Outcast

The Good
This game is absolutely great! Since the first time I played it, I felt almost one thousand different emotions listening to the best game soundtrack ever written (mixed with excellent sounds), and walking on a land that for the first time I looked as real!! Outcast made me know Voxel graphics, whose I'm a fan now, and I think that none of the modern pathetic polygon 3D engines would have looked so amazing as Outcast's!! Besides the wonderful graphics and music, Outcast has one of the greatest storyline ever written for a game! The whole game is amazingly cinematographic, playing it you'll sometimes wonder if you're just playing it or if you're LIVING what could have easily been a movie! There are thousands of people to talk to, to get informations you'll many times have to do something in exchange, and since the world you've fallen to (Adelpha) is divided in six huge regions, you'll have a lot to do to complete the game! Besides you'll be free to do whatever you want: you can be a classic hero, helping everyone (and consequently get more help from the people), or you can be a lone bastard, killing everything in sight (obviously being forced to make everything of your own): just take care of the fact that your deeds will rapidly spread into the six regions, so people will avoid you if you didn't act as the hero they initially think you are! Strategic elements are really strong too: to weaken the enemies you'll be able to cut their resources by convincing the people stopping working for them: this can be done by doing something in exchange, for example saving an important personality, etc. Finally, there are many quests and sub-quests in the game: some are necessary to complete the game, some just help you to get more money, weapons and so on: try to make them all! ;-)

The Bad
I couldn't find anything bad in this game, I love it too much! Well maybe battles are a bit too easy (but I know many people think they're too tough, instead!). I know a lot of people didn't like the Voxel engine: I repeat it's the more realistic 3D engine I ever saw in a game, so it certainly is not in my BAD section. Besides, you'll have to talk a lot: someone could find this a little annoying, considering that in each dialogue a new person will be mentioned, and it could be a little hard to keep everything in mind (but there's a Notepad annoting everything new you know, so this isn't a real problem!! ;-)); I actually didn't, I really liked the complexity of the whole situation.

The Bottom Line
This game rocks! If you've never played it, you don't know what you're missing!! Its atmosphere is amazing, if you're a science-fiction fan you HAVE to play it at least one (well, I did it three times! ;-))

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.

The Good
The story,graphics, cast and atmosphere.Its a living world with great environments, fantastic soundtrack and a cool hero. Outcast might look dated today...but only for ten minutes, then You just forget about pixel and vertex shaders and admire the viewing distance, landscape and environment. Only recently polygon based games achieved this level of quality.

The game is stable even on win2000 (not even the patch is needed !) and the voxel engine is beautiful. The quests and plot work flawlessly.

A true masterpiece both in design and execution.

The Bad
It spoiled it all for me.No other game comes close, so its pretty hard for me to decide which game to play next. Outcast is so full of it all and so perfect that You might not "need" any other game of that kind anymore. Except for a sequel.

The Bottom Line
A living, alien world, a Bruce Willis-like hero, a great plot with great characters, good speech, good handling, great graphics. The right game for any gamer, especially during christmas holidays.