Outlaws

Since Doom, it seems that anybody and everybody has jumped on the bandwagon to produce a first person perspective adventure, and Doom clone after Doom clone was released, from Future Shock starring Terminators, to Dark Forces, the Star Wars clone. Admittedly some of these were highly entertaining, and some engines were more powerful than the original Doom engine. Then came Quake, setting a new standard twoards which other clonists still strive. The Outlaws engine may not be as sophisticated as ID's perfected Quake engine, but as far as originality and entertainment are concerned, Outlaws has the other clones licked, except perhaps Quake itself.

There are three different styles of game play in Outlaws: Spaghetti Western Shooter, Bounty Hunter Action, or multiplayer Shoot-out. The stories are highly entertaining to watch unravel as one level ends and a cartoon-style cut scene leads to the next. The story is a strong part of this game as you try to rescue your daughter and avenge your wife's murder. At the end of each section, after you have struggled to the end, you see her kidnappers off in the distance escaping once more. Just when you think you've got there, something comes and moves the goal.

The towns you visit include civilians as well as outlaws so make sure you don't kill too many of them as you're likely to get yourself hung. You pick up more and more weapons as you go through the game including a double-barrelled shotgun and sticks of dynamite. The game comes on two CDs but there are not as many levels as the thirty odd you get with Doom for example, but Outlaws more than makes up for this with the additional Bounty Hunter Action style.

Although there aren't that many levels, each level is pretty big and they differ quite a lot, ranging from dusty towns to runaway trains and abandoned mines. I thoroughly recommend you give it a go.

Check out LucasArts for more info and a demo.

Reviewed by Joel Newman