A lush, green planet. A army-like organization looking to conquer it, taking out the indigenous people that inhabit. A hero.
Sounds like I’m talking about the Avatar franchise, right? At least, that’s what I was reminded of when I started playing THQ Nordic’s Outcast: A New Beginning, the studio’s next generation update of the old franchise first released in 1999.
20 years after the award-winning action adventure hit, Outcast, pioneered the genre of non-linear open-world games, the long-awaited sequel sees Cutter Slade return to the spectacular alien world of Adelpha.
Resurrected by the almighty Yods, he has returned to find the Talans enslaved, the world stripped of its natural resources, and his own past intertwining with the invading robot forces. It’s up to him to go on a mission and save the planet again.
The original team behind Outcast 1 has reunited to create this fascinating world, full of dangerous creatures and home to the Talan people – an ancient culture whose fate has become inextricably linked with earth since the events of the first game. You play as Cutter Slade, ex-Navy SEAL, sporting the same dry wit he had back in the 90s – however, the world around him has changed and eventually, so will he.
Having not played the original Outcast game, I came into playing Outcast: A New Beginning on the PS5 with an entirely clean slate. Immediately I was engaged with out lead character, Cutter Slade, deftly voiced by Luke Roberts. From an appearance perspective, I felt as thought I was playing a character inspired by Captain James T. Kirk. Regardless of whether that was remotely the intent or not, Slade’s a character I was into.
Visually, the planet of Adelpha is gorgeous to look at, though it shares a lot of greenery that makes up Avatar‘s Pandora as well, both on film and in the recent game, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. However, while the planets are similar, from a gameplay perspective, I found Outcast: A New Beginning to be far more engaging, no doubt because of its third person perspective rather than Avatar‘s first-person view. This, of course, is a highly personal take, as I’m not a big fan of FP games.
Both titles also have their fair share of world-building, which is mana for science-fiction fans. It’s clear that a lot of time and care has gone into building out Adelpha by the production team behind Outcast: A New Beginning. There’s a solid mix of techno-babble and theology, as Slade works to save the planet while searching for his own lost family.
Ultimately, for newcomers to the Outcast franchise, Outcast: A New Beginning is an easy and fun way to discover the long dormant franchise. It’s available now for PS5, Windows, and XBOX and there’s a demo for you to try before you buy.
