Resident Evil Outbreak
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| Developer(s) | Capcom Production Studio 1 |
| Publisher(s) | Capcom |
| Release date(s) | December 2003 (JP) April 1, 2004 (NA) September 17, 2004 (EU) |
| Genre(s) | Action adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Mature (M) PEGI: 16+ |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
| Media | DVD-ROM |
Resident Evil: Outbreak, known as Biohazard: Outbreak (バイオハザード アウトブレイク Baiohazādo Autobureiku?) in Japan, is a single player game with online playability for the PlayStation 2 initially released in 2003. This game is the first in the Resident Evil series to feature online multiplayer support. However, online support was not available for European and Australian players. These features were added in the successor title; Resident Evil Outbreak: File 2. Tsuyoshi Tanaka is the man who produced the Outbreak series.
Contents |
[edit] Plot overview
Resident Evil: Outbreak begins a couple of days after the initial outbreak in Raccoon City, 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 eliminate the threat posed by the T-Virus. The player controls one of eight characters, or numerous supporting characters who can be selected in their place. Events transpire across various regions of Raccoon City and over a period of several days. Events also span from Resident Evil 2-3.
[edit] Main characters
- Kevin Ryman - Kevin is a member of the Raccoon City Police Department. He has applied for membership to the S.T.A.R.S. unit twice, but both times he has been denied due to his slack and irresponsible nature. Kevin carries his own favorite M1911A1 pistol, and can inflict additional damage by utilizing his "Potshot" technique. Kevin can also kick enemies within his range.
- David King - David, a quiet plumber and a former juvenile delinquent, is skilled with a knife and can use his toolbox to create weapons from various items or repair some broken weapons.
- Mark Wilkins - Mark is a war veteran who moved to Raccoon City after the Vietnam War. He later became a security guard, and carries his own customized Beretta 92FS. Furthermore, he is skilled with melee weapons, and can inflict additional damage in close quarters combat by charging up a heavy melee attack. One of Mark's prominent features is his "Block" ability, which prevents most forms of damage but does not prevent infection.
- George Hamilton - George is a recently-divorced surgeon at Raccoon General Hospital. George's skill is transforming the healing herbs found in the various scenarios into pills which can be stacked and therefore more easily carried than herbs. He can also tackle enemies, and if his tackle is charged completely, he'll knock over enemies.
- Cindy Lennox - Cindy is a waitress working at J's Bar in Raccoon City. Her special attributes include a case for carrying herbs and being able to duck to avoid attacks.
- Yoko Suzuki - Yoko is a quiet college student with a mysterious past, seemingly linked to the Umbrella Corporation. Yoko can hold twice as many items in her inventory as other characters by using her backpack, and she is the least susceptible character to infection. She has a quickspin-crawl move, which is used to dodge attacks.
- Alyssa Ashcroft - Alyssa is a newspaper reporter with the ability to pick locks and evade her enemies' attacks. By aiming more carefully, Alyssa can do extra damage with handguns. She has a quick backstep move to avoid enemies.
- Jim Chapman - Jim is a subway employee who can fool enemies into thinking he is already dead by throwing himself onto the ground (although his infection rate goes up quickly when on the ground). Jim is highly superstitious, often flipping a coin to see if his luck will change for the better. This translates to a 15% increase in the chance for a critical hit for each successive "heads" he gets. He can easily determine the location of items in a room, although they show up as question marks on the map.
[edit] Supporting characters by scenario
[edit] "Outbreak"
- Bob - Bob is a security guard and Mark's friend. He is already on the verge of complete infection when the game first begins. The players can choose to help him, but after he is brought to the roof of the bar, he decides to kill himself to prevent himself from turning into a zombie and attacking the others.
- Will - Will is the bartender at J's Bar. While working at the bar, Will was attacked by a zombie that he believed was simply a strange customer, and received a mortal wound to the throat. He successfully locked his assailant out of the shop before collapsing on the ground, just before the player enters the scene. If one waits long enough in the main bar area, he will eventually turn into a zombie. It is unknown if he was good friends with Cindy, but it is hinted though Cindy's comments that she cared for him and is stricken with grief over his untimely death. He seemed to be a brother figure to her. After becoming a zombie, Will becomes harder to kill then all of the other zombies and is constantly running at his target
- Raymond - Raymond is one of several R.P.D. officers responsible for aiding hundreds of civilians to reach evacuation points in the early hours of the crisis. A close friend of Kevin, Raymond is fearless and resourceful; using the SPAS-12 he carries to help the survivors escape the dangerous street through an alleyway opposite J's Bar. He is later killed trying to help the survivors escape.
- Arthur - Arthur is another R.P.D. officer charged with assisting in the evacuation of the public and the lockdown of the "riot zones" throughout Raccoon City. When Raymond and Arthur are dispatched to handle the evacuation of downtown Raccoon City, where J's Bar is located, Arthur is killed by the zombies chasing down the terrified citizens that he is attempting to evacuate. He carries a loud megaphone.
- Aaron - Aaron is one of many R.P.D. officers to arrive on Main Street after the survivors destroy the area with explosives. Aaron manages to survive the incident, and ends up one of the handful of survivors barricaded within the precinct alongside Marvin and Rita in Outbreak: File 2. According to Kevin, Aaron is his hero.
- Dorian - Dorian is another R.P.D. officer assisting in the evacuation, and is in possession of a S.W.A.T. van to help with the task. Dorian tries to relocate the survivors and several other citizens to a safer region, but is stopped by one of the many roadblocks set up throughout the area. While Dorian succeeds in evacuating the survivors when a large R.P.D. taskforce arrives to secure the area, his eventual fate is unknown.
- Elliott, Eric, and Harry - Elliot, Eric, and Harry are the three R.P.D. officers tasked with destroying Main Street to halt the progress of the zombies. Elliot and Eric are overcome by the horde as they attempt to cover Harry, who retreats to the walkway and contacts the other survivors. The injured Harry asks the survivors to retrieve the detonator pieces and destroy Main Street, handing over his Beretta 92FS in fear, which the survivors can use for defense. Harry's help was later enlisted by a fellow officer, Rita, who was attempting to return to the R.P.D. to evacuate the survivors barricaded in the station.
[edit] "Below Freezing Point"
- Monica - Monica is a researcher in the Umbrella Corporation's underground laboratory located directly beneath Raccoon City. Monica murders one of her fellow researchers after he discovers her attempting to steal a G-Embryo from the laboratory. Monica apparently recognises Yoko Suzuki from past encounters, and threatens to kill her if she doesn't give Monica her Umbrella security card. Near the end of the level, Monica is attacked by an unseen creature, and the embryo somehow breaks out of its container and implants itself into her body. As the survivors leave, the embryo bursts out of Monica's chest, killing her.
[edit] "The Hive"
- Hursh - Hursh is a doctor at Raccoon General Hospital and one of George's associates, who chose to stay at the hospital and treat the sick and wounded for as long as possible. The survivors encounter Dr. Hursh when they seek shelter inside, attempting to locate medical supplies. Dr. Hursh explains to the survivors that the hospital is no longer a safe place to stay and that they should escape as soon as he can find a way to repair the elevator. When he restores power to the elevator, however, the "Leech Man" appears. He tries to escape by climbing over a barricade that is blocking your character's way and he falls in the process. He regains his composure and he realizes his wounded hand, that is then bleeding, has attracted the creature, and he screams before his inevitable death. After he dies, the barricade that was once blocking the path will be gone. He will also appear as the new "Leech Man".
- Leech Man - The strange and mysterious creature that lurks through the vents and pursues your characters in The Hive level. It's appearance is a figure covered from head to knees in leeches. It can stretch the leeches out to attack you, it can bite you, and most of its attacks cause your character to be knocked to the bleeding status. It is recommended you use hemostats, or else it will pursue you faster than usual since you are bleeding. It is possible to dispose of it, though this requires the use of a few blood packs as a decoy to lure the abomination into a temperature-experimentation room and boil it alive. However, this can be done only once, and if any of the characters should die afterwards, their corpses will rise as new leech men, and these cannot be disposed of.
[edit] "Hellfire"
- Charlie and Len - Two Raccoon Fire Department officers who assisted the R.P.D. with the evacuation of the Apple Inn and surrounding area. As they scour the basement for survivors, the poorly maintained boiler explodes, killing them both. The survivors discover their corpses as Danny, another R.F.D. officer, attempts to re-establish contact with the pair via his tactical radio.
- Danny - Member of a firefighting team stationed beneath the exit overpass, evacuating the wounded from the area. When the basement boiler of the Apple Inn explodes, Danny attempts to contact his friends, Charlie and Len, who were inside at the time. Receiving no answer, Danny rushes to the scene and rescues the survivors from the lobby of the Apple Inn by destroying the jarred door blocking their escape route. He later reappears in "Decisions, Decisions" alongside another firefighter, Gill.
[edit] "Decisions, Decisions"
- Greg Mueller - Greg is an unethical Umbrella researcher assigned to conduct various experiments at Raccoon University. Greg creates a powerful creature similar in size and strength to the Tyrant model, naming the creature "Thanatos". However, when Umbrella begins to massproduce the Tyrant, Greg becomes furious, believing that this would take away from the individuality and unique-ness of his subject. Like many Umbrella researchers, Greg views his creations as works of art, and not massproduced weapons as the Umbrella Corporation intended, and refuses to help them any further. To further spite Umbrella, Greg helps Dr. Peter Jenkins create a cure for the T-Virus, Umbrella's most prized viral weapon. Due to his rebellion, Greg is marked for death by Umbrella, who sends a U.B.C.S. team to assassinate him and retrieve a blood sample from Thanatos. Anticipating this, Greg intends to have Thanatos eliminate his would-be assassins. Thanatos largely achieves this, quickly decimating the squad, although one member escapes and ultimately manages to kill Greg.
- Peter Jenkins - Peter was a fellow alumnus of George Hamilton, the two having attended the same university and having similar interests. A researcher and lecturer at the prestigious Raccoon University, Jenkins assisted in the creation of Daylight, which can instantly destroy the T-Virus cells. He is found dead in his office, slumped over his desk. How he died is never ascertained.
- Nicholai Ginovaef - The notorious U.B.C.S. supervisor who first appeared in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. Nicholai makes a cameo appearance in Decisions, Decisions. While on a mission to collect a blood sample from Thanatos, he successfully assassinates rogue Umbrella researcher, Greg Mueller, although he fails to retrieve the blood sample. Nicholai then destroys Raccoon University using C4 to cover up any evidence of the Umbrella Corporation's research. Unlike other non-playable characters, he cannot be used as a skin for any of the character models, since his only appearances were in full motion video sequences.
- Gill - A firefighter, Gill appears with Danny (from "Hellfire") in an R.F.D. helicopter following the destruction of the university. After the player defeats Thanatos, Gill and Danny pick them up in their helicopter and fly out of the city before the bomb hits. Depending on the ending, he and Danny can either escape or get killed when the player's character turns into a zombie and attacks them.
[edit] Development history
Resident Evil: Outbreak was originally known as Resident Evil: Online. Capcom released various pieces of media under this name in 2002, including pictures featuring the eight main characters wandering around the Arklay Mountains and a trailer demonstrating the ad-lib system and character communication.
The title was later changed to Resident Evil: Network and information was given that the game included over twenty scenarios. The title was changed again to Resident Evil: Outbreak with reduction in the number of scenarios to five.
[edit] Communication
Resident Evil: Outbreak received low ratings from various websites and gaming magazines for its use of a command and ad-lib communication system. As opposed to using USB headphones or a computer keyboard, players would use a command "ad-lib" system which consisted of ten key command phrases, used with the right joystick on the PlayStation controller, and a button which shot out lines depending on the situation (E.g. Announce the status of the player).
These commands include (Direction player must press using the right joystick):
- Help (Left)
- Go (Up)
- Thanks (Right)
- Come On (Down)
- Wait. (Press R3)
- Call first teammate's name (Hold L2 and left)
- Call second teammate's name if applicable (Hold L2 and up)
- Call third teammate's name if applicable (Hold L2 and right)
- Yes. (Hold L2 and down)
- No. (Hold L2 and press R3)
The player can select items from his/her teammate's inventory and request it, or ask them to use it. While some people preferred this type of system, many despised it with people claiming the phrases would not cover enough during gameplay.
The commands and ad-libs themselves only covered the basics. (E.g. if a character was using a stronger weapon on a weaker enemy, the player has no option telling the player Stop using it. The player could only shout various phrases such as No or Wait hoping the player would understand.) The system was also criticized on how the ad-libs were integrated into the control scheme, with the player often removing their fingers from the controls to give these commands.
However, one helpful feature included was an option to ask a teammate to use an item, such as a health item if wounded, or a weapon during a battle.
[edit] DVD and HDD
Resident Evil: Outbreak can be played on either DVD or through a Hard disk drive. DVD mode loads everything off the DVD-ROM and is the only way to play if a PS2 hard drive is not available. HDD mode installs around one gigabyte's worth of files onto the hard drive so that the game loads characters, items, textures and such off the Sony Hard Disc Drive while sounds are spooled from the DVD-ROM.
The DVD-ROM version takes a long time to load; the average loading screen is well over 12 seconds. This becomes a problem in the networking mode, where a player will go to save someone in another room, but end up stuck in a loading screen for a long period of time.
With HDD mode, the rooms load at an average rate of four seconds, making the game much faster.
The player can host both of these versions online, and switch between the two (if they own the HDD).
[edit] Inventory
Menus
What people will quickly notice about Outbreak is that all the menus in-game are transparent. This is because the game does not pause while you are combining items. If you are hit while in a menu or doing a puzzle the menu will close automatically and interrupt whatever you were doing, forcing you to start over.
Instead of having six inventory slots for males and eight slots for females with a unique item in an extra slot for both, a character now has only four inventory slots that they can readily access and one unique non-transferable item.
Moving a cursor over an item will show a brief description below the EKG (heart monitor). Selecting an item will bring up a series of actions related to that particular item: Use, Equip, Combine or Present. If you present an item, your character will offer it to the other players who can come up and take it from you but you will still be in your inventory screen. It is also possible to press Square to present the item; you will still be standing with your hand out, but now you can turn your character to face the person you want and use the dialogue commands to indicate who you want to have it.
Item swapping
When picking up an item from the ground, you can choose to swap it with an item in your inventory or combine it with herbs or ammo already inside. However, key items cannot be combined in this way nor can weapons be reloaded without first having both items in your inventory. Item swapping is an excellent way to stock up an area for a battle or to leave items for your partners while you go on ahead.
[edit] Healing items
Herbs
- Green Herbs are used to restore some health.
- Red Herb amplifies the effects of the blue and green herb, and does nothing alone but stop the virus gauge for a few seconds.
- Blue Herbs cure poison.
Herb combinations
- Green + Blue cures poison and stops virus gauge for 60 seconds, 90 if Green + Green + Blue.
- Green + Red triples the healing power of the Green Herb and stops virus gauge for 90 seconds.
- Blue + Red cures poison and stops virus gauge for 90 seconds.
- Green + Red + Blue cures poison, fully heals and stops virus gauge for 120 seconds.
Pills
- Recovery pill are used to restore some health. They restore a little more health than Green Herbs.
- Antidotes cure poison.
- Hemostat pills cure bleeding.
- Anti-virus pills stop the T-Virus's growth for some time.
First Aid Spray
- First Aid Sprays heal the player to full health. A player may equip this item and spray it onto another single person and heal them to full health.
Note: All health items stop the T-Virus gauge from rising; the anti-virus pills just stop it for a longer period of time. The First Aid Spray will not stop the virus gauge from rising if it is equipped and sprayed onto someone.
[edit] Combat
Resident Evil: Outbreak presents the first time in the series that players have been given multiple melee weapons, and even their own bodies (via kicks, shoves and rams), to use against enemies. However, many such weapons are very weak and still no match for a firearm of some kind, and should only be considered a last resort. Weapons and physical strikes can also be used to break down doors instead of opening them manually, although some enemies have the capacity to do the same.
If you attempt play Outbreak like you would have the previous games you will receive a very painful lesson. You cannot go room to room anymore to clear out a level. In most areas killing a zombie just gives the game a cue to have another zombie bash its way through the door to replace that one. Some areas are "safe" but the general rule is to kill only when you cannot run away in order to save ammunition for tougher enemies and bosses.
[edit] Unarmed
The basic attack is the shoulder ram. Your character will make a short shoulder charge that does minimal damage to an enemy. It can be used to break crates and boxes or to make an enemy flinch or stumble. If you press down and attack, your character will do a quick stomp for twice as much damage as the shoulder ram. Killing with your bare hands is not advisable against most enemies because of the time, effort and health required makes it an unworthy venture. Experienced players who are low on health can use the shoulder charge to move slightly faster than the danger limp or to dodge an attack.
[edit] Melee weapons
Long
Extremely unwieldy and slow, the reach is excellent but the range is narrow. Your character will pull back and thrust forward for the upper, middle and lower attack. This attack pattern applies to brooms, long poles, spears and stun rods. As it breaks down it will shorten in length to become the medium-sized melee weapon.
Medium
Fairly quick with decent reach and a wide range. Your character will swing from right to left for an upper and middle attack, but will bring it straight down in an overhead arc for a downward attack. This attack pattern applies to poles, pipes, hammers and timbers. As it breaks it will become the short melee weapon.
Short/Thrown
Slow, with varied reach and poor hit range. Your character will pull back and toss it in an overhead arc before it lands about 8 feet away on the ground, It will land about 15 feet away if aimed high and 3 feet away for low. This attack pattern applies to sticks, curved iron pipes, concrete pieces and bottles/molotovs. After an object is thrown, your character will be bare-handed except unless you're throwing bottles and have extras that your character can re-equip automatically (you must re-equip manually in file 1).
Sprays
Slow, with poor reach and poor range. Your character will spray about 3-4 feet in front of them. First aid Sprays may be equipped like this to heal multiple partners that are close together.
Butcher knife This is a quite useful kitchen weapon. It can be used to create a spear when it is combined with Long Pole and Vinyl Tape by David.
Hammer David can take the Iron pipe, a concrete piece, and a vinyl tape to create this slow but powerful weapon. Although it can do a lot of damages but it will break in the end and become useless.
Stun Rod It can be created by David using an Iron Pipe, a Vinyl Tape and a battery. It can deliver a high voltage shock and kill the enemy. It can be used a lot of times before it becomes completely useless.
Grey Chemical Bottle This weapon is filled with an explosive substance. Once the bottle shatters, it can do a lot of damage.
Yellow Chemical Bottle This weapon is filled with Metabolic Acid. Once it shatters, it can do a lot of damage to the enemy and the others nearby.
[edit] Firearms
Handgun - Beretta 92FS, SIG P226
.45 Auto Pistol - Colt M1911A1
Shotgun - Franchi SPAS-12
Submachine gun - Heckler & Koch MP5
Assault Rifle - Colt Firearms M4 Carbine
Magnum Handgun, Magnum Revolver - IMI Desert Eagle, Smith & Wesson Model 29
Grenade Launcher - Picatinny Arsenal M79
Rocket Launcher - Saab AT-4
[edit] Scenarios
Resident Evil: Outbreak doesn't progress like standard Resident Evil titles. Instead of choosing a character and following a straight path, the player chooses a scenario, difficulty, and a character. The difficulty is strongly tied to what enemies and items the player sees as he or she progresses through the game. Each scenario has an event checklist which consists of special actions the player must perform to reach 100% completion. Upon doing so, the player will unlock Infinity Mode, where all weapons never break or run out of ammo.
Each scenario also has its own fair share of SP Items. These are invisible items hidden throughout the level. They are randomly generated on two paths - A and B. If the player finds them all, they receive special items for their gallery. There are twenty scenario items for each scenario, and twenty items specific for each and every character hidden across the five levels. They are hidden around the levels, and if acquired, unlock new costumes and the option to listen to their ad-libs.
The scenarios do not follow a basic format. They tend to swap places a lot. Many players think that the stages were chosen out of the original twenty from the beta version of Resident Evil Online. This helps explain why the story isn't linear. The game's sequel, File #2, includes levels which can be used to bridge the original five together.
Outbreak: The first scenario in the game (and, chronologically, the series), the player starts out in J's Bar, and must race against time and the flesh eating undead (or the Scissor Tails in the Very Hard mode) to join the police officers leading evacuated citizens out of the city. This scenario has two ways to be finished: the player can either destroy a street with a bomb, taking several hundred zombies with it, or escape via a van which follows a trail back down the alley. This scenario was copied and reused as "Training Grounds" in File #2.
Below Freezing Point: The player and companions explore the Umbrella lab from Resident Evil 2. Yoko is an important part of this chapter; thus she will always appear with the team regardless of which character(s) the player(s) choose from the start. If she is not directly controlled, Yoko will separate from the team early on, only to reappear later in the level the same as before.
The Hive: Seeking refuge in Raccoon City Hospital, the player(s) and companions desperately seek a way out while being constantly harassed by the "Leechman" (or leechmen, if another character dies). At the end of the scenario, the player(s) face off against a queen leech after attempting to escape via boat down a sewer tunnel. The Raccoon City Hospital was originally seen in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.
Hellfire: Seeking refuge in the Apple Inn, the player(s) must battle fire, zombies, and a new, fearsome breed of "licker", named Regis Licker. There are two ways to finish this scenario. The player(s) can collect the identification tags from two fallen firefighters and later hand them over to a friend of theirs. This will alter the ending cinematic.
Decisions, Decisions: When George receives a message, the survivors head to Raccoon University, oblivious to the horror that awaits. The player(s) find documents which show that Peter, George's friend, was betrayed by the current head scientist on campus. The player(s) find Peter dead in his secret office, and depending on the difficulty, he may come back to life and attack the player(s). There are different ways to complete this scenario, depending on the actions taken during the last few minutes. The player, if he or she chooses to do so, may take a cure (called Daylight) for the T-Virus and use it on themselves. This cures them of the virus. However, if they take an extra Daylight, the ending is changed to that of a better one, where the player acts as if they plan to give the cure away for mass production. If the player does not cure his or herself, they end up transforming in the helicopter and the camera cuts just as they attack. However, certain endings show two characters (the player's and another character). There are two conditions: You must have a specific character in your team alive at the end of the scenario and you must not have taken the cure. The ending depicts them talking or watching the sky as Mission Code Double X (the destruction of the city using nukes) is carried out. Examples include Kevin realizing his impending doom while being annoyed by Jim's constant whining, moments before discovering that the Tyrant whom they fought is still alive. Another example is a farewell plan elaborated by Mark and David to repair an abandoned tank and use it to crush as many zombies as possible before dying in the "sanitation" of the city.
[edit] Network mode
If the player wishes to do so, he or she can connect to the internet using a broadband connection and a network adapter. When he or she connects for the first time, they must register an account using the in-game web browser. This account is based on the SNAP system, and can be used on all Capcom online titles, which are (as of Feb. 4 2006) - Auto Modellista, Monster Hunter, Resident Evil Outbreak, Resident Evil Outbreak File 2.
Once the player connects and logs on, they can then choose between Free Mode and Scenario Mode. Free Mode takes place in a lobby and allows the player to create their own game, scenario, and difficulty. Scenario Mode chooses the scenario and players automatically. When the player first starts out, they begin on the Outbreak scenario and go off from there. If the player wishes to stop playing, they can save their data and start off from the scenario they were to play. If the player beats the scenarios, they acquire a star by their name.
The network portion is considered poor and low in quality. The game lags with just four players (as opposed to most shooters that run 16 without a problem). There is a full second pause when a player goes to pick up an item, leaving them open for attack. And because of the long loading times, if a player falls to the ground, it can be a while before they are saved.
Another point made by the Outbreak community is how the enemies lag. If an enemy lags and attacks the player, the player takes full damage. Meaning, if an enemy lags onto the player and hurts them, when the enemy resumes their actual position, there is a chance the player can be struck again. However, if the player attacks and lags, their damage doesn't count at all, leading to quick ammo loss and frustration.
[edit] Trivia
- In the US, the Resident Evil Outbreak series are the first of the Resident Evil games to use the Resident Evil logo of the movies. PAL releases kept the logo used in all prior Playstation releases of the games.
- Resident Evil Outbreak was the first Resident Evil game that allowed players to become zombies. Each player begins the scenarios with a meter that measures their viral infection rate. The virus progresses gradually throughout the scenario. Items can be used to slow the progression, while being attacked by a zombie will cause a jump in the progression, and being knocked to the ground will cause the infection to rise rapidly until the player stands up. When the virus reaches 100% infection, the player will fall to the ground. In the one-player mode, this results in game over, while in the Network mode, the player is reanimated as a zombie, and can attack their former teammates for a brief period of time, before collapsing again, and being presented with the "You Died" screen.
- The "Handgun" item (a Beretta M92FS) is called the R.P.D.'s standard-issue pistol in the "Outbreak" series. In the novel, Resident Evil: City of the Dead by S.D. Perry, the R.P.D. side arm was stated to be the Heckler & Koch VP70. Strangely, the VP70 only ever once appears in the video games, and is used by only one character. However, the novels contain many alterations to the games, and are not considered canon works. It was also argued that the Browning Hi-Power and VP70 were R.P.D. standard-issue in Resident Evil 2, but at no point in the game is it ever stated that either of these firearms are R.P.D. standard-issue weapons; they simply happen to be the guns carried by the main characters. This is reinforced by the fact that Leon had brought the VP70 in his possession into town with him before officially even signing on for active duty with the Raccoon Police Department, while the Hi-Power was discovered by Claire in a glovebox of an R.P.D. squad car. Police officers, especially in countries with minimal gun-control laws such as the United States, are known to carry secondary firearms on their person and in their vehicles for use during emergencies, and the Hi-Power found by Claire was likely such a weapon.
- Resident Evil: Outbreak was originally known as Resident Evil Online/Biohazard Online. In this state of production, there were to be over twenty levels with branching paths. However, the ad-lib system was already in place and fully functional.
- On May 28th, 2004, "friendly fire," an option which allowed players to shoot each other using fire-arms (or to hit each other with melee weapons) was activated on the servers in Network mode. During the night in which this option was activated, the total player count in the lobby was over 30 (compared to the relatively low count of 10 to 15).
- The "Outbreak" scenario was re-used in the second title, but was instead called the "Training Grounds." This level was designed to allow novice and veteran gamers alike to familiarise themselves with the new control system, real-time file/item selection screen and ad-lib features of the "Outbreak" series, as fans were "thrown in the deep end" with the original release.
- The cast consists of a number of voice actors primarily recognized from CBC Radio dramas. Although the voice acting was redone in Resident Evil Outbreak: File 2, a few of the voices remain in some of the NPCs.
- The main street in "Outbreak", is the same street seen in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
- In "Below Freezing Point", players get to visit the lab from Resident Evil 2, which has been greatly expanded.
- The Hospital in "The Hive", is the same hospital, as seen in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, although, it´s been expanded with 2 floor´s. A third floor & a second basement. Also, the first basement has been expanded.
- The lobby from "Hellfire", is featured in Resident Evil Outbreak #2
- The opening cutscene in "Decisions, Decisions", takes place in the police station from Resident Evil 2 & 3
- Nicholai Ginovaef originally appeared in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
