Outland
Score: 88% ESRB: Everyone 10+ Publisher: Ubisoft Entertainment Developer: Housemarque Media: Download/1 Players: 1; 2 (Online) Genre: Platformer/ Action
Graphics & Sound: The world of Outland is dark, beautiful, and almost alien. I'm not sure I've ever seen a game do so much with the color black. The shadowy aesthetic remains throughout the entirety of the game, though the colors red and blue are equally important. Thrown in for good measure is an almost sickly yellow pallor that lends some subtle creepiness to the proceedings. However, the stark contrast between the darkness and the rest of the environmental design is a huge part of what makes Outland so visually appealing. It's just as well; polarity is a major running theme throughout the game. Outland's enemy design is also top notch; featuring humanoids as well as hostile flora and fauna. Though Outland appears to be a celebration of the natural world, the world it presents does not feel like our own. Otherworldly ambience and simple but resonant musical cues are really all Outland needs, and for the most part, the game settles for that. Spirituality seems to be a major focus for Outland's story, and the music is somewhat tribal. It got a bit old for me after a while, but I was never bothered by it. There aren't too many sound effects, but sword strikes have impact and some monsters are capable of inspiring fear.
Gameplay: I hope you're not expecting me to decipher Outland's impenetrable storyline, because I'm not sure I can. If Braid cranked up the pretentiousness to 11 and forgot to tell a story, it'd be pretty close to the nonsense of Outland's narrative. The setting is temporally and spatially disconnected from reality, instead offering a yarn that could be interpreted as religious. That's about all I can tell you, unfortunately. Outland is, at its core, a platformer. The gameplay primarily involves running, jumping, and sliding, though you'll spend a good amount of time fighting enemies and finding out how to advance to the next area. A good portion of the game has you doing all of that at once, and that's when Outland is at its best. It's a juggling act that tests your reflexes and your dexterity, and just when you think you've got the game figured out, new abilities call for clever new level designs that, in turn, test your skills even further.
Difficulty: Outland is no Super Meat Boy, but it is challenging. The difficulty level starts off gently enough, but it steadily increases the whole way through. You'll die often, but you won't find yourself flinging your controller or quitting after a few minutes of frustration. Though the story is weak, Outland's unpredictable and fascinating level design will compel you to see the adventure through to the end. There are a few minor problems. Checkpoints are abundant but sometimes spread too thin, and it's very possible to become utterly and near-hopelessly lost. The golden swarm of guidance (as I call it) was once nowhere to be found, and it never showed up until I somehow stumbled upon the right place.
Game Mechanics: Outland features the responsive, satisfying platforming found in the Prince of Persia games and mixes it with the polarity-based bullet hell nightmare from Ikaruga. It's a great idea in concept, and an even better one in execution. The main character climbs, wall-jumps, swings his sword, and dashes about with ease. It's a good thing, too, because the world of Outland is full of deadly enemies and booby traps. Once you're about thirty minutes into Outland, the main character gains the ability to shift his spirit energy between light and darkness. This mechanic is the focal point of the game, as nearly every bit of gameplay revolves around it. If you're light, you can absorb bright bullets, but you can be hurt by dark ones -- and vice versa. The platforming is affected by this, too; your spirit energy alignment can make certain platforms disappear or move when you stand on them. Believe me when I say that Housemarque has squeezed just about every drop of creativity out of this mechanic, as some sequences are simply mind-blowing. Outland features a simple currency system which you can use to attain health and spirit energy upgrades, and it also utilizes a Metroid-esque ability system. As you discover new abilities, new paths are opened up, and lots of these are used to great effect in the game's outstanding boss fights. This style of game design rarely fails, and it certainly does well by Outland. Outland proves that a game can be wonderfully fresh and original even while being powered by old ideas. The digital market is full of sleeper hits, and Outland is destined to be one of them.
-FenixDown, GameVortex Communications AKA Jon Carlos
Related Links: Official Website of Outland
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