Outlaws + Handful of Missions: Remaster Review Summary

Iconic, preserved soundtrack: The original game's soundtrack is consistently lauded as legendary, unforgettable, and one of the best ever created. The remaster successfully preserves its high quality, allowing it to shine and profoundly contribute to the game's unique and immersive atmosphere.

Faithful, excellent remaster overall: Players widely praise the remaster for its exceptional quality and faithfulness to the original, successfully updating a beloved classic for modern systems. It evokes strong nostalgia, is considered a great value, and ensures the 'hidden gem' status of the game endures.

Detailed cutscene enhancements: The game's iconic 1997 cutscenes have been meticulously cleaned up and enhanced, now featuring added subtitles for improved accessibility. Their unique 90s charm has been preserved while their presentation is modernized, now available in normal quality without compression.

Enhanced visuals with toggle: The remaster features significantly upgraded textures, models, and lighting, bringing the game's graphics to modern standards. A highly praised feature is the ability to instantly switch between the new and classic visuals, providing flexibility. The game also supports higher resolutions, 16:9, and ultrawide aspect ratios.

Satisfying and unique gunplay: Players enjoy the game's compelling gunplay, which makes them feel like a formidable sheriff. Unique mechanics, such as individual bullet reloading, alongside a diverse weapon arsenal, contribute to a strategic and satisfying combat experience, characteristic of a 'boomer shooter'.

Disappointing Visual Remaster Quality: The visual aspects of the remaster receive significant criticism, with issues ranging from poor AI upscaling and low color saturation to specific art changes (e.g., medkits, muzzle flashes), odd character models, and outdated cinematic aspect ratios.

Excessive Difficulty, Poor Flow: The game is criticized for being excessively difficult, often feeling unfair and leading to frustrating 'save and reload' cycles. This is compounded by confusing level design, a general lack of gameplay flow, and mechanics that feel outdated.

Poor UI, Controls, Missing Options: The user interface and controls are problematic, featuring an antiquated inventory system, confusing keybindings with no in-game remapping, and an awkward weapon wheel. Key settings like FOV adjustment are also notably absent.

Overpriced Remaster, No Discount: Many players find the game's price too high, especially considering the quality of the remaster and the lack of a loyalty discount for owners of the original game. The perceived value does not match the asking price for the updates provided.

Numerous Technical Bugs Present: Players report various technical issues, including game-breaking bugs that softlock progression, inconsistent hitboxes, and general lack of smoothness. These issues significantly detract from the overall gameplay experience.

Short Campaign, Rich Bonus: The main campaign is noted for its relatively short duration, making it quick to complete and encouraging replays. However, the game offers a good amount of bonus content and additional missions, significantly extending the overall playtime.

Traditional Boomer-Shooter Gameplay: The game adheres to an orthodox first-person shooter style, often classified as a 'boomer-shooter' or 'DOOM clone' due to its core mechanics. Gameplay primarily involves clearing stages by defeating bosses rather than complex objective navigation.

Inconsistent Language Support: The game lacks Japanese localization for both its original and remastered versions. Players also desire options for selecting English audio and subtitles in other languages, highlighting a need for broader linguistic accessibility.

Punishing High-Difficulty Combat: On higher difficulty settings, both the player and enemies are highly fragile, often resulting in one-hit deaths. This creates a challenging and unforgiving combat experience where player durability is extremely low.

Classic Western Revenge Plot: The game features a clear Western revenge narrative, centered on a former Marshal seeking retribution for his wife's murder and daughter's kidnapping. Its level design is described as reminiscent of classic 3D shooters like Duke Nukem 3D within a Western setting.

Recommend with sale consideration: Many players highly recommend the game overall, suggesting new players should definitely get it. However, there's a strong consensus to wait for a discount of at least 25% due to the initial release price, indicating players perceive better value on sale.

Definitive remaster for originals: The remaster is praised as a remarkable and definitive way to experience one of the greatest shooters of its era. It's considered a must-buy, especially for those who fondly remember and loved the original game from the 90s.

Excellent for genre fans: The game comes highly recommended for fans of classic 3D shooters, 'boomer shooters,' and Western-themed games. Players who enjoy these specific genres will likely find this game very appealing and worthwhile.

Anticipate future playtime: Players express excitement for continued engagement with the game, specifically looking forward to replaying the enhanced single-player campaign and enjoying the multiplayer component for years to come.

Check developer diaries: Reviewers suggest that anyone interested in the game's development or progress should check Nightdive's YouTube channel and their developer diaries. This points to a valuable resource for community engagement and updates.

Original game highly regarded: The original Outlaws, developed by LucasArts, holds a nostalgic and highly positive sentiment among some players, with one reviewer placing it among their top FPS games. It was also noted for its somewhat unique 2D approach during a 3D gaming transition and its status as a standalone title.

Specific acceptable price point: A player provided a clear price range, suggesting that a cost between £14.99 and £17.49 would be acceptable for the game, indicating a clear expectation for its value.

Questionable trailer presentation: One reviewer expressed confusion and concern regarding the game's Steam trailer, noting that it appeared to deliberately showcase missed shots, which could potentially misrepresent the gameplay experience.