An extension of the first 2 games
Gameplay/Story: The actual gameplay is where this game really falls short. However, most RPG's aren't played for the gameplay, its played for the story which is this games strong point. The gameplay is essentially, travelling through extremely repetitive dungeons, killing the same enemies over and over and over. To kill enemies, you must mash the X button and every once in a while, use a special attack or heal. The special attack system would be a lot cooler if the attacks didn't all look the same. Theirs basically two attacks you can do, an area attack and a single attack. Then you throw in elements and damage boosters and stuff like that and you get hundreds of attacks all looking the same.
The storyline, however, makes up for all faults in the gameplay. You play as Kite, a young boy who was brought into the game "The World" by his friend Yasuhiko, known in-game as Orca of the Azure Sea. If you have seen .Hack//Dusk (.Hack//Legend of the Eternal Bracelet as it is known in English) then you will know Kite and friends as the .hackers. The timeline goes, .Hack//Sign, .Hack//ps2 games, .Hack//Dusk, .hack//roots (show released in Japan, most likely coming to America in a couple months once .hack//GU is released), .hack//GU. So back to Kite, soon after he joins the game, he and Orca, find a girl named Aura who is being attacked by some kind of monster. As Orca tries to fight the monster, he finds that he cannot do anything to it and is "Data Drained". You, Kite, manage to escape gaining a power, given by Aura, of Data Drain. The power is given to you in a form of a bracelet. You must use this power to cure the people who have been attacked (all the victims, like Orca, have fallen into a coma after being attacked) as well as solve the mystery behind the game The World. .Hack//Outbreak marks the third part in this story and leads up to the amazing conclusion. Outbreak focus's a lot more on Elk, one of the games main characters as well as Mia, Elk's closest friend in the game. Other than that not much changes. But the story is so awesome to begin with that this isn't a bad thing.
Graphics: The graphics are okay but not amazing. The cutscenes are done in the same level as gameplay which looks kinda cool and kinda not at the same time. It gives you more a feel of realism, since your characters aren't changing their appearance at all throughout the game. There are a few CG's thrown in but not too many where the graphics look amazing but not too many.
Sounds: The voice-overs are absolutely amazing in both English and Japanese (you can choose in the main menu) but the sound effects get kind of annoying after a while. You will always hear this footstep noise throughout the entire game whenever your moving which is kinda frustrating after a while. I always kept the camera zoomed out since it made the noise quieter. It's a small detail though.
Value: The game will only clock in at about 20 hours but since you can buy this game for about 15 bucks, it's more than worth it. You also get the DVD for .hack//Liminality which is also a plus. It gives a perspective of what is going on in the real world while the events of the game are going on. If you are a fan of RPG's or anime, you will love this game as much as I did.