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Outtrigger Review
Chris Leyton
00/12/0000
FPS for the console generation.
Outtrigger has been in development for a while, and was originally just going to be released as an arcade game, but the developers soon made the decision to port it to Dreamcast.
The game focuses on Interforce, an anti-terrorist group set-up by a private enterprise designed to combat high-profile terrorist groups who are a threat to the well being of the world. You assume the role of Jay, Alain, Lina, or Talon, all of whom have different qualities and flaws, along with their own weapons, including grenade launchers, flamethrowers, and machine guns.
The game is structured as a console FPS, comparisons to Quake III and Unreal Tournament will be immediately made, however that couldnāt be further from the truth. Emphasis is placed on action, at times it becomes more intense then even idās masterpiece, the arenas are small to encourage constant confrontations and the gameplay lightning fast, whilst the weapons are just short of nuclear warheads. Get used to dying, as it will happen a lot, the style of gameplay means that good and bad players alike can have an even game.
Thankfully the game has an excellent learning curve; there are two main modes; Arcade and Mission Mode. The former acts as a training mode, split into four difficulty levels each one comprising of 15 levels. These start of with mundane tasks such as collecting coins, however they serve the purpose of introducing players gradually to the controls and basic manoeuvres, essential if youāre new to the genre or if you want to be competing at later levels.
The mission mode is split into categories in the same manner as the arcade, however the missions have greater variety, ranging from team death match style modes, to all against all, to keep the hostage alive by picking off would-be assassins whilst youāre rooted to the spot. This variety keeps the one player mode highly addictive, a sign of its arcade heritage. Completion of these levels results in your score being tallied up at the end, depending on the type of mission the objectives are different, however they usually revolve around time completed, health left and how many times you died. Score enough points and youāll open up extra levels, characters and weapons, this is how arcade games should be converted for the home market.
Where Outtrigger shines through is in the multiplayer mode, up to four players can participate in a split screen mode, and due to the intense gameplay and the small map sizes thereās no opportunity to camp and very little use of strategy, itās just a case of run around and blow anything that moves to pieces.
Depending on the mission the enemy you encounter will change, death match style modes are usually populated with the main characters, whilst the levels that involve you killing a certain amount of enemy in a set amount of time are usually populated with terrorists. When killing an enemy in the death match modes youāll gain a point for the kill and a coin will appear, grab this for a bonus point, because anyone can grab these coins it ensures people come out into the open rather then camping. When killing an enemy in the other levels, a clock will appear providing an invaluable boost to the strict time limit, as with the coins anyone can pick these up.
Visually Outtrigger is a mixed bag, some of the textures arenāt up to the exceptionally high standard weāve come to expect from the dreamcast, however theyāre still more detailed then most games on supposedly more powerful machines. Due to the small map size and slightly simplistic textures, the game runs at a blistering pace, essential to the style of game, even in four player split screen youāll not notice any slowdown. Throughout the game there are some very nice weapon effects, real-time lighting and particle effects emanate from explosions, weapons such as the photon torpedo wrap players in a sphere of electricity that looks fantastic.
The game can be played in both first person and third person, however the controls which take a while to get used to along with some heavy configuration work best in first person. The game supports the dreamcastās mouse and keyboard, which is the ideal configuration for any FPS, however after changing the pad configuration from itās awful default controls to those of Turok, youāll be happily blasting away whilst strafing out of the way of incoming missiles in no time at all. After heavy play on both Quake III and UT I can honestly say Outtrigger works the best on the DC pad, just make sure you turn off the computer assist, it limits your viewing angle and targets enemies that you may not wish to.
Outtriggerās array of arsenal is more then impressive; each main character has three different classes, light artillery, heavy artillery and a grenade, each one different depending on which character you choose. Scattered throughout the levels and accessed by obtaining a certain amount of points are yet more weapons that are visually more powerful then those you start of with, my current favourite has to be the photon torpedo that bounces of walls and when it hits an opponent circles them in electricity that depletes their energy.
Health and ammo are generously scattered throughout the levels, ensuring the intensity is kept at the maximum. Also located throughout the levels are power-upās, that work in the same way as quad damage in Quake III, pick it up and watch as your damage rating increases to that of a small country. Lastly youāll find Thermal and Night vision goggles, the former works exceptionally as youāll be able to locate the enemy even when theyāre behind objects, essential.
Unfortunately the proposed on-line play never made it into the European release, however I suspect our friends across the pond will be able to appreciate this mode. Sega have promised four-player death match and team battle modes across the Sega.Net network, whilst the possibility of player rankings and chat rooms has also been mooted. If Outtrigger plays like most other Sega online titles this should be an experience youāll not want to miss, but for us Europeans itās better not to cry about spilt milk, the four player split screen is more then sufficient and you get to see your opponents face when you completely humiliate him, what better joy.
In keeping with the arcade heritage youāll not find any blood, frags or flying heads, this may turn off older fraggers and PC gamers but should help to reach a wider audience. Thatās what Outtrigger is really, a FPS that tries to appeal to the mass market rather then the niche market that PC FPS currently occupies.
Being a FPS shooter fan I wasnāt expecting much from Outtrigger, itās simplistic approach and difference from what I had come to expect from games in the genre initially put me off, however itās strengths began to shine through. The score based approach ensures itās one-more-go appeal, whilst the arcade feel kept me hooked. The four-player split screen mode is yet another feather in the dreamcastās cap for multiplayer games, and despite the lack of an on-line mode Iām more then happy.
