Outcast A New Beginning - The Sequel To One Of Sci-Fi's BEST Games 

Outcast 2 is more like a adventure game , and you have to enjoy the World building and characteres.I love Stargate movie , and series , so I will buy this game for sure.I think the gameplay is really good.

1:24 Correction: Combat Mode doesn't have a time limit. Only Exploration and Story Mode have that 20 min limit. 6:40 Not the case. Actually, in this clip you're fighting the more tanky enemies that don't move much, but the smaller units move around, take cover and go into position for their attacks. 7:23 Release is March 15

9:30 And pray tell, what are the lessons we have learned since the 90's that make newer games so much better?

If it's priced at £50, it gets judged like a £50 game.

Looks more alive than starfield

I played the demo on PC and walked away with slightly different impressions. Where my experience was very similar, was the performance issues. I even had them in FHD LOW settings. I attributed them to my dated GTX1080 class GPU, so it is kinda worrying that this also affects consoles and very high end PC hardware. The biggest difference between your and my impressions is probably world design. I instantly felt "at home" on Adelpha and wanted to explore everything. Just like in Zelda - Breath of the Wild I was constantly climbing mountains and trying to figure out was lies behind them. Overall for me the game didn't feel old at all, rather very "contemporary". The thing is: Outcasts world design was years ahead of the industry but A New Beginning doesn't offer any similar big leap forward.

I still have my Outcast disc and manual.

This mirrors my experience with the demo too. It didn't help that I never got the full 20 minutes due to issues with the character getting stuck. Apparently they patched it but I don't have the inclination to go back to it. The biggest negative for me was the gliding mechanic. It was frustratingly awkward to control and constantly crashed into everything.

I love it when you're shooting birds and robots and birds and robots keep flying in front of your gun.

The closing point of this feeling like the game has traveled back in time to a point where certain lessons in game design hadn’t been learnt I think is quite poetic when looking at the history of this series. It feels like there was a conscious effort to give the game the sequel it was destined to have, the one they were working on in the very early 2000’s, just now without the interference of their publisher Infogrames. Now whether or not this shoots itself in the foot for a lot of people out there, I guess we shall see. For me, it also felt like a blast for the past, but one that I’m more than comfortable to spend time in. Maybe in a strange sort of way, with how all modern games have developed forward with these lessons, this one game might be an outlier that opens the door back to a simpler kind of experience. But from the demo, I’m sold. The price tag is higher than I expected, and in this day and age when there is so much content battling for you’re attention, that price tag might get in the way for a lot of would be fans.

I played the demo and felt similar to you. I wasn't after a retro or modern experience, just something that gave me the feel of the original. This didn't feel special like the first one did, more generic but that may be because we've had so many more games like Outcast released in the time since. I'm still interested and wasm't put off but it did leave me cautious and I hope the full game something more.

I found Outcast 2 very interesting tbh they haven’t done what most modern open world games do and copy and paste the same enemies everywhere over and over it chucks a lot of unique surprises at you so it’s a fun world to explore imo.

I had a very different impression of the game world. It's built pretty well around the movement options with all the cliffs, mountains and trees you can climb. And there are a lot of beautiful interesting places to explore. Sure, some areas feel a little bland and empty which easily happens when a small team creates a big world. This is much much worse in other open world games I have played, though. The fast movement helps to get from one interesting place to the next quickly and just skip the empty space. I think one problem might be that the exploration demo drops you into the least interesting area. You have to move a lot in one direction to discover the big mountain range or dense forest and many players miss that.

This game would've been very impressive had it come out ten years ago

I've got sweet memories of the original Outcast. Back in the 90's we had very low expectations, and everything that was * just a little * off the ordinary was a great new. We didn't had mp3 back then and I do remember the soundtrack was played directly from the cd. Sorry, I meant *that great soundtrack by Lennie Moore played by the Moscow Filarmonic Orchestra and Choir*. Now we know what our hardware is capable of, and we get disappointed whenever we see games poorly designed. But where I personally get mad is when they compensate eye-candy graphics for a poorly designed game and a horrible plot. Same thing is happening in movies.

The graphics of the original game still looks amazing for 1999 imo

Fighting those guys at the base looked remarkably like the base attack missions in Elite Dangerous. Like, even the layout of the buildings.

Really nobody of the Outcast 1 fans thought: “OC2 really needs a Sugar Glider Wingsuit and a jetpack“. Maybe they should add Watchtowers for unlocking the map, and crafting, and base building. Also zombies, quick time events and car chases.

I want to point out the ORIGNAL outcast ALSO had a 20minute demo. I remember trying to pirate games from Limewire and ending up with the Outcast Shareware version. This demo is the exactly the same vibe. Okay, researching this claim, I cannot find any evidence of this, but I swear it that was thing...

One thing I did not like about outcast it was the first game with day 1 patch as it would not work on most computers. But the game was wonderful.

90s games don't compare favorably to modern games?! I agree. Modern games don't quite live up to such a high quality standards.

I played the demo of this a few weeks back and it was very disappointing. Definitely not worth what the price tag they are asking for.

Owned but was never able to play much of the original. The demo was remarkably good, the combat and overworld parts in particular were standard open world to an extent but the devs NAILED the weapon mods, general movement and the balance between damage taken and defences available. I would like to see a dash-attack (the shield bash doesn't count, tho the sprint-slide did sound mildly amusing), an air to ground-slam (make it cost a shield charge to prevent immediate spam but a rapid descent should be an option in and out of combat plus a weapon you could use alongside the shield wouldn't go amiss, the shield was the clunkiest overall part of the experience. In general i was corner-dashing, circle strafing or using basic D&D style "full cover" when facing larger numbers. The enemy numbers with some mix in their capabilities was a nice touch as well, just enough pressure to keep you busy but not so obnoxious as to flinch-lock or prevent counter play. added it to my wishlist 1/3 the way into the generous if unfortunately 20min time-gated demo (i'd have appreciated another 5-10 mins after getting my bearings). Oh and the one thing i did NOT like was the "gone native" fauna summining abilities mortar, the aiming and range of that thing combined with the iffy pathing made it way too much of a PITA to use versus simply using an explosive over-heating, triple-fire, proximity-mine rifle. the bombers were a bit slow to turn up (nice AoE tho) and the swarm CONSTANTLY got stuck on terrain before getting close to anything in a base or on anything but flat ground. it needs a way better visual-angle on the mortar landing spot when used from a height. Oh and the "quick menu" was CONSTANTLY adding items back into itself after i had deliberately removed them, the console slider-item-interface for that Ui feature was an absolute negative to my experience.

I quite enjoyed my time in the demo, but I felt rushed to check out as much as possible in the short time I had. I did love it though. So much that I have preordered the game. I hope it lives up to my expectations. I loved the graphics, especially the underwater scenes and the fighting was fun. Of course I don't know how good the story will be, as the demo couldn't portray that. Crossed fingers 🤞 it delivers.

This reminds me of a game called "Planet Explorers".

I disagree I think the 90's had some of the best games, you even said yourself one of the best Sci-fi games ever the original and this is an improved version of it. I am not really sure what your trying to say in the video Obsidian? Are you criticising it for not being like a modern game? and therefore it's not up to your expectations?. for me most modern games are a major let down so we are of quiet the opposite in our thinking.

Tried the demo now and it's a constant stutter struggle even with capped framerate and lower settings.

TBH the combat reminded me of what anthem and mass effect andromeda were TRYING to do, but this time there looks to be a feature complete and decently set up game behind the hype. Not perfect, certainly guilty of map-mess but it looked and played fun when i had a go (unlike anthem, ME:A, starfield or outriders)

Dont like the "Superhero" feeling right at the start. One of the strongest parts of the original was to find/buy back your arsenal, to be more competitive. Also the need to weak the the enemy was unique. If Talans stopped the Rizi support for the soldiers, they got weak, stopped the support of minerals, their weapons got bad. Stopped support of taxes, moreal went down. Genious

Maybe we only feel it's from the 90s because we associate this IP with the 90s. I wonder what people think about the new game who never played the old one.

The jetpack combined with the wing suit is the work of genius, I thought. A totally fresh approach to the controls, I'm really glad they had the balls to go for something so new.

This game reminds me of Elex 1-2

Is these game not 60fps?

I bought PS2 just to play Outcast 2... Yeah.

I was married so I know how to like things I don't really like too...😂

Never played the first and looks like I won't be playing this. Definitely doesn't look like my cup of tea. Especially at that price

Beatiful

Try out Void Crew

Ah man I loved the original Outcast and wished it would be close to a Remaster rather then Redo.

A fair set of points, especially so for "the terrain doesn't seem designed with the player movement in mind", unless there's some major upgrades available later (some nodes were giving +1 reactor "energy") we saw the default/currently-planned upgrades for the equipped demo-gear so there's a lot of "is this climeable?" moments in some of the open world terrain (tho i did find the answer to be yes 99% of the time). That said, i'd argue that most games Ai now is braindead so i can't fault outcast there without damning every game from the last 20 years, and there's way more enemies standing around in outcast than there is in most other games that don't have "EDF!" in their title.

I haven't played many open world games where I actually wanted to explore on my own. Maybe Zelda BOTW and Red Dead 2 would be it. To be fair I don't really like open world games though so I haven't played many.

I did enjoy the demo. It had these Elex 2-esque jank vibes, which I have a bit of a soft spot for. What's really bothering me right now and could turn into a real issue for this game, is the asking price. They should really lower it.

Shirvan Neftchi from Caspian Report sounds very different this time, and I don't see any Bladomeer Pooden or Winnie the Pooh B-Rolls. What happened? (When different RU-vidrs happen to utilize the same royalty-free music...) 9:29 Totally disagree. Most games back then still had a soul. Nowadays not su much anymore. 9:55 I yet have to, and it's about to be released very soon... I might wanna wait until a sale drops as I'm not in a hurry to play this :)

I recently played the demo and was pleasantly surprised. I've had the game on my radar for a while, but just couldn't commit to buying. I played the demo and I was hooked. It was so much more than I was expecting. I've now purchased it for the 15th of March release day and I can't wait. I was disappointed when the demo ended. It left me wanting more. I would like to say though, the characters are a little shallow and the graphics, only on the humans, could be so much better. As for the general graphics, it is stunning. The land, trees, water and animals are exceptional. I don't know why they didn't bother as much with the people. Plus the acting in the game is sub par at best and some characters just down right embarrassing. One of the chief villagers acting was so bad, you could tell he was reading a script in a very stilted way. But I am happy to put up with that for the rest of the game.

Shame. Only played the original briefly (I was all about half life back then I think) but still really wanted this to succeed so we might get more revivals of 30 year old IPs. I'd much rather see more of the likes of this than The Last of Us seemingly being remade every other week

well, if by modern gaming you mean Ubisoft games, and if by old gaming you mean Gothic games, then this is the game for me. But since you haven't provided any concrete examples, then I don't know what you're saying :)

Is it worth £29.00?

You should do ASMR as you have the voice for it.

Stuttering like this is pretty common for open world UE4 games. The new Suicide Squad game has the same issue. Batman Arkham Knight as well. Pretty much every open world UE4 game :(

I thought it was cool and fun. :3

Honestly I was having fun. Feels like a janky mess from 20yrs ago😂 but that price is definitely chasing me away. Idk about this game for that price.

Is this game voxel based? That’s what I want to know haha

Thanks Obsidian.

Just cause: peace mode

I was gonna stream Outcast today, but after seeing this, it might be a lil old school for my taste. Thanks for the look

Have you tried Outcast Second Contact remake? Basically the old game, but with new graphics.

i tried the demo but i don't like the control feel it's like Elex the controls feel more like they were made for consoles and not mouse and keyboard, it feels too off for me, graphics looks nice but i think this is going to be a pass for me

If I need to keep playing a game to figure out if I like it, more often than not I'm not spending my time well.

I played the demo a few times myself.. It felt visually interesting but very generic.. I was bored pretty quick

I mostly agree with you OA, demo felt somewhat flat. Played the original game with my cousin and he still sometimes have asked me if I've heard any sequel rumours. So clearly one of his favourites. I do like the color of the world, but then rather than evoking the feeling of a 90s game it rather reminded me of later less memorable shooters, with perhaps worse controls. Boring enemy design, and what I saw in the demo, also NPCs rather bland. Too spongy enemies even on easiest difficulty, some dull mini games. Feels like it will not review well, unfortunately, but even more sad that I doubt it will appeal much to old fans as myself or my cousin. Although, I was able to thoroughly enjoy Shenmue III despite it's numerable flaws, so home Outcast may still surprise.

Does it support VR?

Roaming around in an empty gameworld collecting resources has no appeal for me. Too many games like that already, and much better ones than what I see here. If it has little towns and outposts with colorful characters, crew, companions etc, that would be better.

A fair review. The demo felt to me like an early proof of concept with the devs saying “don’t worry the animations/environment/gameplay will be much better in the finished game”.

They tried to copy horizon forbidden west but huge difference

the ps5 demo felt like a beta test. sluggish performance in every mode and the gameplay was putting me off too. I played outcast in 1999. yeah, I am 40 now. I remember a sense of achievement and exploration because it was hard to get from A to B without getting killed or screwed over by quest givers. This new Outcast looks like another ubisoft open world. Too fast, too easy, and saying "there is room for improvement" is nothing positive in my book. the pc version is out and has shader stutters, the ps5 version is not optimized. I should play this because of the nice looking world and fun quests? come on.

I'll likely get mocked for this, but yeah, the term "modern game" does not mean anything good to me. YMMV of course.

You complain it is an old fashioned game but not talking about how you would improve and or want to see how it should be. No comparisons with other games that do it better. It felt very much like games as Horizon.

At least, it has more life forms and diverse environnements in a 100 meters square than starfield has on a whole planet XD

Just looks like Elex to me................Outcast Second Contact on ps4 was the jankiest game i've ever played, Like Master of Magic, a fantastic game in its day no doubt, but just remaking the same game with more modern graphics and no quality of life features etc we expect in a modern game leaves it lacking, at £50 that's only £4 cheaper than Dragons Dogma 2 and the same price as Baldurs Gate 3 lol

I don't know what universe you're living in but games from the '90s were freaking awesome. Almost every single N64 game I've ever played came out in the '90s and those games were fantastic. Obviously games have gotten better since then in certain regards, but games back then existed in what I would consider the Golden Age of video games

Watching this footage I couldn't help (unfairly perhaps) comparing it with the recent Avatar game even though that one was 1st person.

I totally agree except for your assertion that "new" games have improved substantially over 90's games. The areas where this game fails miserably it where it abandons its qualities that made original Outcast famous in the 90's (immersive environments, unique characters, complex but logical and meaningful story, drama, danger, humor, mystery) and tries to shoe-horn "modern" mechanics (omnipotent flying, cookie-cutter side quests, mindless trigger-pulling combat, hand-holding game dynamics like no collision damage and hit points). The original 90's version is a far better game for adventure and immersion. This version (from the demo at least) doesn't really have any continuity from the original and is a generic modern third person shooter with some of the 90's imagery skinned on to it. It's a letdown for fans of the OG version due to omitting the immersion and adventure of the original and it will be a non-starter for newcomers who are used to more polished visuals and a challenging combat experience from modern titles. I expect this to go on heavy discount about three months after launch unfortunately.

Nice graphics, but that's not hard to do these days. The rest seems like dated crap though. Yikes.

The game is OK, maybe that is its biggest sin. It does not have to be a masterpiece; after all we got plenty of AA games that are quite nice and fun, but they are not that expensive and have some sort of charm. This is just a remake of the original Outcast game; their mistake maybe was to show this as if it was a "new" game; but what they delivered is a revised version of the old game/sequel with better graphics and some QOL (at least from what I can see in the demo). I had no expectations to see a modern game to be honest, so the thing won't bother me. Playing the original outcast now is an OK experience only for nostalgia purposes in the end; so they made this so people are more willing to play an old game with old design choices but fresh graphics. I just won't pay more than 29 for this though at best

got completely the same impression of the demo - just flat, more like at tech demo and not a world that you're supposed to explore. I'm a big fan of the original, it had a completely different pace and atmosphere.

I played 5 min of the combat. Felt clunky and awkward. Pass on this one.

a good comparison is Zelda... that's why we really need real exclusive games that are not created with PC in mind. Exclusive games are the best quality. this Outcast is worth half the price at most.

I remember Outcast 1 (the OG) to be kinda JAF, especially in the second half towards the end.

I always wonder why mediocre games like this release demos. It will definitely hurt sales.

If you polish something outdated, it's still outdated.

This looks like a generic Unreal demo - Everything screams asset flip (i don't know if it is, just the way it looks)

So the remaster of the old gamem is better?

I just played the demo today. I was extremely excited when I saw the trailer, but as soon as I played the demo, I was hit with a wave of DISAPPOINTMENT. Now I generally don’t HATE games cuz I believe for a price everything has its worth. For example Gotham Knights was universally hated, but for 30 bucks I didn’t hate it too much, but the demo was disappointing to the point I would rather have not played. Demos are meant to impress the player and tell a little bit of the story, (perfect demo would be Arkham Asylum back in the day) but this demo just threw you in a bland and generic open world with basically no explanation. You don’t even have to do the story mission, the mission doesn’t make sense, boils down to clear this base + pick up this, and clear this many enemies. The combat felt terrible, the movement was janky and extremely boring. Open world felt bland. Idk that’s just me tho, but nowhere close to $70, prob won’t get it for $30 based on the demo. 😊

The demo just sealed the case for me. Unfortunately not in my or their favor. Its way to clunky and as u said does not use their traversal mechanics to the games favor... using those makes no fun in cases where u are supposed to use them... the puzzels or light house for example. U are fighting more with the controles than with the challenge... or the challenge is just not fun. Then the piñata enemies and chests... too much fortnight...rather empty open world thats just pretty to look at for a moment but then just boring. Heavily disappointed, but what can u expect from a bare bones team that made the remake of outcast one worse than the original. At least it made me buy outcast 1.1 after being disappointed back then.. so i guess thats their pattern. The lack of commitment of the publisher just does not favor the whole endeavor of doing a proper sequel. #noMyOutcast 😢😢😢😢

Im also disappointed

The original game wasn't that good when it was released and had mixed reviews, so it's weird why so many wants it back. Probably just childhood nostalgia. Just installt he original and try it and see for yourself.

I dunno...tried it and it felt extremely generic.

The bit of of the game actively making sure you don't hit the ground no matter what is what gets me. I can see that in a training mode or a difficulty setting toggle. But not in standard play, if you have no risk, will people care about the rewards.

Sequel to something I have NEVER heard of

geez.... even Just cause 3 had more pretty graphics

It was the timed parkour garbage and the boring open world full of repeat things to do, collect this, craft this. Go here destroy this base, go there destroy that base, extremely boring and repetative, the game world however is absolutely stunning. Sad I waited 20 years for this crap..The Original was great, (not the remake)... this however is garbage compared to it.

the games terrible shame really but bad voice acting stupid one liners that are childish and then everything is a cut scene

ANother horrible game to avoid

There are way too many videogames.

It 's not as good as the original Outcast so 25 years of improvements count for ? Why didn't they just remake the Original for God's sake.

Assuming the salty NPC will compare with starfield. Hallo NPC, are you v there???

90's games should be left in the 90's, enjoy a bit of nostalgia, but don't 'dress up' a 90's style game as modern just by giving it a lick of paint. And don't go charging modern prices for them either!!

WOW! A 90's game with 2024 graphics. OOOOH a Jetpack? Nothing new here. Nothing innovative here. Nothing original here. Nothing to see here. Nothing more than fodder for bovines. Much ado about Nothing. Save your money Kiddies.

This sounds like a you problem