Outcast – A New Beginning Review – An Old Soldier Back on Duty

When Outcast came out in 1999, it was a miracle for many gamers. A sequel was supposed to be created over many years, but it was only realized in the past years, thanks to which we now have Outcast – A New Beginning, the qualities of which we will consider in the following points of our review.

• Platform: PC (review), PS5, Xbox Series X/S
• Publication date: 03.15.2024
• Manufacturer: Appeal studios
• Genre: Action adventure game
• Czech localization: No
• Multiplayer: No
• Data for download: 37 GB
• Play time: 25 – 35 hours
• Price: 1299 CZK (Alsa)

Slade is in trouble again in Outcast: A New Beginning

After his last mission, Cutter Slade disappeared for a long time. But now he is back and has to face the same situation as before, which in practice means that he finds himself in front of a portal to a world in trouble. The only goal of the protagonist is not so much to help the locals, but to try to get off the “newly” discovered planet.

But, as often happens, he is not satisfied with doing it alone, which forces him to ask for help from a native, thus starting an adventure in many ways that is perhaps too reminiscent of the theme used in Avatar: Edge of Pandora, with the only difference being that here the player does not interact with monumental alien beings, but with humanoids that, unfortunately, are very similar to what Outcast offered in 1999.

The basic idea of ​​the story is not revolutionary at all. That’s why I like the fact that it has the aforementioned Cutter Slade in it. Why this is so is not so much a nostalgic connection, but rather the treatment of this in Outcast – A New Beginning. It’s because he’s an old action hero who shows that he’s done something and makes it clear. But he has a clear goal in front of him in the form of uniting all the tribes in the name of driving out the conquerors, and he’s determined to achieve it, despite all the troubles that age brings.

In order to be able to complete the task, he must always complete orders in individual villages. Washing machines are gradually revealed to you in settlements, and they are often connected throughout the map, so you will rarely see everything you need to do immediately upon arrival. For example, a mountain village full of sages asks you to interact with alien beetle larvae. If you succeed, you will begin other lines, at the end of which you will receive a special ability associated with the tribe. In this case, these are rather evil alien “wasps”. In the villages, in addition to those who give tasks, you will find villagers living their own lives and various specialists led by a merchant, an amplifier and an alchemist, with whom you create healing and strengthening potions from ubiquitous herbs.

A beautiful but hard to believe world

To create potions in Outcast – A New Beginning, in addition to herbs, you will also need additional biological material, which you get from the bodies of your victims. Slade can only hunt creatures that are aggressive towards him during his quests. He has no chance to harm those who do not have the red light. The general interaction of the inhabitants of the plains here with the main character is only aggressive. Then they do not “work” with each other at all, which leads to the world looking completely dead. I am not saying that it is not filled, but it is hard to believe. Personally, I find this a problem.

However, the design itself is at a very high level. It has been a long time since I have seen such an interestingly designed planet, the beauty of which you can admire. With Cutter, you can go to snowy mountains, sandy deserts and grassy plains. Driving on them is a real pleasure, it’s just a shame that you can’t admire them for anything other than how they look. Personally, besides the fact that it looks really beautiful, I also appreciate the fact that the game world in Outcast – A New Beginning is vertical, so you can go almost anywhere using planes and sailing. It’s limited only by its capabilities.

The entire space, divided into provinces belonging to villages, is then filled with several types of activities. In the menu you will find the clearing of infected points, the elimination of otherworldly enemy forces, the destruction of their fortresses, as well as movement tests that test your abilities. For completing fairly repetitive missions, you receive two types of points that can be upgraded. One form is aimed at Cutter himself, so that he can upgrade his batteries, and the other works with weapon systems and several types of weapons.

There isn’t much gear here, but what you have access to, you can gradually enrich with various attachments that will give even a regular pistol a surprisingly high level of effectiveness. The development of the main character is largely tied to these two points. If you aim correctly, few will be able to kill you here, because the difficulty itself is not too high. The range of enemies is not the most extensive, so you will quickly understand how each juice works. I probably wouldn’t mind dealing with a wider range.

The Outcast – A New Beginning event does not violate the rules of the genre

In many ways, Outcast – A New Beginning reminds me of the formula used in the Far Cry or Elex series. In practice, this means that we have an acceptable plot, very well-developed action, an extremely well-thought-out connection of the game world through quest lines, a diverse set of weapon modifications and a visually beautifully designed game world. The problem is that the beautiful plains, although filled with life, do not interact in any way, Cutter himself can only “work” with enemies, which is relatively limiting and spoils the overall impression.

As usual, the activities are not very creatively repeated, so after completing the relatively well-designed side missions, there is not much new to discover. Despite this, in my opinion, the game is in the top seven releases, as it offers a very memorable experience in terms of exploration and action. However, if it were not for the flying above the surface and the attractive graphics, I might go down a notch.