Resident Evil Outbreak: RE Retrospective

Sober Dwarf - kzbin.info/door/s595r4A30fYDOd7AzTAgbwfeatured
Getting Outbreak online - steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=866267685
Alright guys, the time has finally come! The Outbreak games have had a cult following pretty much since they came out, and it's pretty obvious why. As the first online, multiplayer Resident Evil games, Outbreak Files 1 and 2 are in a league of their own, but it takes more than just a few hardcore fans to make a good RE game, so let's dive in, and see what it's like getting online with a early 2000's ps2 game in 2018!

[@TheSphereHunter]

Outbreak is waaaay too good!

[@AvalancheReviews]

It sure as hell is

[@pgcroonerva3256]

It’s my all-time favorite resident evil spinoff as is revelations. I want RE:O to come back so badly!

[@malik87breaker]

Sphere Hunter :D

[@smithwesson1896]

Heya Sphere! ❤❤❤❤

[@LeonRamoneX]

@@pgcroonerva3256 you, mister, are a genius (Y)

[@viniciusmaidana2159]

The opening of the first RE Outbreak is one of the best things to ever come out of the franchise in my opinion. The music, the imagery, the artistic value on the opening to this game alone is bigger than the entirety of some other franchises out there. I dunno why people don't mention it more, I think it's one of the best cutscenes ever produced for an RE game.

[@Valiyus]

The opening cutscene and music sent me chills when I first played. Still does to this day.

[@Joey-rs7uq]

Yes I agree, the music and the dynamic shots were fantastic!

[@ankifreeze]

Opening re outbreak and dead island is top of my favorite

[@clifftonicstudios7469]

Yes mate is AMAZING

[@TheFoxEssence]

It’s so stunning. I wish I had played this game back in the day. I missed out on Outbreak 1 and 2.

[@coltonschmidt9858]

The Outbreak games are actually some of my favorite RE games.

[@thesorrow96]

the game need remaster not shitty bullshit remake RE2 or re4 bullshit

[@toja_majkam7947]

The Sorrow boo hoo

[@Writerwrong321]

The Sorrow I’d want a remake tbh. What’s wrong with RE4 and the RE2 remake? They are amazing and the gameplay is smooth and looks so refreshing no matter how much you play of it

[@HolyDemonSnap]

I agree! I'd love an RE Outbreak 3 or remakes with more content.

[@toja_majkam7947]

Andrew Frisina How about maybe a new RE title ha? But remakes are also fine

[@Beatofblues]

I. DEMAND. A. REMAKE. Honestly, all the references to Outbreak in RE7 makes me hopeful. Also, I think the whole online play is very mainstream now so definitely worth another shot. I can already imagine it being quite popular to stream.

[@AvalancheReviews]

From what I've heard, Capcom have bought domain space under the title outbreak, so maybe a new entry isn't too far off.

[@SilverSpectre12]

@urgiduurrgghh Alyssa Ashcroft, that's his source.

[@fressejetzt840]

Bit i would want an option to switch from classic view to third person over the shoulder view And maybe some new levelsn

[@Doc_Hawk]

I wish I wish I wish I wish I wish I wish I wish I wish

[@codyburns8378]

Beat of blues I think the closest we’re getting is project resistance

[@shagohad3]

The best part about Outbreak is that it's canon. You can find a post Raccoon City news article written by Alyssa in 7 and people have seen a ton of references to the Outbreak police characters in footage of REmake 2.

[@rob98000]

Originally the canon outbreak ending had everyone die, they retconned this in re7

[@shagohad3]

No, the ending of Outbreak was never 'everyone dies.

[@rob98000]

@@shagohad3 there is an ending where everyone survives, but since none of these characters were referenced in later games it was assumed that the canon ending was them staying in the city to die in the explosion.

[@shagohad3]

Then that's not a retcon. That's just people making assumptions based on nothing.

[@rob98000]

@@shagohad3 fair enough

[@RabidRetrospectGames]

I remember renting Outbreak from Blockbuster back in the day. Before I knew that RE had spin-offs, I just figured it was the newest game in the series as a whole. That opening cinematic always got me so pumped up.

[@hammerite6418]

Okay why are so many of my favorite youtubers in this comment section

[@bengalboypaco7327]

Thats where i found file 2 File 1 i got from gamestop in bronx NY

[@call2872]

The game was too far ahead of its time. I love the idea of ordinary everyman as protagonists in the game. People working together to survive.

[@pgcroonerva3256]

This is something I WISH capcom would try to revisit. It looked great for a PS2 title and would do well with an hd polish. In an era where capcom is obsessed with making a multiplayer RE game (RE5,RE6,RER,RER2,RERC,REUC) this SHOULD be the Resident Evil Online multiplayer game to bring back. I’m still holding out a small hope that they revive this series. You can even have different “Outbreak” locations other than raccoon city such as Sheena Island, or Terragregia.

[@AvalancheReviews]

I would be interested in seeing them take another crack at this, but I doubt they could resist giving it gameplay more like RE4. I would be shocked if they didn't include the over the shoulder view and faster paced combat.

[@pgcroonerva3256]

Avalanche Reviews too true. However with its dynamic fixed camera perspective you could probably have a game that doesn’t need tank controls kind of like a eternal darkness. Why not have a third person fixed camera with dynamic movement, and then as soon as they aim it goes into a over the shoulder perspective like resident evil 3.5? There’s something about the fixed camera perspective that is very atmospheric and I think that atmosphere is robbed when it’s over the shoulder. However if they use the same lighting techniques they’re using in the resident evil 2 remake that atmosphere me yet still remain.

[@stevenquast2841]

Alternatively, they could use the RE7 first person view. People are saying how RE7 allowed the Resident Evil series to return to its horror roots while giving the camera perspective a much-needed upgrade.

[@pgcroonerva3256]

Steven Quast I’d have to disagree here, I would say the first person view would work better with hypothetical remakes of say the gun survivor series rather than outbreak. A good amount of RE fans didn’t care for the first person perspective for RE7 despite enjoying the title.

[@letz5464]

Nah, keep it as just old RE locations

[@sethlong9118]

A lot of people may have already noticed, but in Resident Evil 7 when you're in the second Mansion there is a document in the living room that you can pick up and read, at the end of the document you see it was written by none other than Alyssa Ashcroft, making the Resident Evil outbreak games Cannon.

[@SoberDwarf]

This was a really fun project to work on, and it was amazing to be able to experience it again! If I ever happen to do a video on it in my channel, I'm probably going to drag you back into it.

[@metalarms3705]

I agree with your criticism of the ad-libs, but you spoke so negatively. Don't you see what a great thing it was? It maintained REs atmosphere in an online setting. It's more good than bad.

[@SoberDwarf]

This is going to be a lengthy post, because I feel this conversation is worth a discussion, because I am conflicted on it as well. Don't take this as a challenge to your opinion, I'm just merely saying my own. Design wise, at least in terms of a survival horror setting, I would agree. The lack of communication does facilitate a horror setting, and I find that really admirable that Capcom stuck to their guns. It's difficult, if almost impossible to horror scary in a multi-player experience, but Capcom did make it work. My focus on the negative is mainly because AvalancheJared had already focused on a lot of the positive aspects, and I didn't want to parrot him too much because that just makes more work for him. His views mostly reflect my own and we talked at length about the design while we are playing. He can tell you just how much I *love* Outbreak. That's not to say it's without major design flaws. The problem is that Outbreak is also an online game that requires a lot of cooperation, and Outbreak's scenario design absolutely depended on being able to communicate things not covered by the ad-lib. For example, the hospital mission I mentioned earlier. You need to communicate which floor you are going to because in order to get through the mission on the hardest difficulty, you need to split up, grab the different keys and make your way to the exit. More often than not though, you have no idea whether or not the other group had grabbed the other key without issues. You also can't really 'wait' because hanging around in an area too long is a good way to get attacked by the leech. It becomes a major source of frustration not being able to communicate with a partner that "I'm going to check out roof." Same with the hotel scenario. There are points where if you are playing on the higher difficulties, you have to split up or take on different tasks. Or a scenario shown in the video. While me and Jared were on the subway, we had no idea that our teammates were fighting a boss. So basically, we just sat there wondering where people were. Not because we lost them, we just didn't know it was time to fight the boss. If the game didn't want you to communicate effectively to keep the horror, I totally understand that, but the design has to account for that. The first Scenario, Outbreak, is good because it keeps everyone moving together but has micro-splits during that time. The second scenario also does a good job because while it does split things up fairly early on, it gives each person their own responsibility before the paths ultimately converge. Some missions though don't effectively handle that. The issue with that is that it ends up being more frustrating, and as soon as something becomes frustrating, it no longer feels scary. You never feel like you in are overwhelming odds as much as you do feel like the game has put you in a deliberately disadvantageous situation. It also becomes an issue is that the online component is very grind heavy. You effectively repeat mission after mission to unlock different things, which is what kept the online community going. High level play in Outbreak effectively turns everyone into speedrunners, where you know the game so well that there aren't any scares. I mean, that's just going to happen naturally if you play the game more than once. And this is where the lack of communication really starts to hurt the play experience. Basically the game becomes less about effective cooperation and more about memorization of the level completely, and those that didn't know the level often got left behind. There wasn't a lot that the development team could do to solve this and keep that balance. I understand why they didn't want to add voice chat. It was expensive to implement for something that was effectively designed as sort of a budget experiment. Also, even if you had location based voice chat with filters to add the illusion of distance and talking through walls, having someone talk nonchalantly about what you need to do because they have played the mission 43 times would have taken people out of the horror setting. They couldn't design the levels to be linear because that would have made the game dull and not feel like a Survival Horror game. Really, the only choice they could of had is to make it optional, either as part of the way the servers handles (a story mode that had no voice chat and a free mode that did, which they almost had to begin with), or make concessions with the scenario design. Outbreak File 2 fixed some of these issues with more ways to communicate and a more effective ad-lib system, and I have no doubt that if we would have seen Outbreak 3, they probably would have perfected it. Either way, I don't envy the developers for trying to solve this problem. And a reminder that I *love* outbreak, I had over 200 hours into it when I first played it and put in another 20 or so when doing this review. I don't even mind the ad-lib system because now it's part of the game's charm. But it did have it's flaws and it's important to understand them, otherwise we'll never improve on it. That's the whole part about Gaining Experience and Building Character.

[@AvalancheReviews]

Fucking deal!!

[@sunsetharbourentertainment6339]

@@AvalancheReviews so do you plan to talk about resident evil trading card game or just leave that one subject alone xD cause u gt hero cards that happen to include the outbreak characters as a exspansion along side re4 re5 with re2 code veeonica re1 n re3 based cards thrown in

[@TagardMC]

SoberDwarf I wanted to. Play with you and Jared but I had to head to bed that night but Jared and I running through the Zoo was too fun. I'm definitely up for another full party run sometime.

[@delgande]

Outbreak was the narutal evolution of the old school gameplay It included alternative movement to the tsnk controls, movement during aiming, and command melee moves like the Kevin's kick

[@Final-Boss-Crusher]

remake this game capcom, finally we have a strong and payable internet.

[@rgmusic4769]

Fun fact RE outbreak file 2 was the first resident evil game that lets you walk, aim and shoot all at once

[@JJMRA]

Nope the first game was dino crisis 1 not RE

[@rgmusic4769]

@@JJMRA but I'm referring to R.E games not the Dino Crisis games

[@the757general2]

@@JJMRA don't be stupid. Dino Crisis is clearly not a Resident Evil game.

[@lautaroescarlon7501]

@@the757general2 or is it...

[@miguellambaria2974]

​@@lautaroescarlon7501 Shinji Mikami directed RE & DC. Just throwin that out there.

[@giovannigiovanni.7220]

I hope RE Outbreak 3 happens.

[@thesorrow96]

will be like RE4 RE is dead this game need remaster not remake

[@ganjatheninja]

re7 and re2 remake completely prove its not dead..

[@blueberryblues5644]

The Sorrow they are an honest gaming company. Why comment on every single thread saying the new re's are trash? Do you get off on being wrong? Capcom certainly knows they wouldn't get away with getting rid of the old gameplay, but you think they're the type of people to just blindly throw their fanbase in the garbage. Use your head.

[@kd9262]

those games prove his point, classic style is dead.. RE2 remake is just revelations in RE2 setting

[@PlaceboZypresse]

Hope youre happy

[@jackhazardous4008]

i like the most how all the different characters have different animations. It really gives them personality.

[@felman87]

An Outbreak like multiplayer is something I was hoping for in RE Remake HD. Imagine if you and a friend played as a security personnel and a scientist during the original mansion incident, before STARS showed up. Everything is going to hell and you need to get out of the mansion. You can even have special abilities, like the security guard deals 10% more dmg, takes 10% less dmg but only has 6 item slots like Chris and while the scientist has lower maximum health, he can also hold more items, can use herbs more efficiently for 1.5x or 2x effect. The little nuggets of easter eggs and tidbits that you get in Outbreak would be perfect in that case. It's not stuff that's required but for the super hardcore, they'd love just a little bit more world building into a game they love. If you're not into multiplayer or don't care, you're not missing anything essential, since the original story is still in the regular mode. But it gives you a little dessert if you still want more after finishing the main quest.

[@AvalancheReviews]

I think you're right. Honestly a game like that almost makes itself. It seems so obvious, I wonder why they never gave it another shot.

[@sethlong9118]

I watched a podcast recently with Alyson Court, she explained that there were over 40 scenarios for outbreak that unfortunately were never brought into the games. And she gave some very interesting backstory to some of the monsters that you do encounter with the scenarios that were allowed to be fully realized. -She considers it her favorite Resident Evil, and was heartbroken to hear just how much had been ripped away from what was one of her favorite passion projects.

[@salokin3087]

Pretty blown away with how dedicated and invested you've been in this series, top stuff

[@AvalancheReviews]

Thanks! I love the series, so I figure, it deserves my best effort.

[@SlyBeast]

Playing this online back in the day is one of my dearest gaming memories BUT only because I had 2 personal friends to play with. We would do a 3-way call, plug our phones into their chargers, and have voice chat. I can appreciate the desire to preserve the atmosphere but playing with randoms where our bootleg "voice chat" wasn't an option was an exercise in frustration to say the least. I would LOVE for Capcom to remaster 1 & 2 and enable online functionality w/voice chat on modern consoles. Kinda surprising this hasn't happened yet, honestly.

[@AvalancheReviews]

From what I hear, they recently registered a domain under the Outbreak name, so let's keep our fingers crossed.

[@Ulvi_Yuitza]

Resident Evil Outbreak was the only game I played most than any other PS2 games I have. As each character can interact with other NPC's to receive other stuff. Such as Yoko on Bellow Freezing Point. She can talk to one NPC who does recognize her, and gives her an item. Other characters can't get the item. And many other key items. Alot of those stages during Outbreak does link up some close relationship to each of the characters. Such as Cindy having a locker on Outbreak that she can only open, but also having her own opening on Wild Things (Zoo level). Even Alyssa who are somehow connected to Flashback stage (won't spoil it), and many more. Every time you play a different character. You might find new things that is personal to them. Or notes that you can read but it belongs to someone else, or a special note that doesn't spawn to any other character themselves. Like another Example: Desperate Times. Kevin can only find the note for Leon in the office. I could sit down and talk about Outbreak File#1 and File#2 all day. But there is so much more to see rather than explained.

[@AvalancheReviews]

I never played it to that level of depth, but I will agree it was amazing.

[@XxDevilXNeverXCryxX]

This is a love letter to Resident Evil Outbreak. I'm so happy the community is still running strong for the game. I plan on trying this out but I only own MAC computers :( I hope I can try it. I own the US release(s) of the Outbreak Series. Now I must hunt for the Japan(ese) version.

[@Rennat456]

I'm in the same boat as you with only having Mac computers buddy lol let me know if you ever figure out a way to make it work I sure haven't lol

[@Naeem_El]

Omg I'm so glad you doing the Outbreak series. This is one of my favorites in the RE series

[@DocDoesGamingTV]

"Distract them with your large body!" *TEAMWORK*

[@zShavo]

Wait a second ... My favorite game, exactly on my birthday? OH BOY

[@FearTheBeans]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

[@coffeemonster07]

Happy birthday Pablo

[@Idleshot]

Happy Birthday!!!!!

[@Kaydje]

It's probably canon that at least George, David, Yoko, and Alyssa got out alive. Alyssa has a hidden cameo in RE7 and then of course George and David are both in scenarios where people escape with the cure, and then someone has to have testified against Umbrella later on

[@projectp217]

I remember playing this solo in middle school on my ps2 waaaay back. Lowkey used to scare me, but I had so much trouble trying to beat any of the scenarios by myself. I dont think I was able to appreciate it for the masterpiece it was because I never played it online, but hopefully I will get the chance to do so once I get it on PC. Absolutely amazing reviews man. Ive literally been watching your videos all night. Awesome work keep it up! Also, I see you with that VTEC background on your PC.

[@swanprincess3396]

I've always loved re outbreak l loved being Cindy and Alyssa in both games.l did no damage runs with both an even tried it with yoko

[@TurboBeads]

Yoko was my main character, being able to hold 8 items was the selling point for me regardless if she was weak, she was the most valuable. "Look at all of these items in my Awesome backpack" this is what you need for survival. Zombie outbreak rule always have a backpack!

[@DavidVasquez-lb9xv]

Justin Bennett seriously!!! Yoko was a big favorite of mine. I seriously loved how they all had their own special abilities. It always made me want to try out different characters in different scenarios

[@swanprincess3396]

I personally liked Cindy the most because she was moderately fast and could dodge enemies attacks fairly easily in my opinion.Just had to read enemies properly an time your dodges right to take little to no damage,not to mention she could heal allies an store herbs in her herb kit.I personally liked how she could help injured teammates by holding them but still able to dodge easily and just grab them again to continue guiding them somewhere in file 2.l loved the zoo level an the last level but was wondering why they never tried more zombified animals like in the raccoon city zoo.

[@torrb420]

Yoko a lot of times seemed to be a necessity on the later 2 scenarios in the first Outbreak(never got a chance to play file 2) just because you will need the inventory space. George was also pretty much needed if you were playing single player during the Campus run, due to ot being the longest scenario and you will be needing extra viral pills.

[@philsoro491]

Like the fish nets 😏

[@theR1ch]

File 2 is ridiculously difficult. I breezed through Outbreak on Normal difficulty eventually cranking it up to Hard to get more unlock points. File 2 had me playing on easy the whole time because normal was no normal. Also, my boy Kevin is the reason I loved this game. It's also where my username is from. Made me feel like I'm part of the canon.

[@AvalancheReviews]

I used to use Kevin all the time, but I'm all about Mark now. I love how he looks like he's in hell, when you make him run. HAA

[@theR1ch]

Oh god, what should I do?

[@ReonMagnum]

Gotta love how Kevin is able to change his firing stance, so he can deal twice the damage with handguns AND MAGNUMS! In Easy and Normal modes, his .45 Auto can instantly kill an ordinary zombie when using his stance change.

[@DatLazyBoi]

Oh my jesus lord,i'm not the only one who played Outbreak 2 ONLY on easy XD Relatable RE Outbreak problems,bro Relatable Outbreak problems ;3;

[@TheRedFoxMcCloud]

@@DatLazyBoi yea outbreak aint no joke xD

[@Clarkaraoke]

I remember playing this game during it's glory days, I was one of the lucky ones. I think the craziest thing to think about, is how this game had no voice chat when it was released. And now you can't imagine the gameplay without it. But I remember all the creative ways players used to communicate with eachother through the adlib system

[@Nighthawk1170]

It's crazy that not a lot of people played it. I think i was around 13 or so when my brother left me the PS2 when he left home. I only played outbreak on it. I was a noob team mate though. There was only a handful of maps I knew what to do on because most people would blow through all of the others, and the only time we could communicate is pre and post game with the ol' playstation keyboard. Also connecting online was kind of a pain I remember.

[@MerlautJones]

I loved this game & I wasn't a Resident Evil vet. I watched a friend play some of RE3, but Outbreak was the first I played in the series. I wish Capcom would remaster this. At the time, I didn't even know this game was 2-player.

[@AvalancheReviews]

Man, imagine a new entry in the series! This type of game is just begging for a modern entry.

[@jjwood32]

I watched a video from you about RE7, and I think one for SH. I watch a lot from a lot of people, so who knows. Outstanding stuff, though. I really miss Outbreak. I played it for 2-3 years straight, and I love seeing it referenced--like the article in 7, written by Alyssa. I've since subscribed to your channel. Thanks for this trip down memory lane. :)

[@AvalancheReviews]

My pleasure! Taking people down memory lane is a blast for me!

[@smithwesson1896]

This game has the best theme music of the series

[@zigfaust]

I forgot about the theme and as soon as I read this the whole damn cut-scene came flooding back to my head. So much green. So many rats.

[@maximodomiguez4079]

Well this one and the dead aim ost (especially the intro theme and save room themes)

[@kevburke]

I had no choice but to play this on single player and it was very difficult to resist the urge to shoot myself. The partner ai was awful. I really wish they'd remake it in the revelations engine.

[@rob98000]

Capcom did mention they were gonna remake more of their games

[@joshuanelson6795]

The partner A.I. is unfortunately what ruins this game. It's a team-based game that you can't win on your own, which means that if the online servers were going to be shut down and you would be forced to do single player, you would need really reliable A.I. Outbreak doesn't have that.

[@MerlautJones]

At the time, I didn't even know this game was 2-player.

[@kevburke]

I wouldn't say it ruined the game, but it made it very frustrating. I basically had to use team mates like portable item chests and hope they didn't die too quickly

[@jackcandy8450]

The AI would go around picking up random shit and so item management ended up being broken

[@fysl305]

The teleporting zombies isn't a connection issue, its actually a desyncing issue between emu players and console players, and this problem gets worse the longer you play and the more doors you go through. You will not encounter this problem at all if you play with console players exclusively, if you're a console player l, and if you're an emu player, sticking with other em7 players will eliminate this problem entirely.

[@HyperioGames]

It happens on console too, the group of friends I played/play with are all on console. Even when I played with two of my own systems on different screens with a guest, it still happened.

[@Sifer2]

lol I played the game back when the official servers were up. The zombies still teleported. I'm pretty sure it's just the net code was poor. Though with todays fast connections it's bound to be better.

[@SoberDwarf]

Having played it back in the day, it was an issue with teleporting zombies as well. The net code wasn't that great, with the game taking a lot of approximations and then trying to fix them with the 'host' (aka, the person who started the lobby). It would try to get the information from the host, then send it to the other players, as opposed to running an instance of the game on the server and then giving that data to all the players. If the host did not have the data needed (aka, wasn't in the room), then it would go to whoever had that data instead (sometimes you, sometimes the first person in the room.) A lot of PS2 games did this. You aren't wrong, it is a desyncing issue, but it's also a connection issue. If the host had a bad connection to the server, it would lag out, not just for zombies but also for opening menus as well.

[@MorbidManiac93]

Thank you for doing the Outbreak Series! I Love the Outbreak Series. And I think I know what "spinoff Series" your talking about!

[@alif_lx]

asked for revelations but got something even better i entirely forgot this game existed

[@GuyOnAChair]

Ironically Revelations has some roots in the Outbreak games.

[@alif_lx]

@@GuyOnAChair huh. i guess you learn something new everyday.

[@Jose-se9pu]

Is there even an expanation as to why Capcom is not making remasters of these games using their current servers? It would literally be FREE money.

[@ajhhc]

I would say that after so many complains about RE6 they started working on the best reboot they could, and even before they could release RE7 they had to start the long awaited RE2 Remake, and seeing how much effort and dedication were put in those games, it seems like a good explanation to me. Now, even before RE2 releases, people is asking for all the old titles to be remade, so there's a chance, a small one, yes, but still…

[@illusivekennedy]

@@ajhhc I wouldn't want it to be OTS or FPS like those games tho.Fixed cameras need to make a comeback!

[@ajhhc]

@@illusivekennedy me too, it's more than clear now that the setting worked, otherwise the franchise wouldn't have survived this far. I don't know what they fear, honestly, the remake would have been amazing with at least an Outbreak style camera, if they didn't want to go all fixed.

[@illusivekennedy]

@@ajhhc Exactly, but I guess they don't want to give up that easy casual money. You don't know how many current RE fans I hear or see just instantly put off by the look of fixed cameras. Or they give up saying it's too hard after 5 minutes. If people would just try, they'd see how good these games are. The perspective really adds to the experience. It's a shame there isn't more online games like Outbreak.

[@johnlawful2272]

@@illusivekennedy I beat the games fix camera angles is just annoying to me even when I played great games like omnimusha and dmc didn't mind it on ffx guess cause that's turn based

[@yousefbardouka6675]

I'm so glad you've covered this game, I've spent a lot of time on this game with my friends when we were younger

[@chinaski6593]

Nice review. I remember playing this game back in the day and thinking "this is amazing! but so frustrating at the same time". Mainly because of the tech. I live in Chile and in those days internet sucked so much. I always thought this game was a generation ahead. I hope one day capcom give it another try tho this type of resident evil.

[@AvalancheReviews]

Yeah, i think this game is ripe for some kind of remaster. That would be insane.

[@QMMarc]

This is a game that should definitely be re-released nowadays, it was a bit ahead of it's time for what it was trying to do, but, like, nowadays with how internet is a bit more better, it could be fun, to be fair it'd be a very niche market, but still, we can still play it sorta online with emulation shenanigans as you showed, of course, my PC can't emulate it perfectly (yet), I mean, it is a waste of their money, there's no guarantee that people would buy it, but I know for sure that i'd buy it, if it was like, an ''Outbreak File Extra'' or something that includes files 1 and 2 merged. I mean, it's a better idea than Umbrella Corps ever was. If that's what it's called, i actually confuse the name of it a lot.

[@kylewhite8434]

They wasted their money on that umbrella corps game why not this?

[@QMMarc]

Cause it's also a probably waste of money, I mean, they ''didn't'' know that was gonna be bad right? competitive games was a big market when that hit shelves, Resi has this sorta way of reflecting the era nowadays, Even Resi 2 remake seems like it's surfing the amazing Yakuza remakes in a way. Sometimes it pays offs, sometimes it doesn't, truth is, there are new people born every day, and as much as it's nice to get things to please us old fans, we all are going to die eventually, so will the market for that nostalgia, so a new direction isn't all bad, when done well, i just usually hope more for a funny disaster than a boring one, or with some luck, an extremely awesome game like RE 4 was, it was a disaster in the making that one, but, at the end of the day, sometimes the pieces just works. I mean, it'd be fun, but, it's a too small of a niche, I know i'd buy it, and you'd buy it, but 12 year old tommy prolly wouldn't, since he neither knows enough of the old school Resis to understand the little fan services Outbreak has, nor he has adapted to the clunkyness that we love so much right? Overall, there's just a word for it, ''It's risky'' , also the bloody original files are probably lost forever so they can't just port it or something like that, maybe reverse engineer it from the Isos if that's possible (Heck, as far as i know, that's what they did with DMC HD), but boy would they still need to remake assets from the ground up, so it's not as easy as it'd be to say port Merc 3D, or maybe they burned those files too, still bloody wished it came to pc, bollocks.

[@BellowDGaming]

Ah! Finally! In my experience I never gone online with the game finished OBfile1 and 2 only with bots and I gotta say besides the bad AI in RE5 and RE6, the AI's here are more intelligent, except for those NPC's that you try rescue. My go to character is Kevin for gun at hand from the start and Yoko for healing and extra item slots and I think this is the first RE title that features the melee combat. Capcom really went downhill later on the survival horror, heck this IS the best survival horror multiplayer online experience to be exactly honest, where there is tension and dread even if you got a buddy with you and l promised myself last time if you make an outbreak retrospective I'll sub so you got a subscriber here.

[@AvalancheReviews]

Hell yeah, Outbreak definitely did survival horror right. Thanks for the sub!

[@JacobJohnson-lh4gx]

recently played this again after not playing it for years. I'm quite surprised it stil holds up to this day, I like the classic controls and team work you have to do in order to solve puzzles and open new areas. Imagine the frustration people had back in the day when a team mate doesnt cooperate and you dont have enough chat or voice chat.

[@AvalancheReviews]

It seems almost like it was made for modern online communication. Like it was just a decade too early.

[@starfishsicko]

If there was ever an RE that deserved a rerelease or a sequel on modern systems, this was it

[@AvalancheReviews]

YEP!

[@Avyrr]

RE Outbreak was the first RE I‘ve gotten my hands on when I was still a kid and this game scared the fuck out of me with its intro sequence, that big eye creature in the same intro and the creepy music going along with it. Up until this day, I haven’t personally heard a more bone chilling soundtrack. I did not understand the game at all and couldn’t even progress through the first room properly, but the experience was so engraved into my mind that I disregarded every other RE until RE5, which I loved. Don’t know why I shared this to begin with, I‘ve just been randomly looking for a video detailing the game and here we are. Thanks for the video dude, great job.

[@knoble1985]

If they made a new outbreak game I feel certain characters like Billy and Ark can have more stories instead of getting lost among the main roster!

[@AvalancheReviews]

That would be cool to see

[@Maioly]

Poor Billy is still lost wandering the forests of "Possiblynotcanon" to this day will someone rescue the poor guy already!

[@Jyoelmejor]

Keep up the great work making RE videos, as an OG fan. I am just happy you all are still making videos for the newer fans

[@AvalancheReviews]

Thank you!

[@samuelcobb5125]

“Distract him with your large body!” That line had me dead. XD

[@Khotgor]

I still play these, mainly file 2, on lone wolf every now and then. My favourite survival horror game by far

[@Micromatical]

FINALLY! I freaking loved this game as a kid Omfg I'm so happy to see this covered!

[@lganeshan86]

I still love this game. Best moment was someone holding the door by hordes of zombies while the other players are trying to find an exit.

[@hozza9901]

hahaha that teleport at zombie teleport at 10:48 . 'you think you got away!? 'Omae Wa Mou Shindeiru'

[@AvalancheReviews]

HA! Yep, they'll do that sometimes.

[@liampalmer7527]

Thanks for the in-depth look! Everybody always skips over talking about these two titles and they're actually some of my favorite. Great work!

[@DeekBoy333]

File 2 has some of the greatest cover art I have ever seen. Gives me goosebumps.

[@AvalancheReviews]

YES! It was amazing! That one little image summed up the game perfectly.

[@CarlsonsRaiders]

RE Outbreak is my favorite, I loved playing it back online back in the day. Thanks for the review on this, really enjoyed this!

[@AvalancheReviews]

My pleasure!

[@MajinRose17]

Online outbreak 2 was the bomb!!!!! The boss rushes we're fun as hell! Me and my friends had to call each other whenever we played lol. Still fun af

[@AvalancheReviews]

I wish I could have experienced them, back in the day. That would have made for some killer memories.

[@EmperorKrow]

Leave it to ol "Avalanche" to teach me all about another obscure RE title ive nvr played.... Thank you bro! Youve done me a solid....and this is one of MANY!!! PLZ, NEVER STOP!!!!

[@Chinchilla2]

I remember playing this online for the first time at my best friends house when I was in 5th grade (2005) My teammates left me to die by falling of the ledge that you have to jump to the next roof from the 1st level. I miss this game.

[@AvalancheReviews]

HA!

[@lingricen8077]

This game introduced mechanics new to the franchise (and I dont just mean multiplayer mechanics). For example, you could ‘brace’ a door by having your character lean against it - to temporarily prevent zombies coming through (they will eventually manage to break through and cause you to stagger), for that matter, zombies will only temporarily stay dead, depending on your difficulty, necessitating the need to brace doors. A player could brace a door to give the other players time to loot a room. Also, as you mentioned in this video, you could shoot open doors. And theres obviously the infection meter, different characters had different infection speeds.

[@LakesideAmusementPro]

I never got a chance to play Outbreak online but I played the crap out of it offline and loved it.

[@Jokkefanten]

Always a treat to find a video from you in my subscription box! Having been stuck on the gamecube growing up Outbreak mesmerized me, the idea of a resident evil multiplayer experience intrigued me so much. Happy to finally get a perspective on what i missed out on.

[@AvalancheReviews]

Now that's what I like to hear!

[@mqfii8992]

Man, the greatest crime of Outbreak Is being TOO ahead of its time. Imagine how perfect it would be if it was released at the PS3/Xbox360 era? Actually, remastering the game as a PSN game would be neat idea, with the 2 games In 1 and also the lost scenarios (there are a few that would come In a “File 3”). And also it should come with voice chat option.

[@Th3Orange]

The one great thing about RE:O was in fact how cutscenes played without you being near them.. because you'd see that oh shit somebody (or the party) is at a certain point progressing ahead, and you'd kinda have this looming sense of fear trying to catch up and not be left behind. People frequently got lost / separated and left behind. I think that worked in the games favor, kinda gave a clue to everyone (especially with out disconnected everyone was with no voice chat) as to where they needed to be or if they were falling behind.

[@probablystoned]

God i loved the outbreak games still my favorite out of all of em.

[@madsaltygaming7506]

Great to hear SoberDwarf in this video. Great collaboration there! I've never played this game, but seems like an interesting online experience.

[@mrratchet]

Avalanche Reviews releases Resident Evil Outbreak retrospective. Looks like I'm not getting any sleep before work!

[@Relic_cileR]

First off, great job on these retrospective videos my friend! In fact, awesome job done! I especially like the more positive approach to a few of the games that got hate or were just too different than the original formula for some. I loved Resident Evil 1&2 back in the PS1 days, and they are both in my greatest games of all time list. I never got into Zero on the Cube and missed out on 3 sadly. I only tried 4 and felt a bit alienated by the series at that point, so I never finished it. By the time 5 arrived, I had lost faith in the series, mostly due in part to a lot of the negative views on it, and haven’t even looked at any of the games to follow it. Now, so many years later, I found myself watching these retrospective videos of yours and you have rekindled that interest. Thank you for that! I picked up the HD versions of Resident Evil, 4,5, 6, and plan to pick up the Revelation games. I plan on playing through these and eagerly anticipating RE2 Remaster now. My only wish was that Outbreak was available to play on my Xbox lol. Anyway, thanks friend! Edit: I also missed out on Code Veronica!

[@EinoRapids]

The slow awkward movement and the A.I. ruined Outbreak for me. It had so much potential but the frustration was too much for me at least in 2003. I should give it a second go now that time has passed.

[@EinoRapids]

xDDD Well at least those had fluent movement compared to this one. The original trilogy, Code Veronica and RE 1 remake are still my favourites though.

[@AvalancheReviews]

It can be a bit awkward, but the online experience I think makes up for the shortcomings. I used to play only single player, and there's definitely a bit if drag to the controls, but I was able to get used to it.

[@wusscake]

The computer AI is garbage. The game was meant to be played online with other people. You'll have a way different, and much less, frustrating experience playing with randoms. It makes a world of difference when you have a human Mark blocking off zombies for you, as opposed to getting chain grabbed and begging you for help.

[@lingricen8077]

Probably because the game came out 2004, not 2003. Checkmate.

[@DoodlesGaming]

unless you give Outbreak 2 its own video and dive into ORC and Umbrella Corps, that means I only have this and 2 more videos to watch. I am so in love with this series. Definitely will be watching more than once as a lot of the time it's been background noise while I do my own content. Truly amazing work, you should be very proud of what you've done. As a long time Resi fan (I first played Xmas 96 I believe), you have done the series justice with this series

[@AvalancheReviews]

Thanks man! I was worried I wouldn't be able make something that really showed people how amazing these games are. Glad to see that didn't happen. I kind of combined both Outbreaks together, so it's just ORC and Umbrella Corps left.

[@DoodlesGaming]

ORC is underrated IMO. It could have been better and the mechanics are flawed because it was built on a rubbish engine but the premise is fantastic, I think I completed it 3 or 4 times at least. Never played UC, it's so hard to find a copy of it now.

[@davidsymmons9274]

They have to remake this one nexttttt it’s so good. Even without online.

[@lingricen8077]

Why remake? Why not make file 3 so its brand new content? Siiigh, idiots and their one-track mind for remakes

[@residentraccoon2910]

Best retrospective on the series I've seen yet. Extremely well written and executed, great job.

[@AvalancheReviews]

Thank you! It's my passion project.

[@MadMax-yq9ix]

These two games were so amazing

[@matcam89]

This series is really underrated and was ahead of it's time, the online component was a blast, my friends and I would 3 way call each other and play this

[@PoutyBun]

Wow, imagine if this were re-released today with some modern enhancements. Throw in mod support and/or mapping tools, and I can see this becoming popular again

[@AvalancheReviews]

It really could be! I heard they recently took out a copyright on the Outbreak name for a website, so maybe we'll get to see it come back at some point.

[@taylorkennedy7205]

Felt bad i havent checked for your videos for a while. Glad you covered this game. Needs more love. Hope they do something with these games.

[@StevenSenile]

Oh boy the loading screens sure were the best

[@gamingsospectacular4158]

I love these retrospectives. Takes me back. Your coverage is excellent. Thumbs up once again

[@AvalancheReviews]

Thanks!!!

[@jaredsshield]

I miss this game... :((((

[@esteBAM979]

Heck yea! I woke up to another one of you great vids the other day. Dude I always watch you vids like twice. The first time I listen to it at work cause I cant stare at the screen. The second time I actually sit down and watch it once I get home. You always do great work and it was fun to be introduced to "sober dwarf" . Im watching him now to thanks to you. I played this outbreak game back in the day, but never online. I so have to try it online now a days. I didnt even know that was possible in 2018.

[@AvalancheReviews]

Thanks man! I'm glad my videos are worth watching more than once. That's much appreciated.

[@j.garcia2117]

I loved outbreak! Was a more realistic approach than the other games!

[@roberta.8747]

I enjoyed this game even 100% solo. I played through all scenarios, all difficulties, with all characters. It was very replayable. It holds up incredibly well and its my favorite RE game.

[@KamenRider1]

FINALLY! My girlfriend has been WAITING for you to review this. 😀 By the way, thanks for getting her into Parasite Eve again. She watched your retrospective on PE and now she wants to play the game after only having cursory knowledge of it all this time. 😂 Back to RE Outbreak, I have HOURS of fun playing File 1 and File 2 with my friends. I played as Kevin and Mark, mostly. My girlfriend played as Cindy almost exclusively. My girlfriend and I want to play this again and am hoping for an HD remaster of File 1 & 2 on the current generation consoles with the proper adjustments for multiplayer in the modern age. I.E.) Text/Voice chat I'd also like local offline multiplayer for it, but that's unlikely.

[@lingricen8077]

It was already obvious, but the ‘My gf played as Cindy almost exclusively’ 100% gives away that your ‘gf’ is imaginary. Pathetic.

[@greatscottmcfly]

I've watched all of the videos in this series since near the beginning but THIS is the one I've been waiting for. Since RE2 is getting a remake, this one needs to happen as well, and with today's online infrastructure, it would be a massive hit.

[@AvalancheReviews]

I've been hearing that an Outbreak Remake might be a lot more likely than I originally thought, so let's keep our fingers crossed.

[@tigga2300]

This game needs a remake.

[@franciscovelasquez9660]

I've been wanting for this, this is one of my favorite RE games great video as always.

[@imrgrimmi1659]

Outbreak is the best installment. Change my mind. You can't.

[@bart0642]

Wololo

[@calebf612]

Re4 or code veronica

[@RPGtourguide]

Outbreak was such a fun experience. I remember spending so much time playing this, both offline and online. I remember each area having little checklists of events that you could clear to complete the game fully, and there was one part in the first game that was completely random chance. Going into one of the offices could trigger some sort of zombie groan. That was all. If you heard the groan, you got the check on that event. But it was random and I never got it to trigger. :( Oh hey, SoberDwarf! :D Cool to see him join in on the fun. Speaking of joining in, I don’t know why I didn’t think to look into emulation to revisit this online! I’ll have to check out your link for a guide on how to do it. It’d be a blast to replay this with other people. :) Great video!

[@AvalancheReviews]

yeah, this game had a bunch of stuff going on under the hood. Such a cool little experience.

[@tasteychackras7023]

Was ur user AVALANCHE online? I started playing this a few months ago off and on and i ran across AVALANCHE a few times that would be awesome if it was you, and for anyone that would want a video guide instead of the steam guide, ide recommend Dear Yoko's guide on youtube, his link has a zip with everything bundled.

[@AvalancheReviews]

It was! I was only active within the last two months.

[@tasteychackras7023]

Yup same here, im so glad i actually got the chance to play with you! i wish i would've known then, my name was Jaco and i almost always played as Cindy, what a pleasure!

[@charleszamora2375]

This brought back memories. I remember calling out our roles in a lobby completing them on Very Hard. Running around without a weapon for most of the runs since the tackle/shove is so useful. Aside from that, I remember being in the world lobby on the last night that Outbreak was playable online, you had so many users just typing down Happy New Year and it was just madness. I should try the emulator

[@pittykitty6503]

Who wants a RE outbreak for ps4?

[@Valiyus]

I remember playing this game as a kid online. I loved the fact that you couldn't talk and only use the ad-libs. Certain scenarios shined over others (such as Outbreak; the first stage; and Desperate Times; Raccoon City Police station) but certain ones were incredible hard to use adlibs along with sticking together due to all that needed to be done (Flashback and especially Decisions, Decisions). I loved when you'd go around trying to find your teammates only to find they turned zombie. Some of them wouldn't attack you and just follow you around in zombie form until they "lost control" due to the time limitations on controlling a zombified you. Decisions, Decisions as mentioned above was so incredibly hard to stick together due to the long load times and the multiple floors you could select at the elevator. Then Tyrant was running around the complex trying to kill you all (ala Nemesis). Playing this game on the hardest difficulty even changed certain scenarios as they added new enemies and the health pools for regular zombies made it to where you didn't want to straight up fight but keep them at bay just so you could get the key items and go. It was a classic approach and made the game shine even more, although it was a bit masochistic. People with the expansion bay addon for PS2 was where it was and cut down loading times pretty much in half but costed so much for something so niche and nonsupported for many games. Outbreak (the scenario) will forever be etched into my mind and forever be my favorite depiction of Raccoon City. I love the way Raccoon City is designed and wished a city in real life was made that way just so I could experience it. The Outbreak games will forever go down as my favorite series in the whole franchise for it's unique approach and I feel games like this will never exist due to business decisions and want to make money, especially for big game devs. I really, really, really hope that Capcom decides to revisit RE:Outbreak, heck, a remaster would do this whole franchise a huge service and make a lot of fans happy. I'd happily buy copies for all my friends just to revisit this with an updated engine.

[@33Dannyb]

This game came out one generation too early.

[@Thebossstage1]

I hope Capcom re-releases this game on PC

[@AvalancheReviews]

Me too

[@Razieleatssouls]

The online load times without a hard drive were so brutal, but I still loved the heck out of this game. That feeling of fighting for you and the team to survive, carrying them on your shoulder, risking your butt to pull them out of danger, managing supplies, bracing doors to buy time... it was so tense and rewarding.

[@sethlong9118]

Recently I reacquired Resident Evil Outbreak File 1 and 2, and it's just my personal opinion that file two is much more difficult, even with the new features. Though they both have severe drawbacks when you use it exclusively on the PS2, lugging that brain-dead AI floor by floor, door by door, can be a little taxing.

[@espio329]

agreed, i feel like most of the scenarios in 2 are for more unforgiving. *Looks at wild things* But since i play it on custom servers, replace Brain dead AI with people who don't understand how to properly use their characters special items or actions or straight up greifing. I find myself going back to File 1 more since it's far more forgiving and newbies have an easier time going through scenarios.

[@sethlong9118]

@@espio329 while I've got you I was hoping that we could both come to an agreement that Cindy is amazing, sure she may be a fiend snatching up every last piece of pot on the map, but she's the only woman to survive a zombie outbreak in heels, and a slit skirt, with a high ponytail. Legend.

[@espio329]

Seth Long Another cindy main?! You are indeed a man of culture!

[@Clay3613]

This is my second favorite RE game after RE4. Hard as hell when played solo, but it really feels like "survival horror" cause you're playing as normal people and not trained special ops agents with unlimited shotgun ammo.

[@JohnnyMatherson]

Operation Racoon City next, amiright AR??? eh??? : P

[@AvalancheReviews]

Not quite. There's another subseries to cover first.

[@mattcontrino8513]

Ironically, this is what GOT me into Resident Evil many moons ago. Criminally overlooked.

[@BellowDGaming]

Don't forget RE4 Leon cannot shot aim and move, RE Outbreak File 2 The players CAN do that as a game mechanic improvement.

[@coldstuff9784]

Outbreak also had more nifty knife attacks by way of David instead of the single jab by Leon.

[@BellowDGaming]

@@coldstuff9784 David is also Chuck Greene before Chuck Greene he can combine items and make them to another weapon.

[@coldstuff9784]

@@BellowDGaming That's true! I never thought of that before.

[@BellowDGaming]

@@coldstuff9784 RE Outbreak is advance beyond it's time. When you got a gun equip and it has bullets a zombie grabs you, you can shoot the zombie on the head. Unlike main line RE titles where there are sub weapons RE1 remake and RE2 remake, RE4, RE5 and RE6's qte escapes and RE3's resist and escape.

[@IvanTorres-tt8ri]

This video just make me want to play RE:O online so bad. I only played single player and, even like playing like that, I loved it.

[@philips.5563]

"Beggers can't be choosers" is basically the best summary of the RE fandom possible.