When most people think of LucasArts they think of adventure games and flight simulators but they were also pretty successful in the first person shooter market. This fact is usually overlooked because as good as Dark Forces and Jedi Knight were they are completely overshadowed by other classics like Sam and Max and TIE Fighter. While they might not a good as the rest of the LucasArts library these titles still deserve some recognition. So today I’m going to spotlight one of these LucasArts FPSs that goes mostly unnoticed, Outlaws for the PC.
In Outlaws you play as retired U.S. marshal James Anderson who sets out to avenge the death of his wife and rescue his kidnapped daughter. To carry out his quest for vengeance Anderson must find the man who was responsible: railroad tycoon, land developer, and typical western villain Bob Graham. So James saddles up and blasts his way through Graham’s numerous thugs and goons using the various Wild West era weapons at his disposal. It’s a fairly standard FPS set apart by its unique art style, excellent music and gorgeous cutscenes.
Bang! Bang! Your dead.
The single-player mode is split into two parts, the main game that follows James’s search for Graham and the Historical Missions which show James’s exploits as a U.S. Marshal. As opposed to the linear story of the main game the Historical Missions are more like a collection of sub-missions accessed though a central hub. Choose an outlaw to apprehend and fight your way through his gang until you can track him down and bring him in dead or alive. The completion of these missions are not necessary to beat the game, in fact there is no real reward for completing them at all. They're there to add a little replayability, finishing missions with more finesse and using non-lethal methods to bring your target in to improve your rank.
He’s not a desperado, he’s a Lagomorph.
The cutscenes are really well done and help set this game apart. They are all presented in a faux hand drawn style that really jumps out at you. Actually, the art style used for the cutscenes kind of remind me of Full Throttle with it's gritty yet cartoon like look. The voice work is also pretty solid with most of the actors adding quite a bit to the atmosphere. It all does a great job of portraying the games stereotypical western story of revenge.
Trade you these marbles for that comic book.
The game’s soundtrack is phenomenal. It consists of an original score done in the style of the old Spaghetti Westerns of the 60’s. The songs did a great job setting the mood and really fitting the feel of the levels. The soundtrack earned Outlaws several awards and prompted LucasArts to release a separate soundtrack CD. While I'm not sure I'd go as far as to buy the soundtrack, I can definitely see why it won so many awards
The game’s cutscenes are very nicely done:
Gameplay footage set to Royksopp… for some reason:
I’m not usually one to get enthralled in the cowboy mythos. In fact growing up in Montana I actually got a little sick of whole western vibe. I can’t stand movies and books based in the period but for some reason games like Outlaws fascinate me. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m not a passive observer in games. I get to take the role of the mysterious gunslinger with a dark past. Perhaps I just really like shooting people. All I know is do I want to watch a shoot out? No thanks. Do I want to participate in a shootout? Hell yeah, toss me another revolver, I’ll fire it with my tongue.
If you are interested in stepping to the boots of a man with a heart full of vengeance and a revolver full of lead you can download the demo here.
Great write up, Shipero! I'll have to check this out, as it sounds right up my alley. I love the art style, and the doom-meets-spaghetti-western vibe looks like it works well. Thanks, man.
I need to track down my copy, the demo is fun but I want to run through it again and try out the extra missions that LucasArts released as a free download.
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Great write up, Shipero! I'll have to check this out, as it sounds right up my alley. I love the art style, and the doom-meets-spaghetti-western vibe looks like it works well. Thanks, man.
Oh hell yeah! Awesome game to bring up, Shipero. I had to get a new cd-rom drive just to play this game because it didn't like the slowness.
It was totally worth it.
I loved the game! Too bad I only got around to playing the demo. I just never had the money for it...
Thos animations bring back so many memories.
Nice write up S-man!! I loved this game and completely forgot about this altogether. You just brought back a bunch of good memories, bro.
I love you for loving Outlaws.
Hmmmm...I was going to say I never played this one but I think its in my best interest to pretend I did so I can fit in with the cool kids.
*Ahem* This game was so friggin awesome. My favorite part was when you shot the cowboys and the cut scenes.
In all sincereness(spelling?) though, nice write up like always.
I need to track down my copy, the demo is fun but I want to run through it again and try out the extra missions that LucasArts released as a free download.
@Tragic Hero
Yeah, that part was pretty cool.
Great game, but it falls apart in the mine mission
I never even heard of this one. How did this fly under my radar? I used to hate Western-themed stuff, until I started watching the good movies.
I have been tryign to figure out the name of this game FOREVER. I played it as a kid and loved it, but I couldnt remember the name. THANKS BUDDY
Strangely I've never heard of this game before. Looks awesome. Thanks for the info. I'm definitely going to check it out.
I can't remember if I played this game or not. I just remember playing an old Western game that had dynamite. And chickens.