The Resident Evil Retrospective: Part Ten

Despite having only appeared in Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Raccoon City is still remembered today as the location most people think of when they hear the name of the franchise. Resident Evil 2 only featured a handful of streets before the action was taken indoors. With a whole city under attack from the undead, the potential was there for multiple stories set during the same period of time as these early instalments.

RESIDENT EVIL OUTBREAK – 2003

RESIDENT EVIL OUTBREAK FILE #2 – 2004outbreak

When Resident Evil Outbreak was released for PlayStation 2 in December 2003 in Japan, then March 2004 in America, it featured a mode many fans of the series had been hoping for since the early days; the ability to play online with a group of other people and work together to survive the zombie outbreak. The idea of a multiplayer game in the Resident Evil franchise came before the release of Resident Evil 2 in 1998, at a time when the concept of network gaming over consoles was growing into a reality. Noritaka Funamizu, who would go on to be the producer for Resident Evil Outbreak, was encouraged by Resident Evil director Shinji Mikami to try his hand at making something that would take the Resident Evil universe online. Funamizu created a multiplayer mini-game where the aim was to achieve a higher score than the other players. However, this concept was eventually scrapped as players tended to avoid each other rather than working together in order to survive, which was what Funamizu wanted; a game that put an emphasis on teamwork. At the same time, it was realised that what made Resident Evil scary was the fact that the player was alone, unable to count on anybody else’s help.

A multiplayer Resident Evil game would later begin development properly in 2002, and was announced by surprise at a Sony press conference in February that year under the working title Biohazard Online. The game was then shown off at E3 2002, and throughout development details were released to the public, which painted a very interesting picture. Promising advanced AI from various NPCs, real-time 3D environments instead of the traditional pre-rendered backgrounds seen previously in the series, multiple playable characters and eighteen different scenarios, with more in the concept stages. However, as time went on, Resident Evil Outbreak suffered major cutbacks that watered down the product heavily. The eighteen scenarios were reduced to five, with five more later being developed into the sequel Resident Evil Outbreak File #2. Another major cut was to the online capabilities, with the multiplayer component being removed completely for the massively delayed European release.

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Teamwork is essential in both games. Good luck, Europe…

The plot for Resident Evil Outbreak took place in Raccoon City during the same time period as Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. Each of the five scenarios take place independently from each other, and featured locations seen in previous games, such as the Police Precinct from both Resident Evil 2 and 3, the diner seen in the opening cutscene for Resident Evil 2, and the hospital featured in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. These scenarios followed multiple characters, each with their own special abilities and usable items and weapons. To communicate with the other characters, and also other players online (unless you live in Europe, of course), the game featured an “ad-lib” system. This removed the need for in-game chat, as it was felt this would be too distracting to players, and was a good way of having characters interact. The player could walk up to another character and choose lines of dialogue from various categories such as “Help” or “Go”.

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You’ll get to return to possibly the most iconic location it Resident Evil history

A stand-alone expansion was released the following year, called Resident Evil Outbreak File #2. The same eight playable characters were available, and there were another five scenarios to play through, with four available from the start of the game. One of these scenarios had the players fight through the Raccoon City Zoo, which is worth the price tag alone to see a zombie elephant going nuts. The gameplay was near identical to the first Outbreak, however the ad-lib system was removed for the American version, which had a negative impact on gameplay.

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Zombie Elephant!

Overall, both Outbreak games promised more than they could deliver. Upon release, I couldn’t play the game as it was intended to be played as online play had been removed from the European version. Unfortunately, it was clear that Resident Evil Outbreak was supposed to be played with others, as the computer-controlled AI was unbearable. Scenarios were tough to finish alone, as inventory space was limited just like the original games, but more items were needed to incorporate multiple players. Also, menus do not pause the action, even though you are offline. This can be frustrating, as changing weapons in a tight spot with no backup can lead to an early demise. Whilst it was nice to see locations from previous Resident Evil titles, they lacked the character of those games, coming across as sterile and empty. However, the Zoo from File #2 was a breath of fresh air, so much so I honestly don’t recall the rest of that game at all. With the servers in America and Japan both no longer available, online play has been taken away, and with it the main reason for either returning to these titles or trying them for the first time. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend it. The characters are plain, the scenarios are dull, and the controls are slow and unwieldy. Just watch a video of the elephant from File #2.

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The elephant again. Honestly, it’s the one truly great thing to come out of these two games

Whilst these two games returned to Raccoon City, the Spencer Mansion from the original Resident Evil was left out. However, it wouldn’t be long until we got to revisit this iconic location, and next week I’ll take a look at REmake, the stunning remake of Resident Evil. And when I say stunning, I mean stunning. Just the thing to wash the bad taste of Outbreak out of your mouth.