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Platform: Xbox
360
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The
Outfit
When
Relic stepped on the scene with their RTS, Homeworld, it garnered a lot
of attention in the industry for its 3D battlefield, outer space theme,
and its lip-smackingly delicious graphics. The
developer repeated the feat with Homeworld 2, and proceeded to make yet
another generally well-received strategy game in the form of Incredible
Creatures. Nowadays,
though, things are going in a very different direction at Relic, with
the company tackling the world of 3rd person, squad based
action / shooters with the Xbox 360 game, The Outfit.
It’s certainly quite an about face (hurray for bad puns!) but
if Relic can do for this genre with The Outfit what they did for the RTS
with Homeworld, gamers could be in for a tasty treat.
Taking
place during the Second World War, players will have to go on a number
of missions behind enemy lines, as they do their best to stymie
Hitler’s war machine. The
missions will range from search and rescue, to seek and destroy, as
players lead two squads into battle with the ability to switch between
them as needed over the course of the mission.
Relic is quick to mention that The Outfit will sport some
surprisingly smart AI with soldiers having the good sense to take cover
when being fired upon, and shooting back when an opening appears.
What’s particularly interesting about the game is that it isn’t going to essentially grab players by the scruff of the neck, and drag them through one encounter after the next against the Nazis. Instead one will be given plenty of opportunity to interact with the various environments in The Outfit. Players can spend a few minutes futzing around with an abandoned vehicle, or run around leveling buildings simply because it makes them feel like a |
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big man,
and with the fully destructible world in the game the latter is
certainly an option. It’s
like the developer is just swinging the door open and saying, “Bon
appetite!” as they allow players to viciously frolic across the
European countryside, though the incoming fire from German soldiers will
quickly remind most players that they have a job to do.
Another point that Relic is emphasizing with the game is that it is in no way meant to be a hardcore simulation. They haven’t brought in any sort of military experts for consultation about meticulous historical |
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accuracy
and such because that isn’t the point of the game, making it a fun,
visceral experience is. Emphasizing
this is the almost arcade-like action points awarded in The Outfit.
When players achieve certain goals they will be rewarded these,
which can later be spent on things like calling in air raids, building
machine gun nests, or having drivable tanks dropped in to better deal
with the Nazi forces.
With all of these different gameplay options being squeezed in, Relic will also be making sure that players can enjoy it all with friends via split-screen multi-player, or Xbox Live. One way multiplayer will work will be by tackling the single-player game, so if someone just can’t beat a certain mission for whatever reason, they can get a buddy to help out. At this point, though, there isn’t exactly a heap of information available about multi-player mode, like what specific types of matches will be available, and what not.
At
this point, the visuals for The Outfit are looking very good, especially
the explosions. At the time
the game was being shown at E3, it was running a little choppy,
but at this point Relic only has pre-alpha hardware to work with, so
it’s to be expected. Given
the company’s track record, it would be a safe better to assume the
game will run fine when it’s completed.
If
Relic were to continue in the direction they have been going in for the
last five or so years, it would be very hard for them to escape from being
typecast as “that strategy game company.”
It’s nice to see that they are stepping into new territory, and
that they have some new things that they'd like to experiment with
in the world of squad-based, action games.
At this point, The Outfit is due out toward the end of the year,
just in time for the Xbox 360’s launch.
Mr.
Nash (May
30, 2005)
Features
From the Fact Sheet:
-
Choose Between Three Playable Squad Leaders - Each with specific skills
for different strategies -
Explosive Battlefield Moments – Experience intense WWII combat through
war-torn environments as you lead two squads behind enemy lines and take
on the Nazi War Machine. - Featuring advanced AI your squad mates will
automatically seek cover and return fire and will follow your orders to
assault tanks and enemy positions. Take on enemies with an explosive
arsenal of WWII weapons and vehicles including Machine Guns, Bazookas,
MG 42 Stationary Machine Guns, Tanks, Half-Tracks, Armored vehicles or
move in for close combat hand-to-hand battles. -
Multi-Squad Tactics – Switch between two squads at any time. Strategically
use your squads on different parts of the map to achieve multiple
objectives or combine their strength to take out the most challenging
objectives. -
Earn and Use Action Points – Capture strategic areas to gain action
points and spend them on the fly to acquire upgraded weapons, driveable
tanks, and fixed positions such as machine-gun nests, or to call in for
air-strikes. -
Fully Interactive and Destructible Environments - Destroy buildings,
bridges, emplacements, walls —anything—with real physics and damage
modeling. -
Multiplayer Modes – Live! or Split Screen Online - choose from a
variety of co-op and versus multiplayer modes - Xbox 360 16:9, 720p HD and 5.1 Dolby compliant |
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