Timewarp
3rd Level Red Feather
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(warning: Long rant. Hope you brought some orange circus nuts)
Yes....I realize i'm about to review a game. But since this is MY rant series and since I have had free time...what the Hell. (Anyone who doesn't enjoy video games is a Republican or lame).
okay...so a long time ago a company called Capcom created a new genre in the videogame world know as the Horror survival game. The foundation of this genre was known as Resident Evil and for a time, it was good. As a kid I was fuckin scared to even play the first one, even in daylight cause...hell I was a kid. But alas Capcom became the architect of their own demise...(Did I just borrowed a line?) As gaming advanced by leaps and bounds, Capcom remained true to its roots as it released one RE at a time. By 2003 Capcom began showing it's age when it released the first new RE online game. It was met with mixed reviews. This was made apparently obvious after Capcom release RE 4 on the Gamecube. RE 4 was revamped, redesigned and was the new face for RE.
You think after releasing RE4 capcom would never had gone back to its own archaic ways...right?...
Well...we were dead wrong. Capcom released RE outbreak 2 in 2004...and they really fucked up. Of course I've only recently bought this game and I never thought it could be as bad as people made it out to be. and I've got to say...maybe I should've spent my 30 on something else.
Okay so the premises on the Outbreak Series is you are one of 8 ordinary Citizens of Raccoon city caught in the middle of a zombie infested town and the goal of the game is to survive. You can either play solo, w/without AI partners or online. Sounds fun huh?
Well unless you've played this series, you have no idea how much it sucks...no idea. oh where do I begin? Well let's skip the first one and dive in File 2 because it is suppose to be the more advanced version...but doubtfully so.
Story: Okay so you have about 5 scenarios per game. In each Scenario you have objectives to complete in order to win the game... That's it.
No i'm serious, that's all for the story. I can't believe that someone thought this was a good idea. Go ahead pick any character you want to play, nothing changes but the few bits of dialog in the beginning and the end. Hell even the Scenarios aren't interconnected. They are completely stand alone stories. It really confused me when I beat the first Scenario and then started the next one. Only to ask...did they escape? Why are they back here again? If you do have to play, Pick the Character Jim. At least he is the only character who actually has a few funny lines and scenes. Everyone else is like watching an afterschool Special.
Graphics: Well if you have played any RE game before you know that everything is a pre-rendered background. Which means, "Yeah it's pretty to look at...but why can't I do anything with it?". But I got to admit, it adds a bit of surrealism of a zombie outbreak. Of course if you have played an RE game, except for 4, you know how terrible the camera work is. ugh...I hate hate HATE the camera angles in the Outbreak Series. Yes it is supposed to add more tension for that chaotic, out-of-control feeling but really it's just a frustrating pile of crap.
Let's say you are just trying to run just in a straight line. Not that simple. If you manage to cross between a point where the camera changes angle, you will not only be walking in a new direction, not only is your control movement now switched to adjust to the new angle but you end up disoriented. Now lets add zombies, scripted events, off camera attacks and the panic of trying to avoid danger. It just sucks, I die in this game because my character is just running the wrong way...it's cheap and nothing more than lazy design work.
The character models...meh I got nothing bad to say to that except on a pre-rendered back ground, it just seems out of place.
Sound: The sound is ambient, creepy and confusing? But I will say it is a vast improvement over the first one soley for the fact the Ai partners talk less, more on that later. Really the sound is one of the few positives I can find.
Gameplay: Okay...I can get through this, even if the pain is terrible.
What can I say, learning how to drive stick was much easier than this game.
First off, Outbreak uses the old "Tank" controls of its predisecers. Imagine driving a car and in order to turn in a new direction you have to stop, turn the angle you want to go, and than press on. In a game were zombies are trying to munch on your twinky fillings, movement should have been the most important of all the gameplay. To bad Capcom thought otherwise.
Inventory is no better than RE1. You only get 4 spots and it's one item per spot. It doesn't matter what size it is. It could be a key, or paper or a fuckin rocket launcher, they ALL take up ONE space. Now realistically, I can fit a whole pocket of keys and a roll of toilet paper in the other. I'm not sure how I could carry a huge launcher but it wouldn't be in my pocket. Of course this is all made worse by the fact that the game does NOT PAUSE while you are in your inventory. Granted that is acceptable online, but an unforgivable sin in single player. So if you need to heal yourself, reload or even pickup items you better hope you have some free space to do so.
Because you can only carry a certain amount of items, except for one character who has 8, you really have to make tough calls. "Do I waste my ammo in order to carry this key item or do I give my stuff to someone else and hope they don't use it or drop it?". It's really frustrating.
Single player is there for two reasons. Either you don't have online capabilities because you couldn't afford all the extra crap needed for it or you're tired of rude people. Either way single player mode is unbalanced and hard on any level, even easy. So basically the puzzles in the game and item placement change from mode to mode. And you can choose from easy to very hard (If you're lucky) and even Nightmare (No one will ever do this in single player mode let alone beat it). But it's very unbalance in any mode. First off solving puzzles gets harder on each new difficulty setting. And the items you need to solve them increase exponentially. Since you have only 4 spaces and 3 you need alone just to survive, prepare to die a lot before you even solve it. Because items also become harder to find, just trying to survive is an unbalanced problem. For example, more doors are locked in each difficulty and you have to break them down. (Wouldn't be a problem if you didn't need to shoulder ram a door 30 times or more or waste 7 shells of a shotgun to break it down). Also the enemies respawn...yeah that's right. In single player mode, you will face a never ending swarm of zombies, lions, crows etc...Really was Capcom even thinking. Even RE fans would be pissed off that they had to kill the same zombies...over and over and over again.
Would you guess that zombies widely flail there arms and speed charge you before actually biting you? Well in Outbreak they do. Yes almost every bad thing out to get you is overly aggressive and relentless. So if you were just expecting to run around dumb zombies...rude awakening. Again this is made even worse because of the fucking camera angles. I love being attacked by something I can't see till it comes into frame, taking considerable damage I might add.
The healing and health mechanics are also unbalanced. If you were bitten once by a zombie or even lightly scratched, would the damage leave you in the danger zone? Well no...but not in Outbreak. I mean sometimes i'm attacked by creatures 2-3 times and i'm still in the green. But sometimes a scratch from one zombie almost kills me? WTF is that about? Even worse, the healing items don't even add up either. Anyone who has ever played RE knows a green herb heals you one health and a mixed herb heals more. Well in Outbreak a green herb will sometimes do jack to your condition. Even a red+green (Full heal) does nothing to raise your health level sometimes.
And you are fucked if you are on the ground if no one is around to help you up. That's right if you're crawling on the ground, you're good as dead. You can't save yourself unless you have a healing item...chances are you don't because you used them already or the partner AI wasted them on themselfs (More on that later).
Other items in the game can either do jack or be a saving grace depending on who you are playing. Some can combine items to make new powerful weapons. But most items are useless. Like the broom. Yes you can fight zombies with a broom. Actually breaking the end of the broom making it a stake is much more effective.
Partner AI in the game is also terribly flawed. In single player you can pick 2 partners to fight along side you. But it's pretty much like getting a electronic with no batteries, without divine power, it can't do anything alone. The AI of your partners only gives them just enough to survive for a while but after wasting all available ammo and health, they drop like flies. You can't even control them. They just go off to their own adventures to die alone. They walk randomly, even into the enemies mouth. Don't even bother trying to get them to follow you or to help you with ANYTHING. You think if you and 2 other people were trying to survive in zombie city, working together would be prime. But capcom said to us, "Fuck you and helping. Help yourself".
The only thing that gives Outbreak replayability is a buffet of unlocks. It ranges from concept art to costumes. But that's if you like playing to perfection. Otherwise this game has no legs to stand on.
I never did play online but I have read reviews about it and they suck. I've heard that players are rude to new people. There is no communication during gameplay because of limited ad-lib options built into the game. And recently online has been shut down permantly. Maybe it's for the best.
Overall this game is just a terrible example of how to stay stubborn to your roots regaurdless if anyone likes it or not. If only Capcom had actually revamped Outbreak just like RE4 it would've been off the hinges. But alas, subpar strikes another spinoff franchise down. Oh and I don't think there will be #3.
(Phew that is the longest rant i've done in a long time...and no one will read it i'm sure...pfft...)
The Timewarp has spoken....
Yes....I realize i'm about to review a game. But since this is MY rant series and since I have had free time...what the Hell. (Anyone who doesn't enjoy video games is a Republican or lame).
okay...so a long time ago a company called Capcom created a new genre in the videogame world know as the Horror survival game. The foundation of this genre was known as Resident Evil and for a time, it was good. As a kid I was fuckin scared to even play the first one, even in daylight cause...hell I was a kid. But alas Capcom became the architect of their own demise...(Did I just borrowed a line?) As gaming advanced by leaps and bounds, Capcom remained true to its roots as it released one RE at a time. By 2003 Capcom began showing it's age when it released the first new RE online game. It was met with mixed reviews. This was made apparently obvious after Capcom release RE 4 on the Gamecube. RE 4 was revamped, redesigned and was the new face for RE.
You think after releasing RE4 capcom would never had gone back to its own archaic ways...right?...
Well...we were dead wrong. Capcom released RE outbreak 2 in 2004...and they really fucked up. Of course I've only recently bought this game and I never thought it could be as bad as people made it out to be. and I've got to say...maybe I should've spent my 30 on something else.
Okay so the premises on the Outbreak Series is you are one of 8 ordinary Citizens of Raccoon city caught in the middle of a zombie infested town and the goal of the game is to survive. You can either play solo, w/without AI partners or online. Sounds fun huh?
Well unless you've played this series, you have no idea how much it sucks...no idea. oh where do I begin? Well let's skip the first one and dive in File 2 because it is suppose to be the more advanced version...but doubtfully so.
Story: Okay so you have about 5 scenarios per game. In each Scenario you have objectives to complete in order to win the game... That's it.
No i'm serious, that's all for the story. I can't believe that someone thought this was a good idea. Go ahead pick any character you want to play, nothing changes but the few bits of dialog in the beginning and the end. Hell even the Scenarios aren't interconnected. They are completely stand alone stories. It really confused me when I beat the first Scenario and then started the next one. Only to ask...did they escape? Why are they back here again? If you do have to play, Pick the Character Jim. At least he is the only character who actually has a few funny lines and scenes. Everyone else is like watching an afterschool Special.
Graphics: Well if you have played any RE game before you know that everything is a pre-rendered background. Which means, "Yeah it's pretty to look at...but why can't I do anything with it?". But I got to admit, it adds a bit of surrealism of a zombie outbreak. Of course if you have played an RE game, except for 4, you know how terrible the camera work is. ugh...I hate hate HATE the camera angles in the Outbreak Series. Yes it is supposed to add more tension for that chaotic, out-of-control feeling but really it's just a frustrating pile of crap.
Let's say you are just trying to run just in a straight line. Not that simple. If you manage to cross between a point where the camera changes angle, you will not only be walking in a new direction, not only is your control movement now switched to adjust to the new angle but you end up disoriented. Now lets add zombies, scripted events, off camera attacks and the panic of trying to avoid danger. It just sucks, I die in this game because my character is just running the wrong way...it's cheap and nothing more than lazy design work.
The character models...meh I got nothing bad to say to that except on a pre-rendered back ground, it just seems out of place.
Sound: The sound is ambient, creepy and confusing? But I will say it is a vast improvement over the first one soley for the fact the Ai partners talk less, more on that later. Really the sound is one of the few positives I can find.
Gameplay: Okay...I can get through this, even if the pain is terrible.
What can I say, learning how to drive stick was much easier than this game.
First off, Outbreak uses the old "Tank" controls of its predisecers. Imagine driving a car and in order to turn in a new direction you have to stop, turn the angle you want to go, and than press on. In a game were zombies are trying to munch on your twinky fillings, movement should have been the most important of all the gameplay. To bad Capcom thought otherwise.
Inventory is no better than RE1. You only get 4 spots and it's one item per spot. It doesn't matter what size it is. It could be a key, or paper or a fuckin rocket launcher, they ALL take up ONE space. Now realistically, I can fit a whole pocket of keys and a roll of toilet paper in the other. I'm not sure how I could carry a huge launcher but it wouldn't be in my pocket. Of course this is all made worse by the fact that the game does NOT PAUSE while you are in your inventory. Granted that is acceptable online, but an unforgivable sin in single player. So if you need to heal yourself, reload or even pickup items you better hope you have some free space to do so.
Because you can only carry a certain amount of items, except for one character who has 8, you really have to make tough calls. "Do I waste my ammo in order to carry this key item or do I give my stuff to someone else and hope they don't use it or drop it?". It's really frustrating.
Single player is there for two reasons. Either you don't have online capabilities because you couldn't afford all the extra crap needed for it or you're tired of rude people. Either way single player mode is unbalanced and hard on any level, even easy. So basically the puzzles in the game and item placement change from mode to mode. And you can choose from easy to very hard (If you're lucky) and even Nightmare (No one will ever do this in single player mode let alone beat it). But it's very unbalance in any mode. First off solving puzzles gets harder on each new difficulty setting. And the items you need to solve them increase exponentially. Since you have only 4 spaces and 3 you need alone just to survive, prepare to die a lot before you even solve it. Because items also become harder to find, just trying to survive is an unbalanced problem. For example, more doors are locked in each difficulty and you have to break them down. (Wouldn't be a problem if you didn't need to shoulder ram a door 30 times or more or waste 7 shells of a shotgun to break it down). Also the enemies respawn...yeah that's right. In single player mode, you will face a never ending swarm of zombies, lions, crows etc...Really was Capcom even thinking. Even RE fans would be pissed off that they had to kill the same zombies...over and over and over again.
Would you guess that zombies widely flail there arms and speed charge you before actually biting you? Well in Outbreak they do. Yes almost every bad thing out to get you is overly aggressive and relentless. So if you were just expecting to run around dumb zombies...rude awakening. Again this is made even worse because of the fucking camera angles. I love being attacked by something I can't see till it comes into frame, taking considerable damage I might add.
The healing and health mechanics are also unbalanced. If you were bitten once by a zombie or even lightly scratched, would the damage leave you in the danger zone? Well no...but not in Outbreak. I mean sometimes i'm attacked by creatures 2-3 times and i'm still in the green. But sometimes a scratch from one zombie almost kills me? WTF is that about? Even worse, the healing items don't even add up either. Anyone who has ever played RE knows a green herb heals you one health and a mixed herb heals more. Well in Outbreak a green herb will sometimes do jack to your condition. Even a red+green (Full heal) does nothing to raise your health level sometimes.
And you are fucked if you are on the ground if no one is around to help you up. That's right if you're crawling on the ground, you're good as dead. You can't save yourself unless you have a healing item...chances are you don't because you used them already or the partner AI wasted them on themselfs (More on that later).
Other items in the game can either do jack or be a saving grace depending on who you are playing. Some can combine items to make new powerful weapons. But most items are useless. Like the broom. Yes you can fight zombies with a broom. Actually breaking the end of the broom making it a stake is much more effective.
Partner AI in the game is also terribly flawed. In single player you can pick 2 partners to fight along side you. But it's pretty much like getting a electronic with no batteries, without divine power, it can't do anything alone. The AI of your partners only gives them just enough to survive for a while but after wasting all available ammo and health, they drop like flies. You can't even control them. They just go off to their own adventures to die alone. They walk randomly, even into the enemies mouth. Don't even bother trying to get them to follow you or to help you with ANYTHING. You think if you and 2 other people were trying to survive in zombie city, working together would be prime. But capcom said to us, "Fuck you and helping. Help yourself".
The only thing that gives Outbreak replayability is a buffet of unlocks. It ranges from concept art to costumes. But that's if you like playing to perfection. Otherwise this game has no legs to stand on.
I never did play online but I have read reviews about it and they suck. I've heard that players are rude to new people. There is no communication during gameplay because of limited ad-lib options built into the game. And recently online has been shut down permantly. Maybe it's for the best.
Overall this game is just a terrible example of how to stay stubborn to your roots regaurdless if anyone likes it or not. If only Capcom had actually revamped Outbreak just like RE4 it would've been off the hinges. But alas, subpar strikes another spinoff franchise down. Oh and I don't think there will be #3.
(Phew that is the longest rant i've done in a long time...and no one will read it i'm sure...pfft...)
The Timewarp has spoken....
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