Resident Evil Outbreak

Resident Evil Outbreak is a survival horror game released exclusively on the Playstation 2 in 2003. It was the first Resident Evil game with multiplayer capability, using the Playstation 2's online network. Up to four players could participate simultaneously in one scenario; alternately, in single-player mode, the player is accompanied by two AI-controlled characters. Outbreak introduces the "virus gauge," which limits the amount of time players may spend on a scenario. The virus gauge rises at different rates for different characters, and increases rapidly if the character is attacked or crawling on the ground (due to severe injury or to Jim Chapman's ability to play dead).

Characters
Outbreak permits the player to choose from one of eight characters, each with particular strengths, weaknesses, and unique abilities. Each character has a special inventory item which cannot be dropped.


 * Kevin Ryman is a Raccoon City police officer. He carries a .45 caliber handgun and his fast kick allows him to stun zombies even while unarmed. He can also take time to aim carefully, which allows him to deal more than normal damage to an enemy with a single shot.  His drinking habits and bad temper have caused him to fail the S.T.A.R.S. entrance examination twice.


 * Mark Wilkins is a powerfully-built security guard and Vietnam veteran, he cares for his family and is very protective of them. He carries a 9mm pistol and he can swing a blunt object more forcefully than any other character. He can guard against attacks to absorb less damage. Mark is the strongest character in the game.


 * David King is a plumber with a violent, troubled past. Tough and taciturn, David is a skilled knife fighter who can perform a devastating attack with any knife. He carries a toolbox which contains a small folding knife and several small wrenches which may be thrown at enemies. The toolbox also contains junk parts which can be used to repair damaged firearms and duct tape which allows David to combine mundane items into formidable weapons such as flamethrowers, cattle prods, spears, and hammers.


 * George Hamilton is a surgeon at Raccoon City Hospital. Apparently fairly athletic for a doctor, George can tackle weaker enemies to drive them back or knock them down. He carries a medicinal kit which allows him to process herbs and drug bases into pill form for easier storage. Use of the kit also changes the effect of the herbs, however.


 * Jim Chapman worked in the Raccoon City subway. Something of a coward, Jim has perfected the ability to "play dead," which causes enemies to ignore him (at the cost of an increased rate of infection).  He carries a coin which he flips to make decisions.  Getting "heads" confers a 15% increase in the odds of a critical attack.  He is skilled at working out puzzles and can open complicated mechanisms that other survivors cannot access.


 * Yoko Suzuki is a college student at Raccoon University. She is slow, weak, and susceptible to attack, and her shooting skills are mediocre at best.  However, she possesses the slowest virus gauge in the game, and her knapsack permits her to carry twice as many items as other characters.  She has a history with the Umbrella Corporation, but she appears to be suppressing the memory of some traumatic experience at their hands.  She can dodge many attacks and push away weaker enemies.


 * Alyssa Ashcroft is a reporter. Like Kevin, she can carefully aim pistols to inflict more damage.  She also carries a lock picking kit and can open a variety of simple locks.


 * Cindy Lennox is a waitress at J's (or Jack's) Bar. She is well-liked for her cheerful attitude and optimism. She is always willing to help you when you call for help. Cindy carries an herb case which allows her to store multiple herbs in a single slot.  She also has the ability to heal other characters. She can probably hold the most amount of items (next to Yoko) which makes her useful to the team.

Scenarios
Resident Evil Outbreak takes place over five scenarios ranging from the beginning of the outbreak to the moment when Raccoon City is destroyed by the United States government. The connections between scenarios are usually unclear.

Outbreak
Outbreak starts inside J's Bar, shortly after HUNK's team is wiped out by the mutated William Birkin. As the evening news mentions a riot at a "Raccoon City Sharks" game, a lone zombie wanders in through the front door and attacks Will, the bartender. It is quickly pushed back outside and the door is locked, but moments later, many more zombies are pounding at the door. The survivors must make their way upstairs and to the roof as zombies begin to come in through the bar's windows. The survivors jump over to the roof of a neighbouring apartment building and descend to the street, where a member of the Raccoon City Police attempts to get them to safety and is either killed by a zombie or a giant scorpion depending on the difficult setting. After igniting the contents of a tanker truck to ward off the horde, the survivors jump into a runoff canal and head through the sewers, eventually emerging on Main Street, where another group of police are waiting for survivors. The police take the survivors as far as they can, but roadblocks impede their progress. Arming themselves with the truck's contents, the survivors make their way over a footbridge, where they see hundreds or thousands of zombies crowding the street beyond. A group of three police have set charges along the street and are about to detonate them, when the zombies break through a barricade that was set up on the street. They are attacked and all but one of the officers are dead and the pieces of the detonator are scattered. The survivors make their way to the street, dodging the grasping arms of zombies, and manage to reassemble the detonator and set off the charges. The Main Street horde is wiped out, and the survivors attempt to flee the city in a police truck. Unfortunately, the city has been quarantined by the U.S. military, and escape will not come so easily.

Below Freezing Point
Below Freezing Point takes place inside William Birkin's underground laboratory. Yoko has led survivors to the train tunnel at the bottom of the lab. The survivors are confronted by an Umbrella researcher named Monica, who demands Yoko's Umbrella ID card at gunpoint. Monica flees with a carrying case containing the G-virus, and the survivors are left to fend for themselves.

They make their way through the laboratory, avoiding zombies and concocting a dose of V-JOLT for use against the giant plant which is choking up the air shaft. The upper levels are frozen and encrusted with ice, and the survivors soon learn why: in a last-ditch effort to stop the Hunters running rampant through the lab, a researcher set the lab's temperature controls low enough to freeze the creatures in their tracks. This action had the side-effect of freezing the turntable elevator in place, forcing the survivors to find a way to restore normal temperatures.

Soon, the Hunters thaw out and begin attacking the survivors. Meanwhile, Monica is attacked by an unidentified creature (implied to be William Birkin), and is impregnated by a G-embryo. As the survivors take the elevator to the surface, the embryo emerges from Monica's chest and pursues them. It grows to full size shortly after reaching the surface, and the survivors are forced to ram it with the train on the platform. They take this train as far as they can, but are unable to escape the city.

The Hive
The Hive takes place in the Raccoon City Hospital, which will later be visited by Carlos Oliveira in Resident Evil 3. The survivors are holed up on the hospital's third floor while a doctor named Hursh attempts to restore power to the elevator. No sooner is power restored, however, when Hursh is attacked by a writhing, coherent mass of Leeches. The leeches swarm over his body, transforming him into the nigh-unstoppable "Leech Man," who pursues the survivors throughout the hospital as they seek to escape through the lower levels. The Leech Man cannot be killed with normal weapons; however, he can be distracted with blood transfusion packs. Eventually the survivors manage to lure him into a chamber used (apparently by the Umbrella Corporation, which owns and maintains the hospital) to test the effects of extreme temperatures on various subjects. Extreme heat causes the leeches to wither and die, revealing the body of Dr. Hursh and allowing the survivors to obtain his security card. Now able to access the sewers, the survivors attempt to flee with the use of a motorboat (provided for an unnamed researcher who felt that trudging through the sewers to Birkin's research facility was undignified). Their path is blocked by a single, giant leech, causing them to backtrack. By strategically shooting steam pipes and a canister of fuel for the motorboat, the survivors are able to kill the leech and continue on foot through the sewer.

Hellfire
Hellfire takes place inside the Apple Inn, a three-story hotel built around a central courtyard. As the survivors seek refuge in the courtyard, the hotel's boiler explodes, damaging the door to the street and trapping the survivors in the hotel. The survivors negotiate their way through the building, which has been transformed into an inferno by the explosion. Flames block access to the lobby, and the survivors must solve several puzzles to open a secret door leading to the lobby's upper levels. The lobby is occupied by an especially deadly female Regis Licker; after she is killed, fire fighters break through the front door, freeing the survivors.

Decisions, Decisions
Decisions, Decisions is the final scenario in Outbreak and takes place at Raccoon University. At a "rescue station," George sees a note from his friend Peter, asking for his help at the university. George and the survivors make their way there (if George is not part of the player's group, he will be found badly injured). The survivors find Peter, apparently killed by a gunshot. His notes suggest that he and a group of anti-Umbrella students were working on an antivirus called Daylight, which eliminates T-Virus infection from the body. A drug synthesizer is located in one of the university's labs; the survivors spread out to locate the three components needed to generate the antivirus. They encounter Thanatos, an experimental Tyrant created by Umbrella researcher Greg Mueller. Greg was also instrumental in creating the Daylight antivirus as a means of combating the T-Virus, since he opposes the company's attempts to mass-produce his "masterpiece." Meanwhile, UBCS operative Nicholai Ginovaef is trying to obtain a blood sample from the escaped Thanatos, and shoots it with a capsule designed to draw blood into a vacuum tube. The survivors are able to disable Thanatos by luring it under faulty wiring, allowing them to retrieve the capsule full of T-infected blood (the final component of Daylight). Before they can collect the antivirus, they are confronted by Greg, who sets off the timer for a series of charges intended to level the University. Greg is shot by Nicholai, allowing the survivors to escape with the Daylight samples. They reach the courtyard as the University is destroyed, and a rescue helicopter circles around to pick them up. Before it can descend to reach them, however, they are forced to deal with the Thanatos Tyrant, which survived the explosion. Fortunately, they retrieve an ampoule shooter from a dead UBCS operative and use it to fire a dose of Daylight into Thanatos. The antivirus reacts with its contaminated blood and kills it spectacularly.

Outbreak

 * Bob - 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. In Hard and Very Hard mode Bob becomes a zombie and attacks the main players.
 * Will - The bartender at J's Bar. He is bitten on the neck by a zombie and dies in the bar shortly after when a group of Zombies manage to break down the door.
 * Raymond Douglas - Shoots the zombies whilst you barricade the area by moving the Police Cars in the way of the "riot". After shooting down a door with his shotgun, he is attacked by zombies. Whilst struggling not to be bitten, he tells the survivors to leak the fuel tank on a near by tanker and set it on fire. Moments after telling them to, he is bitten on the back of the head by the zombie he was struggling with. He dies in pain as the creatures eat him alive. He carries a SPAS-12 Shotgun
 * Arthur - Alerts the survivors of the "oncoming riot" over a Megaphone and shouts through to any survivors that they must evacuate the City and that Vehicles are ready to evacuate them.
 * Dorian - Attempts to evacuate the survivors by driving them in a SWAT van through the side streets. But is forced to abandon the van due to there being too many Road Blocks in the way. (Cut scene only)
 * Eric - Police officer who attempts to complete the bomb parts. After finishing the bomb, he is eaten alive when zombies breach through the Road Block
 * Harry - Police officer, part of the group attempting to arm the bomb.
 * Elliott - the leader of the group. Is attacked merely a second after Eric by the breaching Zombies.
 * 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.

Below Freezing Point

 * Monica- A Umbrella researcher, and acquaintance of Yoko's. She is impregnated with a G-Embryo, with later bursts out of her chest and attacks the survivors.

The Hive

 * Hursh - A doctor at the Raccoon General Hospital

Hellfire

 * Charlie - Fire fighter, dies in explosion at begining.
 * Danny -Fire fighter, rescues survivors at end.
 * Len - Fire fighter, dies in explosion at begining.

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 mass produce the Tyrant, Greg becomes furious, believing that this would take away from the individuality and uniqueness of his subject. Like many Umbrella researchers, Greg views his creations as works of art, and not mass produced 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 massacring the squad, although one member, Nicholai, escapes and ultimately manages to kill Greg with a sniper rifle.
 * 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 revealed.
 * 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 fire fighter, 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.

Other Unlockable Characters

 * Nicholas
 * Sean
 * Don
 * Philip
 * Rodney

Endings
Outbreak can end in one of three ways, depending on whether the player acquires and/or uses the Daylight antivirus. If the player uses Daylight to cure his or her own infection, and carries an extra dose of Daylight, the player will get the "Remain Hopeful" ending, in which a cure for the T-Virus is released to the world. If the player is cured, but does not carry any more Daylight, the player will get the "Regretful Ending," in which the player survives the destruction of Raccoon City, but the threat of the T-Virus remains. If the player is still infected and does not carry any Daylight at the end, the "Chopper Zombie" ending will play, in which the character becomes a zombie and attacks the pilot.

In online play, the game can also end in one of four special FMVs. If certain pairs of characters are alive at the end of the game, uncured, and without any Daylight, they will choose to remain behind in the city as the missiles obliterate the area. These endings are quite popular, but are not canon for several contradicting reasons.