With the Resident Evil: Outbreak promo item(s), Capcom breaks the cycle of usless promo junk and gives us something we can really use in case of an actual outbreak of the undead. Unfortunately, the rocket launcher put the package a bit over budget, so what we get in this instance is two (or three, depending on how you look at it) items designed to make life in the zombie-infested streets of your town a bit easier.

The first item in the package is a face mask of the kind popular in Japan during cold season. You hook the two elastic strings on the ends over your ears, holding it in place over your nose and mouth, and the theory seems to be that germs and viruses can't penetrate the inescapable trap of cotton fiber. At the very least, the deadly Umbrella Corp. viruses will have a tougher time first killing you dead and then reviving you as a soulless shambling parody of humanity with an unquenchable hunger for human flesh if you've got your handy RE:Outbreak face mask on.

The second and third items are the canteen and compass set. The compass is attached to the canteen cap, making directions a lot easier when real life fails to give you an auto-mapping function. The canteen itself holds 1.5 cups, or 350 millileters, of whatever survival-enhancing liquid you may have on hand. Yes, I did measure it.

Everything in the set is of a very good quality. The face mask appears to be a standard one with the RE:Outbreak logo on it, although if I were more familiar with face mask quality I'd be able to make a better judgement on it. Very nice anyway. The canteen is solid metal with a rich red outside and the logos in silver paint. The compass on the canteen top and the clip it attaches to are nice and sturdy. All told, this is an excellent package of cool little utilities, and Capcom gets a big thumbs up from me for not only making something Really Nice, but also doing something interestingly different.

This set is available at Gamestop exclusively as of this writing, with preorders of Resident Evil: Outbreak. If you think it's as nifty as I do, go snag yourself a set while the snagging is good.

· · · James Cunningham