G4TV

Capcom’s survival horror series is as difficult to kill off as one of its shuffling, groaning zombies lurking behind the corner of a gloomy hallway. The prolific publisher has given its undead franchise new life by taking it in different directions, albeit with some mixed results, from the gun-toting Resident Evil: Survivor to the multiplayer action found in Resident Evil: Outbreak. The latter game sold well enough to warrant a second online-based adventure, which features four scenarios designed to test your teamwork ability as much as your survival skills. Once again, Capcom is taking you down to Raccoon City, where the grass is green and the ghouls are ugly.  

Déjà Boo

Grizzled vets of previous Resident Evil games won’t need to run through the training scenario to get accustomed to the deliberately-paced action, as little has changed, design wise, from previous installments in the horror series. The moody environments are divided into distinct areas, such as a bar or a lobby, with fixed camera angles showing you a specific view of your surroundings. Walk to the far end of a room, for example, and you’ll see a close-up view of a door, countertop, or a desk. While each area is well detailed, few scenery objects are interactive, so searching a particular region still involves random button tapping to see if something can be opened, examined, or acquired.

Control Tweaks

Of course, this play style is nothing new to Resident Evil fans, and there are some control improvements over the first Outbreak. First on the list is the ability to move and shoot at the same time, which is testament to how rigid Resident Evil’s control scheme is when such a touted new addition is an afterthought in every other shooting game. Another change is the ability to grab objects while your character is crawling along the ground, which seems minor but drastically reduces the frustration that was present in the game’s predecessor. Since low health forces you into a crawling position, you no longer have to look longingly at that first-aid spray can on the ground while waiting for your teammate to prop up your limp body.

Choose Your Own Adventure

Four scenarios are available to play on or offline: wild things, which takes place at a zoo; underbelly, which is set within a subway station; flashback, a nod to the original Resident Evil, where players explore a dilapidated building in the middle of a forest; and desperate times, which involves fighting in and around the Raccoon City Police Department. Eight characters are available to choose from, each possessing varying traits, from Alyssa’s mastery of “unlocking things” to David’s ability to create new weapons with tools. Solo players can also select an AI teammate who may or may not be a helpful participant, depending on his or her attitude toward your character.

A Failure to Communicate?

Since the game primarily involves working with teammates (human or AI), communication is important in Resident Evil: Outbreak File #2. Unfortunately, this feature is not the most robust available for an online game, which is in part intentional. Players cannot openly communicate to their teammates during a scenario using voice chat or via keyboard. Instead, there are a handful of generic voice emotes initiated by the right analog stick, such as “come here” or “thanks.” Outbreak: File #2 adds the all-important “sorry” for when your teammate accidentally shoots a gas tank and turns you into the digital equivalent of Kibbles ‘N’ Bits. Sadly, “%!&@#” is not a selectable option. Why is the communication so limited? Perhaps to ratchet up the sense of tension, as part of the excitement comes from figuring out what your teammate(s) is trying to accomplish. Hearing a character cry “help!” elicits a much different response than hearing a real-life person asking, “Hey Bob, think you can give me a hand over here?” Even so, it's a cheap way to avoid bringing technology up to acceptable levels.

Mad Libs

Players can also have their characters “ad-lib” during the game by pressing the triangle button, which triggers a context-sensitive text message. Thus, if you click the button near an object, the text might show “this looks interesting” or offer a clue on how you should proceed. New to Outbreak File #2 is the ability for players to ad-lib while reading the map or while viewing the various files found in their journeys. Yet the lack of direct communication online means finding a capable team will be that much more difficult, as not every player has the same level of experience with certain scenarios as others.

Good Will Haunting

Resident Evil’s communication woes are not the only problems with the interface. It is aggravating to have to go through multiple menus to use a key on a door. Finding typewriters to save progress is still goofy and transferring or equipping items is far too cumbersome for a game released in 2005. Yet those who groaned about the first Outbreak’s scope will be pleased to learn that Capcom has stuffed File #2 with plenty of incentives to keep you playing. Revisiting scenarios on multiple difficulty levels and with different characters will earn players points to purchase new costumes and other goodies like artwork, movies, sound effects, and more. Resident Evil: Outbreak: File #2 is not an ambitious sequel, but it’s a frightfully intense experience for horror enthusiasts who like to share their scares.