
	Platform PS3, Xbox 360 Genre Action Adventure Developer Frontier Publisher dtp entertainment ETA Late 2008
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The Outsider

When I first heard about this game, I thought to myself, “Pony Boy and Soda Pop are getting their own game? Awesome!” It wasn’t long, though, before I realized that “outsider” was singular, and the screenshots of the game had a distinct lack of angst ridden teens learning about life in the 1950s. That’s okay, though, because what we have here is a game that looks compelling in its own way: a techno thriller with topical subject matter, and a promise of tremendous gameplay freedom.

The game’s developer, Frontier Development, is trying to make a very, very open-ended action game in The Outsider. Players take control of CIA agent John Jameson who has just been accused of killing the U.S. president, and from there it is up to the player to decide what they are going to do. They can prove their innocence, try to team up with the group who actually did kill the president, or do something in between these two extremes.

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There isn’t much information available yet regarding just how players will go about doing all of these things. We know The Outsider is an action adventure game, and that there will be a lot of high tech gadgets to play with. Considering that Jameson has been catapulted to being Public Enemy Number One, it stands to reason

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that he is going to want to stay out of the public eye as much as possible if he’s to avoid being apprehended by authorities, so perhaps there could be some stealth aspects to the game, or at least an emphasis on discretion.

At this point, we’re still a l-o-o-o-n-n-n-g ways away from seeing a release for The Outsider, as it is due our in late 2008. However, given how the game is trying to explore morality, politics, and give players a lot of freedom of choice, it’s understandable that we are in for a bit of a wait on this one. Simply pulling a game out of one's arse based on this criteria would not be advisable. There have been a lot of ups and downs in the political realm of late, so it will be interesting to see how this translates into The Outsider when the game is finally released.

Jeff Nash

February 16, 2007