Outland Jumps Around In Color
Welcome to Indie Spotlight!
Apologies to all for the lack of new content the past few weekends. Fret not, we are still goin’ at it! Today we take a look at one of the most colorful and mesmerizing titles I have played in recent times — Outland!
Developed by Housemarque, Outland tells the story of a man destined to protect the world from the two Sisters of Chaos, once imprisoned by a perished hero 30,000 years ago. The Sisters have managed to escape, and this man is the hero’s reincarnation. He is the only one that can protect the world once again.
Outland combines the glorious color swapping of Ikaruga with fast-paced Metroidvania action platforming. On top of the usual jumping, climbing and sword-swinging common to platformers, you must also make use of the powers of Light and Dark (blue and red, in this game) to survive the journey.
You switch freely between the two colors to interact with the environment. Most of the game is built around you moving and fighting through patterns of projectiles. Matching the projectiles’ color means you will absorb it and pass through safely. Similarly, enemies will have a color (some can swap between them as well), and you’ll need to use the opposite color in order to strike them down.
As you travel, discovering altars and artifacts will awaken greater powers that offer special abilities, bonus health/mana and new ways to make your way through the world. Naturally, the world scales with you, providing more complicated puzzles and stronger enemies. The boss fights come on grand scales, usually involving full screens worth of attacks and environmental hazards.
Outland is a mechanically refreshing and visually fascinating experience that keeps you hyped for the whole campaign. There’s a solid feel-good moment every time you make it through a level, and gameplay stays fresh with new abilities until the very end.
Outland is available on Steam, Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network.
