Decisions, decisions

As much as i dig the puzzles of the old Resident Evil games, some of the ones in RE Outbreak are just downright devilish. I don't know if anyone's aware but it's pretty hard to figure out puzzles in a game where you are not encouraged to pause the action as it's meant to be an online multiplayer experience. Probably if done in the right context and situation, these would have been hailed as some of the better puzzles in the series but as it stands, they are dreadful (to me at least) because of the timing and placement. It's been months since i first started on Outbreak file 1 but have yet to complete the game probably due to the episodic nature of the game and the fact i'm only playing it on my PS3. This is the last episode and i'll probably shelf the game once that is done in favour of yakuza 2.

Old Wine in New Bottle

I did a fair bit of research before back-ordering my copy of Outbreak as i was aware of an Resident Evil Essentials box set out which contains Code: Veronica, RE4 and RE Outbreak in one box set and apparently there was also a Greatest Hits reisssue at some point. The version available for back-order was not the Greatest Hits reissue because it would usually say so at Play-asia so i decided to back-order that instead of the Essentials boxset. Being the picky collector that i am, i can't stand reissues and i already have the other two in my collection.

Anyways the copy arrived promptly as i expected and when i pull it out, i was pretty happy to see the musty old shrink-wrap on the box as it was a good indication that this may in fact be a first print black label copy as i hoped. Alas when i flipped over to see the back of the cover, i was disappointed to see an extra barcode sticker covering where the barcode would normally be. As i removed the shrink-warp, it indeed turn out to be a reissue of the game for the RE Essentials boxset! While it's not ethically right for any store to sell contents of boxset individually like this, i have seen this happen a lot in singapore and in this case, i don't think it's entirely Play fault judging from the musty old shrink-warp.

Also i discovered that the disc inside is indeed part of the first print as the SLUS code identical to the original SLUS code without the additional GH (for Greatest Hits) or P3 (for Essentials) prefixed to the end of the SLUS code. So that means this must be old stock which Capcom conveniently re-packaged for their RE Essentials boxset a while back though i suspect this is the only one out of the three to still have the original disc and manual inside as Code: Veronica and RE4 would have sold far better and thus, unlikely had any old stock which Capcom was eager to get rid of. While packing with the rest of my collection, i did noticed i don't have a single reissue copy in my RE collection, be it Greatest Hits or Player's Choice version and that this would probably be my first. In a way it really isn't so maybe that's why i'm at a crossroads at what to do with it, maybe the best i can do is post a review so other collectors might be aware before back-ordering it too at Play-asia.

Violent Outbreak

You gotta love those retrospective features at Gametrailers, the latest one on the Resident Evil series was pretty good all the way until the last part where it sort of frizzles out because let face it, no one can really make sense of the plot for Resident Evil.

The one thing the retrospective did manage to do is spike some interest in me to try out the Outbreak spin-offs which for the longest time i have been avoiding for no particular reason. It's kinda baffling given that i was willing to try all the gun survivors games and enjoyed most of them quite a bit. Seeing Outbreak on the retrospective made me want to go back and play them, especially since most of the scenarios featured familiar locales from the then, Raccoon City. So i actually back-order File 1 during the time when i pre-ordered the Prima guide for Resident Evil 5 and it should be arriving any time now.

I have a pretty good reason of playing this on my ps3 now since i have heard that the game actually loads faster on the ps3 even without installing. This will be the perfect game to jump into once i'm done with Resident Evil 5. If i like it i may decide hunt for file 2 since that is not available for back-order at anywhere i know, heck even if i don't like it i may just have to get it as well for the sake of completion.