Outlaws + A Handful of Missions (Classic, 1997)

I'd never heard of this one until it came out on GOG, but I'm sure glad I gave it a try. This is straight out of the glory days of LucasArts, before they cancelled Sam and Max, before they churned out nothing but garbage Star Wars prequel games, back when virtually everything they made was well-crafted, unique and fun. The passion and care put into this game really shows. The gameplay is very similar to Dark Forces, but with slightly better graphics and innovations such as swimming (you could swim in DF, but only on the surface, here you can explore underwater), a rifle scope, improved AI, etc. The level design is fantastic, with lots of varied and dangerous terrain and hidden secrets. The enemies are varied enough to not get boring, and defy the usual "enemy type that takes exactly this many hits" pattern, with some randomly having better aim or more health than others, regardless of their appearance. The graphics, though dated and blocky, actually convey the dusty Western atmosphere very well, the stylized cutscenes are great, the soundtrack is absolutely fantastic, and the game in general does an excellent job of drawing you in. The plot, though pretty basic and stereotypical, works well for this revenge-driven tale, and the way the bosses taunt and mock you is quite effective- each has quite a bit of personality, though the mad Doctor is the only one who really gets fleshed out much beyond the backstory in the manual. There were only a few downsides- the glitch where the music stops when you enter the save menu was very annoying, as was the lack of a quicksave button- this is a hard game where a couple lucky shots can kill you instantly, and you save a LOT. The levels could be a little too convoluted sometimes, and it got tedious wandering the corpse-strewn rooms looking for a secret passage. The bosses were pretty easy- usually I picked them off from a distance before they could see me, but maybe that was by design. Overall, great game and well worth a buy!

Even though Outlaws is a classic FPS game from the late '90s, it's not often brought up alongside the classics like Doom, Duke Nukem 3D, or Blood. It's a shame, as Outlaws introduced a number of innovations to the "Doom clone" formula. You come into this game expecting another simple run-and gun, but what you find is one of the earliest and most brutal examples of a Tactical Shooter. Outlaws is the kind of game where enemies can kill you in only two shots at point-blank and the only way to avoid damage is to take cover. It's actually quite fascinating for early 1997 standards. Not only is it the first FPS game to have a true sniper rifle (beating Goldeneye by nearly 5 months), but 3D positional audio as well through Aureal A3D. Despite the hardcore difficulty, fans of both Quake and Ghost Recon will be at home in LucasArts' quirky Western FPS. On Easy, the gameplay feels more like Doom with greatly-reduced damage while Medium provides a comfy middle ground. The level design leans heavily towards key hunts and switch puzzles, owing to the fact that the lead level designer was Chris Klie of "Master Levels for Doom II" and "B.F. THUD!" fame. The combat is brilliant for early 1997, with a wide variety of weapons that all feel just right. Well, with the exception of a sawed-off shotgun that's actually more accurate than the regular version. What makes the price of admission most worth it though is the theme of Outlaws itself. Each level is bookended with beautifully-animated and voice-acted cutscenes that give Outlaws a unique charm no other game has. Even the enemies exude a lot of personality. If there's one bad thing about Outlaws, it's the short length. There's only 9 main levels with 14 add-on levels and boy, do some of the add-on levels get bad. They're overwrought with key hunts that drag on too long. The hit detection can also be a bit spotty and someone liked putting enemies right behind doors. Still, if you're a '90s FPS fan, then don't miss out on Outlaws.

This is one of the greatest games of my childhood, spend hours on it. Had the demo first, full of hours. As for those who owns the box version of this, ever checked the images on the back showing how the devs used the ammo cheat when they took the images? (always 999 ammo on them ;D ).

Do you adore the spaghetti westerns? Do you adore Ennio Morricone's soundtracks? If yes then just buy and play this masterpiece. that's all there is to it.

I played the demo of Outlaws as a kid and loved it, but never got a copy until I was an adult. Unfortunately, I couldn't get it to run on Windows. That has all changed with this brilliant release. This game is spectacular. The feel of the environment, music and cutscenes are all top notch. These elements combine with some fairly basic FPS elements to produce an emotional journey as you blast your way through towns full of villains as you pursue your daughter's kidnapper and wife's murderer. While engaging in enemies, you'll pick up weapons and tools to get you places. The game was the first every to use a scope's zoomed view. And digging your way under a building with a shovel is quite wonderful. But the best part of the game is dodging bullet while looking for secrets. Secret rooms could include extra weapons or ammunition or amusing animations that I won't spoil here. Technically, the game runs like a brand new game. It feels good on my widescreen monitor (I'm not sure if it's stretching, but it probably is). All of the graphics show correctly, with correct colors, animation speeds and clarity. Everything is just right. Perhaps my favorite part of the game is that it loads quickly, you can save anywhere at any time, which allows it to fit my schedule. You can play for a few minutes and come back to it later. And that makes this a great hardcore-casual mix of a game for me.