Pixel Sundays: Outcast – The Return of a Great Classic

10 March 2024 at 14:00 in Deals, Gaming News with no comments
Pixel Sundays: Outcast - The Return of a Great Classic

What is Outcast

Outcast is a name that hasn’t been heard for many years, a name that has left an indelible mark in the hearts of many seasoned gamers, captivating them so much with technically only one title under its belt, Outcast has often been considered ahead of is time. Born in 1999 from the Belgian studio Appeal on behalf of the famous Infograms, a French subsidiary of Atari that closed in 2013, Outcast was a great success. It received the award for the best adventure game of the year in 1999 by Gamespot. Quite an achievement considering that 1999 was a spectacular year in terms of gaming, with many iconic titles, especially those categorized as Adventure games. We have Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, released at the end of 1998 and winning various awards in 1999, Tomb Raider III, Shenmue II, Legend of Mana, and many others.

There are many elements that have made many fall in love with Outcast. We will play as the protagonist Cutter Slade, a former Navy Seal, on the alien planet Adelpha. In the game world, 2007, experiments were conducted to make contact with alien worlds through probes. However, one of these missions resulted in the probe being damaged, causing an energy explosion that triggered an imminent black hole on Earth. Cutter Slade, tasked with retrieving the probe and leading a trio of scientists, finds himself stranded alone on Adelpha. Here he is welcomed by the local population, the Talan, as their messiah, the Ulukai.

The gameplay aspect is certainly what stands out. In fact, Outcast places the player with a level of freedom never seen before in those years, so much so that many consider it one of the major influences on the modern open-world genre. After completing the tutorial, we can freely explore the entire game map, divided into various regions through the daokas portals, and also by using teleportation points that we can place to move within the same region. The main task of the game is to interact with the Talan to find the 3 scientists, but also to try to help the inhabitants of Adelpha. In fact, with the reputation system, helping the inhabitants will allow us to proceed more easily thanks to additional dialogue options based on our reputation with the Talan of the different regions. Furthermore, certain missions will also allow us to weaken enemy troops, making them easier to fight thanks to our actions to free the Talan.

Outcast official artwork

The Development Story of Outcast

Thanks to the dedicated Outcast blog, we have a lot of information about Appeal Studios and, of course, about the development of Outcast. It all began back in 1994 under the Art & Magic team, with a major problem related to rendering. In fact, even in those years, the first 3D gaming projects were becoming popular, and the team was stuck still using 2D sprites. The first prototype of Outcast saw the game set in South America, with the protagonist sneaking into cartel bases and freeing tourists held prisoner by the local drug lord. Differences of opinion between the artistic team and the hardware team caused quite a few debates, and to avoid internal conflicts, the project was handed over to a dedicated team, thus the birth of Appeal. Yves Grolet along with Philippe Zondack began working on the Outcast prototype, and Franck Sauer began creating the first wave of alien models using the Voxel rendering engine. All this in a small office on the campus of the University of Liege.

Outcast first prototype, creation of the Twon-ha

With the prototype finally ready, the goal was to present the title and find a Publisher. The first on the list was Ubisoft, with the enthusiastic team heading to Paris to showcase the Outcast prototype, but Ubisoft wasn’t interested. The second option belonged to Infogrames, which in those years had a great success with Alone in the Dark. The meeting was a real success, with Infogrames CEO Bruno Bonnell concluding a contract with the Appeal team, which not only included future assets, but also international distribution of the title. All this with Bruno enthusiastic about the project, deciding to further fund the team with €150,000 in funds and a dedicated office for the team. Leading to a final cost of around €1.5 million.

Meanwhile, the developers of Outcast saw a drastic change in the hardware of the time. In fact, in 1995, there was a transition from the 320×200 pixel format at 8 Bit to an SVGA that offered higher resolutions and 24-bit color rendering. The musical side of Outcast also has its own story. In fact, Franck Sauer had been writing hiring ads in articles since 1996 in search of a composer for the project. Among all the demos, the one that particularly struck him was by Lennie Moore, a composer who had previously worked with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra and therefore had experience in production from start to finish. Finally, the project debuted at E3 1997 with a preview but required another 2 years to finally be released on 31 August 1999.

Outcast 1.1 compared to Outcast: Second Contact

Outcast: A New Beginning, What to Expect from the Anticipated Sequel

Thanks to the success of Outcast, Appeal announced back in 2001 the sequel Outcast II: The Lost Paradise, which unfortunately was never completed due to the company’s bankruptcy. Thanks to the efforts of the team, which returned as Appeal Studios in 2014, we had the arrival of a remastered version of the first game as Outcast 1.1 along with the reacquisition of the IP rights. Then we have Outcast: Second Contact in 2017, a total remake for the modern platforms. With the long-awaited Sequel finally announced, after well over 20 years from the first and only announcement.

Outcast: A New Beginning represents a dream come true for many, after well over 20 years to see this sequel of Cutter Slade’s adventures returning once again to the planet Adelpha, profoundly changed since his first arrival. This sequel seems to want to recapture the experience that the first Outcast offered with exploration of the world in total freedom.With choices and options that will influence the various missions and how Cutter will be seen in the eyes of the Talan against the new threat of robotic invaders. With much of the Appeal team returning to work on the sequel and also the fantastic composer Lennie Moore.

An impressive 64 km of map to explore, now faster than ever with the wing suit, exploration seems to be at the heart of the game, as well as interactions with the Talan, trying to restore order and peace to Adelpha. With new features and improvements already seen with Second Contact, A New Beginning has the daunting task of being better in all aspects to be considered the worthy sequel to Outcast. In the meantime, you can play the Demo while waiting for the release on 15 March 2024!

Outcast A New Beginning, Cutter sets an ambush for robotic invaders

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