Customer Reviews

Outcry

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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.

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.

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."

Strange adventure game here ... The whole game is visualized through this grainy old time brownish filter. Why would anyone see this way? It's like you are watching an old western grainy silent movie. The graphics also have this fishbowl type of quality with the edges darkened and a circular viewable area. There really should have been an option to turn turn this noise effect off but there is not. No one would see things like this in real life and it's not realistic. This effect took me right out of the experience.

As for the game itself... mechanical puzzles. If you like fixing machines and have absolutely no desire to interact with any characters then you might enjoy this.. I didn't. There are much better adventure titles out there.

I'm not sure why some people are knocking this game because it "didn't have characters" and was full of "mechanical puzzles". Both are very common for the adventure game genre and Outcry is one of the most creative and interesting adventures I've played in a long time. Certain images from it will stay with me forever and although it doesn't provide that much guidance in terms of objectives, I still found it intuitive for the most part. If you love games chock-full of style, mood and atmosphere, Outcry is a game you'll enjoy.

Have you ever wanted to leave your corporeal body, to watch the withering shell without worrying about the physical limitations mortality brings? Or, perhaps, you are simply searching for a way to further delve into your consciousness, further than simple thought and rumination allow. In any case, Outcry, a psychological point-and-click adventure title, may just satiate that wanderlust and desire.

Taking cues from old flim and those sepia photos often plastered over your grandmother's house, the game is shot through an old 20's grain filter; colors are warped and diluted, with the deep beige color washing over most else. That's not to say that it isn't vibrant. Quite the opposite, actually. However, it rightfully sets the mood throughout this faltering journey. All of the photo-quality graphics help convey the dedicated feel of this game: depression and futility. Everything seems imposing and alien, yet the graphics draw you in and don't let go. Excellent, in my book.

As for the story itself, you are the brother of a scientist who generally kept to himself throughout his life. Yet one day, he sends you an enigmatic message begging your immediate arrival. Taking the train, you arrive and are informed of his strange, surprising disappearance. Wanting answers, you visit his house only to find this... machine--what it truly is is part of the enigma--and begin to piece it together; this is against your brother's wishes, as he wants nothing more than you to destroy his work and leave the metallic beast behind, as a solemn monolith to the unknown. As you get it running, you start to experience strange memories and visions as you further press back into your mind. As for your own inner machinations, who is to truly say? In this regard, the game is truly haunting, beautifully so, and it quickly becomes an emotional, mature journey.

As an adventure game, puzzles surely come your way. For the most part, if you pay attention to the wonderfully, if a bit skeptic narration in the notes, you will find most solutions with only moderate trouble. They do grow in challenge as the game progresses, and some are frustrating, but they are only slightly esoteric. And there are walkthroughs if you just can't set your mettle to them.

Mentioned previously, the game's sound is wonderful. The general ambient sounds all are accurate and realistic, and the musical pieces are sweeping, somber, yet beckoning and intriguing. Again, haunting and thought-provoking are the best words to describe the wonderful music. And it is never so overt as to take you out of the immersion. As well, they have that stereotypical "Russian" sound to them. Fitting, as the game takes place in the same country in the early 20th century, thus further adding to the rustic, decrepit feel of a poverished world.

Outcry does a wonderful job of being a engrossing, gripping adventure game. It lives up to the moniker of psychological, too. I have never been so captivated by the downward (or upward?) spiral of a man driven by the disappearance of his brother. It acts insightfully on human nature, as well as the fears and demons of the past, coming together in an enigma. While not the best game of all time, Outcry sets itself apart from the rest by delving into the psyche. Grim, mature, and emotional, Outcry remains one of the most unique adventure titles out there.

This is the worst game I have ever played. First, there was no resolution to the plot in the end. I realize that the game involved a change of consciousness; but, all the game was really about was walking around the same rooms, which changed, fixing gadgets and pulling levers. And, there was no introduction of characters from the professor's past.--The professor's relations in the past were supposed to be part of the plot. Second, the box shows a character that looks like a Borg from Star Trek, but that character never appears in the game--Why was it affixed to the introductory box label? Third, I was appalled that the rating of Mild Violence was based on the beating of a helpless animal with a lead pipe! What does it take to warn a parent that something like that appears in a game a young teenager may be playing! About the only thing I liked was the music. No thanks on this one. If you feel fulfilled walking around a water plant or boiler room, this game will amuse you.

This game starts out well and falls flat on its face.

The darkness of the early scenes is unrelieved throughout. And darkness, in the physical sense anyway, adds an extra layer of frustration to what soon amounts to a mindless pixel hunt.

Worse, the game is linear. Haven't turned the correct wheel yet? Then the area next to the phonograph you pass on the way to that wheel won't contain anything useful, no matter how hard you search. Can't ever find the screwdriver you need? It's right where you'd never again look for it -- next to the phonograph, where it wasn't when you searched for it on your way to the wheel. Can't mix the right solution for the aerosol? Then you added the ingredients out of sequence, although there is nothing about those ingredients as described that would dictate they be mixed in any particular order. Those are but two of several forced but needless linearities you'll encounter.

Worst, the game plot falls apart at the end. The relationship between the protagonist and his brother becomes patently impossible when the supposed history of the two is finally revealed.

In short, you can predict nothing that happens in this game and must rely on luck and unthinking perseverance (or an online walkthrough) to complete it. Along the way, expect nothing but grim artwork and stilted dialogue.

I had some pretty high hopes for this game, but in the end it was too short, and I had an awfully bad taste in my mouth from the implied dog beating scene.

Atmosphere:
Colorless, grainy, dirty, abandoned - don't get me wrong - these are good things.

Story:
Fabulous, mysterious story, which was very engaging until the extremely sudden ending. Nothing was resolved, and I never did figure out what it was all about.

Navigation:
Klutzy at best. I experimented with turning off some of the effects, which didn't help all that much. You will find yourself having to walk past an object you need to interact with, in order to turn around and come at it from the other side. The cursor is a small circle that disappears into the background, which makes it perfect for selecting objects you can't see.

Puzzles:
I just adore mechanical puzzles, but many of these were too much for me. I really liked the harp puzzle, but the battery puzzle was out of my league.

Sound:
First-rate sound. Music was beautiful and appropriate.

Voice acting:
Ha ha. There wasn't any! Hooray! Unless you count the voice that reads the journal entries, which was fine. On the other hand...

Content:
The journal entries and other documents were riddled with spelling and typographic errors (my personal favorite - "scientits") and there were few clues to be had in this sea of books and letters. Now I understand that the game was translated from another language, and I'll give some leeway for that, but seriously, if there are any game developers out there who need an English proofreader, I'll do it.

Performance:
Gameplay was smooth, but cutscenes killed my computer. I spent a lot of time tweaking sound and graphic acceleration, but in the end, there were only a few cutscenes that my PC could play all the way through without crashing to desktop, and none that I could enjoy due to jerking motion and sound.

There appears to be only one walkthrough in English available for this game, and I think it, too, is a translation. I was grateful for it in any case.

I would recommend this game to those who hate dialog and enjoy mechanical puzzles, but steel yourself in advance for the dog-beating element. It is only implied and can't be seen, but I found it disturbing nonetheless.

I was tired of the old-same-old and wanted a different game. This was EXACTLY what I was looking for. At times it's like being inside a René Magritte painting. The atmospherics are first-rate, they include a lovely shimmer of heat in a desert environment and the scratchy look of an old film. The music is haunting. The story is never quite what you expect, sometimes you are moving forward to find out what happened to your brother, sometimes you are moving back into the past confronting the loss of a relationship, sometimes you are, incredibly, moving sideways for some sort of alternative history thing I didn't quite understand... but enjoyed all the same.