Resident Evil Outbreak File 2/gameplay

Summary	Plot	Gameplay	Development	Marketing	Reception	Credits	Gallery	Translation errors	Further notes

The gameplay of Resident Evil Outbreak File #2 is basically the same as the first game which follows the original Resident Evil gameplay style tradition, but it includes a few other gameplay improvements.

• It is now possible to move while firing.
• You can now pick up items from the floor while crawling.
• Alyssa Ashcroft and Kevin Ryman are able to potshot even in Danger status.
• It is now possible to play multiples of the same "type" of character in an online game.
• An apology ad-lib (voice command) has been added and is done by holding L2 and pressing Triangle.
• A transferable extra starting item is included for all characters.
• Alyssa now does a backwards jump instead of the back step.
• Yoko cannot shoulder ram anymore and can only do the face push.
• If attacked while holding someone, Cindy can make he or she duck.
• Kevin can now do an elbow rush that knocks enemies back.
• George has a stronger tackle that can knock enemies over.
• Jim can swing a melee weapon very fast, but it leaves him winded afterward.
• David has a fourth swing to his knife combo and two swings when aimed upward and downward.
• Mark can push heavy objects and his big swing charges faster and can be aimed in all directions.
• The game includes a new Nightmare Difficulty mode.

Improvements

File #2 includes several improvements from the first Outbreak. Loading times are now much shorter, with the average DVD loading screen counting in at seven seconds. HDD loading is now about 1–3 seconds. There is no longer a brief "pause" when the inventory or map is opened (although there may be a pause whenever a character equips a weapon), players can now walk and shoot at the same time, a new item was given to each of the original characters, including magazines for their weapons (Kevin and Mark), a new defensive weapon (Alyssa), a team-aid item (George and Cindy), a lighter that has "J's Bar" engraved on it (David), and stat-boosting items (Jim and Yoko).

Communication is roughly the same, which has turned many players away from File #2. Instead of creating a new system from scratch, the old communication system from the first game has been improved upon. These new additions included the ad-lib phrase "Sorry", and the ability to say comments based on what players were looking at on the Map and File screens.

The game also boasts a new difficulty feature and some changes to the game's balance. These include a new Nightmare Mode and several alternations to previous damage charts. For example, the zombie's grab attack did around 300 damage in the original Outbreak. It now does well over 600. These changes, combined with a new zombie speed and increased attack range, make the game a challenge to even veteran Resident Evil players.

Online Mode

Network Play features a major overhaul from the previous Outbreak game. The game featured a new lobby system, a new event system, and an increase of options and modes to play.

Capcom ran events from the month of April to late May that were sponsored by various gaming magazines. This included events from PSM and EGM, amongst others. Clearing these events rewarded the players with characters and costumes (the same ones you can get offline). Some events took place in standard levels on set difficulties, while others placed the player in selected levels with Infinite and Nightmare options activated (this was before the two mentioned options were available for free use). As of writing, Capcom now runs a pattern of events. They will feature a point event one week, then an SP Item hunt the next week.

The lobby system has been revamped, now including ten areas with different options in each one (75% healing, double enemy damage, infinite ammo, difficulty levels, etc.). However, this change makes it harder to join games with friends. In order to join your friend in their hosted or current game, the player will need to enter a menu to search for their name, then exit that menu. Choose the area they're in, and find the game. The menu doesn't mention the number of players in the current game when you search it, meaning the game could be full before you even reach it.

In early July, Capcom closed an alternate server, leaving only one choice for the player when they connected as far as server selections go. Months after, Nightmare Mode, Infinite Mode, and changes to the Area system were made. HDD Support was dropped from the Area Screen, but players could still host games with HDD mode turned on by activating it offline.

From within the game, or by a link on the official Capcom sales page of their U.S. site, players can look and see where they stacked on the ranking boards. Various players have cheated the rankings. Capcom has deleted most of them, but act most of the time after various player reports are sent to them via e-mail or by telephone calls. The rankings were recently reset (July '06) due to a power outage within Capcom USA.

Fan Revival

Online Play is available once more, due to a dedicated team of fans bringing them back online via a reconstructed fan server based on the internet packet captures that were captured before the game was shut down on the Japanese servers, play is supported by original PS2 Hardware and emulators for the original Japanese copies of both games (fan-made translation patches are also available). Access requires an account on the forums.

Data Convert Ex. Characters

File #2 introduced a feature that allowed players to transfer data between the original game and File #2. When first released, it was useful for transferring over playable NPCs already unlocked in the original Outbreak. However, the feature can also be used in reverse, allowing players to unlock NPCs and content not available otherwise in the original Outbreak as well as being able to obtain playable NPCs from the original outbreak at a much lower price and transfer them over to the original game. In addition, transferring over to the original game from File #2 also has the side effect of unlocking all content in the original's collection, though it still has to be purchased for points unless it's an NPC or costume that was unlocked in File #2. Some player NPCs unlocked from File #2 have slight differences in the original game such as stats, names, or obvious visual differences.

In addition to above, there are also many different playable NPC's that are not unlockable by any means. They have stats which indicates they were intended to be unlockable at some point. Many of them seem to be key characters related to missions that didn't make the final cut such as Mickey or HUNK. Others are NPC's that appear in the game as both humans and zombies such as Chuck and Laura. The only way to obtain these characters is to use a Gameshark or other third party game enhancing device.