User:Sidewinded/Outwars
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| Outwars | |
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| Developer(s) | SingleTrac |
| Publisher(s) | Microsoft |
| Release date(s) | April, 1998 |
| Genre(s) | Third person tactical shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Teen (13+) for Animated Violence, Animated Blood and Gore |
| Platform(s) | PC |
| Media | CD-ROM |
| System requirements | Windows 95, Pentium 133, Cd-ROM 4-x, 16Mb RAM |
| Input | Keyboard, Mouse |
Outwars is a science fiction third-person shooter developed by SingleTrac and published by Microsoft in 1998.
The player controls a heavily-armed "dreadnaught" marine, and must battle insectoid aliens intent on taking over the galaxy. Gameplay is mission-based, and the player may customize his suit of powered armour with different weapons and equipment at the beginning of each mission. The player may also issue orders to a small team of computer-controlled squadmates.
The game features a multiplayer mode, allowing teams of players to compete against each other.
A rather unusual feature of Outwars is that the legs and the torso can be controlled separately. This extra function can however be disabled by reconfiguring the controls.
Outwars is available free of charge at http://www.the-underdogs.info/
[edit] Gameplay
After a large alien strike force attacked the military listening outpost on Mikhal's world. You and a few remaining survivors evacuate and escape to the training base on Oasis where you have been recommended to join the elite Colonial Jump Corps, a.k.a. the "Dreadnauts." Several training missions in, another strike force invade the planet.
[edit] Multiplayer Community
Outwars enjoyed a strong community on MSN Games (http://zone.msn.com) from around the summer of 1998 to the year 2000. Fewer players were regularly seen online after that, and gradually the community disintegrated. Some moved on to other games, notably Starsiege: Tribes and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six. Others held on and maintained contact despite the Outwars matchmaking lobby being removed from the Zone. Like many other online games, players formed clans and participated in tournaments and other such events. In one instance, the winners of a Zone-sponsored tournament won the chance to play against a team of the game's developers. Players from the Roughneck clan (using a prefix of RN_) slayed the SingleTrac team. As of June 19, 2006 MSN Games no longer offers matchmaking for CD-ROM games.
Several generations of clans were formed and passed. Notable clans include, and are not limited to: ARM (Apocalyptic Rite of Mayhem), CAT (Complete Assassination Team), DEA (Death Dealers), FF (Freedom Fightors), JDI (Jedi-Dreadnaut Incenerators), JHD (Jyhad), RN (Roughnecks), STM, TCA (The Clan Apocalypse), TnT, Merlin, NoN, VeX, XXX.
[edit] Criticism
At the time of release, this game could have been considered of poor quality; the glitches were major and many, the graphics were behind the times (even switching to run on hardware acceleration did little to improve the quality) and the controls were awkward.
Some of the major glitches include:
- Falling through the map
- Being able to see enemies through walls
- "Catching" on moving vehicles while the player continues to accelerate as if they were falling. Once they slid off, their velocity was as if they'd fallen from a great height.
