Remakes, reboots, revivals. Whether it's a lack of fresh ideas, exploiting nostalgia, or an earnest desire to introduce a new generation to past glories, the entertainment industry loves bringing old things back. And we love old things coming back, too, as long as it isn't Nanna after she's escaped from the home again.
1999's Outcast is the latest title to be dragged kicking and screaming into modernity with a sequel arriving long after the statute of limitations has passed. But wisely, Outcast: A New Beginning requires no knowledge of that game to play. Like in the original Outcast, we play as the improbably named Cutter Slade, who is transported through a portal to a strange alien world where he must solve all of the problems of the indigenous people by shooting a bunch of things and blowing some stuff up.
Missions are often broken up into interconnected parts you can do in any order, but it all basically involves finding items or shooting things. This is fine. The shooting is functional but forgiving and rarely frustrating. You get a sweet jet pack to make traversal a little easier. There's some light puzzle solving, some slightly wonky platforming, and a bevvy of throwaway side-quests that involve things like gliding through rings and shooting baddies.
Unfortunately, there are also plenty of technical issues to contend with. Switching to performance mode so we could play with a better framerate completely borked the cutscenes, and playing in graphical mode meant that in some slightly more intense areas, the frames-per-second dropped to the point we could count them by eye.
There's an undeniable charm to Outcast: A New Beginning, and twenty years ago this could have been the breakout hit for an ongoing Outcast franchise, but in 2024 players are spoilt for choice in the realm of third-person action-adventure games. If you're a fan of the AA, mid-tier shooters we used to get back in the day then this might be worth a look, but otherwise, there's just not enough here to warrant your attention.
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Comments 20
Shame as I was looking forward to this game, but it is getting trashed everywhere.
Another good reason to never pre-order a game.
I get that this can't compete with AAA games anyway, but I still really don't understand launching this game a week away from Dragon's Dogma 2 and Rise of the Ronin. I likely would've bought this, otherwise.
I'm glad oddities like this are still being made. If they keep supporting it with patches I'll definitely get this. I don't mind AA Jank. Getting this kinda weird stuff in the ps1/ps2 era was glorious.
I wonder if they meant to make gamers cry. If I were them, I'd apologize a trillion times.
Also, "And we love old things coming back, too, as long as it isn't Nanna after she's escaped from the home again" got me pretty freaking good 😂
Ah yes the entertainment industry, sometimes a new installment in a franchise can be absolutely stellar and better than the first (Blade Runner 2049).
And sometimes it can be so bad you want to gouge your eyes out (Matrix 4).
I really enjoyed the original (and remastered) and was very much looking forward to this. You could tell from the demo it was in pretty rough shape but there's still something so charming and alluring about the series.
I'll definitely pick it up in the future for nostalgia's sake.
I was pumped until I played the demo on PSN; it quickly made me realize that the potential would not match the product. I am all for jank or even a harkening back to earlier generations (I loved Wanted:Dead last year, which many outlets saw as bad), but this just felt like it was a relic in the wrong ways.
This was to be expected although the flying looked interesting from what I had seen. Miles ahead of something like DBZ Kakarot which nobody complained about its PS1 axis flying controls.
I don't know how much longer I need to wait, but I'm still waiting for years and years for a game to come out with great flying controls inside a great openworld. Even Hogwarts felt too stiff and unpolished.
I was so excited for Rocksteady making a Superman game (turned out to be SS)... But those Arkham games do have amazing gliding controls and they're the only ones that come close
Anthem sucks, so no.
Funny how everyone is writing this off, just based on the pushsquare review, while this game currently sits with a respectable 70 at metacritic.
I played the demo. And got mad that they never release demos for good games lol.
Never meant to make your daughter cry. I apologize a thousand times.
Oh that sucks it looked interesting.
Removed - foreign languages
Genuine question, does THQ Nordic publish any good games?
A 5? Was that a typo? I played the Demo and it wasn't perfect or even close, but a 5?
@Svark You’re just mad because you foolishly preordered something that was a risky choice..
Elden Ring, Nioh 2, Resident Evil Village, RE4 - all totally worth the pre-order.
I played the demo and enjoyed it.
I platinum'ed the remake of the original. I don't think it's amazing, but i like it.
It has the vibe of exploring an alien world.
The remake of the original also had performance issues. I hope they do something about it.
I won't buy at max price but will grab it on sale.
@kirkn Is it genuine though? You just want AAA value games and likely complain about all the gouging microtransactions/dlc and raised prices.
This is a good game. It's poorly optimised though.
Though "good" is not a science. What is good for one person and another differs.
I like these more modest titles that offer a different experience. I liked Darksiders 3, and i am interested in getting the alone in the dark remake and the gothic remake. Cause they are different experiences from the triple A stuff we get all the time and frankly often outstays it's welcome and feels samey.
@Nem I was only suggesting that THQ Nordic publish a lot of games that don't sell very well, take a look
https://thqnordic.com/games?page=0
there are a few winners but the success rate is low.
@Nem I will give Darksiders 3 a try though.
I would recommend you try Desperados III that game offers a different gaming experience and I was hooked playing that for over a week.
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