Resident Evil Outbreak

Resident Evil Outbreak was released exclusively for the PlayStation 2 first in December 2003 for Japan, and throughout 2004 for the rest of the world. At the time, it was the very first time that the series featured multiplayer and online play, although interestingly the online component was absent from PAL versions of the game.

The game was pitched and designed with then online component in mind - the concept was actually first developed around the same time as Resident Evil 2 but was put on hold for various reasons. After the newer generation of consoles which had online gaming support, development was restarted for the PlayStation 2. At first, the game was envisioned to be a sort of horde mode where players would co-operatively defeat swathes of zombies but this was thought to be too action-oriented and lacking in the horror department. Thus, the game was re-tooled to be a story driven game but with a more limited online component.

In terms of plot, the game takes place in Raccoon City, right in the thick of the t-Virus and G-Virus outbreaks - roughly at around the same time that Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis take place. A total of 8 characters are part of the story and they are all initially gathered in a bar named Jack's. As the name of the game suggests, the viral Outbreaks are the theme of the game and the ultimate goal for each character is to safely escape the city before its eventual destruction. After they all realise what is happening around them, they split up to different parts of the city.

The game is structured as five bite-sized self-contained episodes all featuring different main characters and locations throughout Raccoon City. The player can tackle these episodes in any order and tailor the difficulty to their liking. The game controls like the majority of Resident Evil games at the time, with a 'tank controls' system. Players are rewarded for exploration in each episode - attaining a 100% item collection unlocks an infinite mode where item scarcity is entirely removed, and special outfits for each character can also be unlocked.

Resident Evil Outbreak reviewed quite well, with critics enjoying the graphics, familiar gameplay and online characteristics. The PAL version was puzzling however, as the online component was removed, thus making one of the games main features unavailable. However, the game itself still performed well as a single-player experience just with some vestigial trappings of online games such as no pause menus etc.

The game had a follow-up in the form of a stand-alone expansion named Resident Evil Outbreak File #2 which added a smattering of new chapters to the story. The characters were mostly unchanged but a lot of the incidental characters were given proper names instead of (for example) "Nurse1" as a name. It's worth noting that all versions of the sequel had online capabilities, and it was possible to unlock characters from each version provided that the data is available on the game discs.

The online component of both games have since been switched off, leaving some online-only content unavailable.

Main Characters​

Secondary Characters​

Creatures​

Locations​

Weapons​

Key Items​