Resident Evil Outbreak

After five Resident Evil games, it's a surprise there's anyone left to terrorize in the wretched hellhole that is Raccoon City. Nevertheless, terror is still the name of the game in Resident Evil Outbreak, Capcom's newest chapter in its popular survival-horror franchise.

At first glance, Outbreak appears to be another typical access in the RE canon—and that's pleasing without being striking much exactly what it is. The game consists of five unconnect scenario missions, each filled with exploration, confuses and—you guessed it—tons of zombies. This time around, you pitch upon from among eight model Raccoon City citizens, each with their possess array of special items and abilities. A cluster of half-wit A.I. characters accompany you end each scenario, chock-full of repetitive and annoying uninjured bytes.

The scenarios are typically bonny short—and with only five of them, you can move swiftly through the entire game rather quickly. That's where Outbreak's big gimmick advances in: Up to four players can team up online, which theoretically equals replay value. Or it would, if there were anything unique about the scenarios besides a bit of added difficulty. Fallen players do have the option of chasing down their teammates as animated corpses, on the contrary that sort of novelty wears not on fast. The game also lacks voice chat, which make an incision ins off all effective communication.

Online depressions aside, Outbreak is a capable game that fans of the series should come by a kick out of, flat if it doesn't last lengthy And it does get single thing right: The controls are actually functional and somewhat intuitive. Outbreak makes for a frolic weekend—just don't expect anything in fact groundbreaking.

Copyright ?© 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserv Originally appearing in GMR Magazine.