Sci-fi rebirth after 25 years: This is how the open world of c- A New Beginning shines

We played the sequel to the action classic Outcast and fell in love with the game world. But not everything is perfect

After a wait of 25 years, Outcast: A New Beginning is the rebirth of a cult classic. The Belgian studio Appeal, which caused a sensation back in 1999 with the original Outcast and the impressive voxel graphics of the time, is now presenting a sequel that aims to capture your hearts again with modern technology and a fresh approach.

Old hero, new game

In Outcast: A New Beginning, you once again take on the role of Cutter Slade, the clearly aged but still charismatic hero from the original – this time, however, not voiced by Manfred Lehmann (German dubbing voice of Bruce Willis), but by the very similar-sounding Torsten Münchow, who usually lends his voice to Brendan Fraser, among others.

And Cutter Slade returns to a world that has changed significantly over the past two decades.

The alien world of Adelpha is facing new challenges: A brutal robot army is threatening the native Talans and their culture. Slade’s mission is not only to fend off this new threat, but also to uncover the secrets behind the invasion.

It soon becomes clear that simple fighting power alone will not be enough to resolve the deep conflicts that are shaking the planet.

A lot has happened on Adelpha

In A New Beginning, the world of Adelpha, once a pioneer in the open-world sector, is more alive and dynamic than ever. Using Unreal Engine 4, the development team has created a game world that invites you to explore and discover, with every corner telling its own little story.

From lush forests and wastelands criss-crossed by lava flows to snow-covered mountains – the world is once again diverse and many regions are reminiscent of the original. Also reminiscent of Outcast 1 are the conversations with the Talans, in which you are thrown heaps of alien vocabulary

If terms like Ulukaï, Zorkin or Kiakiiiii don’t mean anything to you, don’t worry, because you can now press a button in the dialogs to display the meaning of all terms at the edge of the screen.

But if you prefer action to just talking, the new Outcast will of course give you plenty of opportunities to do so: The open world offers a number of activities in which you can let your blaster blaze. Here are some examples?

• Fierce resistance and new attachments for your weapons await you in the heavily fortified bases of the invaders.
• During Gork eruptions, energy flows from the planet’s core to the surface, which you can secure to unlock special Talan skills. However, this energy also corrupts all nearby animals, which you must first send to the afterlife.
• You can race with giant flying rays, the so-called Nôm-Nôms.
• Invader convoys can be intercepted in the air on the back of a giant flying beast and plundered for additional resources.

Even if all this doesn’t sound particularly innovative, it’s important to the developers that the open world doesn’t degenerate into Ubisoft-style occupational therapy – every side activity either tells part of the story or gives you a useful upgrade.

Just be able to go all in

In Outcast: A New Beginning, the gameplay is significantly expanded and refined compared to the original game. The developers have focused on making the combat system dynamic and responsive to meet today’s standards of a third-person shooter.

Cutter Slade now has an arsenal of advanced combat abilities and equipment at his disposal, including a shield and a versatile jetpack that not only allows you to explore the world, but also serves as a central element in combat.

Slade can not only hover over the terrain and move quickly, but also perform tactical maneuvers in combat, as producer Michael Paeck explained to us:

“It’s definitely a third-person action game, it’s a shooter, so it’s really something where you can have fun. Where you can use your traversal skills to dodge quickly, where you can do stylish and fast things with the jetpack. And that’s another thing that actually fits the Outcast franchise really well. “

Michael Paeck, Producer of Outcast: A New Beginning

Another significant innovation is the weapon system, which is characterized by a high degree of modularity: You get the option to customize your shooting irons with different attachments, which allows for an individual and strategic approach to combat

You’re not so good with aiming? Then why not attach the Smart Bullet add-on to your blaster, which will automatically aim the projectiles at their target. And if you’re a fan of area damage, you can install the Electrical Orb and start firing lightning bolts that hit all enemies with electric shocks

For whom could this be worthwhile?

With Outcast: A New Beginning not only marks the return of a 25-year-old classic, but also the release of a game that reinvents itself while staying true to its roots.

Belgian studio Appeal seems to have managed to create a well-functioning mix of nostalgic atmosphere and contemporary gameplay elements that should appeal to both old fans and new players alike.

If the game lives up to its promise, you can look forward to a fantastic adventure that should captivate fans of the original in particular with its narrative depth, the lively open world of Adelpha and the dry humor of editor Slade.

However, we won’t find out how well the individual elements really mesh together and whether the 30 or so hours of gameplay will be consistently convincing until March 2024, when A New Beginning is released on Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Conclusion of the editorial team

Even though I never played the 1999 predecessor because it would never have run smoothly on our Aldi PC with its hardware starvation, Outcast 2 quickly piqued my interest. And that’s not just because of the really lovingly designed world and the extensive background story, but above all because of Cutter Slade. The guy is not only incredibly cool, but also has a wonderfully dry sense of humor.

However, after shooting my way through lots of alien creatures and robots in the preview version, I’m still not entirely convinced. As great as the game world is, the things you can do here are neither new nor innovative.

The same applies to the battles, which take up a large part of the playing time: Even though experimenting with weapon mods is fun, lots of cool combinations are possible and there are flashes and crashes everywhere, the battles still seem very unspectacular and straightforward.

That’s why I’m a little worried that they’ll wear out quickly once I’ve assembled my perfect weapon. And whether a great atmosphere and a cool character will be enough to make up for this remains to be seen.