Outtrigger

"Time to work your OutTrigger finger..."

I came upon this oft-overlooked game at my local Hollywood Video, and it led to a week of overdue action. This is one of the more fun First Person Shooters I've played in a while, and it certainly makes up for all the bad ones.

Graphics 9/10
A beautiful 60 FPS game with realistic wall, floor, and human textures. Some of the levels are stunning, with splendidly done light effects. The only thing lacking is when a character is lit on fire by an explosion; instead of actually being on fire, they just glow red and flashing yellow with occasional fire textures. Bullets leave marks in walls a la Goldeneye, and the framerate hardly ever drops.

Sound 8/10
Some awesome quasi-Japanese-techno music. Sometimes the music is an awesome song, sometimes it is a 5-second clip looped again and again and again... The music would not appear to everyone, however.

Control 7.5/10
Weakest aspect of the game. With no manual-mapping, but dozens of auto-mapped choices, you can still get along, but I've heard the only way to play competitively is with a mouse and keyboard. I use my controller (controller setting D1 is MDK2 style =))and occasionally my keyboard, but no mouse. In some instances it becomes difficult to move about, but once your hands adjust to whatever controller scheme you choose (D1!), it gets easier and easier.

Gameplay 9/10
This game was FUN! The Arcade mode was no more than a series of training missions that could be completed for new costumes, a good warm-up, but the Mission Mode had some real gems. The Novice version was a total breeze, but halfway through Intermediate things got tricky-tricky. Most of the levels all had rather straightforward goals (i.e. kill 'X' amount of terrorists in 'y' time, or collect 'x' medals, or whatever), but a few were just maniacal fun-- in one level you, as your character, must use 'bouncy bullets' from a Proton Torpedo launcher to hit snipers across corners using stealth and timing--the snipers can kill you in one hit. Some mighty fun weapons (camouflaged bombs!) only add to the fun. Splitscreen VS mode turns any odd gathering of people into two, three, or four gamers tapping buttons profusely. The anti-camp 'medal' mode of multiplayer in which a player gets one point for fragging another player, who then drops a medal, which is a free point for whoever gets it, is clever and adds new fun to the phrase 'coin-collecting'.

There is no real story or plot, except for that you are part of an anti-terrorist organization or something.
A real gem, fast and furious action, so I give it eight points. I take off the two because of control and because the game is TOO FREAKING SHORT.

Rent or buy? Rent, it is a very short game, and play multiplayer. If you have a large family, many friends, a keyboard and a mouse, or a BB connection, or all of the above, consider buying this game.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/26/01, Updated 12/26/01