Outlaws + A Handful of Missions (Classic, 1997)

My first exposure to this game was through the demo, storming a town with a repeater rifle and pistol, and I couldn't get enough of it. It's from the Dark Forces school of FPS, where you can look up and down and not quite aim straight at extreme heights, but it's at the point where it feels fully realized: a shooter where enemies can come at you from above and below and you can actually shoot back. The enemies for the most part are cut from the same cloth, but their different taunts and clothing make it feel varied enough that all you want to do is find a corner to hide behind until you work up the nerve to gun them down. Some weapons have alternate fire modes, so you can unload your six-shooter quickly by holding the trigger and slapping down the hammer, and most enemies don't need that much firepower to take out. The obvious analog is, at least on harder difficulty levels, combat is deadly for you, too, and you have to be smart, cautious, have decent aim, and use resources wisely. The game is patterned off of Italian Westerns, with a brilliant musical score and a lank, stylized cartoon graphical style that reminds me the most of the old Wild Wild West TV show's animated credits. But the game's mechanics actually make the Wild West feeling even stronger, and the occasional chance to blast some hooligan off a platform and have them land on the ground in front of you is straight out of just about any Western you could think of. Not all the levels are made equal, and some of the Handful missions feel a bit disjointed compared to the main narrative, but in my run through this game each of the main missions had definite character and felt worth revisiting, especially the classic town, with its secrets and multiple entry points. If you're not too picky for modern tropes in your FPS tastes, or looking for something that feels different than the usual, Outlaws is great fun, and is one of my favorite FPSes of all time.

First off, I have to admit to being biased. This is hands down one of my favorite FPS titles to date. Not only does it take one of my favorite movie genres - the spaghetti western - and weave an extraordinary tribute tale but it has some of the funnest levels I have ever had the pleasure of playing. The people that designed those levels really did a great job of combining the right amount of puzzles that fit so well with the environment. Even the train level was fun as heck to play through. Just a fun game, period. And Clint Bajakian's music perfectly emulates Ennio Morricone's sound but makes it his own. Just listening to the main title is great. I have the original 2-CD set of this game and the music is a permanent addition to my playlist. The ONLY reason I give 4 stars and not 5 is because the soundtrack is not included as a download. Come on Gog. Oh, and definitely play the Historical and Other missions as well. Simply fun as heck.

This is a great game from the nineties. The story is wonderful, told through chapter intros and closings. The game play is lots of fun. Medium difficulty is really hard. Try it on easy first and then graduate to medium to avoid frustration and don't forget to reload that Colt 45 or you will die. The extra missions are a lot of fun too. Remember, it is a game from the almost twenty years ago based on a modified Dark Forces engine, so it is not going to look like today's games, but its great. As others have said the music is original but sounds as though Ennio Morricone wrote it himself. I have had this game on disc for years but it has been extremely difficult to get running properly on a modern pc. Thank you so much GOG.

With gorgeous hand-drawn cutscenes telling a classic tale of revenge straight out of Unforgiven and brilliant level design which perfectly utilizes the Dark Forces engine, Outlaws could very well be the best FPS ever crafted by LucasArts. Shootouts in saloons, chases across train rooftops, and treks through sun-baked canyons are all perfectly realized and portray the dangerous life of a gunslinger with charm and personality. This is no half-hearted Doom clone; this is a full-on spaghetti western shooter which still feels unique to this day.