Outcast: A New Beginning

Its open world may not contain an abundance of diverse and interesting distractions, but the combat is strong enough that exploration is still satisfying. Couple that with some excellent traversal mechanics and the freedom to truly go anywhere, and Outcast: A New Beginning is a fantastic attempt at reviving the IP for a modern audience in a way that feels faithful to the vision of its predecessor.

Yes, Outcast - A New Beginning doesn't feel like a modern game and that's actually its primary appeal so if you have fond memories of 15 year old action adventure games then you'll love what's in store for you in this open-ended planet-exploring journey.

Outcast: a New Beginning finally brings us the continuation of a cult game from the 90s. A new experience that mixes the new and the retro to bring us back to simpler times without giving up the ambition of its beautiful open world.

It's hard to stand out among open world adventures. Outcast 2 achieves this at times thanks to its ease and sense of freedom, but neither the missions themselves nor their visual performance manage to rise to the occasion.

Outcast: A New Beginning scores with its huge freedom by exploring the world, gaining progress and solving quests in a more or less free order. The humour and the stylish-fantastic graphics are also standing on the bright side, even if some annoying bugs and performance issues do some harm to the strong atmosphere. The bottom line is that A New Beginning is a distinct rise of quality compared to its predecessor in mostly any aspect. But this is not enough for a general recommendation. But if you like the original or the remake from 2017, Outcast: A New Beginning is worth buying.

Despite its AA veneer, Outcast – A New Beginning is a solid open-world RPG. The combat doesn’t carry its weight, but the quirky characters, fun traversal, and open quest system are the real heavy lifters. It feels like a game from a bygone era and in this instance it works.

Outcast: A New Beginning is a very enjoyable but flawed experience. It has a lot to like and a generic story to ignore. Its highest highs are when Slade is mobile and can freely explore at the player's pace. Hopefully the technical shortcomings can be ironed out to make the experience smoother, because Slade is a fun character to play as...even if he looks like an awkward dad.

The PS5 version suffers from performance and tearing issues that can be hard to overlook. But if you do, there is a decent action adventure waiting to be explored. It looks nice and sounds even better, the story is solid and we really enjoyed many of its locations, characters and dialogues. The open world however feels bafflingly empty and combat plays like a relict from the past. Loyal fans of Outcast deserved a better game – but that doesn’t mean they won’t like it.

Outcast - A New Beginning may not be one of the well-known games but we think this is very entertaining with a decent proposal. Its sections are well carried out, although the graphics need a little work and this can greatly change our perception of the game.

Outcast is coming back after 25 years in quite a successful manner, although fans of the original could have hoped for more. Appeal Studios' new title is an enjoyable action-adventure game with an open world full of colors and clever weapon modification mechanics. However, it offers less in terms of visuals and density of side content.

Outcast - A New Beginning will certainly please fans of the original, but its lack of anything unique and somewhat outdated gameplay may not impress others.

Outcast: A New Beginning is very far from being innovative and may disappoint anyone expecting something different from what the market already has in abundance. But, at the same time, it is honest in its simplest and most direct proposal, and can entertain enthusiasts for a good open-world shooter.

A quarter of a century ago, the original Outcast made its mark on games, but since then its core strengths have become commonplace in the industry. Its sequel is merely an average title done by today’s standards. The overall quality of execution is there and the developers were obviously committed, but A New Beginning doesn’t offer anything that will make you remember this adventure for years to come. However, as soon as the bugs are fixed, you can give it a chance, as long as you have some time on your hands.

Outcast: A New Beginning may not have a gameplay loop that interests everyone, considering its repetitious nature and somewhat dated shooting mechanics. With that said, the world and how you interact with it is enough for the right audience to dig into.

The return of Outcast unfortunately seems to be quite a bit stuck to the past. It's an open world experience akin to something Ubisoft would develop but without a similar big budget veil that could cover (to some extent) the repetitive quest structure and derivative gunplay.

Outcast – A New Beginning has moments where it can be a lot of fun, especially once you get your hands on an upgraded jetpack. Sadly, its archaic mission design and empty open world often means that there isn’t really much in there worth flying towards.

Outcast: A New Beginning does offer a good amount of fun for those looking to mess around in an open-world sci-fi game that hearkens back to earlier entries in the genre. The world that Appeal created is fun to explore, the core gameplay loop feels like a blast from the past, and overall, it makes for a decent sci-fi experience. The story may not be the most interesting, and the content isn't that varied, but some players may still be able to find something to enjoy here. And fans of the original should at least enjoy this trip down memory lane, even if it could have been done better.

Where it innovates in design, Outcast: A New Beginning simultaneously stumbles over its own two feet with a clunkiness emblematic of other games in its niche. The game isn’t better or worse than its competitors – but it’s different enough to deserve some attention.

Outcast: A New Beginning feels less like a new beginning and more like a generic open-world game that offers little to the player. At some points, it felt like I was playing a knockoff Avatar game. The game’s traversal options and beautiful setting are the best parts. Unfortunately, Outcast: A New Beginning is held back by its lack of character depth, generic plot, and horrible AI.

There's an undeniable charm to Outcast: A New Beginning, and twenty years ago this could have been the breakout hit for an ongoing Outcast franchise, but in 2024 players are spoilt for choice in the realm of third-person action-adventure games. If you're a fan of the AA, mid-tier shooters we used to get back in the day then this might be worth a look, but otherwise, there's just not enough here to warrant your attention.