Developer: Dead Drop Studios LLC
Publisher: Dead Drop Studios LLC
Platform: PC, Xbox One
Tested On: PC
Outbreak Epidemic – Review
Drop Dead Studios LLC has made a name for itself by recreating the old Resident Evil experience as a small Indie developer. Their previous games, Outbreak The New Nightmare and Outbreak The Nightmare Chronicles, both received decent scores. The newest game in the list is Outbreak Epidemic, a wink to the third-person Resident Evil games and yet it seems like they did change their formula quite a bit.
Story
It seems that this game takes place in a different location than The New Nightmare. While there are similarities in the story, there are no references to past events. Four survivors, each with unique abilities, are trying to get out of the city but are stranded on a highway filled with broken cars. This is the start of the survival for the group and they have to make their way out, if they want to ever see daylight again. The main difference now is that you have the story unlocked at the start, you can just read up on what happens (and possibly spoil yourself in the progress). The story flows very smoothly and is nicely written. Even in-game, the written events that you will stumble upon are all coherent and you will find remains of previous levels in other levels, which makes the world feel organic and realistic.
Graphics
The Outbreak series might be known for their great take on the Resident Evil games, yet their graphical aspect was always pretty simple. Don’t expect high-quality assets or things that make sense. You will see many cars reused, making it look like you are in a former Soviet country, weapons are simple and nothing new. There is a slight silver lining, in the fact that most environments are pretty unique and all differ.
When playing, there are a lot of small details that got messed up (laser and light shine from the barrel, magazine sticking through the handguard of the SMG) and the animations are pretty basic for the characters. Our team of four all looks pretty different, for example, Renault is a large bodybuilder. His character model is way bigger than Tom, who is a soldier. There are a few unique zombies and other entities thrown in the mix, which is decent, yet it can be boring if it is overused (this will get explained in the gameplay).
Sound
Just like the graphics, the sounds are also very basic. The music is simple yet it gives a great atmosphere of horror and despair. The choice of using music that is lead by a piano again winks back to the Resident Evil influences and is nicely selected. Characters have voice lines that sound plain but they only react to combat scenarios, other events are shown with subtitles and can be easily missed in hectic situations.
Gameplay
Outbreak Epidemic is a third-person survival horror game with direct controls that is unlike its predecessor that has the selection between more direct and tank controls. In Epidemic, you have a lot of options to customize your playthrough, starting with a character and specific class, difficulties, and realism options. You can also decide whether you want to do the story mode or play each level separately. Everything including the backing story is unlocked from the beginning so you have the option to play the game and enjoy it at your own pace.
The gameplay is pretty linear as it is mostly going from point A to point B while solving a small puzzle or collecting items that are needed in the near future. There isn’t a real difficulty to puzzles as these are pretty straightforward, which is great for younger people or those who don’t want to overthink puzzles. Realistically speaking, it seems more normal that the puzzles are simpler, as these events were not planned and can be really appreciated. Yet those who like the puzzles in Resident Evil games will be left with wanting more as you barely have to backtrack for items or hold different kinds of keys for different doors.
Your inventory is quite large, which makes carrying a lot of different guns and ammo easy. While you can find a lot of weapons and ammunition, medical items are pretty rare. Many guns make their return from the previous games and there isn’t too much diversion between them. A great mechanic is the ability to empty guns, so you can scavenge as much ammo as possible. There are a handful of enemies on your path, which at first makes for a nice diversion, yet later you just get hordes of tyrants, hunters and creeps thrown at you and this diminishes the power of the creatures.
Overall the combat is decent, while controls aren’t great nor terrible, playing the game isn’t all too bad. Controls are simple, yet accessing your inventory sometimes doesn’t react and this becomes annoying quite quickly. Each level does take a while to complete and thanks to the nicely written story, you get an insight into how things were right before the outbreak. There are a handful of different levels, each strung together nicely by the story.
Conclusion
Outbreak Epidemic is a nice take on the action genre of the Resident Evil games. While the graphics and sound design aren’t great, the music does create a really nice atmosphere. You have a lot of freedom in choosing your options and this allows the player to set the bar right to amuse them. The story is greatly written and everything feels more realistic thanks to the written diaries found in-game.
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