menage > Game Reviews
James Cameron ’s Avatar has done irreversible impairment to the sci - fi genre .
Stop me if you ’ve heard this one before . terra firma ’s government is intrude on an alien planet , extracting a cute resource with a stupid name and violently oppressing resistance from the native universe in the process . Only with the aid of one human can the more ghostlike , nature - intuned local vote down the uncongenial engross force .
If that sounds like Avatar or Gone with the Wolves but in distance , you ’re untimely because that is also in reality the plot of Outcast – A New get-go ! The tale follows former special ops soldier Cutter Slade as he goes against the government that betrayed him , fighting to protect the aboriginal of an interdimensional foreign planet and , in the cognitive operation , fulfilling their take prophecy .
Look , before I rupture into Outcast – A New Beginning ’s tale , I require to say that this revaluation is more than me just criticizing the writing . While I know many the great unwashed are going to worry about a biz ’s story and certainly are going to care this one ’s is full of tropes , cliches , and outright plot holes , I also understand that there are masses who plainly do n’t give care about that stuff or even like some of the tropes I ’m going to be complaining about . I ’ll mention the gameplay in the second half of this review . While I certainly have some things to say there , they wo n’t be nearly as scathing as my reassessment of Outcast – A New Beginning ’s writing .
Outcast – A New Beginning sets up a series of storytelling tropes before we even get out of the game ’s tutorial . Some of these , while effective , are passably old-hat , and I would have preferred they be go away out of the story exclusively . Others I downright despise , and while I ’m not really a cancel culture kind of person , I find they are way superannuated for the time .
To give you an example of the latter , friendless – A novel Beginning egregiously employ the very dated “ white savior ” trope . For those who are n’t familiar , this is a trope where a bloodless adult male , with no knowledge of local culture or hoi polloi , arrive in and easily becomes a master of their traditions and hold start the Clarence Day . To cite Wikipedia ’s article on the image ,
” The white savior is a cinematic trope in which a blank central theatrical role rescues non - white ( often less prominent ) character from inauspicious circumstances . This recurs in an array of genre in American cinema , wherein a white supporter is portrayed as a messianic figure who often gains some brainwave or self-examination in the course of instruction of rescuing non - livid characters ( or occasionally non - human exotic race that replace as non - white civilizations ) from their troth . “
“ But mister Erik TryHardGuides , ” I learn you asking , “ How can funny coolman Cutter Slade be a White Savior if the people he keep are aliens ? ”
That ’s a bizarre line of inquiring , I would respond . I would also tell you that my last name is n’t TryHardGuides . I would also point out that the Talans take some evident inspiration from several substantial - world cultures , which would be o.k. if not for their role in the biz . Or if the breathing in were less clamant , I ’m also not a big rooter of when games go , “ Look at this alien refinement ! ” and slap an getup I ’ve seen in historic paintings on a being from a completely unlike planet .
Several other figure of speech and annoying writing trends also plague Outcast – A New start . An amnesiac figure is idly cast around with our master character , who is also supremely sarcastic and quippy . The whole game suffers from Marvel Cinematic Universe - story “ Erm , he ’s properly behind me ? ” dry comedy that ’s been plaguing the industry for years now , causing every fibre to be needlessly quippy and crack jokes where they are n’t need .
The fib is better in some lieu than others but stay remarkably predictable throughout . The characters are pretty one - dimensional , and the villains are so cartoonish that the primary antagonist ’s first introduction call a helpless Talan a “ beast ” and then executes him for “ not being able to learn English . ”
This is particularly unknown because every other Talan seems to speak with Slade just fine . At one full stop , he says he ’s speaking their language ; another interjects , saying he ’s verbalise the lyric of humans , but only Shamans — Oops , blue , the secret plan call them Shamana , or something — can see him . Five minutes later , this is n’t true again , as Slade needs to interact with random civilians to complete quest .
The gameplay of Ishmael – A New Beginning is n’t nearly as offensive as the storytelling , but it is n’t what I ’d call the plot of the year , either .
Bad optimization of the Unreal Engine stand for that I could barely get above 40 FPS on medium artwork , and trust me , I was playing on a modern machine . This was unsatisfying because many of the plot ’s environment looked really fairly .
credibly the expert thing the plot has run low for is how it allow you to detached - roam and challenge the story as you see fit . Very ahead of time on , you ’re tax with either plain the invaders out of Adelpha by attacking human outpost ( do n’t worry , robots operate them , so your decision to betray your entire mintage is n’t as amiss as it could be . ) or unify the villages for a bringing up ceremony . I do n’t opine I have to enjoin you which route I prefer .
Ew , sicko . It was war — the one with explosions .
The combat is middling basic , just point - and - flash without too many play complexities . The social movement mechanism are moderately generous , tolerate you to jump high and dash at will . Enemy AI is more or less atrocious . Many of the various robots you struggle will wad up into big groups and do n’t the rare times they do take cover charge ; they often wo n’t get back up from behind it . Sometimes , enemies engender endlessly in front of you , just appearing from the ether in your line of quite a little .
I find like a target lock scheme would have been great for this game because jumping around in combat , while great for positioning , signify you wo n’t be able-bodied to sprout anything until you land . These front mechanics get much more impressive subsequently in the game , allowing you to fly around freely .
The artillery upgrades are my preferent part , and once I start out past the narrative and the constant cutscenes , the weapons kept me invested . unlike weapon modules can be base at human bases , allowing you to drastically convert how your guns function . They also visually changed the gun ’s visual aspect , which I prize .
Above all , I enjoyed that all the game ’s climb could be retrieve through the free - roam geographic expedition , more or less allowing you to unlock everything as you bring in the currencies demand to purchase them . Then again , anything to pull me away from the tale in Outcast was a grown asset .
The Final Word
Outcast – A New rootage features dated storytelling , poor writing , and an overliance on figure we ’ve all seen a thousand time by now . If none of that weigh to you , however , you ’re in for a pretty ok gameplay experience , with some unique mechanics and freedom that thankfully allows you to bypass a bunch of the biz ’s storytelling , no matter how confidently it seems to throw it in your face .
Try Hard Guides was provided with a PC review copy of this plot . Find more elaborated looks at democratic and upcoming title in theGame Reviewssection of our web site ! Outcast – A New Beginning is available onSteam , XboxandPlayStation .
