Resident Evil Outbreak (PlayStation 2, 2004)

I was very excited when I heard this game was comming out so I went out and pre ordered my copy. Should have rented if first to save myself the 50 bucks. The game itself is a really good idea and I had high hopes for it, just like I did for Chaos Legion. After about a week I figured I learned enough to give a fair review of the game. So here is my take on the game:

Gameplay: Typical RE fare. For those who have played any other RE game it goes about the same with less story. The nice thing about it is that they did actually add some DMC-ish controls to it. The one thing they still have not done, is make your character able to walk while having their gun drawn. The old RE control scheme is there as well for those who want it. This is also where my biggest beef with the game comes in. The fact that there are no saves at all in any of the levels makes them quite hard. The other problem too is that when you play this game you need to have a whole lot of time on your hands to play it. Like this isn't a sit down and pick up for a short while game. I'm talking like you need to invest like an hour or more to these scenarios sometimes. This being said, the most annoying part is that when you die you gotta do it all over. Granted that when this happens you now know where things are so you can do it quicker, but after you spend all that time finding something, then croak, well it takes the wind out of the gaming experience.

Story: If your reading this review most of you probably know the story of Racoon City. But if you don't the brief story for this game is that you are an everyday average Joe trying to escape from a zombie infested city alive. When you actually start playing the scenarios there is not much story to them except at the beginning and then end of each one. This makes sometimes finding items sometimes a little annoying, as you have to explore EVERYTHING.

Sound: Over all really really good sound. Pretty typical of the RE series.

I think that covers the basics. So as I see it, this is a good RE game, but I would not recommend it unless you have a network adapter. Because without it its not too spectacular. People usually shoot me for saying this, but I have a lot more fun playing RE dead aim, just because the old RE scheme is getting a bit drawn out. So thats about my take on the game. Rent it first, then see what you think. The only really fun scenarios are the 1st and 3rd. So like I said before you go out and spend your 50 bucks, make sure you really have to have this game. This one is not for all RE fans, despite what all the gamming mags say.

''Don't believe the hype''