As I visit various gaming sites such as Steam, Xbox, and itchi.io, being primary among them, I’m usually looking for games of a horror nature. Survival horror, psychological horror, horror horror. If horror is involved, I’m into it.
I just recently downloaded a title by the name of Operation: Outbreak. Initially the game starts off as what seems to be a first person shooter in horror surroundings but as I played the initial level immediately one thing became abundantly clear. I might not have enough bullets. My very first run through the game I didn’t last long as the enemies in Operation: Outbreak are zombies. Not the slow ones, no. The frickin super fast ones like in the movie Z. When the first one spotted me and came a running I was lucky to put it down with a full clip. So I hit the reload button ‘R’ and was thankful that I actually had more bullets. Then another zombie spotted me and came running but luckily I was able to put it down with only 3 bullets. It seems this automatic pistol I’m carrying only has the capacity for 5 bullets in the magazine. A bit short if you ask me. Well no matter right? I can just reload. Last enemy only took 3 bullets to put down which leaves 2 in the mag. I check my inventory. 5 Bullets. Ah, so scarcity of bullets is going to be a thing. This is when I perked up and got a little more interested in the game.
So I changed my tactics. Instead of running willy nilly all over the map with shift depressed, I decided it’s time to go into stealth/crouch mode, carefully reviewing my surroundings and taking note of cover spots. I see another zombie ahead of me. Luckily this time I see it before it sees me. I bring my trusty automatic up, aim down the iron sights, frame the head, and let one fly. Head shot! Aha. Okay, now the game gets more interesting.
Cover shooting, bullet scarcity, fast zombies, and head shots. Crouching movement. Well what have I found here? Have I found a true survival horror which will force me to conserve bullets, carefully take note of my surroundings, AND be situationally aware of my environment? At the beginning of the game I was in contact via radio with someone at headquarters who gave me the details of what I should do and what I should be looking for. First time through I didn’t really pay attention as it looked like any old first person shooter does so I figured just run through and figure out where you need to go, and shoot anything that gets in your way. Yeah, that didn’t work out so well.
Had I been paying attention I would have taken heed of being told “conserve your ammunition, look for the building with the red light, find the tunnels underneath the city”. For whatever reason I didn’t take that seriously or used my super power of selective hearing and deemed the information unimportant. Which is why I was dead about 2 minutes later.
Okay, play through number 2. Conserve bullets, look for the building with the red light above the door, and be careful. Check. So this time I crouch walk and use the environment for cover as I move around. I take extra care opening doors and moving through doorways. I make every effort to spot enemies before they see me and if so, I take the time to get the headshots in.
Ah, I see it. The building with the red light above the door. That’s where the underground sewer system leads to a “safe” passage across the city and to the evac zone. I make my way into the building, dangerously short on bullets with moderate health damage. I carefully walk down the hallway until I find a door I can open. JUMP SCARE, BAM. A zombie in a raggedy utility jumper jumps out at me. Definitely wasn’t ready for that so I backpedal while letting the bullets fly. Shit, it’s on top of me and I need to reload. I take damage during the reload cycle but was able to put the zombie down. I had a feeling the room of the door I just opened probably has items in there I need. Bullets, first aid pack. Nice.
So I start searching the building and find a stairway which looks like it might lead down into a basement. Or sewer system! Nice. As I search the sewer area I see a big water pipe off to my left. About a hundred yards down I see something glowing on top the water pipe. I make my way down there hoping for bullets. Nope. Water shut-off or drain valve. I go to interact with it and what do you know, it’s missing the handle. Aha, now we’re getting into familiar territory with a standard horror trope. This little area underneath the building I’m in is halfway flooded, and I need to drain the water. I guess I’m searching for a handle now. This got me excited all over again because what I’ve discovered is a true survival horror and it’s ticking all the boxes that make a game like this good.
I did find the handle for the water main shortly thereafter. It was in a room which also contained a zombie I didn’t know about and though I did kill it, his cohorts ended up finishing me off before I could attach the handle and drain the sewer. I’m all in now. That was only my second playthrough but it set the hook and reeled me in. This is a demo which I will play as far as I can and if it keeps this great pacing up, I easily see myself purchasing the game.
Let’s talk about the atmosphere for a second. Initially I thought I was thrown into a zombie infested World War II setting. We start off in a nondescript single story warehouse type of building located at the wrong end of the city and we need to locate the entrance to the sewers. Everything looks bombed out and on fire plus the zombies are out in the open feeding on the dead. It’s got that gritty look and feel of a city well travelled and somewhat familiar but the semblance of humanity has vanished and we need to get across town to safety so we don’t become one of the vanished.
I go into most games with low expectations so when I run across a game which seems to be doing everything right, I get excited. For that reason I’m prompted to write this review of my first two experiences into Operation: Outbreak. I can’t wait to get back to the game for run number 3 and hopefully beating the demo. The nice thing about this particular demo is that you get the first two levels, not just the first.
Anyways, that’s what I have planned for the next playthrough anyways. The demo for Operation: Outbreak may be found on the Steam website at the following link: