1. Resident Evil Outbreak 3
2. Zombie Dogs

The data leak also made mention of a new Resident Evil Outbreak. This has lead to speculation by fans if it was a remake or a new entry in the series. Video game insider Ryan. Resident Evil: Outbreak resurrection begins a couple of days after the initial outbreak in Raccoon City when the T-virus was released, moments before the crisis erupts into complete chaos. The game ends in the final moments of the incident, with the player attempting to escape Raccoon City before the U.S. Government launches a missile strike to.

Zombies and scares have always been the name of the game in the Resident Evil franchise - in fact, it's been the name of the game for nearly eight years with few alterations to the successful formula. Like that zombie that just won't die despite a shotgun wound to the chest, Resident Evil keeps coming back, much to the delight of fans, and now you can take it online with Resident Evil: Outbreak and share your distaste for zombies the world over.

Fret not Resident Evil fans, Resident Evil: Outbreak is essentially the same game you know and love minus a few changes. There are still plenty of zombies that are achin' to gnaw at your neck, but now instead of going at it alone, you're working with several other characters - controlled by either the computer or other players if you take it online - to complete the scenarios. However, just because you're stuck in the same boat doesn't mean you have to work together. Your adventure is completely independent from one another, and there's really no pressure to work together. Another staggering difference is that Resident Evil: Outbreak is divided into five different scenarios that are pretty independent of each other ' meaning, there's no longer a cohesive story. Yet despite these differences, Resident Evil: Outbreak is essentially the same as previous incarnations: your ultimate goal is still survival, which is achieved by shooting zombies and solving puzzles while overcoming the often-awful camera angles. If you loved it before, you'll probably love it here.

However, here's the hefty downside: there's little to no communication with your teammates. That's right, no voice chat and no chatting with a USB keyboard. You can only communicate with teammates through 'ad-lib'? movements that only encompass a few short phrases that are really no help at all. With such a loss in communication, the result is that you and the other players often wander off alone, circumventing that whole interaction thing that makes online games so fun. Granted, it was likely done to keep the sense of tension high, but in the end it seems to discourage teamwork, and isn't that what cooperative online games are all about?

Another major gripe is that there's a lot of loading. Without a HDD, every door you walk through will require a pretty substantial loading time. Combine that with the fact that areas are small and filled with a lot of doors, and then you'll see the problem. Supposedly, it's better with the hard drive that shipped with Final Fantasy XI, but it's something to be wary of from the outset.

You have to give Resident Evil: Outbreak credit for trying something new and succeeding on most levels, but if you were hoping that it would take the series in a new direction, then you might be disappointed because it's essentially a standard Resident Evil title with an online component. If you didn't like any of the other offerings with the Resident Evil name attached to it, then Resident Evil: Outbreak will do little to change your mind ' however, if you're a fan and can get past some of the major problems, then there's a lot to love here.

Resident Evil: Outbreak is a side-entry in the Resident Evil series for the PlayStation 2 set during the same time period as the original trilogy focusing on another band of survivors of the T-virus outbreak in Raccoon City. It was released at a time when Resident Evil 4 was supposed to be made exclusively for GameCube, so they got around that arrangement by making this one a spinoff.

It was notably the first game in the series to feature online multiplayer, unless you were one of those unlucky chaps playing the European version and had to settle with just A.I.-controlled dummies as a backup (not that it matters anymore, since the official servers have been discontinued long ago). The lack of voice chat was a deliberate feature to keep you immersed into the world without having some brat ruin everything by screaming for chocolate milk on his mic.

Resident Evil Outbreak 3

The game was planned to feature over 18 chapters, but the finalized version ended up having just five. A standalone expansion titled Resident Evil Outbreak: File #2 was later released featuring five new chapters, but the missing eight never saw the light of day.

• 1Unused Music
  • 1.1Flashback
  • 1.2Desperate Times
• 2Unused Cutscene Audio
  • 2.1Outbreak
• 3Online Only Cutscenes
  • 3.1Decisions, Decisions
• 4Unused Player NPCs
• 5Oddities

Unused Music

As a result of levels being scrapped, the music attached to them were cut as well. Aside from a few placeholder tracks, some of these were repurposed in the expansion along with their respective levels.

Flashback

A number of tracks from the Flashback scenario are on the disc despite being cut. The location itself was reused in File #2.

Abandoned Hospital Theme

This version of the track had its first 36 seconds removed when it was repurposed into the sequel. It's listed as stg_05a in this game's files.

Arklay Forest

This eerie music track plays in the forest where Al Lester leads the survivors to the abandoned hospital. It remains the same in both games. It's labeled as stg09a within Outbreak's files.

Desperate Times

Yet another cut scenario implemented in the second installment that has leftovers in the original game. Both tracks remain unchanged in-between.

RPD Lobby Theme

Present as stg_07 on the disc, this music plays inside the Racoon Police Department's Lobby in File #2.

Zombie Seige Theme

Present amongst the music for boss battles as aseri_0d is the track used in this scenario's last segment, in which the player has to wait for Rita and Harry to arrive with a police van while holding off zombies.

Unused Cutscene Audio

Earlier versions of certain cutscenes' audio exist in the game files. Outbreak and file #2 store the cutscene audio separately from the video data. The videos use the standard PS2 SFD format while the cutscene audio (along with the music and most sound effects) use the ADX format. Here they are listed by scenario.

Outbreak

Numerous changes were made to a number of cutscenes in the game's first scenario, Outbreak.

J's Bar Starting Sequence

This plays slightly similar to the finalized version but features the newscaster with a different voice talking about an explosion related to 'a string of murders' rather than the final's football game and an 'unruly fan causing a riot'.

There is also a further alternative version of this sequence without background music.

There is also yet another version that has longer character audio and is closer to the finalized version. It seems that the developers went through several versions of this cutscene before deciding on a version they liked.

Dorian Confiscates Your Weapons

It seems that originally, Dorian would confiscate your weapons when you were about to hop into his police van. Once again, Kevin's seems to have been overwritten (or in this case probably used the final version's since after all he was a member of RPD like Dorian).

Alternative Scenario Ending Music

The Scenario has alternative versions of its ending cutscenes (one for each character) with a track of music not used in the final iterations. The audio for everything else is identical to the final's.

Decisions, Decisions

An unused 'full version' of Greg's Speech when he's encountered is in the game. In the finalized version, it was split up into three segments, the second segment of which only occurs if Yoko is present.

Online Only Cutscenes

A few cutscenes only played in the online mode. Most of these can still be viewed through the recently made Unofficial Outbreak servers (Japanese version only) but as far as it officially goes, they can't be normally seen.

Decisions, Decisions

Due to the multiple endings and larger scope, this has the most Online only cutscenes.

Intercom Call

Due to the nature of how other players could go anywhere they wanted in online mode without having to rely on their teammates to be with them at all times, the option to use the intercom in the university's lab while making the Daylight serum to call players that hadn't arrived yet was possible. In offline mode, the surviving AI partners will automatically meet up with you at this point, rendering it having no use in offline mode. There's a version for each character.

Pair Endings

During certain circumstances, if a character dies and two are left that have a compatible ending and the player doesn't take the Daylight Serum, they can get this ending. Though only one version of each cutscene is accessible to offline players, there are alternative versions that could only be heard online that involve the other character in said pair speaking in their head.

Unused Player NPCs

In both Outbreak games, The player can unlock and play as NPCs found in scenarios. Each NPC uses a character type of one of the 8 default characters but has unique stats and starting items. Most of the player NPCs not found in the first Outbreak can be obtained and transferred over from File #2 via File #2's Data Convert feature. A large number of them are unused in both Outbreak and Outbreak File #2 however. These characters can typically only be obtained through hacking via cheating device or similar methods.

Mac

In an old Famitsu article, his full name is mentioned as 'Mac Dowell' and that he was supposed to be a UBCS (Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service) mercenary that fell in love with a Raccoon citizen named Mary. He is a George-type character. He starts with a Hemostat.

Conrad

Conrad is a USS (Umbrella Security Service) member. Not much else is known about him. He is a Kevin-type character. He starts with an antidote.

HUNK

The legendary USS mercenary HUNK was supposed to make an appearance in the game. However, for whatever reason he wasn't used. This version of him doesn't wear a gasmask helmet. Playing as him reveals that he was intended to be a powerhouse like Axeman/Maskman as his offensive stats are very high. He's a Kevin-type character. This version of him starts with a First Aid Spray.

HUNK B.

This is a version of HUNK that wears his signature helmet. This version features average stats and starts with a box of 30 handgun bullets.

Micky

This unused character was shown a lot in pre-release screenshots. The images he's featured in have to do with perhaps one of the most famous cut Outbreak scenarios. The Scenario doesn't have an official name and is usually referred to as 'A Day in Raccoon' after the Motel the scenario is set in. Micky was the owner of the motel. According to a Famitsu article that featured him and other characters, Micky had a very hostile personality, even toward his Motel guests. As for his actual remnants he has a battle damaged model (probably from being attacked or killed in the scenario) and a playable version which is a Jim-type character with a medium infection rate, weak attack power, and average health. He also starts with a Hemostat in his inventory.

Unused Bloody NPC

Not much is known about this NPC. It wears an outfit similar to Will, the Bartender at J's Bar in the 'Outbreak' scenario. It may be possible that this is Jack, the owner of said bar. Due to his injured state, he was either meant to appear as a zombie or was meant to appear as a dying NPC that the player would find and talk to. He has no stats of his own and instead uses default stats (which are all very weak) but is otherwise fully playable with a game enhancer (if no character type is chosen for him with a game enhancer, he will default to whatever character was picked on the menu).

Miguel

Miguel was supposed to be a USS mercenary. Supposedly his story revolved around him being the only other survivor of HUNK's Alpha Team after an attack from William Birkin. As a result he has a bandage around his head. He is a Kevin-type character with overall average stats and starts with 20 handgun bullets. A version of him with a gaping wound on its body exists in the playable character data directly after his. This one lacks stats however.

Oddities

Numerous odd things can be found within the game's data, or in some cases, in actual gameplay.

Model Oddities

Some NPCs not used until File #2 have different models in the original game. Some of these oddities can be seen by unlocking said characters in File #2 and using File #2's Data Convert to unlock them on an Outbreak save file on the same memory card.

• Al B has no infected patch of skin on his side.
• Axeman is known as 'Maskman' and lacks the muscles he has in File #2. Instead he's scrawny like Al B. Also like Al B, he has no infected patch of skin on his side. Lastly, instead of being a Mark-type character, he is a David-type character instead.
• Lucy Mallet if hacked in via character modifier GameShark codes, has a blue and pink striped shirt rather than a red shirt with white horizontal lines. This pink and blue shirt is seen in pre-release screenshots featuring her.

Voice Oddities

A few of the voices you can hear in the purchased BGM you get in the collection menu are unusual.

• The 'other' voices actually contain fragmented versions of the prototype title calls for both the US and Japanese names of Outbreak. The original 'Network Biohazard' and 'Resident Evil Online' title calls are present here but the words have been separated into 'Network', 'Biohazard', 'Resident Evil', and 'Online' respectively. The 'Network' was repurposed for all versions of Outbreak and plays when the Network option is selected on the title screen (this can be heard even with multiplayer service discontinued).

BGM Oddities

• The collection menu's theme is actually listed as 'Save'. Obviously, with its peaceful tone it was meant for the various save rooms the player can visit during scenarios originally. For whatever reason, be it how saving with typewriters is handled in this game, or whatever, it was instead moved to the collection menu.

High Poly Models

Located among the models are high poly models. While the high poly models themselves aren't actually used ingame, it's obvious they were used to record the numerous cutscenes in both Outbreak games. It seems that at one point the cutscenes were planned to be in real time as opposed to footage that was pre-recorded from the game engine and shoved into video files.

Zombie Dogs

Despite this, numerous models didn't get used for recording these cutscenes anyway but still exist in the model data.

Regional Differences

• The European version had online capabilities removed due to technical difficulties with having to work with multiple languages and different service providers.
• The US version has a nasty bug involving Alyssa in the Outbreak Scenario. If Alyssa uses an Ad-lib in the alleys behind the Apartments, the game will freeze. This doesn't happen in the Japanese or European versions strangely enough.
• As with most Japanese Biohazard/Resident Evil titles up until Revelations, voice acting was exclusively in English with Japanese Subtitles. These subtitles are actually based off of the original script rather than what the voice actors actually say. As a result, some things in the subtitles are very different from how the script was translated for the voice acting studio.
• Various file and objects found in the game had changes, or translation errors made when translated to English. This is actually a common thing done in the Resident Evil games during localization and results in things ranging from character names getting translated with improper spelling, or in some cases with files, completely new information added.

Revisional Differences

There are actually two versions of the game, a version 1.0 and a version 1.1. They have unspecified differences.