Biohazard Outbreak Original Soundtrack

Taking a bit of rest from the wild, unxeplainable steel screams and howling fogs, I've decided to take you for a little more classic ride. The drums, the pianos, the violins. The best Resident Evil / Biohazard soundtrack ever.

Why Outbreak? Why did I choose this multiplayer offspring of the great RE franchise, often labelled "a little more than mediocre" and "only for hardcore RE fans"? Indeed, why did I call it the best RE soundtrack?
Because, frankly speaking, it was the music, which made me play through the entire game (both games, in fact) again and again, unlocking and buying every single collection item, never once going online. It was the music which gave this game its rich and powerful soul and elevated it from "a little more than mediocre" to my third favorite Resident Evil game (together with RE Zero), crappy voice acting, or no crappy voice acting.

There are altogether seven people credited for composing this masterpiece and one of them deserves a very special mention. Akihiko Matsumoto is not commonly associated with video games, but is a very famous Japanese movie soundtrack composer. If you ever wondered why the second-to-none introductory song of Biohazard: Outbreak, or the credit-roll outro song sound so damn good, this man is the answer. These tracks are full of malignant power and all of their variations convey their montrous emotions in a very different way. Take Freezer Burn with its "waiting for the next nightmare" theme, so perfectly placed at the end of the first scenario. Or The Waterway of Darkness being the mixture of relief and exhaustion after escaping the infested sanitarium. This is the same tune as in Main Title Theme, the same language speaking different things. A similar thing happens in The Unpleasant Train; the powerful melody is the same as in Staff Roll, but this time, the fight is only beginning. There are also two other tracks: one for the destruction of Raccoon City (The Extermination) and one for the aftermath (Umbrella) - both very strong and undeniable, with great cutscenes to accompany.

For Resident Evil Outbreak, Matsumoto-san was someone like Harry Gregson-Williams for Metal Gear Solid 2, but we must not forget the other six people whose jobs at composing the "regular level" tunes was equally impressive. Let's start with probably the most terrifying track on the disk, innocently named Character Select. The man responsible for this pure horror is Tetsuya Shibata - whom you might know from Devil May Cry series. Some of his other tracks include the two beautiful interpretations of the main theme (The Big Picture, So Many Options) as well as the characteristic Happy Hour Jam Session playing at the J's Bar, offering a quirky, sarcastic alternate introduction for the game.

Next, there is Etsuko Yoneda who gave the atmosphere for some of the scenarios. These are his tunes that you will be hearing catching your breath or running from zombies in the J's Bar (The Plague Cometh, Split Seconds), dashing for the cargo lift in the laboratory (Freezer Burn), looking at the patients' beds, now smeared with blood, fearfully watching the air shafts (No Rest for the Wicked) feeling your blood rushing through the Leechman's veins (Here, There, Everywhere) or carefully making your way through the burning hotel, watching out for the lurking lickers (The Fire Within). He is also responsible for the Gallery Screen music - uncertain like the winter wind.

Mitsuhiko Takano was the one who rearranged the legendary Resident Evil 2 The Underground Laboratory theme into Into the Unknown - a legend of its own. This version features many more organic sounds, like the breathing, and has been enhanced with the oddly-sounding violins in the background, more than fitting for the not entirely deserted research facility.

Last, but not least: the sinister university of Raccoon City, along with all the dark secrets it contains, has been "voiced" by Kento Hasegawa's Hell on Earth (he also created the fight-songs for the Giant Leech and the Thanatos) as well as Masato Kohda's Laying it on the Line and Of Wisdoms, Truths, and Tyrants. You may also know these two names from Devil May Cry.

Seven people creating thirty-one tracks - forming a powerful, unforgettable experience. Curiously enough, these aren't the names associated with RE soundtracks, like Masami Ueda or Shusaku Uchiyama. The team was different. The approach was different. Hence, the music is different. It has a sense of freshness in it as well as of an undeniable power which puts it far ahead of any other Resident Evil soundtrack, even my beloved RE2. Believe me, even if the game had its share of flaws, there is this one black CD, which may change everything. Everything.