OXCGN’s Outland XBLA Review

A game that must be seen to be believed

by exterminat

©2011 Nicholas Laborde

Sometimes, a game can become quite famous (or infamous) for a few specific reasons.

Such as Doom, which became world famous because of its highly controversial storyline and technological breakthroughs at the time. Things which set it apart from other games around at that time, much like Ubisoft’s Outland is doing here.

Bungie‘s Halo also became world famous because of its blend of deep and involved storyline, along with First Person Shooter gameplay, heralding itself as the first major console shooter back in 2001 as a platform release game for the 1st-Gen Xbox.

Then, there’s Super Meat Boy, which was famous because the difficulty that it unleashed on the player was simply unheard of at the time, proving itself to be extremely challenging for both novice and expert alike (which gained itself a name, and perhaps an unpleasant name at that).

Outland may not have ‘one’ single reason for being noticeable, but what it does is combine some of the most creative (and at times extremely frustrating) game designs ever employed in a modern arcade-style title of this nature.

Save the Humans…

One must admit that the storyline in Outland is just a tad hazy. Players play a character who must ultimately save the human race (seems familiar so far), and who also can attain supernatural powers in the process – naturally, wouldn’t be a game if we didn’t have superhuman powers.

To make it somewhat different, our story is set in ‘Ancient Africa’, somewhere between semi-modern times and as far back as 50,000 years ago, which makes for some interesting settings.

Players will traverse a wide variety of environments, all of which give off a rather dark, somber and sometimes macabre undertone. Making the game stand out from many of the other arcade games available today.

It is certainly a challenging platformer, quite similar to Ikaruga. You harness the powers of light and dark to pass through certain obstacles and traps, and to defeat certain enemies, such as tapping the Right Bumper  (RB) to change to red so as to pass through a ‘Red’ chain of hazardous light, and then changing back again to ‘Blue’ in order to defeat a ‘Red’ enemy, and so on and so forth.

The title is somewhat of a misnomer, as for me it strikes a chord of difficulty that doesn’t make me want to be literally pulling my hair out, but there are times I’m often nearly reaching for it – very frustrating indeed. Good thing I have plenty of it, hair that is.

• Outland screenshot slideshow

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However, there is a certain oddity about Outland, something that I can’t quite exactly place my finger on. It makes almost no sense, but constantly urges the player forward by peaking ones curiosity just that little bit extra, having one seek that little moment more to find out what lays ahead for our hero.

Which is quite intriguing actually, makes playing the game more interesting and demanding.

Environments are very stylized in a uniquely brilliant way, combining the darkness of the jungle to create a strange, looming environment that keeps the player moving, but with admiration of the visuals throughout the journey. Bright, vibrant colors mixed with somber darker tones make for some interesting settings throughout the game.

The music score is just enough for an arcade game. Not lacking to the point where it simply consists of simulated beeps and boops, but not on the grand scale of Halo.

Less is more

Outland is a title that proves one thing for certain, that less is often more.

You don’t need a grand score, HD visuals and a AAA studio to make a great gaming experience these days.

Being different works in Outland‘s favor, and it rises to the top of the list of the ‘must-play’ downloadable titles thus far for 2011. Every penny put towards Outland is certainly a penny well-spent. Dig into that pocket and give it a go, you won’t be disappointed.

OXCGN Gold Award

“9/10

©2011 Nicholas Laborde

xxxxxx

• Outland screenshot gallery

Filed under: 3rd Party Games, Console gaming, XBLA News-Reviews, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 3rd Party Games, Xbox 360 Game Reviews, Xbox 360 News, XboxLive Marketplace Tagged: | "First Person Shooter", Action, Doom, Game, Halo, Ikaruga, Outland, outland screenshots, Super Meat Boy, Ubisoft, Video game, XBLA, xblas outland review, Xbox Live Arcade