Outlaws + A Handful of Missions (Classic, 1997)

It is only using tracks from cd 1 and 1st track on cd2. GoG did not bother to adjust the *.msc files. They only hacked lecmusic.dll. no music volume adjustment since they are using oggwinmm They missed the 54 single missions addon etc etc. There is a legit update, just search for outlaws portable 54 missions

Everyone remembers the Build engine's big three, Duke 3D, Shadow Warrior and Blood, but as much as I love them, the title of the best 2.5D shooter possibly belongs to this long-forgotten shooter by LucasArts. It's not only the comparably realistic and serious Western setting that sets Outlaws apart from its competitors, most importantly it's the fast and unvorgiving gameplay. Especially if you're playing on the "Ugly" difficulty setting Outlaws provides an experience unlike anything else out there. Some call it frustrating, I call it exciting as hell. You can die after one or two shots, just like almost all enemies you will encounter, but the enemies are balanced exceptionally well, in such a manner that all of them pose a real threat but can be taken on with the right tactics and some quick thinking. It's just something about the balance of their aiming, reaction time and hit points that results in a frantic and brutal but kinda believable gameplay that makes you feel like the gunslinger you're pretending to be. Throw in an epic Western story about revenge, music that sounds like a "best of Morricone" album and many diverse locations and you have an extremely satisfying shooter unlike any other. My main concern is the archaic level design, though. Many fans of oldschool shooters love the complex and convolluted maps, I think they often go too far with this and you will find yourself looking for the right way or a key a bit too often, much like in LucasArts' other shooters, Dark Forces and Jedi Knight. Especially later on in the main campaign things get a bit messy in this respect. But still, Outlaws remains an amazing shooter and thankfully there are also the instantly accessible "historical missions" which focus a bit more on shoot-outs. Either way, I whole-heartedly recommend this often overlooked shooter. To me - a true classic.

WARNING: There is a bug in this game that effects this game's amazing music soundtrack that GOG knows about and has not fixed. The problem is you will lose the music if you enter the configuration menu during gameplay, and it does not come back once you've exited the menu. The only way you can get it back is to restart the level. So if you want to save your game in the middle of the level, you will be playing the rest of the level without music. GOG DOES NOT CONSIDER THIS GAME BREAKING AND WILL NOT ISSUE REFUNDS FOR THIS ISSUE! They will simply tell you that they are aware of the issue and that there is no know fix for it. It's nice to know that GOG has your back, right? Well don't be fooled by their "30 day money back guarantee" because they will not honor this guarantee unless your game either does not start up or crashes constantly. Anything else like major graphical or sound glitches, or unplayable framerates are not considered game breaking to GOG which is unacceptable! Luckily I found a sensible workaround to this issue with no thanks to GOG support. If you need to go to the pause menu for any reason, save the game where you stand, and then load the game from there and the music will come back. It's a few steps, but not too bad. Also you cannot rename your save states once they're created which is an annoying bug, but is NOT actually game breaking. Anyway, on to the game if you still decide to buy it. The low rating is 100% for GOG's support because this game is easily a 5 star old school FPS. One of the best in fact. If you're the kind who likes to storm out from behind cover with guns blazing you will die very quickly and often in this game. The enemy as extremely good eyes and good aim which is what makes this game so great. One good shot can remove over half of your life so you must sweep the levels carefully. Saving at least halfway through the level is ideal as the missions are long. The sounds of the guns and music is absolutely out of this world.

This game has to be my favorite multiplayer fps of all time! I remember the days when I would play this with my buddies on the MSN gaming zone.... ah, those were the days. I really have no clue how I ever made it through high school; spent most of my time on this game as opposed to doing homework. Haven't quite had as much fun with any other game. There are some bugs, but in multiplayer mode these are really just features (some examples: jumping out of a high building, then pressing escape right before hitting the ground to bring up the main menu will prevent taking any damage... tapping while sprinting won't use up any stamina.... running right next alongside a wall will make you run faster... the engine is a bit wonky, so when trying to shoot someone on a higher/lower elevation, one would have to actually aim a bit higher/lower for the hits to register). Anyway, take my word for it, these "features", rather than detracting from the whole experience, actually made it so amazing. If anyone else would be up for playing this in multiplayer, I would definitely be up for joining in ! The single player is also fun, it features some amazing music (which are great Morricone remixes).

Isn't it a bit sad that there haven't been much in the way of better western themed games, at least on the PC, since Outlaws came out in 1997? The year after Duke Nukem, Outlaws features a much more involved plot than most shooters on the market. Sure, it was basically just your typical revenge story, but the colorful characters you meet along the way helps put a face to the enemy you're facing. Literally. There's also way more variation in the level design and set pieces compared to games like Duke Nukem 3D. That train level will likely cause your pulse to race even today. But what really steals the show is Clint Bajakian's amazing score. Pretty unusual for the time, Clint's soundtrack - clearly inspired by Ennio Morricone and the like - played directly from the CD, in crystal clear hi-fi quality. No MIDI style beeps and boops here! Finally, the critical success and commercial failure that was Outlaws, is back from the dark corners of abandonwareland, and ready to be played by modern gamers. Whether it has aged well or not is up to you to decide, but either way you still shouldn't let this masterful piece of gaming history pass you by.