Online gaming, one day, will be the norm for console gamers. For now, though, we"re still scratching around waiting for the broadband installed base to creep up and for the likes of Sony and Nintendo to get their acts together before game companies really take it seriously. Some are taking it seriously, of course. Microsoft, in particular, seems to think that Halo 2"s online features for Xbox will create an explosion in demand for its Live service. Others, it would be fair to say, are merely dipping their toes into the water to see what the potential is - and one of those companies is most definitely Capcom, which has so far put out a couple of low key Xbox Live titles. Many felt that Outbreak, its PS2 online multiplayer Resident Evil title would prove to be a major draw for online gamers - only to find that this groundbreaking feature has been stripped out of the PAL version.
We"ve known this for a long time, of course - nearly a year in fact - but it"s not until you sit down with the single-player mode that you realise what a depressing fact that is. We imagined the game would still play very much like all the Resident Evils we"ve played over the years, but it does only in the loosest sense.