Name:         Outlaws
Publisher:    LucasArts
Format:       2 CDs
Available:    Now

Requires:

O/S:          Win95 with DirectX 3
Processor:    P60+
RAM:          16Mb+
Graphics:     SVGA
CD-ROM:       x2
Soundcard:    All major cards supported

Tested on:

O/S:          Win 95 and DOS 6.22
Processor:    Cyrix P166+ / Intel P133
RAM:          64Mb / 32Mb
Graphics:     Diamond Stealth 64 DRAM 2Mb / Cirrus Logic CL5446 2Mb
CD-ROM:       16x / 12x
Soundcard:    SB AWE 32 w/8Mb / SB16
Controls:     CH Flightstick Pro, MS Mouse / Std Joystick

Outlaws

When I first received Outlaws, I was very unsure of exactly what to expect. Y'see, there is a huge grapevine in the games industry which seems to combine equal amounts of fact, near-fact, mistakes, mis-truths and apocrypha. As you can tell, this means that only about in five of the things that you hear is actually true.

Without going into too much detail, I had heard a great many conflicting reports about Outlaws and was having a very hard time keeping an open mind so as not to prejudge the game before actually laying my sticky paws on it. After all, I thought, a game from LucasArts deserves a fair trial before the hanging. These are the people who have brought us many ground breaking games as well as a number of worthy sequels.

So with an open mind, I awaited the game...

When the game arrived, I was immediately struck by the style of the artwork. A sort of rustic Wild West affair that was done up in LucasArts' distinctive comic-book style. This theme is beautifully carried over in both the CD printing and the manuals. As usual, when these people go for a themed game, it pervades everything.

Feelin' Floppy

The game comes on two CD's in a floppy case rather than a jewel one, so you need to make sure that when the CD's come out of the PC, they go back into the box. I can assure you gentle reader that it is entirely untrue that I have piles of CD's (the total value of which is a scary thing) stacked untidily all over the place. Nope, a place for everything and everything in its place. Even if that place is a large heap on the floor...

Outlaws is a Win95 only game. Installation was extremely easy, although I did already have a working DirectX v3 setup on all the machines I used for this review. That said, it was a nice change not to have to stop an installation routine from reinstalling DirectX. The now ubiquitous "pop the CD in and off you go" routine works a treat. I found that there was precious little difference in game performance between the small and large installations except for the odd jerky bit here and there when loading graphics mid-game from the CD.

One unusual option that is made available is to choose the Video mode from the autorun window. This gives the choice of 320 x 200, 320 x 240, 640 x 480 and 800 x 600 through DirectDraw and even more resolutions through Windows. There are also some options for changing the audio driver quality, but my untutored ear was unable to distinguish between them. Perhaps it is time that I finally invested in a decent amplifier and speakers. All the tests I ran were in 640 x 480 although performance did prove to adequate in 800 x 600 stand alone mode, the network play became jerky at the same resolution.

Much joy

A joy to install and, as it turned out, a joy to run. Whatever else you may think about this game, it is a very tight bit of code with few, if any, raw edges. It occurred to me during the course of doing this review that there are surprisingly few patches for LucasArts games. Updates, yes. Revisions, yes. Enhancements, yes. But major bug fixes? Very few and far between indeed. But I digress...

On firing up the game, you are treated to the best title sequence I have ever seen. This isn't full motion video or a wild stereo extravaganza. What there is here is atmosphere. In abundance. The style of the titles and the subsequent cut-scenes is done in the unique style developed for Day of the Tentacle (DOTT), Sam & Max Hit The Road and Full Throttle.

Nevertheless, that is not the be all and end all of the titles. Someone, somewhere has spent a lot of time watching Westerns. Not only is this the first time I have sat all the way through the titles of a computer game absolutely entranced, but also I think it is the first time I have sat all the way through them at all! After the initial "film" (i.e. cartoon) intro sequence, there are the credits. You know. The usual stuff you get. Lead Programmer. Graphic Artist. Hamster Trainer. They all get their name in here. The real difference is that this title sequence is actually interesting to watch. The only direct comparison I can draw is to the films City Slickers and the Pink Panther where, good though the actual film itself was, the titles stole the show.

Following the intro, finally, comes the Outlaws game screen. Apart from the configuration, loading and exit options, there are three main parts to the game: Main Game, Multiplayer and Historical Missions.

The Main Game option is the plot-based series of scenarios. Our hero, retired Marshal James Anderson, is back in the saddle trying to find the nasty men who have burnt his farm down, abducted his daughter and killed his wife. After another beautifully scripted and animated cutscene where the plot is revealed you enter the game proper.

We start our tale at Slim's Hideout. An open air ranch scene where you can open all the doors, go in and out of buildings, climb stairs, crawl, run, jump and generally do stuff. All the buildings are well drawn and the baddies are quite well animated and drawn. The whole thing is just like Doom in Nineteenth Century America.

Sadly, this is where it all gets a bit disappointing. Y'see, Outlaws is like a Wild West TC for Quake. Laudable though the game engine is, it just doesn't quite come up to scratch with the likes of Id's runaway hit. If this had hit the streets two years ago, I would have been awe-struck by the whole thing. Sadly, the pace of advancement in the games arena means that the actual game engine is merely adequate. I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with it. Quite the contrary. The game is well crafted and hangs together very well indeed. It's just a bit lackluster by today's standards.

The real problem is the graphics. They're not hyper-realistic. Nor are they in the same cartoon style as the wonderful cutscenes. Rather, they fall between two stools. The textures and objects are nicely rendered and presented, but I'm in two minds as to whether they're not realistic enough to be credible or to realistic to gel with the animated sections.

The in-game display is a first person point of view with the current weapon shown in hand. At the bottom of the screen are markers showing the amount of ammo in the weapon, the amount of spare ammo carried, an energy indicator which either shows how much air you have left or how much running energy remains, the currently active item in your inventory and your health.

Game play

Game play is very smooth and there is no flicker or jumping even when panning around complex areas. There is a wide variety of weapons from fists and throwing knives to rifles and even dynamite. The gatling gun is a nice touch. You can't move it while its set up, though you can turn it to aim. The dynamite is probably as dangerous to the player as it is to everyone else though...

One nice touch is that you have to reload your weapons. A six-shooter is exactly that. It's very embarrassing when you charge into a room full of very bad men and realise you'll have to duck back out of the door to load your gun. In my opinion, the reloading process is too quick, as is changing weapons. This is probably as a result of the quick weapon changes of other games in the genre. Every weapon has different ranges and spreads of damage. It is nice to find that pistol accuracy really does drop off very sharply with range.

The items you find as you go round are varied and useful including the usual health boosters and other such power ups. Ammo is quite plentiful and occasionally in very strange places. Some of the secret rooms are very cleverly placed and often contain much of value.

The controls are extremely varied and configurable with good support for mouse, keyboard and joysticks supported through DirectPlay. In the end, I settled on a system of using all three in various situations and found that all the various methods of control were more or less equally responsive. Aiming, however, is tricky with the joystick, difficult with the keyboard and almost insultingly easy with the mouse.

The aim of each level is to find (and presumably kill) arch-baddies and get information to lead you on to the next bit of the plot, the next cutscene and the next level. In the course of this you find that the Wild West was populated with dozens of very unpleasant people who are in need of a good shooting.

Revenge

I think Marshal Anderson (the player) has been planning his revenge for a long time, as he is definitely not using the same ammo as the enemies. In most cases, he can kill gun-toting cowpokes with one or maybe two bullets from his pistol. By comparison, he can take a large number of shots himself and can restore his health by drinking from a canteen. This did seem rather strange at first, but as the body count rises you kind of stop wondering after a while.

The sound is good and the stereo is well up to par. In a very Doom sort of way, when you get near anyone you can hear them saying things like "Yer outnumbered Marshal" and other such drivel. This gets very tedious after a while and one starts to shoot these people as a good way to shut them up.

By far the best part of the whole package is the music. There is around half an hour of music on each CD and the quality of it is superb. Anyone who is a fan of spaghetti westerns will love this stuff. It is real classic cliché film music and I love it. The atmosphere of the whole game is propped up by the truly excellent themes played during the levels. I have played these CD's at home just to listen to the music.

The Multiplayer game is fun, and each player picks a baddie that they want to play. There are a number of multiplayer scenarios that can be played as well as a variety of locations to play them in. A particular favourite of ours was the Kill The Fool With The Chicken game where the player with the chicken can shoot anyone and other players can only shoot the guy with the chicken. When you die, you drop the chicken. The winner is the player who has the chicken longest. Other games involve capturing flags and solo or team slugfests. It is worth noting that theoretically, up to 255 players are supported!

The Historical Missions offer you a series of five standalone levels that you earn points for. Points are scored for kills, treasure and finding secret areas. A maximum of 16000 points is available and at the end, you are graded depending on your score.

The documentation is clear, concise and well written. All the information you need is available as well as a rather nice quick guide to multiplayer gaming on the Internet. It warrants saying that it is worth the effort of reading the manual all the way through as there are a number of controls and tricks that are not self-evident to the new player. I wish I had done so before I leapt in feet first.

Conclusion

Overall, Outlaws is a good game in an unusual setting. The atmosphere and attention to detail are superb and the game is a credit to LucasArts in this respect. Unfortunately, it's all been done before and no matter how good the game is, there is no escaping the fact that it is Doom in a Stetson. For those who like Quake-style games, they'll like this. Anyone with a passion for computers and the Wild West will lap it up. As for the rest of us, I suspect we can take it or leave it.

The Marauder for Game-Over!