Outtrigger

"How Sega does an FPS"

I love Sega. It's all I play. I own (and play) every Sega console except for Master System and Pico. One of the things that I love about Sega is the unique spin it puts on all its consoles and games, especially its arcade games. It's hard to describe, but games like Sonic, House of the Dead, Crazy Taxi, Jet Grind Radio, and Space Channel 5 are undeniably Sega. This touch Sega puts on its games is the reason why they have such hardcore fans, and bitter critics. Outtrigger is an FPS with the Sega touch. As you've seen by the ratings Outtrigger received, a lot of people don't like this game because it departs too far from the typical FPS. Few people love this game, Sega's hardcore fans, because of the said departures. I'm one of the few that love this game.

Presentation

First off, Outtrigger is one of the many NAOMI arcade ports. Most of the Dreamcast's arcade ports are the same, if you haven't realized. There's an Arcade Mode, which is a 100% perfect port. Then there's an Original Mode of sorts, which (depending on the game) is a series of minigames, a new map, or an expanded mode of the arcade version. Then of course is the Option Mode and a defunct Network Mode. Outtrigger is no different in this department. ‘Original Mode' is named ‘Mission Mode' (more on this later), and there's even a character edit you can play with if you wish.

Yes, there is a story, but this is an arcade game, so we don't care. Outtrigger is essentially a series of training simulations for combating terrorists (interesting to note this game was released in July 2001). How this makes sense in real life is not important.

The game's menus remind me of its ‘cousin' game, Confidential Mission, with the whole computerized theme. Options are plentiful, and that's always nice. You even have the option to change the view from first to third-person (but stay in first-person). The HUD is also very slick, and somehow very Sega. It fills up almost every corner of the screen, giving you useful information. It also keeps with the computer and simulation motif. Then there's the loading times, which are neither fast nor slow. What's nice is that while the game is loading you're given a short briefing on the upcoming level. Also in the corner of the screen is an animation of the Outtrigger logo. There are about a half-dozen very different animations of the logo (similar to the Sega logo on Genesis games), randomly generated, and this alone is a great touch.

Graphics

Outtrigger is one of the later Dreamcast releases, and theoretically it should look pretty good, right? It does. The character models are well-done, and the levels are rendered nicely. Some levels have fountains and rivers, and the water looks and splashes accordingly. The graphics are also very bright, level briefings large and arcade-like, unlike other FPSs. Pop-up and fade-in are nonexistent, giving you a clear view of absolutely everything. But what makes this game a real winner over the other Dreamcast FPSs is the framerate. Outtrigger plays at a constant 60fps, and never drops. Ever. There's never a break in the speed or the action.

Audio

Here's where we separate the Sega hardcores from the gamers. First, there's the notorious announcer. It seems that every Sega game has a different announcer, one more different than the next, whether it's the fruity announcer of the Monkey Ball series or the Canadian from Sega Bass Fishing. This guy is particularly deadpan when announcing the game's title (OUT. trigger) and the results screen. But during the 321 Start!, he yells ‘Start!' with such a laughable vigor that comes out of nowhere. Lackluster announcer aside, the sound effects are standard FPS. The menu SFX are also taken from Confidential Mission. But the music is where the audio really shines. Keeping with Sega tradition, the BGM is smooth muzak. A very far cry from games like Quake III Arena and Unreal Tournament, the music is a reminder that this is a rather lighthearted Sega arcade game. Being a Sega hardcore, I love it. Most gamers hate it, and detract the game because of the soundtrack alone. Yeah it's out of place, but given the design of Outtrigger, it works. Draw a parallel to Marvel vs Capcom 2.

Gameplay

So what makes Outtrigger unlike other FPSs of the genre? It's very to-the-point, and allows for immediate action. The entire game consists of missions. Your mission is usually to kill X amount of terrorists within the time limit. From the start, you're given a default rocket launcher, grenades, and machine gun, so there's no need to build up an arsenal (although there are more powerful weapons around that you can find). There's even a super power-up (like Quake III's quad-damage) that you can find. Every time you kill an enemy they'll leave behind a clock which gives you 5 more seconds. The time limit and the bonus time require you to get in there and just kill. There's no time (or space, really) to camp out. It's all action.

The arenas, though plentiful, are rather small. Outtrigger haters will exploit this, but the purpose of the small arenas prevents you from camping and forces you to get into the brawl. (On an engineering side, the confined space also allows the Dreamcast to eliminate pop-up and keep the framerate high.) The later arenas you can unlock are quite labyrinthine, and although their footprints aren't huge, there are multiple floors to lose yourself in.

Arcade Mode is an exact reproduction of the NAOMI release. There are 4 modes (Training, Novice, Intermediate, Advanced) with 6 missions each. You pick a mode and play through the 6 missions. And that's about it. So right there you've got 24 missions. Then there's Mission Mode, which is an extension of the arcade. Here you have 3 modes (Novice, Intermediate, Advanced) with 15 missions each. 5 missions are unlocked at a time that can be completed in any order. These missions are a little more inventive, being team battles, versus matches, coin collecting, bomb defusing, ‘boss battles', and more. They go from being drop-dead easy to quite hard. The more you complete Mission Mode, the more characters and stages are unlocked (and there's a lot to uncover).

Then of course there's VS mode. You can play offline deathmatches and team battles in a 4-player splitscreen (or against CPUs). For each kill you get a point. Instead of leaving behind clocks, in versus matches the defeated player leaves behind a coin. The coin alone gives you a point as well. This brings in a sense of strategy, as you can have another player kill someone, but you can run in and grab the coin for a free point. The coin concept is also very Sega-like, and also sets Outtrigger apart from other FPSs (a little too far for some people's tastes). Matches can be set by time or by point.

One of the major hypes was online versus battles. I've never played Outtrigger online, and I doubt at this time (2008) you can. One of SegaNet's flagship titles, I'm sure it's as good as the hype was.

One last thing I want to cover is the controls. As much sense as this makes (sarcasm), you cannot create your own control scheme. Instead, you can choose from one of the dozen (I'm not kidding) presets. All of them but one are broken in some way. The only scheme that makes any sense is preset D1, which has the controls the same as Quake III and Unreal Tournament. If you get bored you can mess around with the other presets, but to seriously play the game it must be on D1. I assume this game works with the Dreamcast mouse and keyboard as well. I personally never had a qualm about the Dreamcast controller for any genre of game, and with the correct preset Outtrigger plays just fine with the standard controller.

Replay Value

With Outtrigger there's plenty to do. The game sports 69 missions, and some will take you quite a while to complete. After you complete all of them, that's about it, but it's not like you'll complete them all easily. Then with versus mode the replay value is indefinite. Outtrigger's replay value will only be diminished by your personal boredom of the game. If Outtrigger happens to rub you the right way then you'll be playing this one for a long time, and you'll always pull it back out now and then for a quick match.

Closing

Sega's redefined many genres, and with Outtrigger, it redefines the first-person shooter. It's Sega's personal style that makes this game the gem it is. Put it this way. If you like traditional FPSs, Outtrigger may turn you off. If you like Sega, however, regardless of your liking of FPSs you'll love it.

Final Comment: The way Outtrigger is spelled, with 2 ‘t's, makes the word look kinda clumsy.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/07/08

Game Release: OutTrigger: International Counter Terrorism Special Force (US, 07/24/01)