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Outcry
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Graphics & Sound:
There is nothing new about the wheel. We pretty much have it figured out. It has worked for a few years, so why are people constantly trying to reinvent it? We are constantly trying to add something to an existing genre to make it bigger and better. Take the point and click adventure, for example. I believe there is an elegance to their design. A trueness like the wheel that made them virtually perfect in their initial state. Sure, you might say that point and click adventure games are nothing more than visual extensions of the original text games, but I really look at text games as the rough edges that were smoothed off to make the wheel that is the point and click adventure genre. No denying the age of the genre and the fact we have passed it by as an antiquated genre, but it is games like Outcry that remind us of the simple goodness in the design of the genre. No huge frills. No genre-jumping features attempting to change how we look at point and click adventures. Just a good story attached to a good puzzler.
The combination of a unique color pallete, coupled with a film grain visual quality, offers a unique visual experience. This visual experience not only complements the spooky story, but perfectly creates it. The entire feel is dark and dirty. To accompany the film-like vision, there is a decidedly jaundiced texture to everything. If you can tell that a movie is Japanese or American, then everything here feels perfectly Russian. The coloring, the feel, even the mood feels like I am standing in a refrigerator with a yellow interior light.
The music is eerie and methodical. Early on, there is a puzzle that requires you have a keen ear to separate various tones; the entire premise of the technology being used in the game is based on sound. I would have loved to see even more of this in the game, but I am happy with the sound design the way it was done. Again, we have another example of a simple, well-executed game design, to compliment the visual style. |
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Gameplay:
In Outcry, you play the estranged brother of a genius who has gone missing. You play a strangely specific middle-aged writer who has responded to the request of his brother to visit. The clues point quickly to the creation of a machine that can completely separate the user's body from their mind. I am pretty sure I saw this in a movie called Altered States and in JJ Abram's new show Fringe. Just inside the house, you are greeted by a giant isolation chamber. The trick, of course, right off the bat is to turn it on and get it open.
Your movement is point and click. You have the ability to look around three dimensionally, but when you interact with specific areas, you are locked into the traditional scroll with the mouse, wait for the cursor to highlight, and "click to see what happens" interaction. There is a ton of detail to the pictures, so this is actually a hunt. They have also forgone the giant flashing points of interests to get your attention. They have, however, held on to the "if it is different than its surroundings," then click on it approach.
Puzzle placement is always a discussion inside of point and click adventure games. Oversimplified as the puzzles are is just something to do alongside of the exploration and storytelling. Again, oversimplified, it is the only thing that keeps it from just being an interactive narrative. There are quite a few arbitrarily placed puzzles. This is just accepted in a point and click adventure or rejected depending on your stance. There are also some well placed and creative puzzles that fit perfectly into the storyline. |
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Difficulty:
As far as puzzle games go, Outcry is actually a very easy game. Whereas I have so far revered the game for its very true to form approach, this was the area in which I would have liked to see a little more modernization. The puzzle selection is a little limited. There was nothing I had not seen in a hundred other point and click games. Find the object that is missing from the apparatus. Plug in the piece that was missing. Turn that piece, nothing to it. Find it, fix it, open it, collect it; it's all there for you. I think it is the ease of the puzzles that led to it being a very short game in all. I will say that with this being such a perfect example of the genre, that it would make a great entry game for a younger player or someone that you are just looking to introduce to gaming in general.
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Game Mechanics:
Outcry held true to everything that is to be expected from point and clicks. They clung on to these aspects of the genre even when it can be said that it hurt the game. It begs the question from me if they were more interested in telling the story than they were in creating the game. That may come off a little harsher in print than I mean it to be in person. I just mean that what I first heralded as a good retro throwback may also be scrutinized as a fossil that can't stand up to modern scrutiny.
With everything I said, I wanted to state that I enjoyed the game in a very nostalgic appreciation for what the game is sort of way. It isn't claiming anything ridiculous, it makes no unobtainable promises, and I really like that. It deserves attention from fans of the genre. I do have to hold this up to other point and click games from the past. There have been one or two that have come over the years. I say that this is a rock solid game that stays straight and narrow the whole way. Straight and narrow may not be pushing anything, but it does provide a solid experience for those who may be new to gaming. So as a gateway drug to gaming, it is top-notch. As a game in its own right, it was solid and fulfilling but there were no surprises. Lastly, against others from the past, it holds up to par. It was fun but now it's done, and so am I.
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-WUMPUSJAGGER, GameVortex Communications AKA Bryon Lloyd |
Minimum System Requirements:
Windows(r) XP/Vista, 1.5 GHz Pentium 4 or Similar Athlon XP, 256 MB, Disk Space: 1.5 GB Available, 3D Video Card with 128 MB Onboard, DirectX(r) 9.0c Compatible with 2.0 Shaders Support (GeForce(r) FX 5200 or Radeon(r) 9600), DirectX(r) 9.0c Compatible, CD-ROM 16x , Keyboard, Mouse and Speakers |
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Test System:
Dell XPS DXP061, XP Pro, Intel Core Quad, 2GB Ram, Gforce 8800GTX |
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