Whenever a long-forgotten franchise gets a surprise sequel announcement several years on, it can spark a lot of renewed interest for fans nostalgic for a great experience they had ages ago. No series is off-limits, it seems, as trailers for Alan Wake 2 and Warhammer: Space Marine II got me all kinds of hyped in 2022. One long-dormant franchise that is finally getting its second entry is Outcast, a cult classic from before 2000 that was revolutionary at the time for its open world and grandiose scope. Now that the sequel, Outcast: A New Beginning is out, can it keep pace with the current scope of open-world RPGs?

Right from the get-go, Outcast: A New Beginning thrusts you into the world of Adelpha, a setting that was large in lore from the original game. Newcomers like me will have a learning curve to get a grasp on this niche alien planet, but the easiest way to liken it is to the Avatar world of Pandora. The same goes for the premise – Cutter Slade, ex-military, defends the alien species against a human threat of invasion. It’s all bog-standard stuff that doesn’t innovate, but instead fleshes out the 1999 title’s Adelpha with spruced-up visuals and a plot continuance.

Developer Appeal stayed busy in the 2010s with Outcast 1.1 and an Outcast remaster, but Outcast: A New Beginning furthers Cutter Slade’s trek through this massive open world. It’s almost too overwhelming, despite the hours-long tutorial – one scroll of the map reveals it’s going to take dozens of hours to clear out.

Thankfully, fast travel alleviates some of the distance, along with the game’s best feature: Cutter’s jetpack. Through an upgrade path, you can seamlessly glide around Adelpha with a great-feeling traversal tool. It’s exactly what I wanted from the Beyond Good and Evil 2 teasers manifested in a succinct fashion – if this were paired with a more comprehensive, engaging open world, this would be a literal game-changer.

If you want to fully enjoy Outcast: A New Beginning, you’re going to have to invest time into learning some background from the original Outcast. Going in blind is likely going to lead you to skip dialogue due to a gap in the plot, or merely powering through it to get to the next combat segment. Thankfully, these combat moments make it worthwhile, and every now and then, there’s an endearing NPC that breathes some charm into the game so that it isn’t all stale.

I can’t fault Appeal for sticking with their IP for so long, but Outcast: A New Beginning feels like a janky game I played two console generations ago, akin to Arcania or Two Worlds. A thin plot and rough optimization, including no ultrawide support and iffy graphics on modern machines, make Outcast: A New Beginning only worth it for those who want a deep RPG combat experience and are willing to listen to hours of dialogue for prime immersion. Otherwise, it’s hard to recommend on that basis alone; this could please Outcast fans and those who love flying around open worlds, but not much past that.

A PC review copy of Outcast: A New Beginning was provided by THQ Nordic for the purposes of this review.

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Outcast: A New Beginning

$59.99

6.5

Score

6.5/10

Pros

• Fully Realized World
• Awesome Jetpack
• Enthralling Combat

Cons

• Miserable Graphics
• Need to Play Original To Fully Enjoy
• Lacking in Optimization