Exclusive Resident Evil Outbreak Interview Feature

Resident Evil Outbreak (real-time 3D backgrounds) tells the dramatic story of escaping from decaying zombies infected with the T-virus and the ultimate struggle to escape from Raccoon City.An outbreak of a secret biological weapon has infected the people of this isolated town causing them to turn into flesh-eating zombies.In a final attempt to stop the spread of the zombies, the city is engulfed in flames. A fight is being fought by S.T.A.R.S. (Special Tactics and Rescue Squads) members Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield as they are trapped within this horrific nightmare. They wage their war against the pharmaceutical giant, Umbrella, which is responsible for the events leading up to the disaster.  In the shadow of this nightmare are a few meagre survivors. These survivors must find a way to get out of the city before the government quarantines the entire area and ultimately sterilises it by firing a missile and destroying all traces of life.  Players must beat the clock or die trying.  Resident Evil Outbreak is the story of those survivors and their ordeal. With improved AI, a game that is essentially based around teamwork, it offers a lot.

The Interview...

Tanaka-san: As I stated at the ECTS at this moment no final decision has been made on the online element for PAL territories. We continue to look for a solution that will bring the online element for PAL gamers, but rest assured that once a decision has been taken we will make an announcement. 

TVG:  Can you give a basic overview to the game and what the prime objective will be and have you made any changes to the world to allow for online play? 

Tanaka-san: Resident Evil Outbreak will feature five online scenarios, each of which has a different writer, but all remain true to the Resident Evil universe. During the course of Resident Evil Outbreak players will experience events from the original Resident Evil up to Resident Evil 3. If you remember, at the end of RE3 the authorities are poised to launch a missile, which will wipe out Raccoon City and stop the spread of the virus and in RE Outbreak the final scenario will see players facing the challenge of escaping from Raccoon City before it is destroyed. While you have to play scenario one and scenario five, first and last respectively, for plot purposes the three middle scenarios can be played in any order. 

TVG: You must have spent time working out the exact ideas for the online experience. Do you see fundamental mistakes that others may make when they offer the online experience and what features do you see within your title that are both innovative and creative for online gamers?

Tanaka-san: One important difference between Resident Evil Outbreak and other online titles is communication. Whereas other games have and will make use of voice chat we decided not to. The main reason for this is to preserve the essence of Resident Evil games, namely the fear. With voice chat there is always the potential for gamers to discuss topics other than the game they are playing, thereby taking them out of the gameplay universe. Obviously there is a need for communication between the
players so we have developed a system of basic commands and requests all accessible from simple button presses. These commands and requests are dependant on the situation the character finds themselves in, such as 'Helpâ and 'Follow me'. 

TVG: The player can select from 8 players. Can you basically tell us what makes each of the 8 characters unique in terms of traits/abilities and what do they all share?

Tanaka-san: All share the fact that they are just ordinary people and not highly specialised S.T.A.R.S members, like the playable characters in previous RE games. Below is a list of the eight characters and their attributes: 

• Kevin, a Raccoon City Police Officer.  He has failed the S.T.A.R.S. entry exam twice but begins the game with the only hand gun available at the start. 
• George, a well respected doctor from Raccoon hospital who is skilled at mixing herbs. 
• Yoko, a Japanese woman shrouded in mystery. Yoko carries a backpack, which enables her to carry more items than anyone else. 
• Mark, a Vietnam War veteran who works as a security guard. Mark has high defensive capabilities. 
• Cindy, a waitress at a bar. Cindy carries a case throughout the game which can be filled with objects such as herbs. 
• David, a plumber. David can combine items to create new weapons. 
• Jim, a railway worker who is good at solving puzzles.
• Alyssa, a capable reporter. Alyssa is skilled at picking locks.

Tanaka-san: Yes. For example, one person can jump from one rooftop to another and then if another player tries to jump over to the other side that person can help them up, making the jump less dangerous. This really comes into play when there are crows swooping down on you and time is of the essence! Also a player can lean an injured player on their shoulder. This slows down the healthy person's movement, but quickens the speed of the injured person, making the player question: How much do I wanna risk my neck to save them! 

TVG: Many are worried about the speed of online play. Can you make some comments to assure gamers that everything will be ok?

Tanaka-san: This is the other reason why we chose not to include voice chat. Given the sheer amount of data that is already being transferred to deliver the high level of graphics we want to display and number of characters on screen at anyone time. Obviously we are, to a certain extent, at the mercy of the level of activity on players' ISPs, but we are making every effort to provide an enjoyable gameplay experience. 

TVG: How big will the world be and are there any action elements that have been specially created for the online version?

Tanaka-san: As I mentioned earlier, the online version will feature five separate scenarios that will probably take 60 to 90 minutes to complete first time around. However, we expect gamers to play through each scenario with a few different characters as given that each character has different attributes the gameplay experience will change each time. In addition it is our intention to offer an online ranking system which, although not finalised right now, will probably include criteria such as number of kills, time taken to clear scenarios and number of times scenarios have been cleared. 

TVG: What are your thoughts on online gaming and the PS2 and are there any other major problems in bringing the game to Europe?

Tanaka-san: The potential for online gaming certainly excites me, hence the decision to develop an online game version of Resident Evil. There are certain technical differences between the systems used in Japan and Europe and as I said earlier right now we are working extremely hard to overcome these obstacles.

TVG: Online play is different to playing purely on your own so have you tried to add more rewards, a stronger incentive for the player, so that they are constantly kept on their toes and focused?

Tanaka-san: Unlike previous titles in the RE series there are no real moments when the player is truly safe as all actions take place in real time. So, for example, reloading a weapon or checking out your inventory does not pause the game and stop you from being attacked so players will need to perform these actions much quicker than in previous games. Also, zombies can now break down doors so just because you enter a room that to begin with is empty, don't think that it will necessarily remain so.  To sum up, acting on instinct is now essential for survival. 

TVG: Finally, what is your favourite moment in the game?

Tanaka-san: Seeing the true ending with all the characters... knowing that you and your friends/fellow players have survived the ordeal! 

We would like to thank Tanaka-san for taking the time out from his busy schedule to answer our questions and look forward to seeing the game (hopefully online) in Europe.