A Forgotten Gem Gets A Make-Over
Developed by LucasArts, Outlaws is a DOOM-like first person shooter originally released in 1997. Outlaws + Handful of Missions: Remaster, developed by Nightdive, gives one of the genre’s forgotten entries a facelift and thrusts it onto consoles for the first time.
Outlaws is a western and followed on the heels of LucasArts previous FPS, Star Wars: Dark Forces which was released two years prior. Nightdive have previous experience in the remaster field having given the same treatment to DOOM and Quake games in recent times. The studio uses all its knowhow here to recraft LucasArts long lost western and has done so faithfully, for better and worse.
Unlike many of the DOOM-like’s of the era, Outlaws has a story and a pretty well defined one at that. Although, it is a narrative that anyone familiar with the western genre would consider cliche. Our protagonist, James Anderson, is a former U.S. Marshal who has retired to a ranch with his wife and daughter. Upon returning from a trip to his local store, James finds his homestead burning, his daughter kidnapped and his wife dying in his arms. Having buried his wife, James vows revenge and sets off on his mission of retribution.
Admittedly, it’s not the most original story you’ll ever come across, but given the genre’s traditional lack of narrative, it certainly helps Outlaws stand out. What is particularly effective in regard to the story is the various animated cutscenes featured throughout. These fully voiced scenes, untouched from the original release, are the kind of FMVs one might expect to find in an adventure game from the era like Broken Sword or LucasArts own Monkey Island. It is not Disney level animation, but it is effective storytelling which provides a clear throughline for the narrative and gives life to James and villains like Dr.Death and Bob Graham.
An Emphasis On Narrative
Just like in DOOM, we go from one level to another killing hordes of enemies along the way. However, thanks to the cutscenes, we are not left to wonder why we are at a particular level. As is to be expected, James will travel to various locales, and for each one we know why he is there and who he is looking for. This extra emphasis on narrative is a simple development, but it is a significant one.
That same point can be applied to Outlaws gameplay; if you have ever played DOOM or one of its many clones, then you know what you are getting yourself in for, but there are a couple of small tweaks that are important additions for the first person shooter and they have been recreated in this remaster.
The controls are simple and easy to use and blend well with the fast paced action. Something that can be said for Nightdive’s previous work with its remaster of DOOM, is that they successfully preserved the smooth gameplay of the original. The same applies to Outlaws + Handful of Missions: Remaster, it is a breeze to play, with no issues regarding slowdown no matter how fast you want to run and gun.
Tweaks Instead Of Reinvention
The bulk of the gameplay does not reinvent the wheel, for the most part Outlaws plays like many of its fellow boomer shooters, but it does add one tweak to the formulae. Outlaws is credited with introducing the scope to first person shooters but its implementation is slightly different to what would become the industry standard. Rather than switching to a full screen view when using the scope, only the scope itself is affected by the zoom. This is a small innovation and one that will likely not affect how a player might feel about the game, but I bring it up for a reason. If Nightdive wanted, they surely could have introduced a full screen zoom that modern players would be familiar with. Instead, Nightdive has preserved it exactly as it was in 1997. The developer has no intention of modernising the gameplay, sure there is a graphical facelift, but that aside, this is a faithful recreation of Outlaws as it was in 1997.
There are three difficulty levels, suitably titled Good, Bad and Ugly, which equate to easy, medium and hard respectively. The first two allow the player to approach Outlaws in a traditional way, diving head first into battle and capable of swallowing plenty of damage before their life is put at risk. Alternatively, the Ugly difficulty limits the player’s ability to absorb damage and forces them to approach gameplay differently. It is a neat feature in theory, but the stealthier style required in Ugly feels somewhat at odds with the genre.
The levels offer variety in terms of location, and incorporate many of the locales that one might expect to find in a western. The stages are big, perhaps too big. Due to their size, there are times when a level can feel sparse. There are plenty of enemies to take on, but they cannot fill what sometimes feel like cavernous areas that are lacking in detail. However, this is not the case with every stage, the train level in particular is a perfect encapsulation of a DOOM-like western.
Some Players Will Be Driven Away
Some of the hookups of the genre are regrettably present here, chief among them is a lack of clarity on how to progress in certain levels. In the aforementioned train stage there is a point where a player must use a crowbar to pry open a door. The need to do so is never expressed to the player and is that it is unclear that doing so is even a possibility. In addition, there is the usual confusion of these games, which require a player to gather keys scattered in various places in order to progress. It is very easy to get lost in the process and may leave you despairing because you don’t know where to go. Such situations are few and far between, but they will likely turn some players away.
The soundtrack may be an aid for those that find themselves lost and meandering through the west. The tunes themselves are perhaps a little derivative, but they set the lay of the land. For Outlaws + Handful of Missions: Remaster, the Morricone style score is more of a storytelling tool, familiarity with the genre helps guide a player through the narrative.
The high definition upgrade is understated but impressive. Unlike the gameplay, which is largely untouched, Nightdive have made alterations to the graphics, but they have maintained the style of the original. The visuals have been redrawn, and they are certainly an improvement, but they still evoke the look of games from the era. Also, for those that wish to preserve the authentic look, a click of a button will restore the pixelated 90’s goodness of the original.
A Niche Win for Video Game Preservation
In all, Outlaws + Handful of Missions: Remaster is a win for Nightdive. The developers’ ever growing reputation for preserving and accentuating classic games is put on full display here. The remaster is faithful, one that keeps the spirit of the original game alive whilst smoothing some of the edges that time has inflicted upon it.
However, this desire to maintain as much of the original as possible will rub the average modern gamer the wrong way. As impressive a remaster as this is, it will remain a niche title, just as Outlaws always was.
Important Links
Outlaws + Handful Of Missions Remaster Rides Back Into Town With Guns Blazing – https://www.thexboxhub.com/outlaws-handful-of-missions-remaster-rides-back-into-town-with-guns-blazing/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/outlaws-handful-of-missions-remaster/9n57bb45hsjx
