Thursday, 13 March 2008
Anyone remember Outcast? I know I do. It was one of those complete anomalies that one found in the mid to late 90's, caused by the traditional genres in games being crossed as it grew out of infancy. Good examples of this cross-pollination are classics such as, Sacrifice, Little Big Adventure 2, Giants: Citizen Kabuto, MDK and indeed, Outcast. If you were to ask me to name some of the most influential games that I’ve had the privilege to play, while maybe not the most played or most enjoyed, it would be these titles that I would mention time and time again.
Beauty... sheer unadulterated beauty these games brought to the videogame culture. From the sweeping, voxel driven engine of Outcast (60% of why I bought this game was the water effects - stunning for the time, no?) to it's musical score by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra (there's another 20%), to the surreal and alien landscape and characters in Sacrifice and the plain and simple magical narrative of LBA2; they all, including the excellent writing on Giant's: Citizen Kabuto, seeped into my sub-conscious.
The latest example of this hit me this morning. Finally picking up Assassins Creed second hand for the PS3 (a game that I’ve still to make my mind up on), I climbed to the top of a huge tower in order to view the impressive landscape. A city near ancient Jerusalem spanned out into the distance, Arabian bazaars, homesteads, churches and mosques all encased within softly tipped mountain ranges. As I sat viewing the impressive vista an eagle austerely drifted past; it was then that it all came together.
A sudden rush of dormant memories, flashes from the late 90's - my room, the old computer case I was then using, the original box Outcast was shipped in... the standard height and width but not quite as deep as others. Then the game itself manifests itself in my mind, the first of Adelpha's continents springs up, a desert world filled with palm trees, pools of calm light blue water and Arabian inspired towns. The inhabitants, the Talan natives dressed in swathes of cloth, burnt hues bleached by the piercing sun. Clay pots adorn the exteriors of their houses, the bazaars teem with life with merchants selling all sorts of exotic trinkets, and temples rise out of the mass of suburban hubbub guarded by soldiers dressed akin to the Egyptian pharaohs.
Finally a memory of standing atop a huge archaic pillar inscribed with the words of the Talan Gods. The landscape is those very same gentle curving mountain tops, binding the landscape with the inhabitants, anchoring the virtual world to the real that has inspired it. A giant bird drifts past as the epic musical score reaches a climax.
Outcast was and still is a stunning piece of art. Assassins Creed seems to have replicated, in concept design at least, some of the magic that made it the window into such a genuine alien world. I implore you to buy Outcast and play it, as you will find it second to none in pure escapism that is so lovingly crafted and presented. As for Assassins Creed... well, only time will tell on how much effect it will have on me but at this early stage, I don't think that it's going to stack up.