[X360] Super Hands-on su The Outfit

[.:|Physalis|:.]

Last week we traveled to Los Angeles for THQ’s second annual Gamer’s Day event where we had the chance to take a look at an updated build of The Outfit, coming to the Xbox 360. Together with developer Relic Entertainment, THQ is hoping to put some excitement back into the World War II combat genre that has been a bit uneventful lately. Focusing on massive firepower, over the top action and the ability to destroy just about everything in sight, The Outfit is looking to be a highly intense third person shooter that should offer gamers an explosive experience at their fingertips.



Designed as a combat intensive squad-based that makes use of strategic gameplay elements, The Outfit will take players back to the era of World War II as they confront the vile Nazi war machine with the latest and greatest weapons of that time period. Each of the game’s 12 missions will enable players to gain a number of action points that can be used to purchase additional weapons and upgrade a player’s arsenal. This includes buying everything from tanks to machine guns to bazookas and even the ability to call in for an artillery strike that is sure to level anything within the area.

Throughout The Outfit players will take control of a trio of hardened soldiers named Deuce, Tommy and JD. These playable characters will enable players to decide which character will serve as the squad leader for each mission and each will obviously consist of a unique set of skills and abilities. While THQ hasn’t been very talkative concerning the game’s storyline, we do know that The Outfit will revolve around the three playable heroes and their efforts to track down and stop a powerful Nazi general from continuing his onslaught against innocent civilians on his way to expanding Germany’s grasp on Europe. Each character’s skills will most definitely come into play throughout the game’s missions as different gameplay scenarios will require players to effectively coordinate their squad mates against the evil general’s forces. Of course there are sure to be a few bends in the road as we have been told to expect a few plot twists that will assure players’ interests are glued to the storyline as it unfolds through the action.



Before getting into more detail about The Outfit’s action, let’s talk a bit more about each of the three main characters players will select from during each mission. The most explosive character who relies heavily on maximum amounts of firepower is Deuce, who carries a massive bazooka that is perfect for taking out armored strongholds or vehicles. JD is the long-range sniper of The Outfit who is also armed with a shotgun for when the confrontations are more up close and in your face. Tommy prefers to make use of a rapid firing machine gun that enables him to spray the enemy with a barrage of bullets. He also carries a flamethrower that gives him a distinct advantage during close range encounters. Of course each of these characters will also have a number of disadvantages that players will have to account for under various situations, but that is all a part of the gameplay design that forces players to make good use of each character rather than counting on one member of the squad to get them through the entire game.


In addition to the three main characters, there will be a pair of squads players are in charge of with whichever character they select. By making use of two squads, Relic has given players the opportunity to switch between squads at any time during missions to add an extra layer of complexity to the game that bolsters a more advanced use of strategy. Players can make use of both squads to mount coordinated efforts as well as carry out independent objectives over the course of a single mission by taking advantage of the two squad setup. As each mission will feature both primary and secondary objectives, The Outfit will allow players to determine the ways to carry out each task in order to complete each of the 12 levels. There are also a total of 35 medals that can be obtained throughout the game according to exemplary actions during these missions. The types of squad mates available will depend on the character selected as the squad leader. Each of the three main characters will have squad mates that complement their style and weaponry arsenal.


During the playable demo we checked out we managed to get a good look at how the squad tactics would work as well as a great overview of the carnage to be experienced with The Outfit. Almost instantly, the game looked a lot like Lucasarts’ Mercenaries, which also focused on highly explosive combat action involving three characters. However, while Mercenaries was in itself a great title, The Outfit looks to go far beyond the gameplay and style of Mercenaries thanks to the advanced capabilities of Microsoft’s next generation platform. The mission we checked out took place in a blown out section of a quaint French town shortly after the Nazi’s had blasted their way through the area. Many of the buildings had been devastated by explosions, leaving only shells of their original form in place. The streets had been filled with fortified bunkers and mounted machine guns that the Germans had put in place to help secure their hold on the town. There was also an interesting looking church that stood high atop a hill that served as an ominous backdrop to the destruction at hand.



We got to trounce through this missing with the help of a large armored tank that made short work of the enemies at hand as its machine gun and canon proved a formidable alley against the Germans spread throughout the level. Here we also got another peek at the game’s AI as it has developed from the last time we saw it during E3. The squad mate AI seems to have gotten a nice shot in the arm as they definitely work more efficiently and effectively by moving from areas of cover to the next while making use of such tactics as covering fire and using objects for protection. The enemy AI still seemed a bit on the thin side as some of the German soldiers waited until the last second before abandoning their position behind a mounted gun as the tank rolled up on them. Needless to say, The Outfit is still a ways from completion, but it certainly has made noticeable progress since we first took a look at it in action a few months ago.


The most exciting point of the demo came when we were able to call for an air strike and targeted the church resting just beyond the street above a hilltop. At first it seemed as though this structure was merely in place to fill the background and give us something nice to look at, but as soon as the artillery began falling from the sky we realized that Relic and THQ are deadly serious when they tell us everything within the game is destructible. We watched as the church was bombed and consequently blasted into pieces of rubble on the ground. Smoke rose from the collapsed building as dust flew into the air, letting us know that anyone around the building as well as in it were no more. Aside from buildings such as the church, players will also be able to destroy everything from bridges to walls and bunkers all complete with realistic physics and damage modeling. Calling in an air strike or using a vehicle like the tank we mentioned earlier are just a few of the very cool bonuses that can be used by saving up enough action points on the field and they are definitely worth the effort to say the least.




The Outfit will also come complete with a variety of multiplayer modes including online support. We suspect a standard number of multiplayer modes along with campaign co-op mode that will work both online and offline using split-screen action. Based on what we’ve had the chance to play in the single player campaign we expect The Outfit’s multiplayer features, particularly the online ones, to be quite exciting and entertaining as blowing stuff up only becomes that much more fun when you have more people to blow stuff up with. Thanks to the Xbox 360’s next-gen hardware, The Outfit is looking and sounding fantastic. The game run in the Xbox 360’s standard 16:9 perspective at 720p HD resolution and the 5.1 surround sound made sure each explosion was as thunderous as possible. All in all The Outfit played, looked and sounded as explosive as anything we’ve seen before!



Although the game has some initial similarities to Mercenaries released on the Xbox early this year, The Outfit looks to take the excitement of blowing stuff up to an entirely new level that includes much more advanced strategy based on squad tactics that will challenge players to complete a series of missions against the ruthless Nazi forces of World War II. The amount of sheer destruction in The Outfit is quite impressive and when Relic and THQ say that nearly every object within the game is destructible, complete with their own damage model, they mean it. The squad mate AI is coming along well and we are sure the enemy AI will improve over the remaining months before the game’s release which is planned for the first part of 2006. By the time the game is finished, The Outfit should prove to be another shooter that is sure to showcase the next-generation hardware of the Xbox 360. Stay tuned as we continue to follow the development of THQ’s World War II combat title.

For more information regarding The Outfit, check out a Developer Interview that further details the game's development and gameplay.