Codename: Outbreak

aka: Venom, Venom: Codename: Outbreak
Moby ID: 5533
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Description official descriptions

In the early 21st century, a meteor storm hits a valley somewhere in the United States of America. Scientists and marines are sent to investigate the occurrence however they all disappear under mysterious circumstances. Eventually, a special team is sent by the authorities, only to discover the shocking truth: the meteor storm contained an alien parasite life form, which has taken control of the scientists as human hosts, turning them into murderous monsters. The soldiers must get to the source of the infestation and put an end to it.

Codename: Outbreak is a first-person 3D shooter in which players control a team of two soldiers. Recruits can be chosen among several that are available. The single-player campaign mode is composed of 14 missions. In each mission, the player controls one of the soldiers directly and gives orders to the other. Cooperative multiplayer for up to sixteen players is also available for 13 missions.

In contrast to most other games of this type, player characters carry only one weapon, which can be switched to different modes corresponding to standard FPS firearms: machine gun, sniper rifle, rocket launcher, etc., each with different types of ammo. A few missions call for a stealth approach, which is possible to achieve through the use of a silent laser gun mode. Items (e.g. medical kits) can be picked up and stored in the inventory.

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Credits (Windows version)

38 People (36 developers, 2 thanks) · View all

Executive Producer (GSC)
Project Manager (GSC)
PR (GSC)
Documentation (GSC)
English Localisation (GSC)
Dialogue (GSC)
Lead Programming (GSC)
Producer (GSC)
Programming (GSC)
Level Designer (GSC)
Art Director (GSC)
Sound Engineering (GSC)
Texture Design (GSC)
Additional Graphics (GSC)
Installation Program (GSC)
Playtesting (GSC)
Special Thanks To (GSC)
Producer (Virgin)
Assistant Producer (Virgin)
QA Manager (Virgin)
Technical Lead QS (Virgin)
Localisation Manager (Virgin)
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 71% (based on 31 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.3 out of 5 (based on 16 ratings with 2 reviews)

WHERE arethey shooting from?

The Good
I think this game got a bad rap in the U.S. because it was released as a budget title and the developers were a little no-name group from Eastern Europe (who have since gone on to create S.T.A.L.K.E.R.). Strangely, it fared much better overseas where I believe it was released as a full-price game.

I bought this game on the cheap, not expecting much. I was pleasantly surprised. It had a lot more depth and features than a lot of games I've paid a lot more for.

You have a partner in your missions (you can jump back and forth between your two soldiers) that you can give simple orders to (Hold position, Cover Me, Hold Fire, Fire At Will). The AI is surprisingly good for your partner. I had an occasional hang up when I would climb a ladder and he wouldn't follow, but that was rare. For the most part, he will go up ladders, through doors, etc. with no problem.

The graphics themselves are very good. Not award winning, but they do a good job. Also, the graphics have this neat filter effect. When you get close to any texture (wall, grass, etc.) it becomes extra detailed.

The levels are pretty expansive, usually indoors and outdoors. I remember one of the early missions where I started on a mountain road. At the top of the mountain, far away you could see a neat domed building. I was surprised to find that in the course of the mission you actually work your way up to and inside the building. The only other game I remember with such big levels was Project: IGI.

You are relatively weak in this game. You aren't often going to charge in like Rambo machine-gunning ten guards. On those rare occasions where you and your partner are suddenly forced to mix it up with a group, it's a rush. Usually, sniping is where it's at. I never got tired of concealing myself in the branches of an evergreen and picking off passing guards. Be careful though. A dead body won't just be ignored by the next guy.

I like that they tried to rationalize the amount of weapons one person carries. You have a sort of 'Swiss-army gun' that has several different features. When you choose a new weapon, you hold the same gun, but the barrel rotates. It may not be realistic to assume that the same frame that holds shot-gun shells can also serve as a sniper rifle, but its no worse than being able to carry ten weapons on your back.

The Bad
I've mentioned the graphics and game-play already. I had to hold on to sounds for this section. The weapon sounds and ambiance are perfectly fine. It's the voice 'acting' that makes the sound category a bad one.

I believe I mentioned that this game has eastern European origins. It really shows when anybody talks. It's not that I have anything against accents. Just the first mission is set in Oregon. I never realized that Oregon had so many Croatian immigrants. To tell you the truth, it's more comical than terrible, but I sure got tired of hearing 'where ARE they', 'Isee no-one', 'Here h'is!' and 'WHERE arethey shooting from?'

One other complaint is that from time to time, I would be unable to switch control from one team-mate to the other. I wish they would release a patch for this, even though it's rare.

The Bottom Line
The game was twenty bucks when it was first released. Now you can probably find it for ten or less. I highly recommend you pick it up and am looking forward to further games from GSC.

Edit: I was checking out game-play videos on YouTube (yes, I do have that much time on my hands!) and noticed that that player's version had much better voice acting than my copy did. Well, English was these voice actor's primary language anyway. If you purchase a copy of the game at this late date, may you get the one with the better voices (though the Eastern European accents do have a kind of a charm).

Windows · by Atomic Punch! (186) · 2011

Codename: Access violation at address 0815:4711 in module "vital.dll".

The Good
The graphics are okay - nothing special, though. Nice cut-scenes.

The Bad
The biggest problem with this game is that it's buggy like hell. When I tested it, it crashed about every two minutes without reason (see screenshot). And NO, I don't have an Athlon/Duron processor and I tested it with other OS than WXP too. Behaving like that makes the game impossible to play. I suppose the beta team didn't put too much time into testing.

Besides that, the weapons are lame (okay, I didn't see much of them because of the crashes), the comrade who should support you doesn't - he just shoots but doesn't seem to aim :) Sound effects are nothing special too.

The Bottom Line
Buying Codename: Outbreak will result in an access violation at address 1234:5678 in module "brain.dll" - in other words, this game is not needed (unless you want to see some nice crashes on your bomb-proof WindowsXP system :)

Windows · by phlux (4295) · 2001

Trivia

Characters

The available character faces are modeled after GSC Gameworld's staff. The main character in the intro has the face of lead artist Andrew Prokhorov.

Legacy

After the completion of Codename: Outbreak, the development team split up: some of them left the company to form Deep Shadows - a new developer, working on the RPG shooter Boiling Point: Road to Hell, while those who stayed at GSC developed S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, another shooter with RPG elements.

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by phlux.

Additional contributors: retinadesgastada, Felix Knoke, Kabushi, Klaster_1, Patrick Bregger.

Game added December 17, 2001. Last modified March 24, 2024.