Outcast 1.1 Reviews

they scammed me and made me pay for the full price instead of the sale price which is $1. shady business, refund.

A few months ago, I posted my review for Outcast: Second Contact — a high-resolution remaster of the 1999 game Outcast. This was exciting split from what I usually play, since the original Outcast was the subject of one of my first ever History Lessons posts; a game I played for the first time in 2009 and absolutely loved. Before trying the new version, however, I wanted to revisit the original, this time taking advantage of the 1.1 update that developers Appeal / Fresh3D released in 2014, which allows for modern resolutions (the original’s awkward 512×384 is difficult to display on today’s monitors), improved performance, and fixes issues relating to processor speed. It is, in theory, the ultimate way to play the original game, and I’m planning to directly compare it to the Second Contact remaster. First I should say that getting 1.1 to run is much, much easier than trying to run the original game before the update (although the “true” original is also available as a bonus extra for players who buy the game from GOG, with many workarounds already incorporated). There’s a new launcher window, which lets players check and reassign controls as well as pick graphics and audio options. These options are more limited once in the game proper, so getting things configured requires some quitting and restarting, but it only took a few iterations to set it up the way I wanted. After that, I had virtually no problems when playing. Since my monitor’s native resolution is 1920×1080, I started with that, but I discovered that the widescreen resolutions cut off some of the vertical image. The original ran in a 4:3 aspect ratio, and it seems the developers were unable to increase the horizontal field of view for widescreen displays, so they were forced to crop the image. Therefore I ended up selecting a resolution of 1360×1024, as the cloest 4:3 resolution to my monitor’s native resolution, and playing the game letterboxed. You can see a direct comparison of the two resolutions below: I was pleased to learn, however, that in both resolutions I had no performance problems. I’d heard that the increased resolutions compared to the original game could put a strain on framerates, especially considering that the voxel engine used for terrain in the game must run entirely on the CPU and cannot take advantage of modern graphics cards. But I had no trouble reaching the 30 frames per second (FPS) cap (to avoid processor speed issues with the game that can cause certain systems to stop working properly). I only noticed framerate drops in places with lots of vertical structure, like the city of Cyana in Okasankaar or the mining town in Motazaar, or when zooming the camera all the way out for a full view of my surroundings. I can confidently say, then, that Oucast 1.1 is the best way to play the original game on a modern machine. Which is great, because it’s still a fantastic game that was years ahead of its time. Playing it again now, I’m not sure that this claim of uniqueness still holds true. What struck me most about Outcast this time through is how many modern games are finally doing the things that Outcast was doing in 1999. To someone well versed in recent games but unfamiliar with the state of video games in the late 90s, Outcast might not even seem that remarkable. Playing it again now, I’m not sure that this claim of uniqueness still holds true. What struck me most about Outcast this time through is how many modern games are finally doing the things that Outcast was doing in 1999. To someone well versed in recent games but unfamiliar with the state of video games in the late 90s, Outcast might not even seem that remarkable. Those options probably reminded you of recent games you know. Games like Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, or recent entries in the Far Cry series, or indeed any number of imitators in the open-world action game genre but in 1999, nearly everything about this was revolutionary. Enemies that moved according to their own schedules and reacted smartly to an attack, organizing themselves against the player, were unthinkable. The concept of using stealth in an action game had only just started to be popularized, with games like Thief: The Dark Project or the original Metal Gear Solid appearing in 1998. Even the idea of an open world, explored freely and with battles occurring dynamically, was virtually unknown at the time. Outcast certainly shows its age in places, such as the general interface design or the slow and measured pace of movement and combat, and it takes a while before the best ideas in the story are revealed. As such, it may not seem quite so special to first time players who have already played modern games with similar designs. But if they stick with it they’ll find an inspired game that pushed nearly every boundary in its time, and tells an excellent story to boot. Speaking of which, I’m planning to play through Outcast: A New Beginning and report back on exactly how it compares to 1.1 and Second Contact but at the moment I need a break to play some other games, so that may take a little while. Verdict: 8/10