"An excellent simulation game and it's not made by Maxis!"

Introduction-
Outpost is a really sweet game that’s kind of like Simcity but you have to take control of a colony on another planet instead of city. The reason almost nobody has it is because a ton of other highly anticipated games were released at the time of Outpost’s release, such as Diablo or The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Continue reading if you want to hear about this overlooked game.

Graphics- 9 out of 10
The graphics in Outpost are as 3D as possible without making it a completely 3 dimensional game. All of the buildings look cool and futuristic. Everything is smooth, colorful, and nicely drawn. Also you can easily identify what everything is.

Sound- 8 out of 10
Outpost boasts some of the greatest tunes ever put in a video game. It also has a bunch of voice samples that sound wonderful. The reason the sound got an eight instead of a ten is because after you play for a long time (which you will) the sound stops all together on that file.

Play Control- 10 out of 10
Outpost requires you to know almost nothing about the keyboard or computers. There’s a window in the top where it displays all of the buildings you can build, and to build one all you have to do is left click it, then put it wherever you want by left clicking again. Also, the stats and other options are all very easy to access and use.

Game Design- 10 out of 10
I’m a big fan of all of the Simwhatever games from Maxis, but this is a lot better than most of them. There are over thirty different structures that you can build, tons of secrets for you to unlock, 10 different disasters, four levels of difficulty, rebel colonies, and much more. If you’re used to managing a city in Simcity, a farm in Simfarm or Harvest Moon, or a house in The Sims (although I wouldn’t recommend The Sims), this will be a nice change for you.

Story- 10 out of 10
The story is good and simple, and here it is. It’s the year 2200, and a huge asteroid which scientists have dubbed “Vulcan’s Hammer” is speeding towards Earth and if it hits, the human race will become extinct. Hoping to keep alive, 200 of the most skilled inhabitants of Earth are sent to live on another planet, which you get to pick from a group of 100+ solar systems. The “space colonists” are then sent off to the planet of their choice, with a number of different satellites and probes. After three days of landing on the planet, 100 colonists become rebels and start their own colony. After five days of waiting, the colonists receive a message from mission control on Earth saying that they sent a nuke up (this sounds a lot like the movie Armageddon, doesn’t it?) and tried to destroy the asteroid with it. That failed, and the asteroid broke into several huge chunks, and two struck Earth. Then the colonists lost contact with Earth in a burst of static, and realize that Earth is devoid of humans. Now you are the last chance.

Replay Value and Challenge- 10 out of 10
I’ve had Outpost for about three years, and I still play it often. With over 30 different structures you can choose from to build, lots of disasters, cool codes, and much more, it’ll take awhile before you get tired of it. Also, it has four levels of difficulty (beginner, easy, medium, and hard), so I can’t really rate the challenge, but even on beginner it’s still pretty hard.

Overall- 9 out of 10
Overall, Outpost was one of the best in its time, and it still is. If it weren’t for a few glitches and the stopping sound it probably would have gotten a ten. Now, there’s a sequel to Outpost called Outpost 2. So do yourself a favor and buy one of the two. Plus, it’s rated “E” for Everyone by the ESRB Rating Board.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/01/01, Updated 01/18/02