Outcast

The Good
Developed by a little-known Belgian studio, Outcast is certainly a very ambitious game. Created with its own peculiar technology, the game presents vast free-roaming environments of such intense beauty that simply controlling your character through them becomes an aesthetic pleasure. It is mind-boggling how such marvel could be produced using voxels and a fixed low resolution.

I can keep heaping praises on this world, but my vocabulary is too poor to adequately convey the beauty of hypnotic twin moons, breathtaking sunrises, and sensual, lush nature in words. The important thing, however, is the way how this world becomes open to your interaction. Imagine Tomb Raider taking place in generous outdoor areas and populated locations. Even though there are only a few instances actually requiring you to use your physical abilities, you can physically interact with the environment at any time, anywhere. Climb on house walls, jump on roofs, crawl around, swim in the beautifully rendered water, dive for crystals and avoid angry fish.

The main idea of the game was obviously to create a living, breathing alien world. Each of its five regions has a distinct personality: a journey from the deceptively peaceful Okaar with its deep forests and shiny blue rivers to the stern brown rocks and angry boiling lava of Motazaar is refreshing no matter how many times you take it. Each region has a large settlement populated by Talans - aliens who look a lot like Alf from the popular TV series. The environments in those inhabited areas are so detailed and busy that simply observing their everyday life becomes a goal in itself. People would engage in a variety of activities, work, lie down, and react to whatever you do.

I rarely talk about music in my reviews because, being a musician myself, I appear to have different standards for judging a soundtrack than most other players. But the music of Outcast honestly belongs to the best of the best: magically sensuous and luxuriant, expertly composed and performed by a professional orchestra, it could easily serve as background for the most expensive Hollywood blockbuster. I can't stress enough how much this music contributes to the atmosphere of the game.

The shooting portions of Outcast are quite good. It can be played both as a third- and first-person shooter, with various degrees of zooming complementing the smooth controls. Laser rays are used for aiming, making third-person shooting much more dependent on your precision skills than on awkward manipulations or luck. The enemies display advanced AI routines, teaming up, alerting others, acting with coordination and mercilessly ganging up on you. The fights in Outcast can get quite challenging, and are always exciting thanks to the open battle arenas where you can use a wide variety of tactics to overcome the advantages of the enemy. Six weapon types, explosives, and nifty devices such as teleporters that allow strategic retreats when places cleverly add to the mix.

The Bad
There is one thing in Outcast that constantly undermines the game: lack of genre-bound gameplay substance. It doesn't have enough combat (by far) to be a shooter. It doesn't have any RPG elements despite the towns and the large world that just seem to beg for them. It doesn't have any puzzles that would help it qualify as a real adventure game. Essentially, Outcast is a lot of running around and not much more.

Outcast starts so strong: a fantastic intro that presents a bunch of interesting and promising characters; something happens, and you find yourself in a strange alien realm. You step out of Zokrym's house, and one of the most wonderful views ever to be seen in a game spreads in front of you. Soon you discover (following Jan's tests) that you will swim, shoot, jump, and sneak in this game. You rub your hands, saying: "What a game, what a game! I can't believe it's happening..." And with moist eyes, you enter the portal and prepare to engage yourself for the first Mon quest...

And here it begins. To find the Mon, you have to speak to a certain guy. But this guy won't talk to you unless you bring him something. This something can be obtained from a certain someone, who will talk to you only if you bring him something that you can obtain from someone who will talk to you only if you bring him something that you can obtain from, etc. The brave Cutter Slade (horrible name, by the way) is lost forever in a universe of insultingly inept creatures. The promised savior of Adelpha will be too busy retrieving various household items for priests and village chiefs, running from one Talan to another with his tongue outside. The cool special agent won't find a better occupation other than grilling every boring NPC for obscure information, which they won't share with him immediately, but only after he finds for them their favorite salami sandwich they have lost many years ago.

Outcast thus becomes a curious phenomenon: it is polished and entertaining in details and side activities, but dull and clueless during actual game progression. The constant stream of pointless tasks and long-winded, repetitive conversations emphasizing the Talan's incompetence in an irritatingly condescending way sap the life out of the game.

There are other "holes" in the game's glittering, opulent facade. The settlements and the wilderness look very attractive, but there are no actual indoor areas in the game. Now, I might be biased here since I have a soft spot for dungeon exploration; but isn't it strange that the game doesn't seem to have any real explorable indoor locations in that huge overworld? There's something oddly disjointed in the design of Outcast, in the way it combines its solid tactical shooting with an inane quest system that occupies a noticeably larger portion of the gameplay.

The Bottom Line
As you can see from some other reviews, Outcast took quite a lot of beating from hardcore players who can't be fooled by artificial lengthening of the game, which takes the place of coherent, fulfilling gameplay. I'm at odds with this game - its world is breathtaking and I want to visit it, but I just don't fancy going again through the same hugely annoying string of fetch quests in order to participate in bits of well-designed third-person shooter.

The Good
This game is a nearly perfect blend of action and adventure. It takes place mostly outdoors with expansive vistas (many games tend to have a very limited visual field, whether due to primarily interior or urban environments). It has many supporting characters with individualized personalities. The musical score is performed by the Moscow Philharmonic, and gives the game a "cinematic" feel. The interface was very easy to learn and uses a combination keyboard/mouse. This game is vast and will keep the player busy for many enjoyable hours.

The Bad
I suppose the use of voxels to render the imagery was one thing that could be improved upon. There is a lack of rendered detail of objects. Oddly enough, this did not really detract from the game a bit. I have read that the sequel will not be using voxels and that the detail will be much better.

The Bottom Line
Outcast is a game to try if you are an adventure gamer and you need a break from hardcore puzzle solving. There are puzzles but they are so well integrated into the storyline, and they are usually solved within the context of the action. FPS/action gamers will probably find the action a bit tepid but this game is "aimed" more at the adventure gamers who like some action elements too. My wife and I both enjoyed this game very much!

The Good
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to our lecture "Game design -- how to do it right, for those who need it most." Ah, I see many familiar faces in the crowd today -- there's Westwood over there; most of the staff of Nihilistic, hi guys! And, yes, none of the German developers seems to be missing. Very good. Now, how do you get to know the secret of excellent game design? All of you should have received a copy of Outcast upon entering. Now do the following: Go home. Play Outcast. Learn. That's it. Class dismissed!

I do not want to go into the obvious details, such as the technical brilliancy or the immersive game world that make Outcast an outstanding experience. But there are a few things that are easily overlooked, and which add to the overall atmosphere and playability a lot. Outcast is full of ingenious answers to those little questions that come with the complexity of a huge world. How do I find a certain person in a crowd? By asking your way through, as anyone will point you to the one you seek. How do I find small objects in the wilderness? By following the marks that your visor draws around them. How do I cut a long walk to the other end of a continent short? By using portable teleporters that you can deploy anywhere you like. These features are small, yet a boon for fluent gameplay.

Another thing that has earned special attention are the excellent sound effects. From the smooth splashing of the waves in Okasankaar to the busy chatter in the city of Okriana -- the FX underline the character of each continent. From the soft humming of the teleport daokas to the shouts of approaching guards -- the FX help you orientate yourself. The FX are not only decorative, they're important -- but never obtrusive. This is a lesson that many a software company has yet to learn. Oh, and did I mention the impressive orchestral soundtrack and the perfect voice acting?

The Bad
Who is Shamaz Keb? This is a question that'll keep you occupied in Outcast. It's the only downside of Appeals' exotic game world: the names. It's okay to design a credible culture. But it's not necessary to scare inexperienced players with an overkill of expressions. In a typical mission, the Ulukai'd have to ride his Twon-ha through the daoka to Okasankaar and fight Gamors to collect zlingtog for Jeokaze in Okriana. See what I mean? As a consequence, you'll need quite some patience to make yourself familiar with Adelpha (that's the world's name, by the way).

The Bottom Line
Outcast is one of the Top 3 games of 1999. An admirable piece of art, technical as well as in terms of design, it is one of those few milestones that prove that computer games have evolved from being toys to a serious and independent form of modern entertainment.