Unfortunately, few remember Outcast, an action-adventure released in 1999. For the times, the title was truly revolutionary, as it offered a vast world to explore, full freedom to the player and its own pulsating ecosystem. Unfortunately, the audience was not yet ready for this kind of products, so the title was not a great success. Since this title is remembered, albeit by a few, in a very positive way, the Appeal team, supported by a large publisher like Big Ben Interactive, has decided to give new life to its videogame, proposing it now and hoping that the players are able to accept it. Although the work is still valid, we inevitably collide with the weight of the years, therefore some graphic and playful gaps point out all too well that time inevitably passes for everyone.
A world to save
The game's storyline hasn't changed at all. Anyone who has already played it back in 1999 will find again the legendary Cutter Slade, ready to face this bizarre adventure and all the dangers that it entails. The basic story is this: an unspecified scientist has opened a rift to a parallel world, thus endangering the Earth. Obviously it will be up to Slade to solve the problem but, once he arrives in the other world, things will not go exactly as planned. The young protagonist will in fact be welcomed by the inhabitants of the planet as an Ulukai, or a chosen one who will save the world of Adelpha with all its inhabitants, or the Talan, from a diabolical being. The game, therefore, at the level of the plot is not very unbalanced, managing to divide very well between tragic moments and others full of humor.
Unfortunately, the story is fragmented by long sections of dialogues and for this very reason, deepening certain aspects will require patience and a lot of time; therefore do not be surprised if especially in the first few hours of the game you spend your time talking more than actually playing. The vastness of the world will cause you a minimum of disorientation, but slowly you will begin to connect the pieces and you will think locally about the matters that are branching out.
Weapons are never enough
After a very rigid start, the game will take you to a kind of open world divided into various sectors, connected to each other by different portals, where you can move in complete autonomy. Although you will be blown away, as you will understand that moving through the wastes of Outcast will be easier than expected. Unfortunately, however, in this mechanism there is a very serious underlying problem with which, inevitably, the user will have to collide: on the map there are no icons or suggestions on which paths to take, and the indications of the characters are often very vague. Following one of the cardinal points will be much more difficult than expected, also due to a little attention to detail. So you will have to get by on your own and often the NPCs you rely on for some more precise guidance won't help at all. To get some more details on the plot you will necessarily have to talk to the other characters, requiring you more time for a patient research.
Outcast therefore it remains faithful to its origins, but honestly with the current times not modernizing some aspects is really a suicide. Going forward with the sword on the story will not lead you to anything, so you will necessarily have to carry out secondary tasks to be able to forge weapons, bullets and much more. The equipment, although it is obvious to say it, will be the real needle of the balance that will determine whether you will be able to save Adelpha or not. Although all these things keep faith with how the product was in the past, it is undeniable the fact that exploration phases, dialogues and fights, when compared to the current games, show not indifferent gaps. Staying too anchored to the past as a strength has become a defect, demonstrating that even the greatest ideas of the past are not feasible by modern standards, as well as in real life even in video games this concept reappears.
The new look is not enough
Well we have arrived at the most painful part of the production since the technical problems inevitably also fall on the gameplay. The control over the protagonist is not at all fluid, Cutter Slade should be agile and fast, instead he is clumsy and too slow in his movements. Even small bumps become insurmountable mountains to climb, thus forcing the player to find alternative solutions that are not always beautiful from an aesthetic point of view. All these problems are fueled by poor camera and view management. When you enter any building you will notice with your own eyes that the shot moves too far behind the protagonist's shoulders, making orientation complex.
The game, in addition to the classic combat with firearms typical of third-person shooters, it strengthens on some frankly unwatchable stealth mechanics, highlighting the defects of the work even more. The shootings are really difficult to manage, and hitting the target will be a very difficult undertaking. Despite the numerous complications, defeating the corrupt Talans will not be that complicated, due to poor artificial intelligence and predictable attack patterns. The autosave system has also been poorly calibrated and will often store game data in the midst of a battle at a complete disadvantage.
It must be admitted that Outcast it hasn't aged well, on the contrary, having only partially modernized the game makes it even less usable. The game certainly remains a good experiment, but it's all too obvious that the development team didn't want to risk it. The title remains an interesting product, without infamy and without praise, which is truly incomprehensible given the monstrous starting potential. A complete retouching would certainly have helped, and if it did, we'd probably be giving Outcast praise. instead of talking about regrets and missed opportunities. Of Outcast this will remain: a badly exploited opportunity that will once again hover into oblivion as in 1999. Too bad, because the basic product has quality to sell and such an enthusiast could have given it a real opportunity.
