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Absolute Dreck, Terribly Disappointing

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: October 12, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Survival Horror?

More like Survival Frustration.

Capcom's latest offering in their once-mighty 'Biohazard' series sees us, the players, forced to take command of one of a host of forgetable, dull characters in the same-esque city and sewer scenarios, and once again avoid the moans and groans of unconvincingly animated and blatantly unscary 'zombies' (though, to be fair, most of them sound like the elderly infirm...) while the T-Virus outbreak ravages Racoon City.

Sound familiar?

Well, it is. Bar a VERY frustrating online mode (with no voice recognition control, hateful NPC interaction and a connection mode less stable than Ms. Sally Field in "Sybil"), "Outbreak" is basically a clone of a clone of a game concept from 1995.

Which, 9 years later, hasn't aged at all well.

GRAPHICS: In a word, Dull. Surprising, considering Capcom's prowess in the Onimusha and Devil May Cry series of games, as well as the recent graphical delights of survival horror brethern "Silent Hill 4" and "Project Zero 2", it's a worry and a shame that "Outbreak" is restricted to a (seeming) colour palette of 256 Browns, with the odd streak of red thrown in. Animation is average, renders are VERY humdrum, and the menu screens mystifying and very difficult to read. Which, since you need to be able to operate them quickly (decisions are made in realtime, folks!), is hugely prohibitive to decent gameplay flow.

PLAYABILITY: Not really. NPCs have been a feature of Survival Horror since 1999's "Silent Hill 2", but never before, and hopefully never again, will they be so unresponsive and weak. Frustrating, silly deaths occur left, right and centre, and see how many new swear words you can invent while watching an NPC die as your gun reloads. PAINFULLY slowly, might I add.

FEAR FACTOR: None whatsoever. That hot tension at the base of your skull ain't fear. It's rage. At Capcom. The pounding of your heart isn't from terror. It's annoyance at the same-old same-old creature design and unfair difficulty levels. In two words: Not Scary. "Survival Infuriation" could be a better genre in which to group this sorry little game.

If Capcom is to sell Resident Evil titles on the Playstation 2, they need to concentrate on Originality and Playability, two crucial key points which "Outbreak", unfortunately, lacks in spades.

Steer clear! And get something else, anything else, instead. A very, very disappointing showing for a franchise that was once so revered.

Capcom is really upsetting me

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: June 06, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Dear Capcom, you are really getting on my nerves. I am really upset with you about RE Outbreak and RE Dead aim. I think you are just getting lazy. I loved resident evil 2, 3, and code veronica, but the latest RE releases have been greatly disapointing. This game has too many problems (ie: download times, no saving options, frustrating problems, and bad characters). Don't buy it, rent it first and then decide. I am not buying any more games produced by Capcom until they realease Resident Evil 4 for the Playstation2 as well as the Gamecube. For those of you who don't know, Capcom has announced that it will only be realeasing RE 4 for the GameCube and not the PS2 because of a contact they have with Nintendo. It is just plain wrong. I'm not buying a gamecube just for one game.

Slower than turtles.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: June 08, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I have played this game for 5 days and I coulnt get passed the first level.It is slower than turtles and very hard.When you walk into another room, oh my gosh, I can take a coffe break of how long it takes to load.How long dose it take one person to just read something like "Womens Restroom".If you love Resident Evil.For this game you can just kiss your Residential Evil likeness goodbye.

Characters,their items,and their special moves

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 20
Date: March 20, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Kevin
{my two brothers favorite}
Career:R.P.D.{raccoon police department}
Item:.45 Automatic{Handgun}
Moves:kick,take pot shots

David
{my favorite}
Career:Plumber
Items:Tools{Wrench,Folding knife,Tape,Junk parts}
Moves:throw wrench,knife attack

Mark
Career:Security quard
Item:Handgun
Moves:quard,full swing

Jim
Career:Train company
Item:Coin
Moves:coin toss,play dead,item search

George
Career:Docter
Item:Medical set
Moves:tackle

Cindy
Career:Waitress
Item:Herb case
Moves:duck

Alyssa
Career:Journalist
Item:Lock Picking tools
Moves:back step,take pot shots

Yoko
Career:none{She's in college}
Item:Backpack
Moves:escape

A bit underwhelming...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 9
Date: April 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Overall this game is just a mediocre attempt at turning a long-time one-player gaming franchise into an online hit. The game revolves around 5 different survival scenarios where you attempt to escape from a building or an area. The game supports up to 4 players online but the in-game communication system is a bit 1 dimensional and it's difficult to keep teams together on some maps. Teamwork, the main ingredient behind these scenarios, doesn't usually work very effectively. Normally what happens is one guy will be the leader doing all the work and everyone else follows around cluelessly.

As far as gameplay is concerned it's just your standard Resident Evil game but in full 3D. Graphically its very lovely to look act, particularly some of the character models, but most of the monsters and zombies could stand to use a little more polish, particularly the Leech Zombie boss in the 3rd level. They look pretty dated for the PS2. But PS2 sucks anyway. This would have looked unbelievable on the GameCube!

Every level that's won or lost is scored based on percentage of the scenario completed, number of survivors remaining, and any bonuses or penalties that apply. Yet the base score is determined solely on speed so after about 10 hours of enjoying the levels for the environment or beauty you'll pretty much be running around trying to collect higher and higher scores. Eventually, you'll either really get into this or just get bored with the whole process and want to play a game that doesn't have such a pointless grading system.

The points are only useful to unlock extras like movies, costumes, pictures, and music featured in the game. The costumes are the only really big deal because you'll see most of the movies 60x or more. Eventually you'll be pressing the start button frantically to skip them anyway because they take precious seconds away from that 7 min run-through on very-hard difficulty you need to earn enough bragging rights to play online. The number of rooms with titles like "No Noobs," or "Pros Only" is pretty ridiculous.

All in all it's pretty much your standard Resident Evil fare. Weapons are all the same with some knives, pipes, and other melee options. The character attributes are all unique but you'll only really need to utilize a couple of their skills 90% of the time (namely Alyssa's lockpick, or Kevin's high kick). Otherwise the extra crap is just there for the newbs to toy around with.

The big killer for this game is two-fold. First, there are not nearly enough scenarios to make this game long-lasting. Five scenarios gets old VERY fast. Second, the first and last scenarios are really the only ones that are very action-oriented. The middle 3 pretty much involve puzzle solving which is fun for offline play and always a part of RE games that weren't played online, yet, for the internet it's BORRRRRRRING!

That having been said, if you're into collecting points and beating other ppls records or just plain obsessed with Resident Evil give this game a shot. Otherwise, save your money for something that's actually fun to play online with other people.

Yawn... So, are we done yet?

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: April 25, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Perhaps it is my own prejudices that keep me from liking the Resident Evil video games. Pardon me, but my heroines have to be ass-kicking, sword wielding, combo dealing forces of nature. My small rant may seem out of place, but I will tie it all together by the end of this review. The initial draw of REO is that it is meant to be played on-line with cooperative AI. So this means that the countless puzzles of past RE games is gone, but that didn't keep Capcom from having you find 30 cardkeys or valve handles to complete a mission. You complete REO through short scenarios with the assistance of other charachters. You would think that would make the game a refreshing addition to the RE Series... Guess what folks, IT DOESN'T! If playing off-line, be prepared to be surrounded by a bunch of bumbling idiots. You are supposedly allowed to communicate with other survivors, but dialogue is limited to obscene remarks and various "Help Me's" or "Did you find anything yet?" No, sweetie, there is a zombie chewing on my neck, but anyway...

This brings me to the charachters. Claire, Jill, Leon- all in the waste bin and replaced with Racoon City civilians. A waitress, cop, reporter, mechanic, and other average joes. Because charachters like Claire or Jill were skilled gun women, they had an edge that made them stronger and faster. In REO, the civilians act like just that...civilians. While the touch of realism is great and much respected, it makes gameplay frusturating. The charachters are weak, and Capcom has added another dimension. When you are bitten, scratched, maimed- what have you- a circular icon appears showing your infection rate. When it reaches 100% your're a goner. Be prepared, because this happens a lot!

Once more, that touch of realism is appreciated, but wears thin very quickly. Controls are somewhat better. Charachters, when out of ammunition, can pick up brooms, pipes, or use the clunky hand to hand combat system. Capcom also decided another touch of realism was needed. Back in the good ol days when Claire needed her flame rounds to obliterate a giant plant, you could pause the game and equip the item- problem solved. With REO, you are still very much in the game, when trying to heal yourself or equip an item- meaning a zombie could be RUNNING at you while you MANUALLY LOAD A GUN! Yes, magazine clips are few and far between, so your charachter has to load an individual bullet each time ammo runs low. More touches of realism were added to the experience- the ability to hide etc.

While a REO is a somewhat innovative addition to the series, the amount of century old pet peeves still hold the game back from being an instant classic. Weak charachters, idiotic off-line AI, and a piecey storyline just don't mesh well enough together to hold my, or any other average gamers attention for too long. REO still employs dazzling graphics and truly cinematic cut scenes, but it doesn't save it from being more than a weekend rental. If you must, shell out the 50 bucks and add it to your video game collection, but trust me, Blockbuster is a wiser investment.

SAVE Us From This Outbreak

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: May 25, 2004
Author: Amazon User

You will become like the undead if you continue playing this game. Consumes so much time. You can play for an hour, find a typewriter which allows you to temporarily save but if you continue the game from the temporary save & die, the game does not save your progress. After playing the first scenario over & over about 6 times I finally completed it. Very frustrating. I do not recommend this game. Come on computer programmers out there, we gamers have a life - family & JOBS. I like playing to release tension not to create it. More saves - pleeeeese.

Online or off line still disapointing

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: January 06, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I waited until the day this game came out to buy it.I was hoping for this game to be really fun like RE1,2,3 and code veronica but when I put it in I was Uterly disapointed,the game play was very bad with very bad controls,The other Resident Evil games had better controls.The other thing is that this game had no story line, you just start off in a bar and run from zombies.Do not get this game just wait for RE4.

BAH WHATEVER

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: April 03, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I did not like this game compared to the others for seeral reasons 1 reoccuring enemies every time you go in a room kill all the enemies leave turn around and come back there they pop up again exactly how they did the first time and guess what you have to kill them all again while your ammo is rapidly depleting which gets to my second reason for not enoying the game. 2. You would figure in a game with a reoccuring enemies they would have plenty of ammo WRONG! and thats not even the worst part. Most of the ammo you get is a diffent caliber than the one to the gun your using so you cant use it until you either find that gun or one of your pals who has it. Just imagine dealing with this kinda crap when zombies keep coming at you and you cant go back in the previous room without dealing with the same ones all over again. 3. Same oldstyle outdated movements of characters as the very 1st Resident Evil which is almost 10 years old. OVERALL just a frustrating game especially for single play. RESIDENT EVIL 4 ROCKS THOUGH!

Great game if you own PS2

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: March 21, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is the only Resident Evil game I own. It has 5 or 6 levels to choose from. The best part of this game was you can unlock short movies and other outfits for players. You can also unlock red, green, blue, gold, or black stick figuers to use. This game had good controllers, nice graphics, but the story is like a movie, probably better than the Resident evil movie.

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