Outbreak was not a raging critical success, receiving average reviews (currently sitting at a 71 on Metacritic) and selling just 1.45 million copies worldwide. ![]() IGN’s review of the game calls attention to the game’s communication system - or lack thereof - saying, “in this modern technological climate where keyboards and voice chat unite gamers the world over in various platforms, this pseudo-sign language bit just doesn't seem to stack up.” Not to mention, a game that revolved around online features and functionality never received online support in Europe, leaving an entire segment of players isolated from the rest of the world. Outbreak was a game that was definitely ahead of its time, but it didn’t lack its faults. The game takes place just a couple days after the initial outbreak in Raccoon City. Completing all the requirements unlocks Infinity Mode, allowing you to play through the scenario with unbreakable weapons and unlimited ammo. These scenarios can be played in any order, as they take place at different points in the story, and during each one you’re given a list of tasks to complete either solo or with up to three other players. Instead of a cohesive narrative experience, it was broken up into five “scenarios,” which can be thought of as simple one-off missions. Although Resident Evil Outbreak could be played single-player, it was designed for a cooperative environment online. In all, there were ten different Ad-lib commands you could use. ![]() Some phrases included, “Help”, “Wait”, “Come on”, and “Thank you.” What’s interesting, though, is that phrases were unique to whichever character you selected, and certain characters interacted differently with others. This effectively allowed you to choose from a number of pre-recorded phrases and text that allowed you to vaguely communicate with other players online, as well as AI characters. It also introduced four of the eight playable characters as well as the “Ad-lib” system - a rudimentary communication system that allowed players to communicate without the use of voice chat. Because of this reasoning, development for the game was put on hold until it was resurrected prior to 2002, although it was headed by a different studio at Capcom - Production Studio 1, who previously had no experience working on the Resident Evil franchise of games.ĭuring Sony’s E3 press conference in 2002, Capcom revealed Outbreak footage for the first time, highlighting its new graphics engine which allowed for full-3D backgrounds, as opposed to the pre-rendered backgrounds found in the first two Resident Evil games. The team felt what fundamentally made Resident Evil scary was actually that sense of being alone. ![]() Ultimately, however, early testing showed that players were not encouraged to work together as a team to stay alive, and would instead run away and try to defend themselves individually. Outbreak was originally conceived prior to the release of Resident Evil 2 and included a mini-game where players had to survive as long as possible. ![]() Originally released in 2003 in Japan for the PlayStation 2, Resident Evil Outbreak was Capcom’s foray into an online multiplayer experience - not something the Resident Evil series is known for - after series’ director Shinji Mikami expressed interest in the new technology. If you haven’t played Outbreak, you’re not alone.
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