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[Plumpbiscuit]

It's far beyond past time that we should have had a new Outbreak game, or a remake, by now. This is the era of horror where co-op/multiplayer, survival and old school survival horror are now the big thing - and have been for many years. I can totally see Outbreak selling over a million copies, it has all the ingredients to make a great modern horror game.

So, why Outbreak and what is it? The first Outbreak game came out in 2003 (Japan) and 2004 internationally and was met with a mostly positive reception. It played like your traditional Resident Evil game; fixed cameras, tank controls, limited inventory/resources and lots of unlockables. The game could be played single player with AI bots or in Japan and America, online. There was even a secret mode to play entirely in solo. The game had you working together with teammates, issuing commands, solving puzzles, shooting zombies and exploring a linear chapter-based scenario in real-time.

If Capcom decided to revive the series, and incorporate modern game design as well as keeping the core mechanics, it could be a HUGE hit. Think about it: Resident Evil, co-op/multiplayer, survival elements such as collect x items to make y ammo, collect x recipe to make y herb, and include a ton of unlockables to keep replay value high. Hell, they could even go as far as incorporating some sort of Twitch chat featurette whereby the chat can determine certain RNG factors such as spawn rate, boss fights, resource frequency, etc. Also, imagine if the game had character creation? Sure, the characters in the two games may or may not suit your tastes and some of them were pretty cool, but if they could incorporate a way to make your own avatar... it could be something else entirely.

See, the thing is, for a 2003/2004 game, this game was way ahead of its time. It had all the elements that is popular in horror now, back then. Capcom has killed Resident Evil with the same shoot bang Hollywood crap and butchering sacred tradition in order to squeeze more bucks out of us, but a whole new Outbreak could turn the tables. Capcom can have their single player, their multiplayer, their DLC, survival elements and unlockables and it would work because it's already been done and done successfully with both Outbreak games.

 

[stargateheaven]

I'd even take a simple upscale of the orginal 2 tbh.

 

[giancarlo123x]

I'd even take a simple upscale of the orginal 2 tbh.

Yup, bring it back by just mixing the games together and online play, day 1.

 

[Lord of Castamere]

They won't even port the originals, and you think they're going to make a new one? I'm convinced they hate money.

 

[Anung]

I'd be happy if they put the work in with Outbreak 3 but right now I'd be happy with the laziest port. To be fair I don't think file 1 or 2 would need much work to modernise.

 

[Jawmuncher]

FUCK YEAH IT IS

Now for an actual post. Outbreak was indeed ahead of it's time. Sure it has some flaws, but it also has some really great ideas that i'm sad never porgressed past them. Such as the infection meter, and using everyday weapons to fight monsters. It's really the perfect encapsulation of what regular people in the RE universe are capable of. Which is why I think it has such a devoted fanbase, outside of the obvious hugely unique multiplayer aspect going for it. I would say if anything, capcom needs to port Files 1 & 2 to XB1, PS4, and PC. Have them together as one game, reduce some of the unlocking requirements so that more people can enjoy all of the content, and include some of the things that were cut out for the planned File 3 that still remain on the disc. If that does well then start a brand new outbreak game. This is if they have to be realistic before getting their feet wet.

However a new outbreak could offer a lot this day and age. It could fill a void Left 4 Dead 2 doesn't. Having a hugely replayable co-op campaign that fans could make more scenarios for, and that has a more similar and grounded gameplay. Not knocking L4D, but it's about killing swarms of zombies with friends until the end of the level. Outbreak is more about surviving and getting through the level. Capcom wants more games as a service, and it's ridiculous that atm they are sitting on two HUGE gold mines. Both a new outbreak and Raid/Mercenaries focused game could be huge titles that don't require a huge budget, and have fans coming back giving all this money for DLC and other things. They'd surely do better than their failed attempt at esports with Umbrella Corps.

Plus it would be great to easily see the most underappreciated cast of characters ever again.
Everyone in outbreak is an unsung hero in the RE universe that doesn't get enough love.

 

[Plumpbiscuit]

I'd be happy if they put the work in with Outbreak 3 but right now I'd be happy with the laziest port. To be fair I don't think file 1 or 2 would need much work to modernise.

Outbreak 1 and 2 were kind of messy in terms of national releases.

Outbreak 1 in PAL regions have no online play.
Outbreak 2 did have online play, but the PAL/NTSC/NTSC-J versions are different to each other with features kept or removed per region basis.

 

[Slayven]

They should slap the label on a survival horror sandbox game.

 

[Napalm_Frank]

Outbreak 1+2 HD release would be a good start. I REALLY doubt we are ever getting OB3 in the style of the old ones.

 

[Jawmuncher]

I think they might decide to include Outbreak as a part of their HD remaster plans.

Considering Revelations is the last RE game from last gen (Not counting ORC and CVX HD). They're definitely not having much left to port for easy money with the RE name attached. All of Outbreak is in 3D, with some 2D assets that might need a little tinkering (mainly the menus). But if it's priced accordingly. They could easily sell it pretty well. My recent shot from PCSX2 shows the game holds up quite well graphically.

About the biggest issue is some lowres floors and such. Which is just the product of that era. If they have the source files like they did with RE0, we'd be in for a treat.

 

[Fisty]

Looking at how far online play has come since PS2, Capcom should be slapped for not being on Outbreak 5 by now

 

[ianpm31]

do it capcom!!!

 

[Perfect Blue]

I'm down with more Resident Evil, period. No matter what it is but yeah more Outbreak would be dope af.

 

[GoldandBlue]

If there was an Outbreak sequel, I would imagine Capcom would have it outsourced like their last multiplayer titles.

 

[Jawmuncher]

Recently they said if they heard enough noise, that they would consider outbreak.
I have no clue what enough noise is to them, since it's not like there's anything we can do but a petition at this point.

Even darkstalkers fans got a game release as a test, that sadly failed.

If there was an Outbreak sequel, I would imagine Capcom would have it outsourced like their last multiplayer titles.

Umbrella Corps was all Capcom. It was their new recruits having to make a game using unity.
I'm assuming it was greenlighted before RE Engine was fully accessible, and they wanted to see if the engine would be a good fit for cheaper products.
Along with trying to get some sort of esports going. Sadly both objectives failed, as you know. One of the lowest reviewed titles of last year, and the performance is pretty shit.
Has some unique ideas though, and I did have some fun with it.

 

[Mentosrock]

Resident Evil Outbreak was definitely one of my absolute favourite resident evil games. I've been praying for an HD remake for so long. I even tried the fan run servers. I wish they really would recognize the brilliance of that game and make something similar.

 

[Fisty]

Recently they said if they heard enough noise, that they would consider outbreak.
I have no clue what enough noise is to them, since it's not like there's anything we can do but a petition at this point.

Even darkstalkers fans got a game release as a test, that sadly failed.

I say we create the "Bring Back Outbreak" initiative after they finish up REmake2. There will be downtime between that and whatever else they want to bring forward, I guess REmake3 would be next, but I think Outbreak HD Collection would fit well in there.

 

[Maligna]

Never got to play the originals. Would jump on a new one.

 

[Jawmuncher]

I say we create the "Bring Back Outbreak" initiative after they finish up REmake2. There will be downtime between that and whatever else they want to bring forward, I guess REmake3 would be next, but I think Outbreak HD Collection would fit well in there.

Considering how long these things take. I don't think it would be a bad idea to do something like that sooner rather than later. Back in the day Capcom-Unity had a TON of Outbreak fans. So much so, that staff had to give that game alone it's own sticky community due to all of the discussion. That was awhile back, but that was a lot of noise that was sadly ignored. Remember the most at that time frame was "Maybe Outbreak as a PS2 on PS3 classic" which would mean no online or anything, which wasn't what anyone wanted.

Fake Edit:
Oh nice it's still there.

They even had avatars

A lot of them now post on the fan servers for Outbreak 1 and 2. Which is another thing. Fans went and reversed engineered the japanese netcode to get these games playable again. I have no clue what more capcom wants to let people know this should be given another chance. They seem to be oblivious to the fanbase for this game.

 

[Soul of the Beast]

Just curious, would you still play it If it's in first person?

 

[GlassEmpires]

That Alyssa was mentioned in 7 gives me hope that they want to do something Outbreak related

 

[dawgparty]

Man, I'd love this. Loved these games and I never even got to play them with another human being. Just wanna run around as Cindy healing people and hitting leeches with brooms.

 

[Plumpbiscuit]

Just curious, would you still play it If it's in first person?

Nope because then it wouldn't be any different to every other survival game out there. The fixed camera perspective along with the tank controls both correlate a stigma of horror that I feel is inherently scarier and cinematic, and necessary to be a true Resident Evil game. Good survival horror games don't need to have fixed cameras or tank controls, as they can work perfectly fine with standard TSP controls and camera, but for a RE game it should be the former.

The limiting vision that having angled cameras inherently offer on its own make for great moments both within the environment and art direction as well as gameplay intensity.

 

[Jawmuncher]

Just curious, would you still play it If it's in first person?

I doubt every RE game from this point on are all going to be in First Person.
But regardless of that, outbreak in first person wouldn't be too far off. Especially since Outbreak had a lot of melee combat already in it, that had a lot of unique functions sort of like RE7 has with the blocking and what not. So it would probably work out pretty well, since it's not a vs affair and just coop.

It also wouldn't be too bad of a fit, since it could let you "roleplay" those characters easier if one wanted. Since back in the day there were communities like that "All Cops, All Firemen, etc".

 

[RootCause]

All in fps mode, with vr support. Now that would be something to get hot about. 🤤

 

[kromeo]

The two games on ps2 were pretty awful single player experiences but i'd love to play either them or a 3 with working multiplayer

 

[potatohead]

All in fps mode, with vr support. Now that would be something to get hot about. 🤤

Yea this would be pretty sick.

The internet can easily accommodate an experience like this now without nearly as much of a headache as in the PS2 days.

 

[AmethystEnd]

I'd even take a simple upscale of the orginal 2 tbh.

Yup.

But I would do many unspeakable things for a new Outbreak game. Things that would keep other people up at night in fear.

 

[Pachimari]

Hell yes. We needed a new Outbreak like yesterday.

 

[Hyrule Warrior]

I'd even take a simple upscale of the orginal 2 tbh.

My thoughts exactly. I'd take a simple HD port/remaster of these, with highly reduced load times, and a good net code. This game was such an interesting concept that you only saw this kind of stuff during the PS2's generation really.

 

[XxSlasherMcGirkxX]

Mixing Outbreak 1 and 2, adding in online and having instant load times would make this easy easy day one purchase.

Would you guys want them to add voice chat in game or do you think that would hinder the experience? As long as I could mute people I think it would be fine but I know there are some purists out there.

 

[Hyrule Warrior]

Mixing Outbreak 1 and 2, adding in online and having instant load times would make this easy easy day one purchase.

Would you guys want them to add voice chat in game or do you think that would hinder the experience? As long as I could mute people I think it would be fine but I know there are some purists out there.

I know modern gamers would probably want them to have voice chat, but nah...I want to just keep spamming "wait! wait! help me dammit! this is bull shit!" over and over like the good ol days lol

 

[evolve9]

A remaster with the online functionality intact would be awesome. Those games were seriously ahead of their time. They would even be unique in today's market as they are far more methodical than your average 4 player coop zombie shootout games. They retained that classic RE feel while adding a lot to the formula.

All this talk just makes me wish this was true. Please Capcom ;(

 

[TheSeks]

At this point, you're better off looking into the emulated online PS2 version thing that people put together. Capcom simply doesn't care to do a decent co-op Biohazard experience in the old-school style.

 

[TRUE ORDER]

I really liked the Outbreak games even though I found them somewhat hard to play.

It would be nice if Capcom releases an HD version.

 

[dark_chris]

That Alyssa was mentioned in 7 gives me hope that they want to do something Outbreak related

The fact we had an RE:O mention in RE7 gave me hope that they still acknowledge their fans in some way

 

[Hyrule Warrior]

The fact we had an RE:O mention in RE7 gave me hope that they still acknowledge their fans in some way

Wait, she was mentioned in RE7? I must have missed that, can you spoiler tag where and in what context?

 

[Jawmuncher]

Wait, she was mentioned in RE7? I must have missed that, can you spoiler tag where and in what context?

Newspaper on a table in the main room (The one where the first shadow puzzle is).
Not gonna spoiler tag it since it's at the beginning. It's just a small article she wrote.

 

[dark_chris]

Wait, she was mentioned in RE7? I must have missed that, can you spoiler tag where and in what context?

Alyssa was mentioned in the main room of the game. It's essentially in the beginning of the game still. She wrote a newspaper article.

 

[Kyzer]

This would be great on the switch?

 

[Fisty]

All in fps mode, with vr support. Now that would be something to get hot about. 🤤

Oh man... full VR with proximity voice chat... dammit now I'm thinking about all the possibilities

 

[Dead Man Typing]

Never got a chance to play the originals so I would happily buy a simple collection.

New game is a nice idea but coop Resident Evil has its ups and downs.

 

[lowhighkang_LHK]

I remember playing this game online with defensors and cvxfreak.

In fact, we still have footage from those days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok0g37OdaQI

David: Defensors
Yoko: FireEmblemPride
Kevin: lowhighkang
Elliot: Amibite

Damn, that was what, 10 years ago?

 

[MadLaughter]

They're not god's gift to gaming by a long shot, but online stuff was novel enough still and I was around the right age and so some of my all time favorite games memories come from Outbreak. Fleeing in terror with another player, low on health and supplies, only to see a massive shark tackle them off of a dock and then do a massive leap straight down on them. Being sure they were dead only to get saved by their heroic return as I was about to be murdered by a hunter gamma. (First run through the level)

Or first run through the hospital level, getting left behind and having no idea where to go or where anyone was, only to stumble upon the last survivor 30 minutes later as he was fighting the boss my one act Being to blow them both to hell by detonating a giant gas tank.

 

[Jawmuncher]

Getting chased by the fucking leech man.....

 

[dark_chris]

Oh man... full VR with proximity voice chat... dammit now I'm thinking about all the possibilities

🤤🤤🤤

 

[golduck342]

Yo this game was such a gem, would buy instantly. I remember hearing all the left 4 dead hype and hoped it would be like outbreak. Sadly it wasn't

 

[Gradon]

This was the first game I ever played online, truly an amazing two parter. I wish File #3 was a thing, the screenshots of the lodge were nice and I wish they didn't cancel it.

Was replaying the whole game with my friend about a year ago online with the fan server, amazing that fans brought it back to life.

 

[cvxfreak]

Bringing the Outbreak games back would require a very serious revamp of the game's engine. I really doubt they ever get re-released as it just doesn't sound financially feasible next to the effort involved.

 

[Gurnlei]

Loved these games and would love to see them brought back.

The leech man going through vents will always be one of the scariest gaming memories from childhood.