.hack, Part 3: Outbreak

by Bandai

Product Features

• Characters from the animated TV series .hack/SIGN make an appearance.
• More exciting battles with new equipment and higher skill levels.
• Meet your new comrade - Terajima Ryoko! Face the most powerful monsters so far - Aliens!
• Watch the evolution of the Bracelet as it gains an additional skill - "2128 Drain".
• See the Grunties from the towns develop additional search skills. Raise 2 new Grunties.

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000094M46
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches ; 6.1 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: September 1, 2003
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,261 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #41 in Video Games > PlayStation 2 > Action
  • #94 in Video Games > PlayStation 2 > All Games
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

In the 3rd chapter of the .hack saga, "The World" continues to deteriorate as the virus spreads out of control. As the outlaw player, Kite, you must choose your strategy wisely. Not only is the Outbreak affecting "The World" in the game, but now repercussions are being felt in the real world too. Is there a way to stop this Outbreak? Where does the answer to the mystery lie? Fight through contaminated cyberspace as you take on and eliminate enemies, and unlock codes to gate hack to even more environments. Will you ever find out who or what is behind this nightmare and wake Orca from his coma?

Product Description

In the 3rd chapter of the .hack saga, "The World" continues to deteriorate as the virus spreads out of control. As the outlaw player, Kite, you must choose your strategy wisely. Not only is the OUTBREAK affecting "The World" in the game, but now repercussions are being felt in the real world too. Is there a way to stop this OUTBREAK? Where does

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Yet Another Golden Grunty, October 12, 2003

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: .hack, Part 3: Outbreak (Video Game)

From a story viewpoint, this is the most interesting of the .hack games so far. Kite's efforts to find a way to help his friend Orca and other players who now lay comatose find him cooperating with a surprising array of characters. Several new companions appear, including Balmung, who originally stood in Kite's way. In addition, Kite manages to unite Helba and Lios in an effort to fight the encroaching virus wave that is attacking not only the game, but the world beyond it. And in the background, frightened CC Corp executives are preparing to pull the plug on the games servers - even though this will end all efforts to cure the injured.

If the story and character definition have improves, though, the game play has stayed the same. This isn't all bad, since the .hack series is marked by an easily playable game interface for what is actually a complicated RPG dungeon based battle style. But after two games, the third gets a bit repetitious. The dungeons aren't quite the fun they were, and long time players will find themselves rushing through the levels once they have figured out the needed battle strategies.

Which introduces the real flaw in spreading the game over four volumes, something I'll call 'over-levelling' for lack of a better term. All of the games allow the player to continue once the core game is complete. During the down time between games one is encouraged to play to complete side quests and improve stats. Which I did after completing .hack//MUTATION.

Unfortunately, the side effect is that all my main characters were already at high levels when I started Outbreak. The result is that I spent a whole game with Kite getting exactly one experience point per kill. In other words, he advanced exactly one level during the entire game. That is tedious, and reduces character development to a continuous quest for items that will permanently improve stats. Also, high stats mean you tend to blast through most conflicts without much need for finesse.

Despite this, .hack//OUTBREAK is one of this years better games. The marketing scheme where the story is allowed to progress ovewr several media makes the .hack universe a rich experience, and the games are marked by a high level of professional quality. If you are a fan of dungeon based RPGs you will want this. The accompanying Liminality DVD, by the way, is the best so far in the series.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet, December 6, 2003

By 

Damian (Delaware.(It's a state)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: .hack, Part 3: Outbreak (Video Game)

First of all, the two idiots who rated it one and zero screwed up this game's rating, but whatever. It's a great game, better than Mutation, and even better than Infection, in my opinion. Although it is identical to the first two games in many aspects, this is both a good and rarely bad thing. The story and characters are better than in this edition, the spells get pretty badass, and the weapons look awesome. For those of you who have played the first two, you finally get Balmung in this game, which makes it tough to decide between him and BlackRose. But anyway, great game with better characters and character development. Very recommended.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars .hack//outbreak, March 18, 2004

By 

"kniteflux" (Maple Grove, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: .hack, Part 3: Outbreak (Video Game)

While .hack// is quite a phenomenon, a review of the enjoyment of this game has nothing to do with the anime series (although fans of the series can find little easter eggs in the game series).

The strengths of .hack//outbreak are the same as the first two in the series (.hack//infection and mutation): it has a great plot line, interesting new skill system, easy to use interface, and you can continue on your character into the next of the series. This is as expected, there were no changes to the game design. Despite this, I found this game to have lost some of its excitement (relevant to the series, it still found this game more exciting than other comparable games, like FFX or X-2).

In my opinion, they introduced a weakness to the series by making this a 4 installment series rather than a 3. I've started the 4th game and am very excited, but due to the total series game play hours and the layout of the plot, it would have been better as a 3 game series (with no plot changes, just the quantity of material per release changed). Go capitalism.

Like the previous game, if I were to say this game had any other weakness, it would be that it is quite a bit shorter than many comparable games. With completion of the story line (in this installment), the extras, and just having a little fun, I completed the game in about 30 hours.

Overall, the .hack//outbreak is a must have if you wish to play the series. I don't think that the series would have been as much fun if I did not play all of the installments. Having finished the first three game, .hack//mutation is my favorite of the series so far, but quarantine may very well take that throne once I finish it.