Outbreak: The New Nightmare, from Dead Drop Studios LLC, dropped for PlayStation 4 users last Thursday, much to the delight of retro game enthusiasts. This tribute to classic horror survival games features improved frame rate, 3d mapping, controller response time and greatly improved graphics. As someone who remembers playing Outbreak I was pretty excited to give it a go on a new gen console.
Story
The game kicks off with visuals of a city in ruins and text scrolling across the screen. You discover that, due to water rationing caused by drought, hygiene fell to the wayside in an urban center. People thought that, as Fall had arrived and the water rationing was ending, the worst of their worries had come to an end. Unfortunately, the lack of hygiene caused a dangerous, virulent plague to emerge. Within days it spread through the city, wreaking havoc in first responders’ and civilians alike. As a survivor, you have discovered a large building to hide in but it would seem that your refuge is soon to become your NIGHTMARE.
Characters
This game allows you to choose from 6 characters. In the main menu, you can read the story that led to them finding this place of “refuge”. The characters are…
- Lydia: A Cop who has managed to fend off legions of the infected.
- Kane: A musician who, after finishing a concert, is confronted with a hoard of infected and flees for his life.
- Ivy: A celebrity who is rescued by an assistant and fends off attackers with kicks on her way to safety.
- Harry: Ye old normal civilian who is rescued by a cop and left to fend for himself when a group of infected attack his protector.
- Hank: A member of the military who barely escapes the base with his life.
- Elena: A former spec ops officer gone thief who chose the WRONG time to steal from a down town penthouse.
Each character has their own starter kit and each one has their own special skill (Elena can combine medicine but Harry cannot, etc.). You can choose who you want to be as you play through 12 scenarios (one of which happens to be a tutorial that is VERY helpful).
Overview
I decided to play as Elena. I like myself a rogue/thief type character so she fit my usual play style. You have the choice to complete a Tutorial scenario and I HIGHLY encourage you to do so. The controls for this game ARE NOT similar to modern games. In fact, there is even a “Modern vs Classic” theme for the control style you can choose at the start. Understand that this is a remastered game made to fit PS4 standards so some of the game play will be slow or delayed. This is true to classic horror games where the response time only added to the players fear/worry.
Playthrough
Outbreak: The New Nightmare lives up to it’s name as being a horror game. Creepy, slow “elevator music” plays in the background and the camera angles make it difficult for the player to predict what is around the corner. You usually have time to evade infected however; there will be moments where the space you are relegated to means you’ll need to run in A LOT of circles and keep shooting. Thankfully, the auto aim feature means you don’t have to lock on “monsters”. You just keep shooting and I can guarantee you will keep hitting at least ONE of the creatures after you. Unfortunately, the auto aim feature also means you have to be careful how you move in the game.
I will also note that the weapons you are given don’t do very much damage in the beginning. I was offered the following weapons as I wandered the halls of the different scenarios…
- A Firemen’s Axe
- A Shotgun
- A handgun (9mm)
- An Automatic Machine Gun
- Aid/Health (ointments/painkillers/etc.)
The longer you play the more opportunity you will have for stronger weapons but the primary point of this game is to JUST SURVIVE. Pay VERY CLOSE attention to things on the floor, on benches, on tables and ANYTHING that highlights as you walk by it. A lot of the game is dark so you should see a highlight fairly easily. The items will either be weapons OR health. Please note that your inventory is SMALL so you will need to be mindful of what you carry with you. This means you have to make life or death choices from the start. I recommend ALWAYS carrying at least one ointment and/or painkiller. There will be times when you are surrounded by enemies and having aid on you without needing to search for it is VERY helpful.
One more thing…CAMERA ANGLES. I am serious about this…it really messes with you. I found myself wondering if I really wanted to go around a corner I couldn’t see or walk down the long hall that was dark at the end…the little things in this game have definite psychological impact.
The Experience
I am usually not fond of horror games due to flashing lights (I am photosensitive) and their gruesome themes however; I REALLY like zombies or anything having to due with pathogenic outbreaks so I was pretty excited to play this game. I admit that there were times when I was bored. The pacing is classic and it seems my brain has become wired for the modern, fast paced thrill of newer games. That doesn’t mean I didn’t appreciate this game’s aesthetic. It is slow for a reason: to build suspense and keep you guessing. Some scenarios have a small number of infected and others have HOARDS. This also changes depending on the difficult you choose (Normal, Hard, Biohazard or Nightmare). For those of you planning to play on the Nightmare setting…good luck. Seriously, it’s crazy.
I really appreciate the visuals in this game. They are simple, realistic and rendered beautifully. The times where lights are flashing is not enough to bother me which meant I could spend more time in the area. Load in for each scenario is also pretty fast which, for speed runs, is an excellent feature. I suppose the most aggravating factors to this game were the restricted camera angles and limited inventory…but I hoard things in games so maybe that is just a ME problem (lol).
For $12.99 USD, on the Playstation Store, this game is definitely worth the buy. If you’re into retro games, enjoy a good “zombie”, want to save the world and like a challenge…then buy it. At under 8 GB it won’t make much of a dent in your storage and the load times are fast so this is a good game to play when you want to have a chill night exploring an Outbreak ridden reality.
Game On Fangirls!
