Outland

 PC
User Score
7.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 65 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 39 out of 65
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 65
  3. Negative: 10 out of 65

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  1. stop9091
    Jan 20, 2017
    7
    It's a bit hard to judge this game, because it'a a mix of a pure platform and a metroidvania, but it does so without too much success.

    First, the good: - the energies idea is interesting; it works as platform (although, the large amount of life makes the hurdles a bit too forgiving) - the bosses are great. I give one point just for them. - it's a stilish game - at least the first    It's a bit hard to judge this game, because it'a a mix of a pure platform and a metroidvania, but it does so without too much success.

    First, the good:

    - the energies idea is interesting; it works as platform (although, the large amount of life makes the hurdles a bit too forgiving)
    - the bosses are great. I give one point just for them.
    - it's a stilish game - at least the first map, and the bosses, look really great

    The meh:

    - wall jumping has fixed trajectory; this is a missed chance for more skillful playing
    - the variety and strategy of the enemies are good enough; maybe not great, but good enough.
    - the story is not too good, but not too bad. summary: everybody on earth goes **** crazy; the player beats the crap out of everybody

    The negative:

    - the art style looks flat after a while; although individually taken, the environments are aesthetically interesting, they look somewhat the same as a whole
    - the upgrade system is bland - only life and charge energy
    - the upgrade system is fueled by money. after a while, colleting money becomes uninsteresting; in order to "buy" (offer money!?) the upgrade from the most obvious upgrade locations, it's enough to collect the accessible money.
    - WHY SHOWING A GUIDE!!! WHY!!! It completely ruins the metroidvania experience. completely!!!!

    All in all, it very much fails as metroidvania, because it lacks the depth, but it pleasantly succeeds as a platform.    … Expand
  2. Baltifru
    Apr 19, 2020
    7
    Outland is overall a good game.

    Its main problem is its competitors: Metroidvanias represent a saturated market and it's difficult to come up with some innovative game design ideas in this domain. So you won't find much in Outland that you can't find anywhere else: a good mixture of platform phases, exploration, new skills to unlock, hidden objects to hunt for completists... although    Outland is overall a good game.

    Its main problem is its competitors: Metroidvanias represent a saturated market and it's difficult to come up with some innovative game design ideas in this domain. So you won't find much in Outland that you can't find anywhere else: a good mixture of platform phases, exploration, new skills to unlock, hidden objects to hunt for completists... although not so original, the game proposes some nice (but rare) boss fights that bring a little bit of depth to the gameplay.

    The game suffers a couple of bugs, especially a very strange one that automatically fires the ray skill (once unlocked) after unpausing the game... weird that such a bug could make it all the way without any patch.

    One thing that I particularly disliked though is the map system: there is no possibility to see the map of the whole game. The world is split into approximately 30 levels which maps can be seen only once inside the level. Furthermore, the fast-travel feature is unlocked quite late, and does not allow to travel to each of these levels, but only to about 60% of them. A real pain for completists... I raged quite a lot until I finally found the level in which the last helmet was hidden.

    The artistic design is quite acceptable, although very simple. As for the scenario, you might as well not read any of it, it is completely uninteresting.

    In short, a good game, but looks a little bit too much like a weaker version of Ori and the Blind Forest to me.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

81
#81 Best PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 9 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. USgamer
    Sep 23, 2019
    60
    Overland is a strange mix of stellar art direction, smart and simple design matched with often arbitrary difficulty. Even when I felt like I was playing at my smartest, it was easy to slip up in a single move and ruin a whole run, no matter if I spent 20 minutes or over an hour on it. The more I played, the more bored I got with the procedurally generated cycle. Surprises grew commonplace; fuel gathering grew tedious rather than just tense. And yet, I still found myself driven to rev up the engine another time at the end of a run and give it another go. Overland is bound to be a probable cult favorite among tactics enthusiasts, but as for recommending it for other curious eyes, I can't say I fully can.
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  2. Pelit (Finland)
    Nov 15, 2014
    85
    A beautiful platformer with a solid game mechanics. You have to know how to play it, if you intend to master it. It’s tricky, but never unfair. Although the game was originally published over three years ago, this geezer has aged with style. [Nov 2014]
  3. Gaming Nexus
    Oct 27, 2014
    85
    For only $10, fans of platformers should give this one a try, but skilled gamers might not find Outland all that challenging outside of a few areas.
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