The Outbreak series brings retro survival horror to PS4 on August 27

Hey fellow survivors! I’m Evan, founder of Dead Drop Studios, solo indie developer, and creator of the Outbreak series. In case you haven’t heard of Outbreak before, it’s a series of retro-inspired survival horror games designed to drag you kicking and screaming back to the ‘90s.

Each title pays tribute to the origins of the genre in different ways, such as fixed camera angles, a limited inventory, and even co-op multiplayer.

The series began with the release of Outbreak on PC in early 2017 and over the last few years has gained a strong console audience. I’m pleased to announce the entire series is finally coming home to PlayStation, the platform that birthed survival horror as we know it.

Every title will launch on PS4 over the coming weeks, starting with Outbreak: The New Nightmare on Thursday.

Return to the world of survival horror

Retro survival horror is all about making difficult choices with the odds stacked against you. You won’t find checkpoints, quick saves or really any hand holding in this undead apocalypse. Your only chance for survival is to meticulously manage your inventory, explore your environment thoroughly, pick your battles and when everything else fails, run like hell. Each title in the Outbreak series forces these constraints (and more!) on you as you take on the role of normal everyday people trying to survive this nightmare. From exploring a hospital burning down around you to find the cure; to searching for your lost daughter in a treacherous storm, you’ll be pushed to the limit and forced to deal with a world where there’s no happily ever after.

Remember your roots

I’ve been gaming on PlayStation since day one and it’s where I experienced survival horror for the first time. It’s been a dream of mine to bring the series home to the console that birthed the genre. Although I’m typically a one-man show for every aspect of coordinating and developing these titles, working with PlayStation has been a breeze and took a lot of the burden off my shoulders. Every title includes all of the polish, enhancements, content, and bug fixes added over the years since their original releases, including local split screen co-op for Outbreak: The New Nightmare, Outbreak: Epidemic and Outbreak! In addition, each title has a PS4 Pro patch featuring higher resolution, better framerates, faster load times and many other benefits that help make PlayStation the best place to experience the series!

Birthing a new nightmare

The first title you’ll experience is Outbreak: The New Nightmare. It’s unlike anything available today — featuring fixed camera views, strict inventory management, optional tank controls and all the gameplay rough edges you’ve come to love from ‘90s classics like Resident Evil and Silent Hill. Featuring 16 scenarios across three game modes, you’ll select your survivor from a wide cast and fight through the Campaign, Onslaught Mode and Experiments Mode. Each survivor has their own unique starting equipment, abilities and more. As you play through the game, your survivor will level up and unlock new abilities unique to them — such as increased damage, a larger inventory and even the ability to start with powerful new equipment like a magnum revolver.

Key to survival

During each scenario, you’ll need to quickly scramble to search your immediate area and find any weapons or supplies before you’re overwhelmed by the undead. As you explore, you’ll need to keep a careful eye out for clues in the form of written logs or environment details to solve puzzles and overcome obstacles. Rely heavily on your map as you plan your routes and make every round in your magazine count. If you take too long, you’ll eventually be overpowered by the undead and brutally killed. To make matters worse, you only have a single life — there are no checkpoints or restarts — you’re right back at the beginning of the scenario if you die.

Roadmap of horror

Outbreak: The New Nightmare launches on Thursday and is just the beginning! Coming soon after is Outbreak: Epidemic on September 10, followed by Outbreak: The Nightmare Chronicles on September 24, Outbreak: Lost Hope on October 8, and finally Outbreak on October 22! Although each title shares the same universe, they are all self-contained stories that you can play in any order and they will all be available in time for Halloween!