2.5/5 ★ – FoofDeckman's review of Resident Evil: Outbreak.

Over the years Capcom has desperately tried to turn Resident Evil into an online multiplayer title and has failed nearly every single time. Resistance is terrible, RE:Verse is godawful and Umbrella Corp is often referred to as the worst Capcom game ever released. I was under the impression it just wouldn't work, a good Resident Evil multiplayer game can't be done. But earlier last year I played this little game called The Outlast Trials, I very much enjoyed the first Outlast game and I was very curious how that gameplay style would translate over to a multiplayer game. In the Outlast Trials, you play as a handful of random survivors running and hiding from psychopaths. It felt a lot more like a coop oriented Outlast game than a casual multiplayer spin off. Every level was sectioned off into mini chapters that you can play with your friends each with their own locations and flare to them, and my biggest thought while playing that was "Why doesn't Resident Evil have a game like this". The Resident Evil Puzzle/Horror format would work perfectly for a game like this, yet for whatever reason Capcom just wants a PVP or Dead by Daylight style game instead of something that aligns with what Resident Evil fans actually want, which is a Resident Evil game. Resident Evil Outbreak is that game, a very early version of that game I envisioned that was way too ambitious for the time, but still hold exactly what could work for a Resident Evil multiplayer game. Resident Evil fans really like to hype this up as a hidden gem, but I honestly disagree, while it does hold a lot of great ideas it's one of the most dated feeling Resident Evils I've played thus far. I managed to play this game with my friend through a fan server as this game is being kept alive by its community and while it is cool to experience this game's multiplayer in 2024, it's not that great of a game, gameplay wise at least. I really like the idea of having 5 different chapters each with their own locations and unique puzzles to solve with your friends, but between it's confusing UI, terrible combat and constant time limits really ruin the experience for me. Outbreak reminded me a lot of Resident Evil 0, where there's a lot of interesting concepts but one or two major flaws really bring it down peg to just being alright. I would absolutely love to see a remake for the Outbreak games, as I feel this concept would work significantly better with the current Resident Evil remake style and modern day matchmaking. Check this game out of it you're up for the hassle of setting it up, but if you're able to get a couple friends to join you this is a quality title for a game night.