Title: The Outfit

Date: 05.20.2006

Genre: Action

Platform: Xbox 360

Developer: Relic Entertainment

Publisher: THQ

Move over Call of Duty 2, a new World War 2 game is on the block, and boy is it fantastic. When I first heard about the Outfit I didn't know what to expect, would it be something that kept me wanting more or a game that stayed on my shelf collecting one of the many dust particles that came out of my wallet. I am pleased to say as of yet it has not left the Xbox 360.

You play the part of one of 3 heroes in this game, all members of the "elite" Outfit. Take the word elite with a grain of salt however as recruiting any of these guys into the SAS will send the UK defenses crumbling faster than you can say "Press the Red Button". Your mission is to hunt down General Von Beck a German War Commander. Each hero has their own weapons and attributes to play around with, so no character is the same and each time you die you can chose a new character to play as, pretty much like recent games such as Battlefield 2.

The Outfit is like no game you have ever played before; it is a combination of a 3rd Person Shooter and a Real Time Strategy. The action is everywhere and you can get right into the thick of it. The game closest to it at the moment is probably Battlefield 2 but in so many ways that is also different. The Outfit sets out to create its own type of game; however it has been criticized mainly because it doesn't fall within the normal types of games we have become so well accustomed to. This does mean however it will be a game you will either love or hate, there will be no in-between. The single player grabbed the attention of me the most mainly because it is so different to other games currently on the Xbox 360. However I did find the instructions given to me slightly confusing at first. This was down to the small text that appeared on the television and caused me to squint a few times. However after the first level was up I could read the objectives given clearly.

The controls in The Outfit are fairly easy to pick up; even without an instruction manual I was able to grasp the main controls in less than 10 minutes and fully work out the controls by level 3. However this was only controlling my character on the battlefield, when I got to control the vehicles I have only grasped the controls on a few of them. I still wince when I get a tank stuck up on a hill, as I know I am going to be wasting 5 minutes just trying to get it back down again. Unlike other games based around war situations it takes team play and throws it out of the window. Instead of working with your team they are more disposable weapons, as soon as they die you can call more in. This makes the game a lot more fun, as in other games losing one of your teammates will result in a complete mission failure.

Instead of gathering resources like in proper RTS you gain points by destroying things and capturing objectives. You can then use these to buy new equipment to dot around the battlefield. However at times it is too simple to gain these points. I was never too poor to buy a tank to ride about in. However making it more difficult to gain these points however I feel would ruin the game, as the aim is constant action not having your vehicle destroyed than waiting around for a bit for your points to accumulate than it begins again. It doesn't seem to fit the typography of an RTS though, as it is not strategy but more running in and shooting then leaving a couple of machine gun placements there. However strategy is involved in some sections where you decide what to do with a heavily guarded area. I just left an Anti-Tank placement and a machine gun there to take out the people guarding the area.

This does bring me onto the point of how easy the game is, there is no Game Over You Die, you respawn until the level is complete. Pretty much taking away any challenge, however it does allow you to approach the objective differently each time you die. If it doesn't work in a Land Rover why not take a tank. Still dying? Then use an air strike from the Radio Tower you have just captured. Pure chaotic fun. Each level is a perfect length each lasting around 45 minutes. However there is only a small amount of levels in single player meaning although I found it to be more fun not much time will be spent in it. The real game time comes from playing multiplayer both co-operative and versus. The main gripe with the levels however is that at a couple of points during the game, I was hoping for the level to end around every corner but they just continued on and on. Each minute however was extremely fun and maybe I wanted the level to end so that I could continue with the game.

The objectives are a bit repetitive though, even more so than in Call of Duty 2. Its is just a case of running up to a building, killing everyone in the area, waiting a couple of seconds for the capture to register than moving on. Sometimes this will change to destroying a particular vehicle, which can get very difficult when you have not capture the building previously mentioned. The achievements do mix thing about though, changing your objectives to well saving people by destroying a vehicle or destroying a building. However the achievements really make you feel like you have achieved something and are not handed to you on a plate like some other 360 games, not mentioning any names.

The story is nothing ground breaking; however the scenes are comedic compared to the seriousness of the scenes in other WW2 games. Some got a chuckle out of me in 1 or 2 places, which certainly destroyed any of the emotion I felt for the soldiers that I received while playing Call of Duty 2. The story does differ from other WW2 games though, in that rather than taking part in historical dates you visit different locations, which as far as I know (I didn't do history) never happened. Which does provide a different perspective and the only way you know it is World War 2 is the French Resistance, Nazi's and the Big Headed Americans. However I feel this was expected from an American created game.

As mentioned above this game creates its own genre. Using a combination of a third person shooter and RTS it does a great job in immersing you well in the game. For example imagine you have just captured a base online and you need to grab another one but the enemy is about to attack. In a normal 3rd Person Shooter you wouldn't be able to do anything, but in The Outfit you can call in air support to wipe the enemy of the map or even set up Machine Gun turrets to guard the perimeter. It’s this type of thing that grabs me, as a standard 3rd Person Shooter the game would not be able to defend itself against games such as Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter.

The sound is not much to shout about, there are the usual explosions. The soundtrack is repetitive, and I didn't really notice it. However with the explosions and gunfire you do feel like you are on a battlefield and help you get immersed in the action and gets adrenaline pumping. I don't know why though because the game has a pretty comedic feel to it. It's great how the sound can change ones perception of the game.

Since the game come out there have been cries on many Internet forums that the game could be done on the N64, which I feel is a little exaggerated. Although some of the game could have been done on the Xbox a couple of months ago, there is no way that all of it could be recreated. There are explosions everywhere all the time and each of them looks great. It does a good job of creating cartoony graphics, yet staying kind of realistic.

Like promised each and every one of the objects in the game is fully destructible, although not really in arealistic way. Houses will disappear into the ground when knocked down instead of leaving rubble. You can create holes in the buildings but always in the same place each time very scripted. However I discovered a glitch in this destructible area of the game. It seems some times your team mates don't know that the object no longer exists and I have caught them on a few occasions jumping over invisible walls.

The character models however do feel the same, and slightly less detailed than the rest of the scenery in the game, however it is hardly noticed and not as bad as some people seem to suggest. The amount of action going on the screen at one time will absolutely baffle you; there will be around 20 Germans, 5 of you. A couple of machine guns, some tanks and around 10 explosions. The 360 will not even stutter during these moments that seem to be happening all the time.

The AI of the characters doesn't seem that good though as they just run into the situation gun's blazing or run right under the tracks of a tank, which from what I am told does hurt. However they are disposable and you can easily call in reinforcements. The enemy also suffers in the same areas. Lastly the bit that seems to be making or breaking a game recently, such as Perfect Dark Zero where the single player quite frankly was poor to say it nicely, but a lot of people stuck around for the multiplayer aspects. Up to 6 players online it seems like not enough people. But this is a perfect amount, any more than this and the game will lose its appeal due to the size of the battlefields that you are playing on, and the nature of the game.

The game became extremely fun when you have 6 people shouting down the headset planning the tactics and executing them. Maybe not in perfect fashion but an extremely fun way. There is nothing like storming a captured part of the map in groups of 3 with tanks and then setting up machine guns around the area, giving no hope to people that want to reclaiming it.

Boosting 4 game types, one of these being Co-Op Multiplayer it does seem that it will maintain something to keep you attached the game online but each game mode is remarkably different in terms of how it plays unlike other games where there are only minor differences. However only Strategic Victory is allowed in Ranked Games where you will gain most of your achievements in online play. This allows you to control the majority of the objectives on the battlefield, much like Battlefield 2, but more fun, involving firepower rather than strategy. The other game modes are inferior compared to this though; you have the normal death match. However it does throw in a unique game mode. This is called Destruction. The aim is to total up your FU's (Points) by destroying things. The more things you destroy the closer you get to winning. Definitely no strategy involved here. I have noticed the game freezing on occasions though while I am waiting for a game to be set up, meaning the Xbox needs to be restarted, mostly when I am connecting to 6 person games.

Another pitfall of online play is that not many people seem to be playing the game, sure there are enough people to get into a 1v1 game fairly quickly. However I am waiting 15 minutes for a 6-person game to get going. Games do last a long time though, and it is very rare to get booted once it gets started.

Many people have said they have swapped in GRAW for this game and never looked back. However I wouldn't suggest you do that. Go out and buy GRAW and rent this. If you like it then buy it. The Outfit is not a game everyone will enjoy, but if you do like it then it will be hard to put down. Although in some parts the graphics are not totally up to scratch or the AI seems a bit broken it is the gameplay that makes this game. Notable the variance found in online play and the action compared to the tactically of other online games currently on the 360. Break free and be prepared to create total war on the battlefield instead of hiding behind a wall praying you do not get shot. A good game gets you involved, and this is what The Outfit does. Simply Wonderful.

Game Score

8.9

Reviewed By: Ryan Gilliam