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April 5, 2006 | 11:28 PM PST
by: John Thomas Perkowski
The Outfit is one of those games that it is hard to define. Its not truly an action title, though you do have a lot of action elements; and its not really a strategy title, though it does have real time strategy elements. In short, The Outfit is an amalgamation of two distinct gameplay styles in an effort to create something new. Does it work?
Features
- Destruction on Demand: Summon up new soldiers and new vehicles whenever you like.
- Squad based fighting combined with intense action.
- Voice acting by famous Hollywood stars.
If there is 'vibe' to this game, its like your playing a World War II version of the The A-Team. From the cheesy one liners to the 'instant bridge', its like you've warped into an older version of that cult classic TV show. I half expected to see Hulk Hogan doing a cameo appearance at some point, as the heroes, villains, weapons, and scenery all seem more cartoonish than realistic. Its not bad to have this kind of feeling in the game. Its just very cheesy, and that kind of cheesyness won't appeal to everyone. The heroes and villains alike are portrayed as cartoonish supermen (and women), which only adds to the setting of the game.
The voice acting only seems to fuel this feeling, as lines are delivered with the kind of cheese you can only find on Saturday morning cartoons. Quality voice actors like Robert Patrick and Ron Pearlman round out a cast which seems intent on playing up each character as over the top as possible. All Germans speak in poor German accents, the females are oversexed, and the heroes all sound like they are trying to channel John "Hannibal" Smith from the A-Team. Of course this also tends to add to the game, but you can only stand lines like: "Ugh! Right in the Belt Buckle!" For so long before it starts to grate on your eardrums.
The graphics give off that cartoon and cheese vibe, so they seem to fit perfectly. The problem is that aside from some minor detail work, we've seen this quality graphics before. While it isn't' a N64 game, as some forum wags have stated, it could have easily been done on any current gen system with little to no fuss, and that includes the Gamecube. Of course, with the amount of things that could happen on the screen at once, perhaps this done by design. As a credit tot he game, you could have about thirty or fourty German soldiers trying to take you down at one time, but there will be no slowdown as you call in airstikes and fire off tank rounds.
Gameplay is where the game is at it's most innovative and has its most problems. The developer, Relic, gave us the amazing game Homeworld, which could be considered one of the best real time strategy games ever made. As this is their first attempt at a console game, they decided to go the action route and make a 3rd person shooter with some realtime strategy elements. As such, the gameplay turns out to be a mixed bag and a mixed blessing. You are one of three heroes, each of which has a primary heavy weapon, a secondary regular weapon, and some special ability only they can call on. The controls, for the most part, are easy to use, except the DoD (Destruction on Demand) dialer. You press 'Y' to bring up a circular menu of things to call in for airdrop, then hit a direction, then press the right button again. This takes some getting used to, but once you get used to it... You might still occasionally call up the wrong thing in the heat of battle. Still, nothing is ever completely useless, not even the wheelbarrow.
All of these drops, wether they be troops, tanks, weapons, ect. Serve as implements of destruction for your rampage through enemy territory. It is great fun to leap out of a damaged tank as it starts smoking, dial up another one fresh from the factory, wait for it to drop on the ground, then leap in and smash away. At last, none of that messy repairing. Just call for a weapon and either you or your teammates will man it and use it on the enemies. Of course this doesn't mean your team is going to use it effectively. Teammate AI ranges from moderate to braindead, depending on what going on. For example, I once called in a tank drop about six feet away from my little squad. I watched, dumbfounded, as my AI controlled teammate walked right over where I highlighted, and didn't even move an inch as a two-ton tank dropped right on his noggin. Moments like this are not uncommon, but due to the nature of Destruction on Demand, you learn not to really care about your teammates. That's right, your teammates are nothing but fodder and an extra gunhand around you. They don't really have names or personalities, they just soak gunfire and die. If you lose one, just have another one parachute in fully loaded and ready to go.
It is fun to crash through the stages of the French countryside destroying enemy after enemy, but this too has some faults. Its not that the levels are poorly designed, rather they are linear and dull. The games best moments are when you are in a wide or more open space, trying to figure out a way to fend off enemies coming from all directions. These are the moments where the game truly shines. However, these experiences are few and far between. Mostly, you just plod through illogically narrow valleys, one after another after another. Switching out gear as it becomes damaged and calling in replacement Teamates as they fall. Eventually, you kill everything in this narrow path, making this seem more like a team-based version of a 3D shoot-em-up.... And not a very good one to boot. Thankfully, the multi-player redeems this somewhat. Humans have a lot more intuition than the AI in this game, plus you never truly know if someone has somehow managed to dial in a .50 Cal machine gun nest and plopped it in your own base. The natural un-predictability of human strategy adds a refreshing fluidity to combat, as you constantly shift gears trying to either outwit or out maneuver an opposing player's move.
In the end, however, The Outfit is almost a little above average. It has a great idea, but it just fails to implement it properly or with any real sense of fun. Give it a rental if you are curious.
Features
- Destruction on Demand: Summon up new soldiers and new vehicles whenever you like.
- Squad based fighting combined with intense action.
- Voice acting by famous Hollywood stars.
If there is 'vibe' to this game, its like your playing a World War II version of the The A-Team. From the cheesy one liners to the 'instant bridge', its like you've warped into an older version of that cult classic TV show. I half expected to see Hulk Hogan doing a cameo appearance at some point, as the heroes, villains, weapons, and scenery all seem more cartoonish than realistic. Its not bad to have this kind of feeling in the game. Its just very cheesy, and that kind of cheesyness won't appeal to everyone. The heroes and villains alike are portrayed as cartoonish supermen (and women), which only adds to the setting of the game.
The voice acting only seems to fuel this feeling, as lines are delivered with the kind of cheese you can only find on Saturday morning cartoons. Quality voice actors like Robert Patrick and Ron Pearlman round out a cast which seems intent on playing up each character as over the top as possible. All Germans speak in poor German accents, the females are oversexed, and the heroes all sound like they are trying to channel John "Hannibal" Smith from the A-Team. Of course this also tends to add to the game, but you can only stand lines like: "Ugh! Right in the Belt Buckle!" For so long before it starts to grate on your eardrums.
The graphics give off that cartoon and cheese vibe, so they seem to fit perfectly. The problem is that aside from some minor detail work, we've seen this quality graphics before. While it isn't' a N64 game, as some forum wags have stated, it could have easily been done on any current gen system with little to no fuss, and that includes the Gamecube. Of course, with the amount of things that could happen on the screen at once, perhaps this done by design. As a credit tot he game, you could have about thirty or fourty German soldiers trying to take you down at one time, but there will be no slowdown as you call in airstikes and fire off tank rounds.
Gameplay is where the game is at it's most innovative and has its most problems. The developer, Relic, gave us the amazing game Homeworld, which could be considered one of the best real time strategy games ever made. As this is their first attempt at a console game, they decided to go the action route and make a 3rd person shooter with some realtime strategy elements. As such, the gameplay turns out to be a mixed bag and a mixed blessing. You are one of three heroes, each of which has a primary heavy weapon, a secondary regular weapon, and some special ability only they can call on. The controls, for the most part, are easy to use, except the DoD (Destruction on Demand) dialer. You press 'Y' to bring up a circular menu of things to call in for airdrop, then hit a direction, then press the right button again. This takes some getting used to, but once you get used to it... You might still occasionally call up the wrong thing in the heat of battle. Still, nothing is ever completely useless, not even the wheelbarrow.
All of these drops, wether they be troops, tanks, weapons, ect. Serve as implements of destruction for your rampage through enemy territory. It is great fun to leap out of a damaged tank as it starts smoking, dial up another one fresh from the factory, wait for it to drop on the ground, then leap in and smash away. At last, none of that messy repairing. Just call for a weapon and either you or your teammates will man it and use it on the enemies. Of course this doesn't mean your team is going to use it effectively. Teammate AI ranges from moderate to braindead, depending on what going on. For example, I once called in a tank drop about six feet away from my little squad. I watched, dumbfounded, as my AI controlled teammate walked right over where I highlighted, and didn't even move an inch as a two-ton tank dropped right on his noggin. Moments like this are not uncommon, but due to the nature of Destruction on Demand, you learn not to really care about your teammates. That's right, your teammates are nothing but fodder and an extra gunhand around you. They don't really have names or personalities, they just soak gunfire and die. If you lose one, just have another one parachute in fully loaded and ready to go.
It is fun to crash through the stages of the French countryside destroying enemy after enemy, but this too has some faults. Its not that the levels are poorly designed, rather they are linear and dull. The games best moments are when you are in a wide or more open space, trying to figure out a way to fend off enemies coming from all directions. These are the moments where the game truly shines. However, these experiences are few and far between. Mostly, you just plod through illogically narrow valleys, one after another after another. Switching out gear as it becomes damaged and calling in replacement Teamates as they fall. Eventually, you kill everything in this narrow path, making this seem more like a team-based version of a 3D shoot-em-up.... And not a very good one to boot. Thankfully, the multi-player redeems this somewhat. Humans have a lot more intuition than the AI in this game, plus you never truly know if someone has somehow managed to dial in a .50 Cal machine gun nest and plopped it in your own base. The natural un-predictability of human strategy adds a refreshing fluidity to combat, as you constantly shift gears trying to either outwit or out maneuver an opposing player's move.
In the end, however, The Outfit is almost a little above average. It has a great idea, but it just fails to implement it properly or with any real sense of fun. Give it a rental if you are curious.
February 8, 2010
