Resident Evil Outbreak

Communication is a Good Thing

Want examples about why communication is so important? You��ve got ��em. One early situation (left) requires you to pick up a lighter and use it to ignite an oil spill, which you cause about 20 yards away. Being able to say, ��You get the lighter, I��ll spill the gas�� would be oh-so-welcome. But you can��t. Nor can you even indicate which floor you should head to after you enter an elevator��each player chooses his or her own floor, so odds are, you��re getting separated for no good reason.

Three years ago when the Network Adaptor was first announced, word leaked of a game known simply as Resident Evil Online. Excited gamers everywhere speculated on how a networked Resident Evil could possibly work��but no one could figure it out. Now that Outbreak has finally spread to PS2s everywhere, one thing is painfully obvious: neither could Capcom.

Online��the primary way you��ll want to play it��Outbreak disappoints. It��s a sad thing because the escape-from-zombies/ solve-dumb-puzzles formula actually does have online potential. Not being able to chat with your companions really screws things up, though. During gameplay, you get only 10 commands programmed into the right stick��useful, but way too limiting. Communication is critical in a game like this, especially since the fixed camera angles don��t allow you to properly locate your comrades.

These levels are long, too, allowing players all the more time to lose one another. The shortest one takes about 30 minutes if you know what you��re doing. But odds are, at least one��or two or three��of your companions will be absolutely clueless. And even though the last couple of scenarios last about an hour when you all do have a clue, there��s no way to save your progress.

You��re going to die a lot, too, and you��ll turn into a zombie more than you��d like (at least online). That may sound cool, but do you really want to suddenly turn against the teammates with whom you worked so hard to make it so far? If so, you��re probably as likely to die just so that you can be evil like that. For everyone else, this doesn��t make the game fun��just annoying.

You��ll probably enjoy Outbreak more as an offline game��at least at first, when you want to figure out how to beat all five scenarios (which, sadly, for the sake of storytelling, in no way relate to one another). The A.I. player characters aren��t perfect, but they can hold their own well enough. And unlike online players, they��ll almost always readily hand you any item of theirs you want.

I like how each of the eight selectable characters has his or her own special abilities��anything from picking locks to playing dead. David��s ability to combine items to make weapons (e.g., combine a battery and lead pipe to form a shock stick) demonstrates Outbreak��s welcome sense of inventiveness. If only you didn��t need a strategy guide to see everything the game offers.

Beyond the online component, Outbreak essentially plays like any other Resident Evil, only with a lesser story, better (though still imperfect) controls, and improved voice acting. It really is a solid survival-horror game that fans should check out. It just could have been so much better.

Rating:

Pros

Very inventive, excellent graphics and atmosphere, characters have own personalities, includes lots of stuff you��d never think of

Cons

No voice/keyboard chat, no true save ability, instant deaths, just plain disappointing

Pub. Capcom

Dev. Capcom

ESRB Mature

MSRP $49.99

Morons

Sometimes people wonder why Raccoon City is the one town in America stupid enough to allow itself to be overrun by zombies. Then they just look at the name of the town hospital and realize it makes total sense.

Want examples about why communication is so important? You��ve got ��em. One early situation (left) requires you to pick up a lighter and use it to ignite an oil spill, which you cause about 20 yards away. Being able to say, ��You get the lighter, I��ll spill the gas�� would be oh-so-welcome. But you can��t. Nor can you even indicate which floor you should head to after you enter an elevator��each player chooses his or her own floor, so odds are, you��re getting separated for no good reason.

Copyright © 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine.