Outland

Bossed around

The bosses are generally of the impressive variety too, an early boss, the giant Golem, requiring dexterity to climb up his club – a nod to Shadow of the Colossus, while later bosses cause headaches with their attacks of red and blue projectiles in elaborate designs.

Light the way

In fact, the difficulty levels are perhaps overly ramped up in these battles, with taking damage almost impossible to avoid. Restarting upon death can irritate, but then hasn’t that always been the way in the combating of pattern-regular bad guys?

Occasionally you will come across co-op portals too – on-line challenges which can only be beaten with a friend in tow. In these tough set-pieces timing is everything, with players challenged to block incoming fire for one another, or clear paths of obstacles. A well conceived idea decently executed and an added extra to a campaign itself playable with a partner.

Heavy rain

Verdict

A steep learning curve and the tough negotiation of some truly mind-bending combinations of red and blue projectiles means Outland can frustrate at times; who ever said saving the world was easy? Thankfully, its ambience and visual flair easily compensate for hitting the odd brick wall. While the price is the real deal breaker, marking out the low budget download-only scene as the current hub of risk-taking and cutting-edge design. ®

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