Outcry

by Dreamcatcher

Product Features

• Solve stimulating and engaging puzzles throughout
• Explore eerie and breathtaking environments created in rich photorealistic detail
• A haunting musical score and terrifying sound effects that will send shivers up your spine
• Interact with numerous characters as you discover countless objects and clues

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B001BC3OJ0
• Item Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: August 26, 2008
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,412 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Assume the role of a middle-aged writer who receives a strange invitation from his brother that he hasn’t seen for years. Accepting his invitation, you are soon confronted with the discovery of his sudden disappearance and his connection to a mysterious machine which, according to your brother, can separate one’s consciousness from his body. Explore the boundaries between dreams and reality as you delve deep into your subconscious and confront your innermost conflicts.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An existential and psychedilic trip of a game, September 15, 2008

By 

Andrew Blake "Drew" (Wilmington, NC USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Outcry (CD-ROM)

How do I begin a review of what was probably one of the most trippy, surreal games I've ever played set on this planet and in the 20th century. OutCry was a very unusual game set in the 1920's (Russia, I think). You play the role of a university professor on a mission to duplicate the experiments of his brother who has gone missing. In the beginning, you find yourself retracing his steps in order to re-create a complicated machine that allows you to delve deep into your subconscience, regressing old memories, and getting in touch with your past. You are, in effect, traveling back in time and remembering and re-living elements of your childhood past. This haunting aspect of the game makes it very unique in my opinion. At least this is what I derived from the first two hours of gameplay.

So here's my true opinion of the game. At an early point in the game, your character inhales (in its gaseous form) a foreign plant known to contain hallucinogenic properties similar to those found in lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and this become even more evident when the chemical breakdown of the plant is described vividly in one of the professor's notes. Having said that, the game's graphic representation of a mind-altering trip come into play in its entirety. This becomes the game in a nutshell. The beautifully rendered graphics of this newfound trippy parallel universe do the theme some serious justice.

The puzzles you'll encounter in this game are sometimes over-the-top and a bit difficult to solve. For a veteran adventure gamer, you'll do just fine but may be tempted to consult a walkthrough from time to time. I know I had to, and I've been playing these point-and-click adventure games since Myst was released in the mid 90's.

The graphics and the sounds effects have been painstakingly rendered in photographic quality and representation. In other words, they lend nothing less than absolute realism being splashed upon your computer monitor. It's as if the objects and structures that stand before you in the game are actually towering over you in reality. Surely this was the intention of the game's designers. The background music is especially haunting and morose, thereby complimenting the overall theme of the game very nicely. Actually, it's perfect. You're always in a sad but curious mood the entire time you play the game as your character questions everything about his life, his existence, his past, his childhood...etc. (I'm suddenly reminded of 1998's Sanitarium which I'm sure nobody remembers.)

I'll give the game two thumbs up for its originality and level of intrigue. You really want to finish the game, and yet the majority of it is based on absolute absurdity and the mind of a depressed, unsatisfied man who is clearly spending too much time dwelling on his past (and tripping on God knows what). In summation, I highly recommend this game to all veteran PC adventure gamers because quite simply, it's a bit twisted and emotionally different. It certainly won't win the feel-good game of the year award.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Building Machines, September 28, 2008

By 

Lisa (California) - See all my reviews

= Fun:1.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Outcry (CD-ROM)

I had to write this because I was so disappointed in this game. This game is good if you like building and fixing machines, but unfortunately that is about all there is too it. There are no characters to interact with and the only discoveries when you enter a new place are to fix more tools or machines. There is a diary that you find pieces of throughout the story that discusses how your brother built the machines you are busy fixing. Was not fun for me.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Intriguing Experience, February 5, 2009

By 

E. A. Sack (Coronado, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Outcry (CD-ROM)

I found Outcry to be one of the most fascinating games of the
"adventure" genre that I have played. The combination of experiencing
the "hero's" visions on several consciousness levels and the innovative electromechanical challenges including the "Harp Tower" kept me totally engaged.

I can understand why this game might appeal to more mature gamers and in particular those with an engineering background.

Congratulations to the creators of Outcry for moving quite a bit out
of the "mainstream."