Outcast – Second Contact is a remake of the classic action adventure game, Outcast. The game has just been released on the PC, and below you can find our First Impressions, accompanied by a video showing the first 17 minutes.
In Outcast – Second Contact, players take the role of Cutter Slade. Players will dive into the extraordinary landscapes of planet Adelpha in an attempt to pierce its secrets in order to prevent a terrible catastrophe. Along the way, players will uncover many things that will even surprise fans of the original.
Contrary to other remakes, Outcast – Second Contact is as faithful to the original as possible. As such, the cut-scenes are almost identical, animations are identical and the control mechanics are exactly the same. This is a perfect 1-1 remake, featuring an updated graphics engine.
Unfortunately, and even though Outcast – Second Contact looks better than the original game, it already looks dated for 2017’s standards. A lot of the textures seem to be low-res, animations are not that smooth, the lip-syncing is terrible and the environmental details could have been better. Moreover, some effects – like the amazing water ripples from the original – are absent in this remake. This is obviously due to the new engine, however we find it a bit ironic that those ripples are nowhere to be found. It’s pretty exciting witnessing the world of Outcast in a brand new “Voxel-less” engine, however it’s not a great looking title.
Not only that, but the game’s mechanics have not been improved at all. For example, Slade feels heavy and the jumping mechanics look awful. Moreover, there is a minor delay between commanding and executing a rolling. For the keyboard keys, the game does not show which one players should press (it simply shows the keyboard). The shooting mechanics are mediocre and everything seems rough around the edges. As said, Outcast – Second Contact is as faithful to the original game as possible.
As a result of all the above, new players will find it hard sticking with it. Outcast – Second Contact feels and plays like a really old game. On the other hand, die-hard fans will absolutely love this remake. While it lacks some effects, it offers better visuals and plays exactly the same like the original 1999 version. Unfortunately, though, this remake feels like something that should had been released a couple of years ago. The biggest improvement in Outcast – Second Contact is its visuals and those look average for today’s standards. And that’s the biggest issue with this remake, especially since there aren’t any meaningful gameplay changes/improvements.
In conclusion, we feel like Outcast – Second Contact is a game that only its die-hard fans will appreciate. And since those fans have already finished it, there is no point at all returning to it. The only reason would be to admire some breath-taking visuals. However, the game lacks such an ‘wow’ factor. Newcomers will find it hard sticking with it and that’s a shame because under the underwhelming visuals and its rough/stiff mechanics, Outcast – Second Contact is as great as the 1999 version!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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