Outcast – A New Beginning Review — So Far An Ideal Open World

A sequel that has been anticipated for quite some time now arrives, but in a dissatisfying manner. Outcast – A New Beginning introduces the world of Adelphia in a much brighter, enormous, and explorable manner. However, the game also reintroduces the same old features without much innovation.

Story And Setting

The narrative of Outcast follows a non-linear, open-world structure that encourages the players to explore the alien-inhabited world of Adelpha. The main course of the story is that you are stuck on the island and will not get out of there till you help every last being on that planet.

The main questline somehow felt intriguing, but the non-linear narrative style did not seem like a proper fit to me. Even the main quest will force you to get involved in side quests where some of them appear repetitive.

The story itself is well-written and comprises the elements of betrayal, loyalty, peace, war, and more, which are well-perceived by players and involve intriguing, action-filled, and enriched with voice-over cutscenes.

I get the point that the game tries to set us on a trip to explore the vast world of fantasy, but there isn’t much to explore. Because the world is not made bustling with challenges and surprises to counter, only random hostile mobs will appear, and you will hunt them from afar.

The story itself is well-written and comprises the elements of betrayal, loyalty, peace, war, etc., which are well-perceived by players and involve intriguing, action-filled, and enriched with voice-over cutscenes. 

However, one factor dulls the whole outlook of the storytelling feature, and I believe it is the most prominent one: low-quality voice lines.

Poor Dialogue Delivery Ruins The Narrative

Whenever the narrative seems to uphold a steady flow, the weak voice lines always appear to drench the very essence of the story. Moreover, that weak dialogue delivery is presented by none other than Cutter Blade, the protagonist.

The surprise, heartbreak, or even the state of fury expressions can be easily overlooked due to essenceless voice lines.

Here, I must say that the developers did not make this character in any way appealing in this new Outcast title. It appears that Cutter Blade does not pick up the pace with the events around him. The surprise, heartbreak, or even the state of fury expressions can be easily overlooked due to essenceless voice lines.

My overall perspective on the story has remained quite erratic. There were moments when I felt like the story was the hype of this game, whereas sometimes, I felt like the case was the opposite.

Gameplay

Compared to its prequels, Outcast – A New Beginning has faster gameplay but, overall, the same approach. The visuals and mechanics of the easy-to-read enemy movement and slow projectiles launched through weapons have significantly improved. 

However, I have observed that the gameplay is entirely based on the previous titles, indicating no innovation. The melee and ranged combat are kept to the basic and primitive level, but they suit the game somehow.

It appears that developers intended to recreate the Outcast perspective where fans can relive the experience of once an exemplary open-world game. 

The shooting mechanics are almost identical, and players have privilege over the movement factor. The melee approach is an absurdly overpowered one-hit-kill move with satisfying particle and visual effects.

It appears that developers intended to recreate the Outcast perspective where fans can relive the experience of once an exemplary open-world game. 

I consider gameplay fairly captivating in its own way, but the concept of not bringing any new major changes to it, even after such a long wait to receive this sequel, is somewhat appalling.

Visuals And Performance

The visual factor is undeniably the perfect that Outcast- A New Beginning has presented. The colorful scenery with ravishingly fresh and tingling-looking fauna is outstanding to witness.

The draw distance with fog covering the mountain passes is exceedingly admirable, and the texture quality has been highly improved. A major fact to notice is the water physics and the underwater vegetation visible even from the water’s surface. 

The colorful scenery with ravishingly fresh and tingling-looking fauna is outstanding to witness.

Moreover, collectibles are given a glowing effect rather than an annoying bracket-like visual surrounding them. The overall animation and character movements feel more natural.

Regarding the performance factor, the game might face issues related to its FPS, which is said to drop in performance mode. Stuttering and screen tearing may be countered; however, during my walkthrough experience, there was only a slight FPS drop at the start of the game, and the rest of the time, I did not face any complications. Also, I ran the game on maximum settings on a high-end PC.

Overall, Outcast – A New Beginning is perfectly well-made in terms of visuals aspect. The open world might not be ideal for gameplay, but the visuals will surely tempt you to venture out into the wild.

Verdict

Outcast – A New Beginning didn’t upset the fanbase despite its late arrival but its lack of innovation might feel underwhelming. The game has perfectly recaptured its successful elements from its prequels, giving them an up-to-date outlook.

There is no doubt that the series has done splendidly well in maintaining its reputation over the decades, and with the arrival of Outcast – A New Beginning, the fans are more captivated towards the franchise due to the game’s adherence to providing the same quality content like it did years before.

This is my review of Outcast – A New Beginning. While you’re here, consider checking out some of our other articles. 

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