With the Resident Evil Franchise Being Red Hot Right Now, Is There Room For Outbreak to Make a Comeback?

With three consecutive mainline hits in Resident Evil 7, 8, and 9 in the RE franchise, it is safe to say that Capcom has found the winning formula again.

As someone who has played probably 95% of all Resident Evil titles out there, I’m still looking for one of my favorite spin-off titles, Resident Evil Outbreak, to make a comeback. I know I’m not alone in wanting a new Resident Evil Outbreak, as a lot of fans have been asking for it for decades already. Some even use emulators to play it even to this day.

After playing and reviewing Resident Evil Requiem, I squandered a lot of hours thinking of how Outbreak could actually make a comeback. First, Resident Evil Requiem featured the daughter of a beloved character in the Resident Evil Outbreak title. Alyssa Ashcroft was one of eight playable characters in Outbreak, and seeing her in the trailers revived ideas of an Outbreak remake, given how Capcom has done well remaking some of their biggest titles.

What is Resident Evil Outbreak and Why it Could Potentially Be Their Best Multiplayer Game?

Resident Evil Outbreak is Capcom’s first multiplayer game for the franchise that launched on the PS2. It has a unique gameplay where you play as a team of four survivors trying to solve puzzles in a set location. The game uses fixed camera perspectives like the old Resident Evil games. Each stage is extremely difficult because every survivor must be efficient in solving puzzles.

If they get hurt, there’s an infection rate that continuously grows throughout the playthrough. Enemies also respawn, and there are limited resources like ammo and healing. There are a lot of things to fix and change in this formula to keep up with the quality of games we have now, but the foundation is already there.

Resident Evil multiplayer games like Resistance, Operation Raccoon City, and Umbrella Corps felt like games that lacked innovation and only tried to keep up with what’s popular. Dead by Daylight popularized the 4v1 survivor versus killer gameplay, and Resistance tried to replicate it.

However, they already have Outbreak, which could potentially be even better. Slap the new RE Engine, shift to a first-person perspective, similar to modern RE games, and add replayability by adding modes and a progression system, and you could have an amazing live-service game.

While there are some games that already feel similar to a modern-day hypothetical RE: Outbreak, like GTFO, there’s still room for more, especially given how popular these horror-survival games can be.

Imagine having the RE: Outbreak core aspects stapled down, adding some customizable loadouts to make each run feel different, maybe even adding some community support where mods could add custom stages, showcase all the new popular Resident Evil characters, bring all the old and new enemies (similar to Resistance), and mix up some challenges or modifiers.

With so many iconic games out there, it’s easy to think of things to add to it, but it all depends on execution.

There are many Resident Evil games in the works, and Outbreak fans can only hope that maybe this time, they’ll revisit this spin-off title (also canon) soon. Capcom is diving deeper into their bags, even remaking Resident Evil: Code Veronica.