaucoup de son charme. Néanmoins, l'aventure Offline est intéressante, bien construite et dispose de plusieurs atouts. Maintenant, il faut aussi voir que nous nous retrouvons devant un jeu destiné avant tout aux fans de la saga et aux collectionneurs endurcis (je sais de quoi je parle), que le titre a aussi plusieurs défauts (les temps de chargement en tête) et qu'il sera difficile pour les novices de réellement profiter de l'aventure. La note prend ainsi en compte tout ceci et si j'ai déjà pour moi d'avoir acheté mon exemplaire, je suis conscient que Outbreak n'est qu'un Resident de plus qui voit sa construction Online faire de l'ombre à notre version européenne expurgée de ses parties multijoueurs.

It never fails. You’re about halfway through any Resident Evil game, you go through a big steel door, the music starts pounding and a particularly brutal zombie looms before you. I really respect these ambitious zombies – they’ve usually strapped on a couple extra arms, perhaps a big tentacle or a giant eyeball, maybe even a skinless crocodile head where a leg used to be.

"Outbreak" mostra que a série ainda tem potencial de se expandir ainda mais. O aspecto multiplayer certamente adiciona algo interessante para os fãs (e o fato da versão americana oferecer essa conexão gratuitamente é um ótimo bônus), mas a adaptação para jogar offline não é o suficiente para recomendar o título para quem não tem acesso à Internet com o PS2.

Let's start out by saying that I'm a big fan of Capcom's Resident Evil series. I'm an even bigger fan of Silent Hill and Fatal Frame, so you could say that I'm a survival horror junkie. So imagine my excitement when I learned that Resident Evil Outbreak would be taking classic RE atmosphere and gameplay online. What twisted, insane kind of plan had Capcom concocted? How could what is ostensibly a perfectly fine single-player offline affair be made to work in cyberspace? Resident Evil Outbreak is here. And no matter what issues, foibles and game design faux pas have been made along the way, it's still a pretty cool game.

Online gaming, one day, will be the norm for console gamers. For now, though, we're still scratching around waiting for the broadband installed base to creep up and for the likes of Sony and Nintendo to get their acts together before game companies really take it seriously. Some are taking it seriously, of course. Microsoft, in particular, seems to think that Halo 2's online features for Xbox will create an explosion in demand for its Live service. Others, it would be fair to say, are merely dipping their toes into the water to see what the potential is - and one of those companies is most definitely Capcom, which has so far put out a couple of low key Xbox Live titles. Many felt that Outbreak, its PS2 online multiplayer Resident Evil title would prove to be a major draw for online gamers - only to find that this groundbreaking feature has been stripped out of the PAL version.

The impression one gets from playing Resident Evil Outbreak is that Capcom wasn’t quite sure how, exactly, to bring its flagship franchise online. It still plays too much like one of the old games to feel like a real online title, but the one thing that could have been done to make it better -- namely, a workable communication system for players -- was skimped on. If you really love the series, then perhaps you’ll get into this, but if you were simply curious about this installment due to its online focus, then stay away. It doesn’t quite work, and fun as it is to occasionally get to play as a zombie, it doesn’t justify plodding through its archaic mechanics solely to get the chance.

Kontrollen är klumpig och seg, och jag börjar få allvarliga problem med att motivera ytterligare jakt på vevar, skiftnycklar, shackpjäser och gud vet vad. Utan ordentliga skräckeffekter har man helt enkelt inte tillräckligt mycket att kämpa för, och då kan man lika gärna spela någonting annat. Vi gräver ner Outbreak i samma grav som Survivor, okej?

I can appreciate Capcom wanting to take the Resident Evil series in a new direction, but this is one chapter in the saga you can safely bypass.