Resident Evil Confidential Report

An in-depth analysis by Neptune

www.projectumbrella.net

(Yes, I’m ripping off Tim’s Dead Aim article!)

“Playing Confidential Report… so you don’t have to.”

INTRODUCTION (page 3 – 4) REVIEW OF THE SERIES (page 4 – 5)

IN DEPTH ANALYSIS (page 6 onwards)

o Confidential Report File #1 (page 6 – 13) Story Research Facility B.O.W.S File #1 Timeline Placement

o Confidential Report File #2 (page 14 – 20)

Story The School B.O.W.S File #2 Timeline Placement

o Confidential Report File #3 (page 21 – 24) Story The Museum B.O.W.S File #3 Timeline Placement

o Confidential Report File #4 (page 25 – 28) Story The Labs B.O.W.S File #4 Timeline Placement

MATCHLESS SOLDIER VIRUS (page 29 – 34) TIMELINE (pages 35 onwards)

o Chart (page 35) o And Finally… (page 36 – 37) o Date and Facts Extracts (page 38 – 40)

AMENDMENTS (page 41-44)

INTRODUCTION Confidential Report is a series of games made by Capcom, developed for the cell phone market in 2006. Currently there are four games for this mini franchise each really only differing in the location. These are the first games in the Resident Evil franchise that have an implemented turn based system like the Final Fantasy series. The results of this experimental approach (at least in the Resident Evil series) are poor. This statement can be applied to all four games as the system is replicated exactly the same from File #1 up until the series finale in File #4. And yet, there's something oddly alluring about the games. I have downloaded all four games along with other cell phone games. This includes The Missions and The Missions 3D, Assault the Nightmare and a fan-made Afterlife game. Confidential Report plays the worst out of all of them, that’s for sure with the most basic of graphics and general design. So what makes me keep coming back? Okay that’s a bit over enthusiastic, I don’t keep playing the game, no, at the point of writing I am nearly at the end of File #1 part 1. I play as it must be down to the story. Since being on Project Umbrella we have strived to find the quirkiest game and timeline facts. When I first joined you guys I was delighted to see that Tim had included 4D executor in the timeline. As far as I could see there was no reason to omit it. And this is the same with Confidential Report. The widespread dismissal of the game and its universal condemnation all adds to an air of mystery and even unexpectancy. A middle fingered salute to the Resi establishment if we can pull it off. With the launch of the timeline and all our collectives’ efforts already we will show what can be possible. The inclusion of Confidential Report in our saga timeline will be the most controversial inclusion. But as I delve deeper into the storyline I feel that it ought to be included as it satisfies our own Project: Umbrella criteria.

It is made by Capcom. It is a new and original storyline. It can be easily related to main Resi series.

And I genuinely think that Capcom wanted the series to be included in the timeline. They have made a concise effort to include particular timeframes within the game, and clearly set the games within the hell stricken Raccoon City. Compare to Assault the Nightmare (which isn't canon as it’s not developed by Capcom), but lets say it was. There is no information regarding the outbreak, what character you are, where you are, and what you are doing in some strange castle. This

is not the case with Confidential Report, as throughout the saga we have fairly detailed files from both Tyler and Naomi. Clearly effort has gone into this regarding the storyline and small titbits that we all get a kick off. And this must be the reason why I want to play more. It certainly is not the game play. Heck I got killed really near the end and the game being wonderful as it is decided that it would not restart me from the last typewriter but from the very beginning. Needless to say I was not happy! But as I play and peek ahead thanks to Welsh's script, I can’t help but feel that whilst certainly a side-chapter, it can quite easily be added and even assist in other matter deal with by other games.

REVIEW The next section will be a review (game wise) of the series. I accept that I have not played Files 2-4 yet, but rest assured they are identical. Players take control of either rookie (naturally) cop Tyler Hamilton, (possible relative to George?) or FBI agent Naomi McClain. This is the same for all 4 games, and really adds longetivity to the games, as in effect you are getting 2 games/missions in one bundle. Both characters will start off at differing points, and battle through the hoards of the undead to accomplish a mission. For Tyler it is to escape, and Naomi is to locate informants for the FBI. When your character appears on screen, four red triangles appear around the sprite which indicates which direction your character can turn/move. Like all Resi games, hitting up on the phones d-pad is forward no matter which direction you are facing. The character will then move one space. This is in essence the mechanics of the system, and it works okay in combat. However this move one space system is implemented throughout the game, even in non combat situations. This is what is most annoying and very time consuming. Walking along a baron corridor takes forever, when you should be able to hold up and run, you cannot. You will move one space, the 4 triangle come back, and then you move one space again, triangle back and so on. Very laborious. So what about combat? With the system designed for turn based combat surely when fighting the B.O.W.s it will all be great fighting? Well no. The turn based system does work well enough when confronting zombies and Cerberus. But the minute you encounter a Licker you're fucked. Not only do the little critters disappear from the screen. (Presumably climbing up the walls) they take an awful lot of firepower.

Tyler and Naomi Prepare for battle

And what’s worse, is that should the BOW move to your left instead of staying in front of you, you will have to turn to face him, and that will constitute your turn meaning the Licker will get a free hit at you! By the time you have turned to face him, taken his attack then fired. The Licker would have moved back to the side of you again meaning you have turn back! It’s a vicious circle, resulting in Lickers being the most dangerous standard enemy.

In general combat situations however, the game play is far more forgiving. Hitting the select button on your mobile raises your characters gun, and the floor is then divided into red square panel representing the extent of the weapon’s range. When a creature enters into that range, the square the BOW is on turns white, and it can be shot at. Oddly, one press of “fire” on the standard handgun actually fires 3 bullets meaning that ammo can be used up fairly quickly. Another annoying factor is that the creatures respawn constantly. Sometimes especially in File #4 it is very

easy to be unaware as to the next area to explore. Some doors are well hidden for example, and the game will punish you for this. If you decided to explore the area, and leave rooms, two in and out visits and the creatures will be back. If you take too long to find the exit BOWS will return wasting more and more ammo along the way. In terms of firepower, the characters are equipped with a generous amount of weaponry including handguns, knives, assault rifles, shotguns and Magnums. Surprisingly, there is more information about them here than there is in Resident Evil 4. Weapons are picked up in Shotgun Shell looking boxes that are scattered about. Both characters obtain a healthy amount of weapons and the variety is impressive with 5 different Handguns on offer as well as 2 Assault Rifles and Shotguns. Health is dealt with by First aid sprays, and Green Herbs. There’s no mixing element here, but there is a Green Herb Plus that restores medium amounts of damage. Health itself is measured on a 100 scale with 1 being dead, and 100 being fully fit. I would also say that Noami's adventure seems considerably harder than Tyler's with a lack of ammunition being notable in the second half of the game. As the system remains exactly the same throughout all four games, I feel I can confidentially review this system, and go on to talk about why we are really reading this. Overall, whilst the system does install some elements of fear, and its nice 2 see 3 zombies and think "oh shit" (its been a long time lol) it falls on its feet and ultimately fails. 4/10, 5 if I’m being generous.

Red and white

Squares dominates The game.

IN DEPTH ANALYSIS Lets get down to the nitty gritty, Confidential Report - canon or not? As mentioned already on the face of it, the game has to be considered canon as it passes our golden rules. With that in mind I’ll set out the storyline for the first game. ##################################################################### Resident Evil Confidential Report File #1 #####################################################################

DETAILS: STORY: Rookie RPD cop, Tyler Hamilton is on guard at an Umbrella facility when for some reason a large explosion occurs, and Tyler is knocked out within the facility. At the same time Naomi McClain an FBI agent who is investigating Umbrella hears the explosion and heads underground to find it. She is on a mission to rescue FBI informants who have been working undercover for the organisation. Basically that’s it for File #1. The pair meets in the middle of their respective missions, say hello, and move on. Tyler is trying to make it back to the police station and Naomi rescue people. During Naomi’s mission she encounters the previous FBI agent who had infiltrated the Research Facility, he however was dead, but pointed Naomi in the direction of “K”, an informant with vital information regarding the studies that went on at the facility. She does indeed locate “K” in the facility, but discovers that the remaining 3 are elsewhere in town, cue 3 sequels… RESEARCH FACILITY So what about this "research facility" as it’s called? Well as far as I could make out, it’s anything but. No doubt due to the platform it’s on the graphics is minimaliststic to say the least. Corridors and rooms are very empty with the occasional desk and storage box.

Head over to youtube and see for yourself, the place is empty of assets and anything that remotely resembles an Umbrella laboratory. However in File #4 Tyler and Naomi return to this facility and go down deeper and down actually underneath the sewer/river network and come across actually quite detailed Laboratories. More on that in the File #4 section. The facility is built on a few levels. There is a ground level that consists of nothing more than what I have described above. This leads me to the conclusion that this facility is very much in the public domain much like the dubbed "commercial centre" seen in End of the Road. Couple this with the fact that a cop is told to stand guard and he didn’t query it, or have to move heaven on earth to locate it, tells me this facility is not secret, but on street level. There are ladders leading to the underground levels. Here the areas are mainly brown with what appears to be chasms in the middle. A possibility considering Raccoons mountainous location. The underground segments again are very lifeless in terms of assets with connecting room’s very baron. Underground lighting is provided in the dirt areas but again that’s it. Delving deeper into the facility, and more areas become accessible, the dirt areas are now explained as being part of the sewer network with a river flowing through the middle of the facility underground. The files depict the river as a sewer, which is feasible, but I am willing to bet it’s actually part of Raccoons abnormal supply of rivers. This is because the areas don’t have a sewer feel at all, there are no tunnels per say, and the "river" is extremely wide. Too wide for a commercial sewer I feel. I could be wrong, but for me it looks like an old underground river. A river that could be connected to the one seen in Resident Evil Zero. Why? Because Tyler discovers Lurkers or at least zombie frogs. More on that later. So from File #1 at least, this "research facility" is not very research-y. This does

change in File #4, and when I get onto that I will talk more. But from my playtime and the abundance of boxes and lack of anything resembling scientific, I say this facility is more of a storage facility at best. Yes there are labs deeper underground but from this games perspective it appears to be nothing more than an Umbrella storage facility, and a typical Umbrella disguise akin to the Marshalling Yard and Spencer Estate. So where in Raccoon is it? This is a question that cannot really be answered. I know Tim you were concerned about its geography and

its connection to the RPD.

“Always with the boxes…”

Most rooms are similar To this.

Underground areas: Baron and lifeless

Having just started Part 2 of File #1, I can lay these fears to bed. Yes, Naomi does indeed begin her quest on street level outside a police station. She ventures down a manhole cover where she heard an explosion, and goes to rescue survivors and continue what the previous agent started... However I can confidently say the police station is NOT the RPD. You only see a small section of the station, but it has a big sign like the RPD, just saying "Police Station". It’s not the same folks. And this is a good thing. Think about it, Raccoon City with a confirmed population of 100,000 will have more than one pig-house. This could well be a regional one. BIO-ORGANIC WEAPONS Zombies So what creatures of the undead do we see lumbering around this facility? Well, predictably for a Resident Evil game, we have zombies. Due to the platform of mobile phone, they only come in 2 variants in File #1. Worker Zombies, and what looks to be UBCS zombies, but I don’t think they are to be honest. Just more Umbrella drones. Cerberus We also have Zombie Dogs. Or are they Cerberus? I’m not sure, due to the amount of dogs there are, I’m guessing they are BOWS. Of course with most Resi games, particular actions within games aren’t strictly canon and certainly the reoccurrence of Cerberus cannot be canon. To say Tyler and Naomi encounter them is sufficient. The BOW argument as opposed to secondary infectant is further boosted by the appearance of the Licker. Licker As mentioned earlier, they are little buggers to kill due to their disappearing act, but there appearance is also important in perhaps the very early Licker encounters in Raccoon City. The Research Facility we are exploring suffers an explosion, in an attempt (as deduced by Naomi) to cover up their research. However, for reasons discussed later, the outbreak was not as contained as perhaps what was thought, and many specimens escaped, if not then, but before the explosion. Placing File #1 will be discussed in a bit, but needless to say, we don’t see Lickers in the main saga until the 29th September, and not at all with Jill. We do however see the Lickers in the "Hellfire" scenario.

Different police station and

The Triangle movement Directions

Double Licker (and Cerberus) Attack

Form our Outbreak timeline discussions; Hellfire has been placed just after "Outbreak" on the 24th September. Couple this very early appearance of the Licker in Hellfire with our theories regarding the lickers in Raccoon ALL (bar Regis Licker) being lab experiments, and could we have found our source for the infestation? Certainly Birkin's Lab was developing the Licker, with the appearance of the Evolved Licker, but we don’t have concrete evidence to suggest that the Lickers escaped that early from Birkin’s Lab. File #1 provides us with plenty of Lickers, an explosion in downtown Raccoon (as opposed to Birkin’s outskirts location), and for reasons later an early outbreak/licker infestation. Crimson Heads non appearance… Arguably a good thing that they don’t appear, but initially I believed that they were in fact in the game. During File #4 a new type of Zombie appears a hunched red-tanned one. My instant thought was Crimson Head. My mind went into overdrive, and with this facility seemingly being the main Licker development facility it makes perfect sense for Crimson Heads to be present. Combine this with the need for an explanation for the Regis Licker’s origins and I thought I was onto a right winner. Unfortunately, all hopes were dashed when I decided to play File #2 and #3 which also has these hunched red zombies. These chapters take place within the city and as no Crimson Heads have officially appeared in Raccoon (bar probably the Regis Licker) it felt wrong to cement the Crimson Head tag to these zombies. There’s too many of them for starters, and as we do not see any other Crimson Heads in Racoon City, to say that a random cell phone game in event overrides RE2 and 3 and the Outbreaks was pushing it, even for Project: Umbrella. Also they don’t take many hits to kill, no more than a standard zombie, and as such I am not sure if the developer’s intention was to have Crimson Heads at all. Its up to you guys really, yes it does fit quite nicely if these zombies are Crimson Heads, and indeed if they had remained solely in File #4 then you would have seen an entirely different section about Crimson Heads. Alas, this is a late revision, a revision I was saddened to do and one less “wow” factor. On the bright side, previous to Confidential Report ever being discussed, the Lickers in Raccoon were always considered escaped lab experiments by the masses anyway, so in effect nothing has changed. With the Licker being a better BOW than a Crimson Head it’s also true those scientists at Umbrella probably would not keep their human test subjects in Crimson Head anyway.

The Crimson Head

Type Zombie. Hunched and with

Red markings?

Lurker Another cameo BOW comes in the form of the Lurker / Zombie Frog. As mentioned above, it’s unclear as to what it actually is. Tyler notes the mucus footprints coming from the river/sewer section and in the next room, in comes a green frog. Far greener than the Lurker we see in Zero, but this could be down to the poor graphic palette of the cell phone. My initial thought was, "Ah okay, a frog has been infected here."

But really, unless the virus is airborne (which it isn’t in this case as we have survivors) how on earth would a frog get infected? Would a zombie try to eat it? Unlikely, the frog would flee in time. And I’m not sure if a licker would bother to have a go. This leads me to the conclusion that the frog is in fact a BOW. But why a frog? Why would testing the t-virus on a frog be of any interest and value when Progenitor based studies were so poor? Would there be any value in continuing this line of study? I say no, and so I believe the frogs here are in fact Lurkers. And Lurkers that have survived since we last saw on the 23rd/24th July 1998. We know Cerberus survived, and continued to kill after the mansion incident, so why not frogs? Have another look at the Billy/Lurker video, the frogs more than capable of surviving in the high current water flow of the water treatment facility. More importantly, the only B.O.W in that facility that could survive the subsequent explosion. Birkin may have destroyed the Leeches and zombies that were scattered about there, but the Lurker could easily dive underwater and remain unharmed. Is it not feasible that many of the Lurkers then moved on from this location to hunt more food? Over a period of months they found themselves in the sewer network, or as I’ve described an underground river system. A river system that lets be honest is reminiscent of the river seen in Zero. I know I’m speculating, but I’m willing to submit that these are the same Lurkers from Zero, that survived Birkin’s self-destruct action. Nemesis Another surprising BOW is everyone favourite trench coat wearing Tyrant, Nemesis. That’s right folks, Nemmy is here, and he makes up the boss for the game for Naomi at least. Many may argue that the appearance of Nemesis undermines everything about Confidential Report. Nemesis was in Raccoon to

The Lurker ringed

In red.

The sewer/river where The Lurker came from.

Nemesis startling Naomi,

MGS style

hunt and kill the remaining S.T.A.R.S members. If that were true, then why did he actively want to kill fellow Umbrella employee Carlos? It appears that Nemesis has ulterior motives, or at least kill people that are threatening its survival. Nemesis has many unanswered questions. Such as when was he deployed? How was he deployed? Unfortunately Confidential Report does not answer those questions. From the artwork given to us by Welsh, it looks like he was transported in chains. Edit: According to the RE3 script writer, Nemesis was transported in a helicopter similar to the one the Tyrants were deployed in. – El Bastardo So why is Nemesis in this facility? Obviously for game play reasons if nothing else, but this does show that Nemesis was in Raccoon before he began to hunt Brad and Jill. Remember, RE3 takes place on the 28th; File #1 takes place a lot sooner. Point of interest regards Nemesis next appearance in File #2 where he is in his second mutation, which confirms that File #2 must take place after Jill has been infected and when Nemesis walks off at the Clock Tower. So for completeness, File #2 takes place late night on the 28th in accordance with Confidential Reports own mini timeline and still fits in with what we see in RE3. Fits quite snugly don’t you agree?! Quite how Nemesis gets out of this underground facility remains a mystery, but hey we like plot holes in Resident Evil now don’t we! A point that I have just found out is that File #2 takes place 2 days after quarantine of the city. This date is the 25th as to when the city was placed under martial law, so on that basis, File #2 takes place on the 27th. This however is in direct contradiction with the below screen showing Nemesis in his 2nd mutation, which we know didn’t take place until the 28th as witnessed in Resident Evil 3. Unless there are 2 Nemesis, then there is a problem, but I believe this is just an error on the developer’s behalf, and one that can be overlooked. I hope! Special Forces Troops Perhaps the most controversial inclusion in the game, and they constantly track Naomi throughout all four games are these Special Force units. Directly referred to in the games as “Special Forces from the organization”. She is referring to Umbrella here and not The Organization. Initially I was like, wow, Cleaners from Survivor are here. That would be awesome if it were. There is evidence to suggest that indeed they are B.O.W.S. Look at the picture to the right showing Nemesis and the forces. If they were human would Nemesis remain focused entirely on Naomi? If they were the Cleaners, then Nemesis would have no reason to attack them as he is a B.O.W himself. However I believe as Welsh has said on the boards that they are in fact U.S.S. They to are referred to as Special Forces in many sources, and unlike the Cleaners were defiantly present in Raccoon, and not just for the G-Virus sample retrieval mission. Also the Cleaners are just that, Cleaners and called nothing else.

From File #2 (above)

Nemesis v.2 as well as the

Special Forces

Look at the stance of the forces in the picture. They are not hunched like we see in Survivor, nor do they roll around. So what are they actually doing in this game? From the investigation reports conducted by Naomi their primary mission is to hunt down and kill the FBI informants who are providing the government Umbrella information. It looks like Umbrella caught wind of this betrayal and sent in the U.S.S to destroy any survivors. Indeed this is their mission, but as the games goes on, in a nice twist, the soldiers stop their primary mission and end up just killing anyone on site that maybe alive when they turn up. Indiscriminate massacre as Naomi puts it, with the U.S.S killing any survivors that know of the incident. This includes students and other FBI informants. Also reading on in the script, Tyler actually talks to an armed soldier thus confirming they are not Cleaners. It is a nice plot element of the storyline actually, and shows the U.S.S with a direct mission to eradicate informants, but through their lack of success (Naomi usually finds them) they end up just killing everyone on site. Consequently after Tyler’s interaction with a soldier, he to becomes a target for the soldiers and is hunted down. That’s it thus far for File #1 BOW discussion, the final part of this is File #1’s timeline placement. FILE #1 TIMELINE PLACEMENT Initially I had this worked out as being the 24th/25th, this would, as discussed have tied in with Hellfire quite well. Unfortunately, in Capcom’s own world of keeping the Confidential Report games quite well contained, they have limited the boundaries of the apparent dates. Key moments to remember are this: The explosion from File #1 is constantly referenced, and indeed File #3 takes place 3 days after that, and File #4, four days after that. Importantly File #4 can be placed at the end of the Raccoon Incident as Naomi describes that shortly after she left the city the bombardments began. Thus referring to the events on October 1st. As a result we are bound as to the in-game dates regarding events, so in effect we can work back from that. In an attempt to put back File #1 as early as possible, if one takes the events of File #4 as happening from the 30th until the late night 1st October. The four days from the beginning of that saga is the 26th. This is the date I propose the events kicked off. The 26th, there were still survivors, and there is a possibility that Tyler as a rookie would take such an order to guard a facility on his first day. Another important date is the 25th, as when Tyler emerges back at the police station he notes the city has been barricaded.

Lickers in the Apple Inn…

From the Research Facility?

This happens on the 25th, and again it’s easy for someone to not know there city has been barricaded. However this was bothering me, whilst the 26th is really set in stone due to the games own time limits and dates, I felt that with the Licker discussion earlier we had at least found the source of the early Licker appearances. However if the events took place on the 26th, it’s too late, as Hellfire has already occurred. Take a look at the first report made by Tyler in file #1: So you're telling me, that within a space of minutes after the explosion there were zombies? REmake tells us infection can take days, but we also know that the time a person becomes zombified is subjective. Look at Degeneration, and it is indeed seconds. But for an army of the undead to be made like this, and this quickly... I don’t think so. Naomi notes that the explosion was an attempt to cover the evidence of the facility. That makes sense, but would Umbrella cover up their research with an explosion if there had not been an outbreak? If everything was in full working order, wouldn't the assets simply be moved or transferred? I think an outbreak occurred before the explosion, and after a few days of trying to get the situation under control, which failed, then the explosion occurred. Thus I propose the outbreak in the facility occurred on the 24th, perhaps from the rats in the sewers, perhaps a leak, who knows. This in turn caused lab experiments to escape, and that’s what we see in Hellfire, and that’s why the facility is overrun with the undead when Tyler and Naomi explore it. For an explosion to occur releasing the virus and turning everyone to zombies in seconds is very unfeasible. We are told that the explosion did indeed release the virus, and I have no doubts it is at this point Tyler becomes infected with the virus. In File #4 we are told he is infected after entering a room, which promotes the airborne theory, it’s something that’s not fully explained, but the fact that Tyler starts his quest in the infected facility tells me he was infected right at the beginning of his missions. Sorry to ruin the plot, but Tyler dies in the end and turns into a zombie. The explosion at the beginning makes the most sense as to when he was infected, just unaware of it. Incidentally Naomi begins her quest above ground, thus she would not have been subject to the virus and infection. Timeline Placement: Initial T-Virus outbreak in the labs/facility: 24th September In game events of File #1: 26th September (early) 1998

“What happened? There was a sudden explosion just as I was leaving work. I seem to be the only survivor. Wait…they couldn’t have survived the blast, but what appear to be people are heading my way…”

##################################################################### Resident Evil Confidential Report File #2 #####################################################################

DETAILS: STORY: It’s been two days (actually 3, the error discussed earlier, see Nemesis discussion) since Raccoon City was quarantined, in the late, late evening of the 28th when whilst sheltering at the police station, a distress call comes in from the local high school. Tyler, dedicated to his duty as a police officer decides to go an investigate presuming that the call was made by survivors. Meanwhile, FBI cop, Naomi who is still in the city intercepts the same distress call and works out that it is from her informants and is encoded. She too embarks upon her quest to rescue her informant that had sent the message. File #2 has more storyline for Tyler this time. In File #1 it was mere escape from the facility, this time we see Tyler in his RPD role of serving and protecting citizens. His mission sees the cop search the school for survivors, and soon encounters a student. He promptly tells him there are more scattered about. Eventually Tyler rescues 5 survivors, then decides to “call it a day” and head back to the police station. Naomi is on her personal mission of finding “S”, the second informant and the sender of the message. He had got the students to raise the alarm with his message hidden in it. Importantly, after finding S in a dormitory bunker, she retrieves his data disc containing vital stats about the facility.

THE SCHOOL A refreshing change from the humdrum of the storage facility from the previous game, the school here is colourful, vibrant, and to a degree highly detailed. Far more effort has gone into the art design in the backgrounds with many colours making up stained glassed windows, and the lecture halls. On top of this the game is considerably larger than the first outing, with far more rooms to explore. Unfortunately this is hampered by the god-awful control system that remains the same as before. See the above “review” of the entire series for my thoughts on the matter. Needless to say it still takes an eternity to explore and the unfair turn based system when changing weapons means that the un-dead can pick you off quite easily. Anyway, about the school, it appears to be an old building with an antique feel going through the architecture. From the pictures you can see that there are notice boards and lots of wooden panelling and beans scattered about. It almost has a mansion feel to it that reminiscent of the Spencer Mansion. Coupled with this, Naomi also explores a small outside courtyard region of the school, which itself is like the outdoor bit seen at Apple Inn. The place is crawling with the Special Forces troops as the picture details.

As this place is indeed a school, it is littered with dormitories, and it’s these rooms that serve the best areas in the game. Small, usually only a few squares long and wide, and its here that Tyler’s survivors hide, but also naturally zombies. Fending off the creatures in such small confines is both challenging (due to the control system) and annoying especially if there is nothing else of importance in that room. There is a trial and error approach to exploration, and this alone is something that is very

reminiscent of the entire series, and a welcome feature to the game. So where in Raccoon is this school? Unlike the mystical Research Facility, the School can be kind of placed in Raccoon, thanks to the downtown map bundled with the RE3 Official Strategy guide, and the map we all know and love! Here below is a small section of the City replicated for your viewing pleasure. First let me insert a disclaimer here with this one.

The School:

Slightly more detailed

Ground Force: Extreme

Gardening (UK only joke)

I am not advocating the location to be certified any of the two Schools in Raccoon, I am merely speculating, something else to fill out File #2’s section, and to raise some points about the geography! As you can see I have ringed 2 possible locations for this school in the game. As mentioned above, it may not be and let us not forget that Raccoon University that features in Decisions, Decisions in Outbreak does not feature on any Raccoon map, so I am just testing the water. The problem before any conclusions can be made regarding which is the most likely candidate for the school is the Police Station seen in File #1. As I have previously analysed it is not the RPD, and most likely a regional,

smaller prescient than the main Raccoon police station. Ultimately that means the schools location is in fact in the suburbs and not within the downtown area depicted by the map. The end of File #2 sees Tyler go back to the Police Station to “call it a day” or something stupid like that. This tells us that the school has to be near or hereabouts to the police station in order for Tyler to genuinely believe he can make it back to the station without being attacked by the undead. A quick glance at the map and we see that the Raccoon High School is very close to the RPD with only one main street to cross. With that in mind there is the temptation to declare the police station from File#1 being the RPD itself, as having this tie in matches the geography well. I take issue with this. Firstly a lot of twisting is needed to match the two up. There is no underground facility underneath the RPD. File #1 explicitly states that there is, and we know from the numerous hours in many games there is the sewer network below the place. Furthermore there is no other evidence of an above ground research facility being anywhere nears the RPD in RE2 and 3. As discussed in the first analysis, the Storage Facility above the main labs appears to be very much non-secretive, it was only after the leak, that the commercial bit was overran with Zombies. Secondly, the School does not “feel” like a High School in the slightest. The American educational system is a mystery to many people around the world, because as far as most can make out its all American Pie esq. parties and Road Trips. Unfortunately Hollywood has distorted any truth in the actual system. Regardless the fact that the School has lecture halls stained glassed windows and a very traditional feeling to it, attaching a High School tag is not right in my opinion.

A small section of the city.

The second candidate goes to the City College of Raccoon City, and for me if I had to choose one, then this would get my vote. A City College would undoubtedly have a more grand and traditional setting about it, as a next steps up for the students of the City. The School would be more apt as a College, with its dormitories for international students, and boarders, and you just know they wear some form of uniform! Unfortunately no detail is actually given about the school, but we do know that it was the students who sent out the distress call with the informants message encoded, doesn’t sound like high school students to me. A problem is the police station location but the further the School is away from the main RPD, the more likely it is that there will be the regional prescient as theorized. I believe this is a more likely location and if push comes to shove I would nominate the College, with the police station more to the East, and off the map we see now. But again, this is not canon or concrete by any means and not timeline worthy. A side point is that this College is actually quite close to Clock tower where Jill would have been infected. Importantly for storyline purposes, we are near where the Nemesis mutated, and is also conveniently near the Dead Factory. Just an observation there guys! After a discussion with fellow Project: Umbrella member El Bastardo, he enlightened me on the concept that this City College is in fact the Raccoon University we see in Decisions, Decisions. Not being totally familiar with this final chapter of Outbreak, apparently this City College bears resemblances in its location with the Neptune Sharks (Yay!). This was all fine and dandy, but it wasn’t really anything to do with this article. As I have mentioned I’m merely throwing out suggestions. However, Bastardo then brought to my attention the Official Capcom Mobile World website. Have a look at the Game sheet description of File #2: Aside from the date error, it’s interesting to note that this official source confirms that the setting is indeed a University. The chances of Raccoon having two Universities are low, so one assumes as a result that the two places are the same. But the two don’t look anything alike! Yes you’re quite right, but in all likelihood, a large city university would have many campuses and buildings not just the ones we have seen in this game and even Outbreak.

“Confidential Report File 2 is the second part of this all new series from the highly

successful Resident Evil franchise and takes place two days after the explosion at the

Research Facility. Tyler and Naomi receive a call from a local University and realize that

it was a message from an informant. Can you save them in time? Come face to face

with new monsters and locations in this.” thrilling second file as you try to discover

more about the confidential report.

BIO-ORGANIC WEAPONS Zombies Cerberus Dogs moves two blocks, including attack. Licker Lickers can move 2 blocks at a time and attack you or teleport (jump) in a range of 4 blocks. Special Forces Troops The Soldiers Type A are those with handguns, they can attack away from the player in a range of 4 blocks; they can walk 1 block and attack or move 2 at a time and no attack. Bats Making a guest appearance, infected bats have collected in quite large numbers in the school, and add a different element to the combat system. As the critters are constantly flying, they do the “licker” disappearing act on a frequent basis, making them very dangerous adversaries. The actual method of killing them has not changed from any other BOW, and the red square, white square system is still in place even though the Bat is flying, the system recognises the area above the floor square and the gun aims accordingly. Leeches Another surprising appearance and by now you may have worked out that Confidential Report has a very Zero-enemy feel to it. Indeed this is further compounded (and complicated) with another BOW in File #4. But here in the second game, we have the Leeches making a return, and unfortunately not the ones from Outbreak. Even with the graphical limitations of a mobile phone you can tell that these Leeches are based on Marcus’ leeches. Look at the supplied picture. Firstly, yes they are leeches, and you do have to shoot them! Now that you’re over that shock, notice the white crown on the leeches’ body. Unfortunately it resembles Marcus’s leeches as opposed to the ones witnessed in Outbreak. See below for a picture breakdown of the leeches in question.

Bats in the school

Basement.

Leeches: Controversial

Marcus

Outbreak

OR

Aside from the colour differences, the white markings appear to be that of the Marcus developed Leeches, which if my research was accurate where European Medical Leeches. However as you all know, they cannot be Marcus’s leeches, as the Queen Leech died on July 23rd 1998. This is now September 1998. As mentioned Zero has had a significant impact in this mini-franchise, but we are going to have to say that they are not Marcus’ subjects otherwise we are going to get into a whole world of pain and plot holes. Having a Lurker survive is explainable, but the Queen Leeches offspring? Much less feasible I am afraid. The Leeches here also do not act as a collective as the ones seen in Zero do, and although colouration is not vital, they are green in Confidential Report, and not the orangey brown we all know. To avoid any form of confusion they have to be native leeches that inhabited the school for various reasons. Giant Spider A classic Resident Evil creature returns and for once it is not the one seen in Resident

Evil Zero! Oh no, here we have the Raccoon City as yet unidentified species of tarantula. What is nice about the Giant Spider, (and remember it is not a B.O.W but a “secondary infect-ant”) is the fact it looks exactly like the ones we all know from Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3. They appear from nowhere, climbing down on silken webs which is something that we have not really seen in the franchise before, as most Giant Spiders cling to the wall and spit acid at the player. Note in the picture the relative details of the

glass and the surrounding décor. A bit better than the last game! Nemesis (2nd Mutation) As mentioned earlier Nemesis v.2 makes the final boss a challenging one, and once again he is surrounded by the Special Forces Troops. Nemesis is pivotal in placing File #2 and will be discussed more in depth below. FILE #2 TIMELINE PLACEMENT The in game dates depict that File #2 takes place 2 days after the quarantine was imposed upon Raccoon City. This therefore means the events transpire on the 27th September. Unfortunately as mentioned, this is highly inaccurate as Nemesis has mutated since then, as he does so after being shot at and having his rocket launcher blow up on his arm. This occurs on the 28th September, meaning that in order for the second mutation of Nemesis in File #2 to be canon, and then this must take place after this event, and therefore late night on the 28th September.

Arachnophobia:

Also note the two sneaky Leeches there!

You could also have a Nemesis mini-game! He leaves the Clock Tower and heads to the school, which is looking more and more likely to be the City College due to the ambiance of the place as well as its convenient location to the Clock Tower and the Dead Factory. With Jill resting in the chapel and Carlos looking over her, Carlos’ quest for the cure does not begin until the 1st October, meaning the mutation of Nemesis has been in place for 2 plus days. With no in-game Resident Evil 3 explanation, Confidential Report kicks in and we see his appearance at the school. No

doubt he thought, (if he does think for himself) that his tentacle infection of Jill was complete, and that he had succeeded in his mission. Carlos’ attacks left him heavily bruised and he mutated, and went back to the Clock Tower to finish him off. It all fits very snugly again don’t you think? We seem to have a habit of finding these / Capcom getting lucky. Again, well less so this time as the date for File #2 has to be altered, but hey, it’s not bad! Thankfully, both this and File #3 are fairly self-contained, and aside from the Nemesis appearance, its placement is fairly easy. After input from El Bastardo, Nemesis (in RE3) shoots down the rescue chopper at precisely midnight according to the clock tower clock. Therefore give or take a few minutes for Nemesis to be defeated and walk away, we are already technically into the 29th. This means that by the time Naomi encounters the Nemesis v2 as seen above, we are already into the next day. Consequently, File #2 is sprawled across two days (much like File 4 – discussed later) in order for it to fit well enough. Timeline Placement: September 28th 1998 (very late) – September 29th 1998

Nemesis 2nd Mutation

Taking out Naomi.

##################################################################### Resident Evil Confidential Report File #3 #####################################################################

DETAILS: STORY: Tyler once again returns to the safety of his local police station, but because he is all righteous and all, when the alarm sounds at the local museum he risks his life to see if there are any survivors. Meanwhile Naomi also hears of this alarm at the museum and figures that there could also be survivors, and fears the Special Forces are moving to eradicate any survivor not just FBI informants. Naomi’s suspicions were correct, and the troops are now indiscriminately shooting and killing anybody still alive. Tyler in fact encounters informant “M” before Naomi does, and whilst he doesn’t get a chance to talk to her, she (M) drops a vial which Tyler picks up. Unfortunately for him, this makes him a target for the troops who are also in the museum. However, he does actually talk to a soldier and even asks about the empty vial that he procured. Naomi finds M halfway through File #3, however the evidence she needs hides in a vault within the museum, and the action then turns to Naomi locating that vault. Tyler also encounters the vault and finds that M’s husband has been shot by the soldiers. Naomi however then finds the sample she was looking for. She now has the data disc from the School, and this sample as well, but concludes that she needs more from the Research Facility. Tyler meanwhile realises the Troops who are murdering civilians and the research facility are the cause of this madness so he to heads back there.

Indiscriminate Killings

Neptune’s Note: - “It is at the point I think you will agree that Tyler’s storyline is pathetic. File #1 is fine, escape from the facility he was guarding and trapped in. File #2, a school alarm, had better help especially if it was close by. File #3 pushing it, but he wants to save lives and with the alarm going off, there could be survivors. But File #4? The closing file from this game is this”: “I mean what kind of stupid reason is that? Oh, I am a target; let’s go to the Umbrella stronghold. Ridiculous and it is only Naomi’s actually quite intriguing storyline that keeps the overall arc intact. Yes, Tyler discovers important evidence later, but nothing that Naomi couldn’t have done. I’m just a man, and not Capcom’s story writers.” END RANT THE MUSEUM As many will know, the RPD, home of STARS was once a museum in the city; this is presumably the new one. In truth this is the saviour of File #3, otherwise this particular entry would succumb to the direst tag. Whilst none of the 3 sequels really push the series in any other direction, most add to it with new enemies or competent storyline. File #3 lacks all this except with one notable exclusion. The Museum as a location is great, easily the best location out of all 4 games. The detail (in comparison to other scenarios) is complete, and you actually do think you are in a museum. There are plenty of exhibition rooms to explore with glass cabinets and displays showing varying artefacts. Graphical limitations mean they can’t really be made out, but you get the idea. ***QUITE POSSIBLY THE BIGGEST EVER RESIDENT EVIL NEWS IN THE HISTORY OF THE FRANCHISE ALERT!*** The Museum has his and her toilets! For the first time I can recall we have Silent Hill Esq. toilets inside the Museum? Amazing, and there is a key inside one of the small rooms to boot! So we have excellent detail within the museum and we also have toilets. The museum also has ample underground areas where the precious artefacts are stored that aren’t on public display. What is nice is that these areas are also nicely detailed but contrast with the vibrancy of the public areas well. The basements are littered with

Tyler was shocked to learn that he himself had also become a target of the mysterious Special Forces troops. Realising that the source of all this madness was the research facility itself, Tyler heads once again for the blast site.

The Museum: Nicely Detailed

boxes, and to an extent it is reminiscent of File #1, but as you can tell from the images, they look way better. You do get the feeling that you are in a basement which is an achievement for this series! So where in Raccoon is the Museum? Just like the Research Facility it is hard to tell exactly where the Museum is. There is no specified location on the provided map, but again this does not mean there is not a museum in Raccoon City at all. Again, one assumes it is relatively near where all the other Files take place, so if we work on the assumption that perhaps the City College is the School from File 2 then this is possibly to the east of the city and off the raccoon map. Naomi or Tyler never venture outside the Museum building so there are no visible clues regarding street location or anything like that. It is open ended to a degree, so it works without conflicting with anything. BIO-ORGANIC WEAPONS Zombies The zombies from File 3 moves 1 block at a time, so they move or attack, never both. Cerberus Licker Special Forces Troops The Forces once again turn up, but in this chapter they reveal themselves to Tyler as I have mentioned in the Story section. Indeed some of the Forces even speak to Tyler without their gasmasks on, and prove conclusively they are not Cleaners from Survivor. Tyler becomes a target after he acquires an empty vial from an informant. Centurion (Giant Centipede)

Another relic from the much maligned Resident Evil Zero, but thankfully the appearance of an overgrown Centipede does not cause any headaches that other BOWS have over the last few scenarios. A quick recap on Centurion and Archives explicitly states that the centipede is not a BOW, and just a bug that was in the Management Treatment Facility that got infected. (Presumably the leeches decided it was hungry or something!) As it is not a BOW there is no reason why such a mutation in a common centipede cannot happen again and as such is the only explanation as to why we do have a giant centipede in the Museum.

Special Troops: Human after all

Large and in Charge

Secrets of the Museum

Underground.

Centurion acts as the boss for File #3 and as you can tell from the screen above, it is not quite as big as the one seen in Zero, but still of a large proportion and capable of severe damage to characters on screen. The Centipede can move 5 blocks at a time, and is a tricky customer to deal with. FILE #3 TIMELINE PLACEMENT Thankfully this is quite an easy one to place provided we follow on from the error made with File #2. The intro to File #3 confirms that this chapter takes place 3 days after the explosion at the facility, thus with File #1 taking place in the wee hours of the 26th, File 3 indeed takes place on the 29th. That is the same day that Leon and Claire arrive in the doomed city, and is one day after File #2. In actuality because File #2 has to take place very late on the 28th and actually into the 29th the time gap between these two chapters could be hours or could be nearly 24 hours. It is up for debate, but it is not necessary really, the time can remain unspecified and it will not affect the saga. Timeline Placement: September 29th 1998

##################################################################### Resident Evil Confidential Report File #4 #####################################################################

DETAILS: STORY: For the final and climatic finale in the Confidential Report saga, we see the two heroines return to the fabled Research Facility they were investigating back in File #1. However, they soon discover the secret labs below the storage facility that disguised the actual research that was going on: viral development of super-soldiers. After encountering some last few survivors, Tyler and Naomi continue to delve deeper into the secrets of the laboratories, and they soon discover that the facility is to be bombed. Not before the root cause of the facility is uncovered. Something called the Matchless Soldier Virus and that being the cause of the outbreak. This would form the final piece of the puzzle that Naomi needs in order to successfully submit to her superiors. A sample of the virus with its vaccine and the data disc are all in her possession in exchange for her safety. The final informant is found, and the information he had documented is recorded. Tyler meanwhile uncovers the truth regarding the virus not before he is told he contaminated and thus infected with the virus upon exploration of a room. The pair rushes for the evacuation tunnel, and they both make it out of the facility. More stories will be divulged in the And Finally Section.

THE LABS: (Special Research Laboratory B) As predicted, and in true Umbrella style, the laboratories are hidden below a seemingly inconspicuous building. In this case the storage facility we explored in File #1. The game begins with a series of trips down numerous ladders, seemingly by-passing all the locations we had seen in the first game. When the characters arrive at the bottom, and in the laboratories, we are in for a graphical treat. The labs are generously detailed, and you really do get the feeling of it being quite a sterile and clean place. You can almost smell the TCP whilst playing. Naturally many BOWS are littered in the many rooms in the labs with many possessing laboratory equipment. If one can think of the labs seen in Resident Evil 4, it’s very much like that. The change in location feels quite out the blue, and yet very Resident Evil and very Umbrella. BIO-ORGANIC WEAPONS Zombies The zombies from File 4 moves 1 block at a time and can attack as soon as they step into a block next to you, or, they moves 2 blocks. Licker Special Forces Troops The Soldiers Type B have rifles instead of handguns, there are some differences: this ones make more damage, resist a little more and wear masks. Eliminator Remember how I said Confidential Report borrows heavily from Resident Evil Zero? Well it raises its ugly head again with the quite random appearance of everybody’s favourite infected primate the Eliminator. From Zero the Eliminator is a Progenitor

based organism that was used in the very early stages of testing before human testing was deemed “appropriate”. Much like the Plague Crawler and the Lurker the Eliminators were left-over’s, has-been’s, and story wise, should never show itself again. Alas they have, and whilst the appearance of the Lurker is just about explainable (a survivor of the Water Treatment Facility explosion) the Eliminator less so. A challenge is what it is and we at Project: Umbrella love a challenge. When I confronted the issue of the Lurker, I raised the point that it could theoretically be a Zombie Frog, and thus a secondary infection BOW. This was

disregarded on the basis that the likelihood of a zombie infecting a frog is minimal, and what purpose was there to test on amphibian? The most likely answer was either a survivor from Zero, or possibly just thinking about it now, the water supply was contaminated by a corpse or something, so it could be a Zombie Frog after all.

The Labs feel very

Much like labs.

Eliminators and Lickers

Patrol the Labs

This argument cannot really be applied to the Eliminator. As far as I am aware Gray Langur Monkey’s are not native to America, so there is no chance of a secondary infection in the same manner of a potential Zombie Frog. Thankfully the testing on a monkey does make more sense with the Eliminator. The next section will deal with the MS Virus and its consequences on the game and the entire series, but needless to say as this virus was being developed there is a good chance that test monkeys were used in its progression. More than likely, a few notes were dug out, and it was discovered that Gray Langurs, /same species from Zero were used to test this virus. Some were ordered in, and this is why we see the Eliminators in the labs. The one problem which I am sure you have spotted is its appearance, and what would a T-Virus monkey look like? Eliminators were Progenitor Virus creatures and not Umbrella’s flagship virus, so the subsequent mutations would one would think be different. I for one agree with this, but unfortunately, the games monkeys are clearly Zero’s monkeys, and look nearly identical. To resolve this issue (and there is a way) is to either state that a T-Virus monkey looks exactly the same as a Progenitor Virus monkey. Or the monkeys we see in the game are merely representations of T-Virus monkeys, but Zero sprites have been used for convenience. That excuse sure does sound familiar, and indeed it is the same reasoning behind the Hunters in Umbrella Chronicles. In all 4 stages the same Hunter design is used, but we know that in Zero and Remake it is the Alpha model, in Raccoon City it ought to have been the Beta or 125R model, and in Umbrella’s End it was supposed to be the Delta model. Alas Capcom are lazy bastards and only one standard Hunter was used throughout, and it’s that Hunter that represents the Hunter and its various incarnations in the scenario. The same mantra could be applied to this situation here with the monkeys. It avoids any unnecessary plot holes and as we have a precedent from Umbrella Chronicles we would not be bending the rules that much. The Monkey can move 2 blocks at a time and attack. Über Eliminator Acting as the daddy of all Zombie Monkeys, the appearance of this giant monkey further highlights the fact that these monkeys were not Progenitor. I mean why Umbrella would further develop the monkey to this status unless of course it was a new virus development programme? This über model is a lot larger than the standard monkey as the picture shows, and it can also summon other monkeys to help its battles making it and its abilities impressive and dangerous as a result. Oddly this giant monkey can only move 1 block at a time due to its large weight, but can, as mentioned call reinforcements.

Unlikely to be a

Progenitor creature

The über model

Summoning its minions

FILE #4 TIMELINE PLACEMENT The ending of File#4 is very explicit; the city gets bombarded and destroyed meaning we are bound by this event taking place on the 1stOctober 1998. File #4 however as depicted in the games takes place 4 days after the explosion as seen in File #1. File #1 takes place on the 26th, so by default this scenario must take place on the 30th September. That’s a day before the nuclear strike. In terms of specific time placement within the 30th September there is no clue within the game itself. However we know that when the pair emerges from the Labs, there is little time before the city is destroyed. Therefore the most likely timeframe for this is late night on the 30th, and goes into the 1st October before dawn when then city is destroyed. They escape the facility with only a few hours to spare, but alas only one of them makes it out of Raccoon City alive… Timeline Placement: September 30th (very late) – October 1st 1998

MATCHLESS SOLDIER VIRUS

Undoubtedly the most controversial aspect of Confidential Report and its storyline is the inclusion of this MS Virus. Seemingly contradicting the existence of the T-Virus and everything the franchise has worked for, we have a virus with a stupid name that also makes zombies, but regenerates cells to create super soldiers? I mean really, we should pack it in and forget this article! I say NO! And upon deep meditation (and medication) suddenly it all began to make sense, and then really suddenly quite possibly the biggest revelation about the series ever. This MS Virus is only ever mentioned in File #4 when Tyler discovers a file, and when a warning claxon goes off telling him he is infected with the Virus. To all intent purposes most seasoned Resident Evil players would have assumed we were dealing with a T-Virus outbreak, and in truth we are… Let us get the formalities out the way. There is no way the MS Virus is something new and I quite confidently state that researchers were very much premature in tagging this virus with an actual name. The MS Virus is unmistakably the T-Virus in all but name. I am not saying it is a translation error or anything like that, what I am saying that the virus in Confidential Report is still the humble Tyrant Virus. So why this odd name? Well logic dictates that the researchers were developing the virus, but using the T-Virus as a base to forward their research. This is noted by Tyler and confirms the existence of the Matchless Soldier research programme into the dubbed non-death cell. It is clear that this laboratory’s sole task was to further the actual properties and capabilities of the T-Virus, and their heading, their project is the Matchless Soldier.

To confirm the virus is still the T-Virus, Tyler is infected by the virus, and ultimately becomes a zombie. Only the T-Virus has this dramatic effect, and only the T-Virus was widespread in Raccoon. We see in File #2 and 3, the school and museum all infected, and infected with the T-Virus. We see the labs crawling with lickers again T infected. Suddenly it becomes clear, that the MS Virus really is a derivative of the T-Virus, but their researchers studies actually has not progressed that far at all, as the main properties of the base virus (T) override any advancement they have done in the labs. The games show absolutely no effect of what the MS variant does, and indeed even Naomi categorises the virus as a “mouse version”. At no point do we see these “super soldiers” and before you say it, the Special Forces Troops are themselves never attributed to

being a product of the virus. Further proof is attributable when Tyler administers J’s vaccine. It has no effect, and Tyler succumbs to zombiefication.

“Research report: Found a report some worker must've dropped. Says 'Matchless Soldier: Research on the Non-death cell' on the cover. Just what kind of research were they up to here?”

MS & T Virus Same thing?

Quite why the researchers call it the MS Virus is up for debate but with every ounce of evidence telling us it is the T-Virus, then perhaps the scientists were just a step ahead of their actual results and christened the advancement before proper testing could begin. Think of the Soviet Union and its labelling. Often citied as a Communist country (MS Virus) it in reality never came close to matching the characteristics of a Communist country as outline by Karl Marx. (Matchless Soldier programme – immortality; super-soldier) Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev declared Communism: Umbrella Scientists declared MS Virus. Both were wrong in their assessments. Furthermore as we know it is the T-Virus really, the explosion that released the virus could also be a mini-cause for the major outbreak in the entire city. We have already expressed the theory that the escaping Lickers were probably the ones we see in Hellfire. As a side note, this sort of infection has already been seen in the series with Nemesis and the infection of Jill and Brad. Both were infected by the NE-T Virus, but Brad still became a mere Zombie. Jill on the other hand when infected was saved by the cure Carlos created at the Hospital. No doubt the cure is just for the standard T-Virus as the chances of a Raccoon hospital having a cure for a European variant are very, very low. However the cure for the T-Virus still worked on her even though she was infected with a different variant. The same principles can be applied with the Zombies from File #1 and 4. Technically they were all infected with the MS Variant, but just like the NE-T Virus there is no notable differences between that and a standard T infection. In File #4 Tyler becomes infected with the MS Variant, and at the end point he has to choose either the M or J Vaccine to save his life. The J vaccine fails and he dies a zombie, whilst the M Vaccine works and he lives. A quick flick through the game series and there has been three recorded cures for the T-Virus.

The T-Virus cure Carlos creates in Resident Evil 3; Daylight from Outbreak File #1; A cure exists in Outbreak File #2 that Tyrant T-0400TP

destroys.

We can now add a fourth to the list with the “M” vaccine. The M merely refers to one of the informants/scientists of the facility who probably synthesised the cure or something like that. Just like with Daylight, the scientist there called it that

Brad becomes a standard

Zombie after being NE-T infected

The 2 vaccines Tyler

Has to choose

because you don’t need an Umbrella in Daylight. He could have easily christened after his name but didn’t. It seems that for Umbrella there has not been a standard cure for the infection, but with all the data they have creation of a cure is possible, hence the four versions, each with differing names. The “J” vaccine incidentally is obviously a failed vaccine that they kept for research and development purposes. Also in the Degeneration film a main plot point is the creation of a T-Virus cure. I won’t spoil the movie now, but needless to say the scientists were finding it tough to create one. Why would that be, with 4 already been developed in the past? Seeing as Raccoon was destroyed any samples were lost after the nuke, and more importantly only Wesker has the data. After taking the Red Queen data in 2003 only he has access to everything he would need to create a cure. With a new derivative of the T-Virus being developed it also makes sense as to why the labs would actually have monkeys in the facility. Whilst Umbrella were very much in favour of using human lab rats, perhaps this particular facility could not get them and had to resort to using the Gray Langurs. After escaping Raccoon primary analysis is done on the sample Naomi bundled out the facility, and they discover the cells of the virus regenerated constantly. She then theorises if Umbrella were trying to develop the holy grail of science, immortality. Sure the story has taken a walk on the sci-fi side with this, but in actuality it is not as far fetched in the Resi universe than first believed. So to conclude with the MS Virus, what do we have? Unmistakably, the base virus was the T-Virus, and this was used with its mutation effects in mind to develop what is probably an Umbrella dream, the super soldier. Research was carried out using monkeys to progress the boundaries of the T-Virus by having the cells of the virus constantly regenerate. No doubt, some progress was made, but the mutational effects of the T-Virus were too overpowering in most cases. However genetically and chemically perhaps, the virus was different from the T-Virus to christen it the MS Virus in the same manner of the NE-T Virus being slightly different from the T-Virus. The aim of the research was to create soldiers that could heal in battle and theoretically live forever. Unfortunately for Umbrella, as mentioned the effects of T were to strong for any regeneration ever to take place, and no actual MS Virus BOW was seen in the games. …or were there?

Zombies: MS Variant

Still, a T Zombie.

Many may have already spotted a similarity to the virus’s properties to something we have already seen in the Resident Evil franchise. Something that continues to baffle us Resi boffins to this day. What is everybody’s favourite sunglasses wearing villain infected with? That’s right, could Albert Wesker be the first and only MS Virus creature that 1) there has been, and 2) not have the T-Virus effects take over, and 3) be the “super soldier” Umbrella were looking for. Let’s assess the evidence: From what we see in the game, the MS variant is a total flop

which means its properties are untested in the field. That doesn’t mean it didn’t work, just not as well as they had hoped or more likely the cataclysmic failure to prevent the T-Virus’s mutation taking over.

This leads me to the conclusion that there would be a lot of left over failed test subjects and more importantly virus samples. The test subjects would be disposed of, or in most likelihood be responsible for the T-Virus outbreak in the facility before the explosion occurred, and then the virus was released into the local area from that.

Critically, as mentioned there would be many MS variant samples in the labs, and with the obvious lack of success, there would be a need to keep them elsewhere, a stockpile if you like.

Virus Memo: Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles:

The sample you have been given is from one of the mutation stocks. It possesses a unique characteristic. It should be injected into the host at least 5 minutes before needed. The results are almost immediate, but they do require a few minutes too completely take effect. Even in death, as long as some portion of the host remains, the virus can reconstruct the rest of its body and bring it back to life. During this process, there is a brief period where the host appears, for all intents and purposes, dead. In experiments with animals, 70% of the subjects grew more powerful as a result of this resurrection. Their muscular and circulatory systems for exceeded those they possessed in life.

Wesker and the MS Virus: The Ultimate link to the

Main games…

I have bolded the important aspects of the memo, but I am sure you agree the similarities are uncanny. Wesker’s Virus reconstructs human cells. The MS Virus reconstructs cells; Wesker’s Virus tested on animals. Zombie Monkeys in File #4, über Monkey,

more powerful than the standard Monkey; Wesker’s Virus designed to cheat death. MS Virus designed to find immortality; Wesker’s Virus not human tested. No MS human tests in all four games From Wesker’s Report: “It would put my body in a state of death, and then bring me back to life, with

superhuman powers.” MS Virus goal was to create “super soldiers” And finally from the Resident Evil 5 official website: “Wesker encountered Chris in the underground laboratory in Antarctica but from

the superhuman abilities Wesker had gained from exposure to the T-Virus, Chris could barely hold his own”. MS Virus is undoubtedly a variant of the T-Virus.

That was big surprise for you all, (but not the last) and whether is canon or not I do not know. All I can be sure of is that the MS variant (as it ideally should be called) is the closest match to Wesker’s Virus we have ever seen. It matches the properties, the goals of the virus, and the possible reason as to why it was not a big hit for Umbrella. With the facility going under so early in September, and with the continued failure of the MS variant, all hope was lost for the project. There were growing stockpiles of this variant and in most cases would merely revive an animal to no more than a powered up zombie BOW. Something that the standard T-Virus does pretty well already, and to the standard Umbrella scientist it was nothing more than the T-Virus. The only gap in the continuity is how Birkin got hold of a sample and how he knew it would work on Wesker. Firstly as there were stockpiles of Wesker’s Virus it would not have been difficult to get a sample, and indeed if it is the MS variant, he also knew the results of their tests.

Birkin however was an excellent scientist and probably took it upon himself to modify it and tweak it, intrigued by what potential it had. Obviously still inferior (in his mind) to his G-project, he was interested enough to help Wesker when he asked Birkin about revival. A side project for sure, but helps establish the basis that whilst the virus was in plentiful supply, only with Birkin’s help did it fulfil its potential. By then however, Birkin was too in-deep with his G Virus to care about mass

This virus has been designed to conquer death. 20% came back to life, but with none of the beneficial side-effects present in the primary group. The remaining 10% remained dead. In other words, there was a 90% revival rate. The virus has not been used on a human yet, but that is soon to change. I'm not sure how this will help, but I'm sure you will put it to good use! Good luck.

Did Birkin perfect

what was started at the Research

Facility?

producing this virus. Wesker’s was a one off, only the genius of Birkin could have actually created the MS Virus. All the scientists’ failure from the Research Facility with their presumptuous labelling of the virus when it did not even meet the characteristics of the goals was Birkin’s second fiddle. Something he quickly modified and then gave to Wesker. Dozens of Umbrella drones could not succeed in creating the MS Virus but one man could. Birkin creates the Communist State rather than just preaching that he has. Consequently Birkin creates Wesker which is the only MS Virus BOW in existence. Quite how this news would go down in the Resident Evil Community remains to be seen and it is a very bold claim, but for me this is the best match for Wesker’s Virus, and if Resident Evil 5’s website is anything to go by, Capcom have stuck at his mutation merely being the T-Virus. Interestingly, I often preach that Wesker needs a major Achilles heel, something that proves that his virus is inferior to the T-Virus. However with this theory in place, and the assumption that Birkin tweaked the research from the labs, Wesker’s Achilles heel may never happen or never need to happen. I think deep down we all know Wesker probably won’t mutate into a blob, so this theory works out well here. Birkin quickly took the research that the Research Facility were developing and succeeded. He didn’t share the results because he didn’t know if Wesker was going to die or not. Inadvertently it worked, and Birkin succeeded with the Matchless Soldier in Wesker. It means we do not need reasoning behind the rejected Virus, because we already have one. The MS variant was rejected because it sucked. Tests showed no major differences from T infections. The scientists from File #4 couldn’t unlock the virus’ potential, but William Birkin could. Then he continued his G studies. However from an Umbrella point of view, the Virus variant did not work and they probably did not even know about Birkin’s alterations. From their point of view the stockpiles were just that, piles of failed experiments.

TIMELINE The best way to illustrate the overall timeline is naturally with a Neptune patented, brand new one of a kind Project: Umbrella chart!

I hope that clears everything up regarding the whole timeline. Needless to say that was conducted without playing on the last 3 games at all, so it could be subject to change. However the accuracy of Welsh’s script is spot on, and I can say that this is the most likely outcome. I know I’ve skirted from File #1 discussion to File #4, then timeline, but I think in truth only these 2 chapters are important. With the error of the File #2 placement remedied (i.e. we accept it’s an error) File #2 and 3 are fairly linear with no new plot twists.

AND FINALLY… No doubt eagle eyed readers would have noticed hidden in the timeline a reference to the Outbreak File #2 bombings, this is my final surprise. This has been an enigma to most Resident Evil fans, as seemingly the end sequence in Outbreak File #2 (and 1) shows numerous missiles attack Raccoon City, and not the fabled nuclear bomb we have all grown up with. When we all discussed it, as opposed to rubbishing it as many would, we collectively agreed that perhaps these bunker missiles were sent in first to eradicate any underground Umbrella bases in the city. Confidential Report confirms this. As Naomi and Tyler escape the city, they note that the city is being bombarded and that the Research Facility was specifically targeted as well. An underground facility as it was, and our theory gains some legs here people. The bombardment they talk about has to be the bombardment we see in Outbreak File #2 just before the main nuke strikes the City. It is a nice addition that really links in well to an otherwise naked plot hole that I think this game has cleared up. Some miscellaneous titbits to clear up at the end and after the bombardment. What happens to our heroes of the game? Events from the script take place in this order: Both escape from the facility before the bombardments begin in Raccoon City. The pair meets up in the City and exchange information. Infected, Tyler administers J’s Vaccine, but shows no sign of improvement. Naomi is forced to leave Tyler dying, and somehow escapes the city before the

nuclear bomb is detonated. Tyler reawakens a Zombie, but dies in the subsequent bombing. Naomi begins to collate the evidence together using the mouse and what she had

witnessed. However before it all be published the US Government stepped in and ceased all

investigations into the Raccoon City incident. Likewise, the indiscriminate massacre by the Special Forces Troops was stricken

from the record, and the whole affair was classified as “Top Secret”. With her own evidence excluded, Naomi has very little from her ordeal and

tenders her resignation from the FBI. Her current status is unknown.

The Angels delivering their payload in Raccoon

City. From the ground it would be a bombardment.

As you have read I decided to opt for Tyler’s decision to choose the J vaccine rather than the M Vaccine discussed in the MS Virus section. There a few reasons for this. Firstly, the likelihood of Tyler ever returning to any future Resident Evil game is zero, so by killing him off we are wrapping up his involvement there and then. Secondly, as I believe that Tyler was probably infected with the initial explosion on the 26th, the effects of the virus may have been too great for a vaccine to work anyway. Finally, the script that Welsh obtained was from Capcom Mobile World and it depicts the “bad ending” sequence rather than him dying. It seems then perhaps Capcom wanted him dead anyway. So that’s its folks, my analysis of the four games, I hope you enjoyed the read, and the details I have provided. Certainly the game has a lot more to it than meets the eye, and spices up the timeline no end. With this information we will be the only source of information for these games which should stand us in good stead for the future. Below is my attempted timeline extracts, that Tim you may use/modify/edit/not use if you like for the timeline. As far as I can tell it should defiantly be included, and I look forward to them being there (albeit in a different colour!)

DATE AND FACT EXTRACTS

September 24th 1998 The MS Variant of the T-Virus is leaked in an underground research facility in downtown Raccoon City. Many of the Licker specimens escape the confines of the Laboratory and escape the Facility into Raccoon City itself. Umbrella’s Storage Facility located above the Laboratories is badly infected with many employees becoming Zombies as well as the facilities guard dogs. However, despite the escaped specimens, the incident is fairly well contained. September 26th 1998 Tyler Hamilton, a rookie cop on his first day is instructed to stand guard of the Storage Facility, unaware of the undead within. Suddenly an explosion rocks the facility, and Tyler is injured in the wreckage, he wakes up to find himself trapped in the facility. The explosion releases the Virus and Tyler himself is also in all likelihood infected. Tyler cannot escape from his position and begins to proceed into the facility to find an exit. He soon encounters the now Zombie employees. Meanwhile FBI Agent Naomi McClain is investigating the activities of the Umbrella Corporation and in particular this research facility. The FBI had managed to infiltrate the labs with an agent, but communications were lost. Many Umbrella dissidents who have become FBI informants currently working at the facility need to be located. Naomi begins her quest and ventures into the facility. The pair begins to search the facility independently of one another encountering many of the infected employees and dogs as well as the escaped Lickers. The two meet each in the facility and exchange information. Naomi then encounters various USS troops that have been sent in to contain the incident, however soon discover that the previous agent sent in before her was discovered and murdered by the troops. Tyler meanwhile continues to search for an exit as Naomi encounters the Nemesis, a state of the art Tyrant sent in by Umbrella Europe for testing. After Nemesis is temporarily knocked out Naomi finds her first informant, “K” alive and well. He informs her that there are 3 more informants situated in the city. Tyler makes it back to the police station and holds up there for the next few days. Naomi begins to search for her informants. September 28th (late) 1998 Both Tyler and Naomi pick up a distress call from the local university/school. Sent by surviving students and an informant, the pair set off independently again to rescue students and for Naomi the informant. Upon arrival at the school Naomi discovers the USS has also heard the message, and they too are on the hunt for the informant. Tyler continues to the search the school and manages to rescue all 5 remaining students, Naomi meanwhile encounters another survivor who had a key for the school rooms, and who had met the informant S. She then encounters the Nemesis again who has mutated violently. After disposing of him, Naomi locates S hidden under a dormitory. S then gives Naomi a data disc of the research from the facility. Tyler leaves the school and heads back to the relative safety of the local police station. Naomi leaves the school still determined to find the last two informants she needs.

September 29th 1998 The Raccoon City Museum alarm rings and for Tyler his sense of duty means he has to investigate the possibility of survivors. Naomi figures that it could be an informant that has hit the alarm so she to heads to the museum looking for answers. Whilst exploring Tyler actually finds the informant M, although unaware of her importance, she runs away but drops a vial which Tyler picks up. The pair then meet again and exchange information, although secretly Naomi now fears for Tyler’s life after his encounter with M. Tyler then meets a USS member who acts very strange after Tyler begins to ask him questions about the vial. Naomi notes that the troops mission has somewhat changed. After the failure to dispose of the first two informants their mission has altered to indiscriminate killings with any survivor now at risk. After another encounter which each other, Naomi warns Tyler that he is now a target and should leave as soon as possible. Tyler however sees a man run off, who is M’s husband, he traces him to the vault where a safe has been opened, and it was this that set off the alarm. Tyler leaves to try and locate this man. Just as he leaves Naomi arrives and takes a virus sample, together with the data disc she was compiling necessary evidence. Tyler catches up with M’s husband but finds him dead, murdered by the USS. Both Naomi and Tyler realise the source of the madness resonates from the Labs below the storage facility and decide to head there. September 30th (late) 1998 The pair once again arrives independently of one another at the labs and begins their quests. Tyler, startled encounters a researcher who informs him that he had better head for the evacuation tunnel now. Naomi whilst searching discovers that the facility is to be bombed, and tells Tyler when they meet each other again in the labs. October 1st 1998 The earlier survivor Tyler encounters suddenly dies in front of him not before telling him the bombings are due. After meeting with Naomi again, Tyler decides he had better head for the evacuation tunnel. Naomi though continues to dig deeper into the mysteries of the facility. She locates M’s diary, which reads that the mouse version of the MS Virus and its vaccine were complete. Reading K’s diary: Their Corporation with the FBI was found out and the project leader “A” had planted a bomb to cover up the research, and it was this bomb that caused the explosion on the 26th. Trying to escape, Tyler first reads the documentation of the Matchless Soldier programme before he enters into a laboratory testing room, and becomes (re)infected with the MS Variant of the T-Virus. He is stunned and quickly needs to find a vaccine. He finds two vials labelled M and J Vaccine; he chooses the J Vaccine and hopes that it is the right choice. Meanwhile Naomi finds Project Leader A who has had a change of heart and deeply regrets setting off the bomb. He has been hiding in the facility all this time clearly unaware of Raccoon City’s demise above him. He hands her all the evidence she will need to bring down Umbrella and hopes K’s final product in the bundle. After completing her mission Naomi turns her attention to escaping and begins to flee the facility. She rendezvous with Tyler at the escape tunnel and the pair makes it to surface just before the bombings begin.

Tyler however begins to show signs of infection, and turns into a zombie, Naomi rather than killing him simply leaves him in the city as she is rescued. The bombardments begin killing Zombie Tyler. The nuclear strike wipes Raccoon City from the map. Unspecified Dates: Naomi brings together all the data and evidence she has collected from her missions and intends to publish her findings. However the US Government step in and all investigations into Raccoon City is stopped. The murders by the USS are also frozen with the whole affair classified as “top secret”. Naomi resigns from the FBI. Written by: Nicholas “Neptune” Endean Special Thanks to: Welsh for the transcribed script. Ridley Hayes for the essential pictures/images for File #3 and 4 and also analysis of BOW movements! And everyone else on Project: Umbrella.

AMENDEMENTS The best laid plans of mice and men, and all that….

After the successful launch to Project: Umbrella’s nearest and dearest, a lot of extra input into the series has been accomplished, all of which I am grateful of. Unfortunately, whilst all helpful, some proved to be complicated, and nearly wrecked everything I had written up. But never fear, as Baz Lurmann once said: “I will dispense this advice now…” Canonicity Update: I, in my blind affliction to this series, have become rather paternal over its inclusion into the timeline, and whilst I have always accepted it its actual status is debatable, in truth, it’s far from that. Yes, Confidential Report is made by Capcom, but by a subsidiary, and whilst this doesn’t automatically mean its non-canon it should be worth noting. Also the fact that at no point in the series are the words; “Umbrella, Raccoon City” are ever mentioned also raises the suggestion that the developers were keen to create games that could not contradict the previous timeline. This is probably the truth, and it leads on to a key point. As you may have read, a lot has to be added to and tweaked to make the Confidential Report games work. Such as the date switch of File 2, and whilst it can be implied it is wrong through the appearance of Nemesis V2, it still is an amendment by us, something that we shouldn’t really do. More and stronger evidence would be needed to legitimise such an addition. However, after discussions with the staff members we all agree that the series ought to be promoted, and ought to be included in the timeline. It had already been assessed as being highlighted in a different colour to emphasis its debatable status, but now a new disclaimer will be inserted to say, things have been tweaked to make it work. Consequently readers can choose personally whether or not to accept it as canon or not. We hope to generate healthy discussions within the community on this topic. I personally think it is canon, some don’t, but that’s great for the establishment of excellent forums. Nemesis The first and most significant problem was brought to my attention by Ridley, who through his perseverance to complete a File (something that I could not) discovered that the end boss of File #4 was not the Uber Eliminator, but something else entirely. Previous to starting my analysis of File 4, I feared that Mutation 3 of Nemesis would be the end boss; this is something that would theoretically undermine the entire series. Nemesis is well and truly destroyed by Jill in the Dead Factory, and there was no way in hell that Mutation 3 was moving anywhere other than inside that final room.

Alas it was not Nemesis v3, but actually something far more problematic, and can be best showed with this picture.

Excusing the quality, but what’s that coming over the hill? Is it 2 Nemesis, is it 2 Nemesis? Yes it bloody well is. Panic stations in overdrive, how can this be worked out? With these two clocking in on File 4, that means there are 3 Nemesis that appear throughout the mini series, and for many that will cast a huge shadow over the canonicity and overall legitimacy of the games in the Project: Umbrella timeline. Well thankfully there is a way around this little

conundrum, and the answer lies with the original Nemesis Report as translated by xfactor many moons ago. It states that in the development of the Nemesis, a total of four versions were created.

Nemesis T-Type I was killed due to a failure; Nemesis T Type II was the main Nemesis sent into Raccoon City; Nemesis T Type III & IV were deemed failures as they had limited

intelligence. Their fate however remains unknown. Well look above and we indeed to have two Nemeses, is it not feasible that these are the two missing Tyrants? It’s possible, and in truth the only way the series now works in conjunction with the overall mythos. Thankfully through discussions other potential problems have actually been resolved. Zombie Despite my initial dismissal of the UBCS themed zombies as mere canon fodder, and not UBCS Zombies, I have come to learn through an RE3 file that some units were sent to Raccoon as early as the 26th. I.E, the same day File #1 takes place, meaning the appearance of these green and white zombies could in fact be the mercenaries after all. An early mission could have been the reclamation of the Storage Facility and the Labs, when in truth as we all know, they were guinea pigs for combat data collection. It makes an interesting side point, and helps solidify a segment of the game we were all certain on, but unsure as to how it fits in.

Holy Shit!

There’s 2 of ‘em!

UBCS Zombie after-all

A final issue was raised with the timings of File 2 and its subsequent connection to File 3. Through El Bastardo’s quality work with his timeline he was able to shed a more specific time as to the actual events. With the acknowledgement that the Nemesis V2 from File 2 is the same Nemesis from Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, it has to be determined that the final parts of File 2 take place in the wee small hours of September 29th. This is because of the small titbit in the video showing Nemesis destroy the rescue chopper. As you can see to your right this picture shows Jill (albeit in a flattering position) about to be rescued. As we know Nemesis then wrecks havoc before being wounded to an extent that he walks off into fire badly injured. From this we can determine that 5 minutes or so later, Nemesis leaves the Clock Tower area after infecting Jill and being injured. He then next appears at the end of File 2 already mutated, or possibly in the process of mutating. In order for this to still be tied down to the in-game timeline of File 3 taking place 1 day after File 2 we have to adopt the same principle to that used for an accurate File 4 placement. File 2 must take place and Naomi and Tyler begin the School exploration very, very late on the 28th. By the time they encounter Nemesis, it is actually the 29th already. They escape, and Tyler heads back to the police station, Naomi goes elsewhere. File 3 then takes place later that day. I had already mentioned in the original review/analysis of File 2 and 3 that these two scenarios could take place merely hours apart or nearly 12 hours later. Whilst this revelation gives no clear assessment it does pinpoint down File 2’s actual time. The mystery of exactly when File 3 takes place is still unsolved, but now it seems more feasible that it was not until the night of the 29th. Nearly 18 hours later as a very dodgy estimate! I think that clears up any problems that have been expressed to me. If anyone has other issues regarding canonicity please discuss in the forums. I am positive we will have mixed reactions! Again, thanks for reading. Nick “Neptune” Endean “You’re gunna need a bigger boat”

Note the time:

Midnight