Outcast - Second Contact

Let's get the most important thing out of the way first. Outcast: Second Contact is an awesome game - because Outcast is an awesome game. But to me there are a lot of things that really hampers my enjoyment that probably was just as bad in the original. But with higher graphical fidelity you just notice it so much more. First of all there is the intro cutscene. To me it is just plain worse than the original. Crappy more or less nonexisting animation with the same dialogue as in the original. But without any semblance of life in it. The in-engine cutscenes are just about as bad with some Mass Effect Andromeda level facial animations and really stilted delivery. Again the voice lines are the exact same as in the original which isn't necessarily a bad thing if it was just dilivered in a convincing way. Now for the positives: The story is still as engaging as in the original when you kind of get over the first bump of the cringe at the delivery. The combat mechanics are surely passable if not exactly awesome and the puzzles and platforming sections are still enjoyable. And the most awesome thing again is the same as in the original: The world to me is the main character. Adelpha feels lived in in a way that I don't think I've seen in any other games. And another completely awesome thing that thankfully is also still part of the game: A soundtrack to rival the best (meaning the three newest Elder Scrolls games). So when you take the good with the bad you end up with quite a good game that just isn't quite what I hoped.

I always considered Outcast a classic so I was shattered when the KS campaign for the "Reboot HD" failed in 2014 and delighted when "Second Contact" delivered the promised remake. Actually, in a rush of nostalgia, I played Outcast v1.1 and Second Contact in parallel and will therefore focus on the differences. The remake sticks very much to the original. All the voice acting, cut scenes, game design and world design are almost 100% identical (+2 new rooms I consider easter eggs). Apart from some slight changes directed towards making the game more convenient to play, the main difference is the graphics. In a nutshell, they did an excellent job with the landscape and a solid job with the characters. I'm not 100% happy with the Talan design though as they look weirdly cartoonish. But of course it's still a giant step forward compared to the pixel/poly mess of the original. The whole game was sped up a bit, so Cutter always runs and can sprint shortly with Shift. While welcome, this makes riding Two-has kinda pointless. Cutter has a jet pack now for slightly higher jumps and can generally run/jump up steep ledges much better. The climbing works much worse though. Actually lots of places that could be climbed just don't work anymore. Also combat is quite a bit faster, targeting works much better but still, it feels a bit weird and not totally state of the art. The controls were simplified and stuff like dialogs and inventory are controlled with the mouse. The larger map view now fills the whole screen and shows names of known Talans. Also all inventory and quest related texts are much more readable. There's an autosave system now which uses save slots. IMHO there's even one save slot less. Lots of other things were removed for no reason (1st person view, zooming in/out, jumping with Twon-has, swimming up etc.). The removal of the weapon menu makes it hard to identify weapons in need for upgrades/ammo. Sadly, the party outro is missing, too. Still, a very good remake.

It's an interesting game from a historical point of view. Considering that the original was released in 1999, it featured nice mechanics and quite a big world. This remaster allowed me to experience that world without too much of a problem. However, it's 2021, and neither the size of the world nor the mechanics are impressive, but the story and the general idea make the game still good. My two main problems were wonky controls and countless bugs. Moving the character around feels very unnatural. The shooting is quite bad even with auto-aim, and don't you even try doing anything with stealth. Most of the bugs are graphical, like broken cutscenes and objects from a different region appearing in the current region (and floating in the sky). But I got a game-breaking bug too. The best thing about the bugs - it's enough to just quit the game to fix them. It's not worth the 35€ price tag though

If you liked the original, you will love this one too - it's (more of) the same, with almost every good and bad aspect. There is a bit of auto-targeting added, excellent UI updates etc; things that show that the makers understand and love the original, you will be pleased. If you never heard of it, you might want to skip this one; I'm sorry. This game was created with the specific intention to imitate the original in almost every way, and I fear that will render it unbearable for people who grew accustomed to the modern times. The controls will feel counter-intuitive, even frustrating at times, the story and the characters will feel strange and silly - like when you want to talk to anyone, for example a village elder and your avatar just walks up to him and say "Yo, come here for a sec" or something detached like that. Also this game DOES NOT hold your hand, you'll get an intro mission that supposedly teaches you five basic things, and then off you go... figure it out Pal! The neutral aspects include a robust vocabulary of the Talan people, the game includes a lexicon, where it stores the definitions of the things you ask in conversations with others - you'll be building your dictionary throughout the gameplay. The final goal of the game is to overthrow the government, which you can do by systematically disrupt and dismantle their military forces, by completing quest for locals who in return will eventually do things like stop producing ammo or food for the soldiers, things like that, contrarily to what I wrote a few line above, that this game does not hold your hand, it gives you a clear final objective which you can now track in the last page of the inventory. All in all, it is a welcome addition, a dim light of hope in the modern game industry

I've played many older games, but somehow I've never even touched the original Outcast. I was aware that it was one of the first open world games and about its cult status, but seemed like the graphics and gameplay didn't age well. Then came the second contact, which I've given a try. I've finished the game in a single weekend not because it is very short, but because I've enjoyed the hell out of it. I was pleasantly surprised since I've expected simpler mechanics and way the controls be way more sluggish. The graphics were quite okay, and I've rarely experienced glitches (like when the carts play spinning wheel, etc). I've needed to load around 5-6 times in the whole playthrough because I've been stucked between some rocks, but at least no crash. What really dragged me in was the world: so alien, yet so familliar. The NPCs had character, and they were certainly thinking in a different way than humans. There were surprisingly lot named characters, and tons of quests, though a lot of them was just "go there, speak with xy". The story was okay, there were a few things that seemed illogical, but the endgame answered most of them. There were a lot of foreign names for people, places, religion, etc, but the game helped by adding a lexicon and in-text explanations, so I've learned them way faster than in other games, which helped immersion. Also my actions really weakened the enemy army, which was an awesome mechanism. The combat was very simple, though I've loved that most of the enemies stay dead, and I can check the map before I start eliminating them. What I really hated though that there is only 1 place in the game I could get new weapons, and it seemed logical to avoid that place in the start, so most of the enemies were out of picture when I've got the chance try them out on someone. The platformer parts were way worse, but bearable. The in-game menu was very cool. I've always had objectives and wasn't restricted by walls. This game is open world at its core.