Shael Riley
05-11-2007, 01:19 AM
I just found out that Capcom officially closed down (http://capcom.com/BBS/showthread.php?t=12576) the Resident Evil Outbreak: File 2 servers at the end of March. This marks the end of the best elements of one of my favorite games of all time. Sure, the execution was only fair, but being able to cooperatively escape a zombie-ridden metropolis, with the help of three other civilian survivors who are played by other real people via the Internet, was so satisfying a concept that the game's sometimes spotty presentation, antiquated control scheme and bevy of glitches could be overlooked. Well, I mean, I could overlook them.
The game will still be playable offline, but who the fuck wants to play that shit offline? It has spotty presentation, an antiquated control scheme and a bevy of glitches. Without being able to stagger wounded down a corridor, wondering if one of your four friends is still alive, only climb a stairwell into an abandonned storeroom and find her backed into a corner, grabbed and about to be bitten by a zombie, to which you respond by levying your shotgun at the back of the creature's neck and blowing its jaw apart, through the back of its throat, as your shaken companion collapses, tapping shift-L3 to sputter out a "Mark, Thanks! You saved me," the game kind of blows.
Without that, the game kind of blows.
The Outbreak: File 1 servers are still up, but for how long?
If I'm ever in a position to design video games I'm going to focus on the elements that the RE: Outbreak series broke ground with: immersive, cooperative, survival-based gameplay in a small-scale multiplayer environment.
I never even got Yoko's good ending (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIomUpo4reM&mode=related&search=).
The game will still be playable offline, but who the fuck wants to play that shit offline? It has spotty presentation, an antiquated control scheme and a bevy of glitches. Without being able to stagger wounded down a corridor, wondering if one of your four friends is still alive, only climb a stairwell into an abandonned storeroom and find her backed into a corner, grabbed and about to be bitten by a zombie, to which you respond by levying your shotgun at the back of the creature's neck and blowing its jaw apart, through the back of its throat, as your shaken companion collapses, tapping shift-L3 to sputter out a "Mark, Thanks! You saved me," the game kind of blows.
Without that, the game kind of blows.
The Outbreak: File 1 servers are still up, but for how long?
If I'm ever in a position to design video games I'm going to focus on the elements that the RE: Outbreak series broke ground with: immersive, cooperative, survival-based gameplay in a small-scale multiplayer environment.
I never even got Yoko's good ending (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIomUpo4reM&mode=related&search=).