Outland: First Impressions

Outland is owned by Ubisoft and developed by Housemarque

Outland is a really cool concept for a game. The premise is to take the color switching damage absorbing mechanic made popular in Ikaruga, and making a 2D platforming game. From what I have played so far though it surprisingly plays less like most plaforming games and more like Legend of Zelda. The overworld is large and certain areas can only be accessed by unlocking additional powerups. Exploration is done by visiting special zones in the overworld that lead to specific powerups and bosses. Combat also takes on a very Zelda-esque feel. The only way to hurt enemies is to be the opposite color of them (but they can still hurt you) and exploit whatever weaknesses they have. It is all very reminiscent of combat in the Zelda games, whether that is a good thing or not I will let you decide.

Puzzles also use an interesting mechanic. Occasionally I came across a large area where the camera pans out to reveal a pattern of bullets being constantly shot in a certain rhythm, much like in the picture above. I quickly learned this was done to promote quick calculated runthroughs of puzzle areas, as opposed to careful slow navigation. This concept really works for the game and helps create an awesome sense of movement when I correctly survived a dangerous area.

I am a huge fan of the art style too. I absolutely love the vibrant tribal feel of the game. Enemies all have unique designs that fit in perfectly with the rest of the world and really help to make the game alive.

Another quick thing that I adore about this game is a small added mechanic. If you are full on health, you can destroy health pickups to get more money. It sounds like a simple idea at first but I often found myself staring at a heart wondering if I REALLY needed it for the next section. Hats off to whoever thought that up.

So far I am really enjoying Outland. I give it a solid recommendation.