Resident Evil Outbreak is Online in 2021

It’s October, and for many of us that means revisiting horror classics. Resident Evil Outbreak was far ahead of its time, providing the first online co-op Resident Evil experience. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of talented fans, one can actually play online, long after the official servers have shut down. Obsrv.org provides a private server for players, which was reconstructed using server packets from the Japanese versions. Connecting is easy, but will require some setup.

To play, one needs a Japanese NTSC copy of Resident Evil Outbreak (and/or Resident Evil Outbreak: File #2). You also require a Japanese PlayStation 2 or emulator configured with Japanese BIOS and an active Internet connection. Emulation can support online play. I personally use a DEV9 plugin and version 1.7.0 build 500 of PCXS2.

When playing online, remember to be respectful to others. Resident Evil Outbreak is a cooperative game. Be sure to follow the server and forum rules. Unless you’re experienced, also consider refraining from joining public Hard or Very Hard lobbies. Resident Evil Outbreak has a rather steep learning curve and multiplayer is still incredibly fun even on Easy and Normal modes. An English patch is available online but is outside the scope of getting the game running.

The cheat sheet on their site is an invaluable resource, but may ruin the fun of exploration. Use at your own risk.

Configuring Resident Evil Outbreak Online Connection

To configure a connection, boot up your game. The process is the same for both games, but you’ll only need to configure it once. User Dchaps on the server’s forums provided a tutorial as well, which you can find in this thread (requires login to forums). Start by selecting Network Play from the main menu. Each step will include pictures, since a large portion of the steps for setup are in Japanese.

Follow each of the prompts. If you already have network data on your memory card, you can confirm to use it. Eventually you’ll come to another screen. Select NET(WORK) CONNECTION.

On the next screen, we’re going to Edit Network Configuration, or the top option.

You’ll come to a new gray screen entirely in Japanese. It’s a little intimidating if you aren’t familiar with IT or the language, but the setup is quite simple. You have to configure DHCP for the private server. Select the top option to add a new connection.

Scroll right until you come to the following screen, then hit confirm (Circle on Japanese hardware).

Tap right again, click the “OK” menu that pops up, and then select the bottom option.

Next, select to automatically assign the IP address (the top option). Tap right once more.

Pick the bottom option to manually enter the DNS. Go to the next page.

Enter the DNS in the top option. This is the correct address as of October, 2021. Check the forums and the FAQ section in case it changes. Go right again.

Next, you can name your connection if you want. Feel free to name it whatever you want, or just skip it.

Review your settings, then click “Confirm.”

Save. You’ll come to this screen. Pick the left option. As a disclaimer, I don’t speak any Japanese, I just know it works. It seems to be asking if you want to make another connection.

Mash Cancel (X) to leave the menu. Select the left option again to quit and reboot your game. You’ve now configured the settings! Go back into your game and get back to the menu. Scroll down to the configuration you set up and hit Confirm. Wait while it connects.

Go onto the Obsrv forums (linked above) and follow the registration process. Confirm your email and ensure you can log onto the forums. In-game, you’ll be taken to this login screen. Enter your forum credentials and then click Enter Lobbies.

Create an ID and HN, which will identify you in games. If you have one already, though, go on ahead and select it.

Setting up Online Rooms in Resident Evil Outbreak

You’ll eventually come to this screen in File #2, which displays the various modes and number of players. If playing the first game, select West Town to play. Its interface is more barren. In the original, select an Area and one of the rooms therein to reserve a spot.

From this menu, select FREE.

Navigate to an appropriate room. Set up your options carefully, as you won’t be able to change them without backing out and remaking the room. A password will help prevent unwanted players from joining. After the wait limit expires, the game begins automatically.

All done! Once everyone’s in, go ahead and start the game. If you want, you can change your preferences on the forums under GamePrefs. It looks like this:

This concludes the online setup portion.

Resident Evil Outbreak Scenarios

Resident Evil Outbreak has five scenarios, unlocked sequentially. Complete them offline first to host a room with them online.

• Outbreak: A zombie invasion breaks up happy hour (initially unlocked).

• Below Freezing Point: Investigate a frozen, nostalgia-inducing lab.

• The Hive: Flee a leech-ridden Raccoon General Hospital.

• Hellfire: A burning hotel threatens to engulf the survivors.

• Decisions Decisions: Uncover a vast conspiracy at the university and a cure.

File: #2 also has five levels, along with three “Elimination” and three “Showdown” games. These are an enemy and boss rush, respectively. The first four levels are unlocked by default, with End of the Road available after completing the others. They are:

• Wild Things: A regrettable zoo incident.

• Underbelly: A trek to the subway.

• Flashback: Exploring a crumbling hospital’s sordid past.

• Desperate Times: Evacuating the RPD.

• End of the Road: Escaping the city with a cure.

Playing Resident Evil Outbreak Online Tutorial

File #2 has a training scenario which will teach you the basics of play and a little bit about how your chosen character works. It also outlines the changes in the sequel, namely the ability to walk while aiming (by holding down L1 while readying an attack), the “Sorry” ad-lib (L2 and the ad-lib button), and the ability to pick up items while incapacitated. Other tips and tricks include:

• Your character won’t actually die unless hit with an instant death attack or effect or your virus gauge reaches 100%.
• Health items restore fixed HP, not a percentage.
• Every character is viable and can complete any scenario on any difficulty solo.
• Highlight an item in the menu and press the ad-lib button to present it. This lets you hand over items and keep a good view of the action.
• Shoulder-up your severely-injured, bleeding, or floored comrades with the confirm button.
• Unless doing something specific, you should try to keep the party together at all times.
• Your infection will progress throughout the scenario. One can stall it for a while by using healing items, but enemy attacks will cause it to spike and accelerate. If your Virus Gauge is paused through a healing item, you won’t suffer a spike in infection.
• Many (not all) enemies respawn after a while, too, so save your ammo and shove them aside.
• As your inventory space is limited, consider switching out items instead of picking them up after a while. Since you can’t drop items, you can use this to “store” things for later. Just don’t forget to grab them when you need them!
• By pressing Select, one can change various settings in-game. Consider upping the brightness a bit and fiddling with control types until you find one you like.

Each character has a special starting item which doesn’t take up inventory space but cannot be traded. In the second game, this includes an extra free starting item, which the character can share. They also have special abilities accessed by readying an attack and pressing the cancel button. Below is a basic primer on each character, their stats, and their special abilities. Remember that in the first game you can’t have any “copies” of the character, but in File #2 you can add NPC skins for 4 Kevin-types without issue.

Kevin Ryman

Kevin is one of the simplest characters to play. He’s focused on combat, with the ability to guarantee a critical hit with most handgun-type weapons. His personal weapon is a .45 Auto (with a magazine in the sequel). It’s much more powerful than a standard handgun, but weaker than a magnum. Kevin’s signature scenario is at the RPD in Desperate Times, including a cameo from Leon and Claire in the ending.

Hold down the aiming button when aiming as Kevin. After a moment, he’ll adjust his stance and you’ll hear a click. That click sound indicates the “pot shot” is ready. If a zombie gets too close, kick them with his special move for some space. Lastly, he can charge up a standard unarmed tackle for greater effect.

Kevin is very fast. He’s the fastest character in the cast, in fact, with a good amount of health on top of it. Be careful of his fairly fast infection rate.

Mark Wilkins

Mark is also a great starting character. He has a focus on combat, with the ability to reduce or nullify damage taken with his blocking ability. His personal item is a handgun (with a magazine in File #2). It has respectable range, even if it’s a little weaker than your average handgun. Given the limited inventory space, a free weapon with plentiful ammo is worth its weight in Result Points. His side-plot with his friend Bob suggests Outbreak is his signature scenario.

Hold down the cancel button when Mark is readying an attack to block. This will greatly reduce damage taken, and sometimes even prevent instant kills! Your Virus Gauge will still suffer, however. Mark can also take big swings with club-like weapons (pipes and wooden poles, but not long poles) by holding down the confirm button to attack. Aim down for a precise overhead strike. Lastly, Mark’s strong enough that he can push things that would normally take two people to move. This bulk means he can’t fit into lockers like other characters, however.

Mark has the most health of any of the main cast, but is somewhat slow and has a fast infection rate. You may find yourself using healing items just to slow his Virus Gauge.

Jim Chapman

Jim is a challenging character to use, but can tear through levels if he’s feeling particularly lucky. He can avoid enemies by engaging in a forward dive and playing dead. Jim’s personal item is a Coin. By flipping it, he can gain a bonus 15% chance to crit with each “heads” he gets. This stacks up to three times, making him very deadly! If he flips “tails,” though, it resets back down to the normal value. His Lucky Coin gives him a passive 5% bonus chance to crit, helps his weapons last longer and prevent breakage. Critical hits stagger enemies, a useful property in Outbreak.

Tap the cancel button when readying to dive. Jim will throw himself to the floor (which has some defensive applications) and lay down as long as you hold the button. Enemies will leave him alone, but his Virus Gauge will skyrocket since the floor is understandably filthy. Jim is very hungry for Anti-Virus capsules and will get great use out of a helpful George teammate. In the sequel, Jim can perform a combo with club-type weapons to get some space. It will leave him winded, so be careful when using it. Lastly, he can identify all the item types in a room, which gives him great exploration potential (check this by opening the map). As a subway employee, he has a few extra benefits in Underbelly.

Jim is relatively slow, has below-average health, and the fastest infection rate in the main cast. If you’re seeking a challenge, or are feeling particularly lucky, play Jim.

George Hamilton

George sits somewhere in the middle of being simple in theory but requiring knowledge of how to use his Medical Set to be really effective. He often competes with Cindy for Herbs, but the two of them can also work together beautifully. His Medical Set converts Herbs to various pills, with different effects than their herbal ingredients. In File #2, the Recovery Medicine Base items can also be combined with the set for free healing. The pills stack, too, making it more efficient than carrying around herbs in many cases. George appears in Decisions, Decisions.

Herb(s)	Item (Effect)/File #2 effect
Green Herb	Antidote (Cures Poison)
Red Herb	Hemostat (Cures Bleeding)
Blue Herb	Recovery Medicine (Small Healing)
Green + Red Herb	Cannot Use/3 Antidotes
Blue + Green Herb	Anti-Virus (Stalls Virus Gauge)
Blue + Red Herb	Recovery Medicine L (Large Healing)/3 Recovery Medicine
Blue + Green + Red Herb	Anti Virus (L) (Longer Effect)/3 Anti-Virus

George’s extra item in File #2 is the Capsule Shooter, which comes loaded with 3 free Recovery Medicines. He can aim at his teammates and fire to shoot pills at them with an increased effect. Try loading Anti-Virus capsules and shooting zombies and see what happens!

By holding the cancel button, George ducks low and charges a tackle. This gives him some invincibility frames and can send a zombie flying.

Besides his Medical Set, George is a no-frills character, with average health, slightly slow speed, and a decent Virus Gauge rate.

David King

As a plumber, David has a lot of tools for handling the zombie apocalypse. He can cobble together new weapons from junk, fix broken guns, and slice zombies to ribbons with knives. David is on the advanced side, benefiting from good map and item knowledge as well as timing on his attacks. His extra starting item in File #2 is a simple, humble lighter, but it comes in handy in both Underbelly and harder difficulties of Flashback. By combining items, David can create new weapons for the survivors to defend themselves. He is limited by his supply of Vinyl Tape, however. He appears in End of the Road.

Components	Result
Iron Pipe + Concrete Piece	Hammer
Wooden OR Long Pole + Butcher Knife	Spear
Iron Pipe + Battery	Stun Rod
Pesticide Spray + Lighter	Flame Spray
Junk Parts + Battery	Time Bomb

David can combine one of his 3 Junk Parts with a Broken Handgun or Broken Shotgun into something workable. This is particularly valuable in scenarios with Hunters, such as End of the Road in the second game and Below Freezing Point in the first. The best defense, however, is to not equip them around Hunters in the first place. He also gets 12 starting wrenches, which he can throw as a special move. You can’t recover these, but they reliably stagger and even knock down zombies. They are considered weapons for the purposes of No Weapon clears.

With precise timing, David can add extra hits to his knife swings. He gets a three-hit standing combo in the first Outbreak and a fourth attack in the sequel, which knocks away zombies.

David has about average vitality, a decent infection rate, and is the fastest base character after Kevin.

Alyssa Ashcroft

Alyssa plays a lot like Kevin, but trades combat skill for some utility. She can take some getting used to, as her dodge is rather finicky. Her personal item, a set of lockpicks, can make rushing scenarios a breeze. In the sequel, she starts with the Stun Gun, a powerful, fast melee weapon which you can recharge using Batteries. Her signature scenario is Flashback, which contains lots of her backstory. She also has unique dialogue with Ben Bertolucci in Desperate Times.

The lockpicks come in four flavors: I, S, W, and P. The most effective pick for a lock depends on the lock and difficulty, and can be found on a given scenario’s Cheat Sheet. When picking a lock, mash the confirm button as fast as you can to open it. Like Kevin, Alyssa can also pot shot, though her version takes longer to perform and is less powerful. Still, an Alyssa with a handgun in her inventory is a happy Alyssa. Wait for the click sound, then fire.

Alyssa’s backstep comes out fairly fast, and has some invincibility frames, but it won’t always save you from a lunging zombie. Most of the frames seem to be at the start of the animation. In File #2 it received a much-needed buff into a backwards jump with more distance and better I-frames.

In terms of stats, Alyssa is the third-fastest character after David. She has a fairly slow infection rate and average health. She’s a Jill of all trades suited for both fighting and foraging.

Yoko Suzuki

Quiet, reticent and mysterious Yoko functions as support. She’s challenging to use, but can carry teams through scenarios with good planning. Yoko hands out supplies and guns like a vending machine, holding onto important items for later. Her stats steer her pretty hard towards exploration. Yoko’s special item is a backpack, which doubles her inventory space from 4 to 8. Her extra item in the second game is the Charm. This nifty little item prevents most instant-death attacks (sending the holder to Danger status instead) and slows the rate of the T-Virus. Her signature scenarios include Below Freezing Point, Decisions, Decisions, and End of the Road, as she is closely tied to the game’s plot.

You can’t use Yoko’s items in the backpack. You’ll have to go in and select the Switch command to move it to Yoko’s main inventory. Learning how to navigate the real-time menus quickly and accurately and what to have on hand is key to mastering Yoko.

Yoko’s special ability is to drop to the floor and quickly crawl away. Hold the cancel button to gain more distance and crawl longer. This has a lot of I-frames, but you can still be attacked before Yoko hits the ground. Face away from a zombie (use R2 to ready so you don’t lock on) and crawl towards them if you need to get past them.

In File #2, Yoko’s tackle became a shove. This can be charged up for considerable knockback to zombies. Just tapping the button has Yoko give a weak little push before she turns and crawls away. If trying to break something open, try using a melee weapon or have someone else do it instead.

Yoko has the least health of any of the main cast. She’s also the slowest runner by a significant margin. This is offset by her very slow Virus Gauge, further bolstered by her Charm in the sequel.

Cindy Lennox

The kindhearted Cindy serves as a medic. She’s rather easy to learn, with a solid dodge and some extra healing that acts as a buffer. Her personal item, an Herb Case, holds up to 3 of each kind of Herb and one Mixed Herb. Cindy also starts with 2 of each Herb at the start of a level. Her extra item is the Bandage, which cures Bleeding if used to shoulder up an ally. It also prevents it in the first place, which is invaluable in levels such as Wild Things. She will still appear as an NPC in that level if not part of your team.

The Herb Case allows Cindy to Aid someone without handing over an item. Tell them to move closer and select the Aid option in the Herb Case’s menu to heal them. Cindy’s special move is to duck. It’s pretty fast and has some good invincibility, but you shouldn’t spam it, since there’s a recovery time. In File #2, she can make her ally duck as well if shouldering them up. This will cause Cindy to let go of them. Shouldering up has some I-frames of its own, so a skilled player can cheese this.

Though she’s quick on her feet, Cindy is somewhat delicate. Her Virus Gauge starts slow, but spikes rather quickly when attacked. A mix of 2 Green Herbs is enough to help Cindy recover, just like Yoko.

---

That’s the basics! We hope you have a good time playing Resident Evil Outbreak and experiencing the chaos online.