Codename: Outbreak

Last updated
Codename: Outbreak
CodenameOutbreakBox.jpg
Developer(s) GSC Game World
Publisher(s) Virgin Interactive
Producer(s) Sergey Zabaryansky
Designer(s) Roman Lut
Programmer(s) Sergey Zabaryansky
Artist(s) Andrew Prokhorov
Writer(s) Alex Dragon
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Release
  • EU: 12 October 2001 [1]
  • NA: 25 November 2001
Genre(s) First-person shooter
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Codename: Outbreak (known as Venom. Codename: Outbreak in Russia) is a first-person shooter video game developed by Ukrainian GSC Game World and published by Virgin Interactive. It is set during the early 21st century. Prior to the start of the game, a meteor shower arrives containing a parasitic alien life form that takes control of their hosts. The invasion is fast spreading. The game involves fighting off this alien invasion over 14 different levels.

Contents

In North America, the game was part of a $20 budget range from Titus Interactive which was branded using the Virgin Interactive name alongside Original War , Screamer 4x4 , and Nightstone.

Story

During the early 21st century, a meteor storm strikes an open valley in the United States. Police, science teams and Marine units are dispatched to investigate. They disappear shortly after. In the opening cut-scene, an advance team is operating when it is reported some of the men have stopped broadcasting on the radios. Captain Wilson, leader of the team, and his friend Steve suddenly come under fire from their comrades. As they retreat for aerial pickup, Steve is wounded. As Wilson desperately waits for the transport to arrive, an unknown beast suddenly leaps at Wilson and the screen blacks out.

Shortly after this, an advanced organization is starting to learn about what is happening in the zone in order to understand the nature of the situation and initiate a counter-attack against the aliens. To achieve this, an advanced strike force (players and AI-controlled soldiers) investigate to find the Marines and police that have been infected by parasites.

Shortly after, an advanced research facility is established to fulfill the needs of studying the invaders. Shortly after completion and commencing of operations, the facility itself is plagued by the aliens and it is not long before everyone is infected. Once again, the strike force must enter the fray. They first break inside the facility from the outside perimeter, encountering new foes such as mutated beasts, like the one who attacked Captain Wilson, and tanks. Once inside, they must gather intelligence and clear out the threat. Inside, they discover yet another surviving scientist. The team escort the scientist by re-emerging outside to ambushes from more infected forces. After clearing the enemy out, the team reaches an extraction point close to where they breached the facility earlier.

The team is pushed into a lot of missions. Part of them revolve around the protection and launch of the Icarus-1 Satellite, which can track and determine the large-scale spread of the alien infection. Others are clearing out targets of great importance, such as one mission where players are required to break into an airfield and reprogram the air defenses in order to deny the enemy their immense aerial support. Some are even around preventing catastrophe, such as three attempts to launch missiles for destructive use, one of these being, when secured, the launch device for Icarus-1, and the rest being fixed and mobile nuclear tipped ballistic missiles. It is quite clear throughout this how severe the invasion is. Many numbers of enemies are encountered, ranging from defense turrets to heavy vehicles like APC's. The team has to adapt quickly to each mission or they will suffer greatly on the road ahead.

In the final mission, Icarus-1 is launched and orbits Earth. It detects a massive heat source on a small island, surrounded by other sources. It is determined that the aliens operate as a collective and the massive signature is the central mind. Without this entity, the aliens would probably go into disarray with lack of leadership and be unable to invade any further. The team is ordered to penetrate the area and rig the area at the controlling entity with a nuclear bomb. Once the bomb is set, the team must evacuate quickly if they do not wish to perish as well.

Upon successful completion, the bomb detonates, destroying the central mind and everything around it. As predicted, the alien forces breakdown from having no one to lead them and are therefore now easy to get rid of.

Gameplay

Instead of carrying several weapons as in traditional first-person shooter, the player carries one with several modes, (e.g. machine gun, laser, flare, sniper, rocket launcher, etc.). The universal weapon has a barrel, each slot of which fires a different type of ammo. The only weapon that has infinite ammo is the laser, which is also completely silent (to the enemy AI) and is, therefore, invaluable to stealth operations. Different missions call for different tools so what to take is crucial. The actual weapon has an advanced range. The models determine which attachments are on, the deadliness of the rifle, the fire rate, and the accuracy. As such, they are also heavy.

Armor is a crucial choice as well, as players get to pick different armor suits, which are built for different situations. There is one for Urban, one for Desert and one for Forest. There are also advanced versions called "Seraphim" which boosts a lot more protection.

The players carry an inventory which carries everything. Even the armor suit and gun the player uses is there. Each character can only hold up to a certain limit of items. How much the player carries in Outbreak does not slow the character down. Apart from ammo and equipment, players may find other items that are needed, such as medical equipment, PDAs and other miscellaneous items.

The single-player campaign is played with a two-person squad, with the player able to switch between the two and give the other orders. This campaign can also be played as 2 player coop. If playing singly the player can choose who is on the squad, as there is a number of recruits. Each is better in some stat or another so careful choices must be made. If a squad member dies during the campaign, they cannot get them back. They will be marked as KIA for the remainder of the campaign.

Reception

Codename: Outbreak received a score of 50% from PC Gamer US . [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Wing Commander</i> (franchise) Video game series

Wing Commander is a media franchise consisting of space combat simulation video games from Origin Systems, Inc., an animated television series, a feature film, a collectible card game, a series of novels, and action figures. The franchise originated in 1990 with the release of video game Wing Commander.

<i>Snakes Revenge</i> 1990 stealth action game

Snake's Revenge is a stealth action-adventure video game produced by Konami for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990. It is a stand-alone sequel to Metal Gear that was released in North America and the PAL region following the international commercial success of the NES version. The game was produced without the involvement of series creator Hideo Kojima, who went on to develop a separate sequel for the MSX2 titled Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, which was released later during the same year in Japan.

<i>Aliens Versus Predator 2</i> 2001 video game

Aliens Versus Predator 2 is a science fiction first-person shooter video game developed by Monolith Productions and co-published by Fox Interactive and Sierra On-Line for Microsoft Windows in October 2001, and for Mac OS X in July 2003. The game is a sequel to Aliens Versus Predator (1999); both games are based on the characters of the Alien and Predator media franchises as well as the Alien vs. Predator crossover series. It is set on the fictional planet LV-1201, which houses a vast series of ruins infested with Aliens that is routinely visited by a clan of Predators who hunt the creatures for sport.

Strike is a series of video games created by Mike Posehn, John Patrick Manley and Tony Barnes released between 1991 and 1997 by Electronic Arts for a number of video game systems. The games are multi-directional shooters viewed from an overhead or top-down perspective. The first three games in the series were 2D and used isometric sprites to give the illusion of 3D depth since real-time 3D polygon rendering wasn't possible at the time. The series made the jump to real-time 3D graphics with the release of Soviet Strike which used a brand new engine built for fifth generation gaming consoles.

<i>Tom Clancys Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter</i> 2006 video game

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (GRAW) is a tactical shooter video game released for the Xbox 360, Xbox, PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows in 2006. As in previous Ghost Recon games, players command their team while neutralizing hostile forces and completing various mission objectives. These objectives can range from escorting friendly units across the map to rescuing hostages or taking out enemy artillery.

<i>Fired Up</i> (video game) 2005 video game

Fired Up is a vehicular combat game available on the PlayStation Portable. The game features a single-player campaign and a multiplayer mode which supports up to eight players. The game features demos of Wipeout Pure and MediEvil: Resurrection. Fired Up also features game sharing and downloadable content. It is derived from the 2002 PlayStation 2 online game Hardware: Online Arena.

<i>Crysis</i> (video game) 2007 video game

Crysis is a first-person shooter video game developed by Crytek and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows and released in November 2007. It is the first game in the Crysis series. A standalone expansion entitled Crysis Warhead was released in 2008, following similar events as Crysis but from a different narrative perspective. At the time Crysis was released, and years thereafter, it has been praised for its milestones in graphical design.

<i>Gore: Ultimate Soldier</i> 2002 video game

Gore: Ultimate Soldier, also known as simply Gore, is a first-person shooter video game for Microsoft Windows, released on June 5, 2002. It was published by DreamCatcher Interactive and developed by 4D Rulers.

<i>Incubation: Time Is Running Out</i> 1997 turn-based tactics video game

Incubation: Time Is Running Out is a turn-based tactics computer game from Blue Byte released in 1997. It is the fourth game in the Battle Isle series. In the game, the player controls a squad of soldiers in a campaign against an alien threat. An expansion pack, The Wilderness Missions, was released in 1998.

<i>Perfect Dark</i> (Game Boy Color video game) Game Boy Color video game

Perfect Dark is a 2000 action game developed and published by Rare for the Game Boy Color. As a direct prequel to its Nintendo 64 counterpart, the game follows agent Joanna Dark as she completes her training at the Carrington Institute research centre and uncovers information against rival corporation dataDyne. The gameplay revolves around shooting opponents and completing objectives such as rescuing hostages or recovering items. The game also includes a multiplayer mode where two players may compete against each other in several deathmatch modes.

<i>Colony Wars: Vengeance</i> Second video game of the Colony Wars series

Colony Wars: Vengeance is a space combat simulator video game developed and released by Psygnosis for the PlayStation during 1998, and sequel to the original Colony Wars, released the previous year. In this game, players complete space combat missions using preselected starships equipped with various weapons. The game features multiple paths of missions and outcomes, depending on the player's performance.

<i>Alien Shooter: Vengeance</i> 2006 video game

Alien Shooter: Vengeance is a top-down shooter video game for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X, developed by Sigma Team as a sequel to Alien Shooter. A remade version called Alien Shooter 2: Reloaded features changed game mechanics and a few new levels.

Left 4 Dead is a series of cooperative first-person shooter survival horror video games published by Valve. Set in the days after a pandemic outbreak of a viral strain transforming people into zombie-like feral creatures, the games follow the adventures of four survivors attempting to reach safe houses and military rescue while fending off the attacking hordes.

<i>E.Y.E.: Divine Cybermancy</i> 2011 video game

E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy is an action role-playing first-person shooter video game developed by Streum On Studio, and built using Valve's Source engine. It is a cyberpunk themed game based on an unreleased, private table-top role-playing game, A.V.A., developed by Streum On Studio in 1998. Streum-On-Studio have stated that it is "unlikely" that "A.V.A." will be sold publicly in the future. The game spent about two years in development before being released on Steam.

<i>Alliance of Valiant Arms</i> Online video game

Alliance of Valiant Arms is a free-to-play online first-person shooter video game, developed by now-defunct Red Duck, Inc. using Unreal Engine 3. Since then, Neowiz has taken over the development and publishing of the game after acquiring its intellectual property.

<i>Call of Duty: Ghosts</i> 2013 first-person shooter video game

Call of Duty: Ghosts is a 2013 first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. It is the tenth major installment in the Call of Duty series and the sixth developed by Infinity Ward. It was released for PlayStation 3, Wii U, Windows, and Xbox 360, on November 5, 2013. The game was released with the launch of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

<i>Alien Shooter</i> 2003 video game

Alien Shooter is an isometric, top-down shooter video game developed and released by Sigma Team, a Russian games development studio. Released on May 18, 2003, it was initially available on Microsoft Windows, iOS, and Android. The game's conclusion was realized in two expansion packs, both consisting of five-levels and released in 2014: Fight for Life, released on June 14, and The Experiment, released on September 22.

<i>Radix: Beyond the Void</i> 1995 video game

Radix: Beyond the Void is a 2.5D first-person shooter developed by Canadian studio Neural Storm Entertainment and published by Epic MegaGames for MS-DOS in 1995.

Strafe is a first-person shooter video game developed by Pixel Titans and published by Devolver Digital. The game is an homage to 1990s first-person shooter video games, such as Doom and Quake, advertised as to have "bleeding edge graphics and gameplay", citing the year 1996. It was released worldwide on May 9, 2017.

<i>Tom Clancys Rainbow Six Extraction</i> 2022 video game

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction is an online multiplayer tactical shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. A spin-off of Rainbow Six Siege (2015), Extraction is a cooperative multiplayer game in which players must work together to combat and defeat a type of parasite-like aliens called the Archæans. The game was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Amazon Luna, Google Stadia, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on January 20, 2022. It received mixed reviews from critics.

References

  1. "Virgin prepare for Outbreak". Eurogamer.net. 2001-09-12. Retrieved 2023-06-06.
  2. 1 2 Osborn, Chuck. "Reviews; Codename: Outbreak". PC Gamer US . Archived from the original on October 18, 2006.
  3. Harker, Carla (January 14, 2002). "Codename: Outbreak". GameSpy . Archived from the original on February 10, 2002. Retrieved September 12, 2021.