Outland Review (PSN)

An original platformer, with a lead character of an organic mood ring

After all the evolutions in gaming, 2D platformers should be a thing of the past, reminiscent golden memories of pixelated brains of 30 year olds. Yet it’s games like Outland which reinforce the fact that such myths are false. Shooting for the underdog of the year award, coming out of practically nowhere, and even though it skimps on the rabid upgrade collecting inspired by classic Metroid titles, it still provides a damn addictive experience. Outland builds on the tale of a man plagued by dreams and visions of the past…30,000 years in the past to be precise. Resorting to a shaman (of all people to help), he learns that these intense insights reflect on the battle of an ancient hero and the Two Sisters of Chaos that ran riot across the land. Although successfully sealed away, however, the sisters have escaped and the hero is believed to be the reincarnation of the new hero, here to thwart the plans of the terrible twosome again, using their own powers against them. Infected with the powers of the two sisters doesn’t sound truly epic at first. Your hero can alternate between glowing blue and red and this affects what platforms you can land on, red can land on red and blue on blue. As you delve deeper, you realise this simplified mechanic has dire consequences on how you’ll play the game. The very presence of platforms can depend on the colour you are, and as you progress there, the more clever aspects of platforming dilemmas and hazardous obstacles get in your way, strongly dependent on both your skills and co-ordination.

it’s very hard to find issues with Outland

Acting the chameleon is even more heavily dependent in combat. The frankly dull mashings of the square button only have any effect if you’re the conflicting colour Once again, however, the gameplay builds and builds thanks to the increasing opportunity for tactics and new abilities to unlock. As you progress, enemies become much more cunning, and you constantly have to be on your toes seeing as a new pesky assailant may just be around the corner that you’ll have to watch carefully to look for attack patterns and openings. Soon, the enemies just become another severe obstacle needed to traverse through difficult platforming sections, yet that to the simple and strangely deep combat system in place, Outland never loses the fantastic fluidity it has created so well. Outland is very beautiful in its simplicity. A majority of what you’ll be traversing remains silhouetted, with characters and enemies standing out through blue or red patterns around them, wondering round like clubbers in tribal neon paint, as the backgrounds resonate with beautiful colour like you’re playing in a watercolour painting. The story is told through rather gruff narration, and although slightly overplayed in its performance, suits the title very well, along with its mystical soundtrack. Although Outland’s beauty resonates by not over-complicating gameplay, it’s certainly not an easy journey. The difficulty curve is perfectly formed, yet getting through some of the later stages requires some truly respectable amounts of skill and patience, especially if you want to get through without a scratch on your health. Even if players do find it easy to blitz through the game, collectables in each level lie scattered that unlock concept art and improved attributes that are scratches that just have to be itched by the adventurous. Experts will be determined to conquer everything Outland throws at them, and beginners will be so addicted to the experience they won’t be able to put the controller down. Find the game too hard, however, and you can go at it with a co-op buddy. Though the game is typically much easier with a pal in tow, co-op challenges littered throughout the world stand tall to test your friendships to the very limit. Sharing your colour changing powers with a partner can be incredibly frustrating to the point of manslaughter if you can’t work as a team, yet these optional segments truly warrant the challenge stamp, and it’s a shame there aren’t more to traverse and conquer (perhaps I’ve been spoilt by Portal 2’s great co-op campaign in this regard, but if you’re looking for excuses for DLC challenges Ubisoft…). Boss battles feels much more epic due to the large scale of the big baddies you’ll face. Yet behind their macho exterior lies a typical attack pattern busting strategy to bring them down, there’s this strangely comfortable retro feel surrounding it, and all the bosses still pose a challenge in their menacing ways. When they’re chucking bullets which have no effect should you be the same corresponding colour as the projectile, you can’t help but feel you’re playing some platforming hybrid of shoot-’em-up Ikaruga. The one major issue with these boss fights, however, is that harder encounters can progress through a multitude of landscapes before you even make a scrape in their health bar. Die at any point, and you’ll be chucked right at the beginning of the confrontation, incredibly annoying if you get to a stage of the battle where you have to learn a certain attack pattern. Despite the abstract lack of checkpoints during its fiercest of battles, it’s very hard to find issues with Outland, it’s a ridiculously fluent game that incredibly addictive to play. Those who are looking for a brilliantly fresh and yet comfortably familiar platformer in the lines of the classic Prince Of Persia should definitely give this a look into. Outland takes the greatest aspects of 2D scrolling platformers over the last few years, builds upon their foundations and creates a truly immersive experience, never spoiled by complications.