Al Lester/gameplay

As an NPC
As the an NPC "guide" Al follows a set path which changes depending upon difficulty, along with the route to the hospital (among other locations). All regular characters can interact with him via-ad libs asking him to slow down or why he's going so fast. Al will not respond and just keep moving. The Green Zombies roaming the area will outright ignore him.

As the Axeman, he seems to be significantly larger than the PC's for some reason. Most likely an oversight by the developers. Upon entering the hospital and walking forward from the entrance, Axeman will burst out of a nearby room and charge at the player and their allies with his namesake weapon. The players must either choose to run or fight him. If they choose to fight, Axeman will run away after taking enough damage. Using plenty of firepower is the best way to fight him. However, melee weapons can stunlock him if they're strong enough. Kevin and Alyssa can also stunlock him with repeated potshots. The axe is a decent weapon to use on him once the player obtains it, especially in the hands of Mark Wilkins or Jim Chapman which both benefit from melee weapons.

On normal and higher, fighting him at close quarters is riskier because he has an instant death attack. He raises his axe with both hands over his head and lets out a cry before bringing it straight down. Any player or AIPC caught in this attack will die. There's enough time to move out of the way since there's a significant wind up however. The player should especially watch out for this attack if Axeman just put them into bleeding status with a previous attack as movement becomes slower. He can use this attack on easy as well but it will only drop the target to danger status.

As a PC
Four versions of Al can be unlocked as playable characters, giving him among the highest alternate costume count of any character in the game.

The first set is unlocked simply by completing the scenario Flashback on any difficulty with any character. This includes Al in his old Hospital Administrator outfit at a younger age (as seen in one of Alyssa's flashbacks.) which is called Al C. Al C. starts off with a mix of three green herbs in his inventory in FINE condition. This is a George-type character predictably. His starting health is between 2000 and 2500, making him of average fitness. He has an infection rate of 1.34% per minute, a running speed of 0.81, and a damage multiplier of x1.00. The other version is simply called Al (the collection menu has the additional name "Cabin Dweller") and is in the outfit he wears when he lures the player into the hospital. This version starts with a recovery medicine in his inventory and is also a George-type. All of this version's stats are the same as Al C's, except that his damage multiplier is somewhat weaker at x0.87.

In addition, a second set of Al can be unlocked by completing the scenario Flashback on VERY HARD difficulty; Al B (slso called "Unmasked Freak" by the collection menu) is a shirtless version of Al that's seen in the good ending when he takes off his mask. This version is a Kevin-type, meaning he can take pot shots with handguns and do a kick. He starts with a mix of three green herbs in FINE condition. His Vitality is significantly weaker than the other versions, only somewhere between 900 and 1200. He has an infection rate of 1.38%, a movement speed of 1.00 (making him the fastest of all four versions), and a damage multiplier of x1.14. In addition to just looking like Axe Man without his mask on, Al B seems to have lost muscle mass for some odd reason. The other version included is the Axe Man himself, making him one of the rare instances of being able to play as a boss/sub-boss within the main game, as most other bosses are only playable in minigames. Axe Man is a Mark-type, which is fitting considering he wields an axe. Unfortunately, Axe Man does not start with his namesake weapon, the Axe; instead, his starting item is an iron pipe. Axe Man starts in FINE status with an infection rate of 2.03% per minute, making him have a rather high infection rate. However, to make up for it, he has a decent running speed of 0.84 and by far the highest attack power of all Mark types (excluding Mr. Gold) and of all the regular playable characters in the game, with an attack multiplier of x1.38. If played as in File 1 via Data Convert, Axe Man becomes a David-type character instead of a Mark-type and is referred to as "Maskman". As a David-type, the player should focus on making use of his great attack power in the form of knife attacks with the Knife combo that David-types are capable of.