An Old Story for a New Beginning

For people out of the loop (myself included), Outcast – A New Beginning is a sequel to the 1999 classic action-adventure Outcast by Appeal. In its heyday, Outcast caused quite a ruckus to its genre. Said ruckus included being named “Action Game of the Year” by Gamespot in 1999! Nonetheless, not many people may know it, Outcast – A New Beginning has some pretty large boots to fill. It may not be fair to callously compare both titles to each other as a lot has changed in the gaming industry since 1999, but it’s worth noting the history and context of Appeal’s latest release today. So, does this classic callback shape up to the modern age of gaming, has Appeal still got it after all these years?

The Right Tool for the Job

Outcast puts you in the boots of one Cutter Slade, (same protagonist as the last game) a former Navy Seal who assisted in dimensional travel in Outcast 1. Set on the planet Adelpha, Cutter is resurrected by the native deities of this planet. A mysterious past haunts him as he traverses his way across a once-familiar Adelpha. But now a shadowy robotic army is extracting its natural resources and exploiting its inhabitants, called the Talan.

You get a lot of Cutter’s character in each cutscene and interaction. I mean A LOT. At first, his snide, quippy remarks do land and get a small smirk out of me. But this quickly runs dry after the tutorial zone. Again, I know this is a character from the 1990s and he sits alongside other greats of his era such as Duke Nukem, and Spyro. However, he feels very played out and more of an annoyance on screen than a loveable titular character. I tried to like him, I really did try but when most of your lines are rhetorical knee-slappers from the stereotypical military man, it just gets exhausting. Particularly against the backdrop of an alien planet such as Adelpha.

The planet of Adelpha can be engrossing at times, even pretty. I want to say the open world is large and expansive, but I would say it’s closer to a medium-sized Ubisoft map! The planet’s inhabitants, the Talan, offer much exposition (opposite the HILARIOUS and corny Slade remarks) and lore to the player which some people will find engrossing. Outside of the story quests, it’s honestly the same old format we see nowadays, unfortunately. Go here, kill things, fetch this, which doesn’t do many favours for Cutter or the story. I do not even think though, that it is the story that will bring people to Outcast – A New Beginning.

Jet Setter

I do think that people will come and stay for Outcast’s gameplay. This is thanks in large part to Cutters equipment he procures in his adventures. Your main tools are your gun, shield and jetpack (courtesy of the invading robot army). Each tool at your disposal has a fairly linear skill tree full of impactful unlocks. You collect certain resources to unlock certain abilities along your journey. Some side quests also reward you with new skills, so as painful as they are they’re generally worth a look.

As soon as I unlocked the hover ability on my jetpack, I understood what Outcast had to offer. It features some of the finest movement mechanics of an action-adventure game I have encountered in a long time. Butter smooth flight mechanics and some solid gunplay kept me locked into Outlast all throughout my playthrough. Shield-smashing robots, gliding around Adelpha for the lolz. I have not enjoyed an action adventure this much since Elden Ring people. I want to give Outcast full marks off the merit of movement, but with everything else combined, I think it’s fair to say Outcast – A New Beginning has superbly well-rounded gameplay.

Verdict

The developers over at Appeal know the essence of action-adventure. Although many story elements, ambience and likeable characters fell by the wayside in this game’s development, Appeal seems to still have a good grasp on what makes action-adventure so fun.

Stay tuned to GamEir. Come talk with us on Twitter (@gam_eir), Facebook (@GamEir), and Instagram (@GamEir).

I promise we’re nice! Keep up with our streams over on Twitch (GamEir) and our videos on YouTube (GamEir) and we’ll give you all the latest content.

The post Outcast – A New Beginning: The Sequel You Never Thought You Needed appeared first on GamEir.