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                      <p><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000FF"><i><font color="#904C10" size="2">The 
                        Top Shelf: </font><font color="#904C10" size="4"><br>
                        Outcast</font></i></font></b><br>
                      
                      
                    <div align="right"> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">By 

                      <a href="mailto:hb@loonygames.com">Noel &quot;HB&quot; Wade</a></font></div>
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                  <td width="45%" align="right" valign="top"> 
                    <h5 align="right"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#00025E">Vol. 
                      2, Issue 1&nbsp; <br>
                      November 10, 1999&nbsp; </font></b></h5>
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              <h5 align="right">&nbsp;</h5>
              
            <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><loonystart>Jumping 
              from the &#147;weakest&#148; feature of the game to the &#147;strongest&#148; 
              (in my personal opinion), the music and sounds for the game are 
              the best I have ever heard in a game,<i> bar none</i>. The Moscow 
              Symphony Orchestra and Choir did an <i>amazing</i> job of performing 
              the musical pieces that were composed for the game. You can take 
              Disc 2 of the game and pop it into a normal CD Player, listen to 
              the music (which I&#146;m doing while I write this), close your 
              eyes (which I&#146;m <i>not</i> doing as I write this), and literally 
              imagine yourself back in Adelpha. The music is also dynamic, switching 
              between mysterious or awe-inspiring tunes and blood-pumping battle 
              rhythms as the situation demands. Add in ambient sounds and superb 
              special effects (though weapons <i>can</i> be a bit loud at times), 
              and you couldn&#146;t ask any more from a game as far as aural experiences 
              go.</font></p>
            <p></p>
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                  <div align="center"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="http:/home/loonygames/loony.timedoctor.org/content/cgi/image.pl?image=/content/2.1/shelf/images/outcast3.jpg&amp;w=512&amp;h=384&amp;back=/content/2.1/shelf/index3.php&amp;name=The%20Top%20Shelf"><img src="images/outcast3_sml.jpg" width="112" height="84" border="0" alt="click to enlarge!"></a></font></div>
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                  <p align="center"> <i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1" color="#000253"><ignoreme>Woo 
                    - action!<b> </b>(46k)</ignoreme></font></i></p>
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            </font>Control is a separate issue. Like all third person games, camera 
            movement can occasionally be a pain; but on the whole I believe that 
            they pretty much stay close to industry-standard quality. The interface 
            is a bit of an adjustment, since your primary and secondary actions 
            are context-sensitive (meaning that a button that dives you into a 
            lake one minute, may be the same one you press to ride on a creature 
            the next minute); but it is simple enough to learn and get used to 
            quickly. Keys are fully customizable as well, and the auto-aim in 
            the third person mode is adequate for most people who aren&#146;t 
            sharpshooters (or don&#146;t want to bother becoming one). You <i>can</i> 
            enter a first person mode (which enables a &#147;free-aim&#148; firing 
            mode); but it&#146;s a bit jerky, and the field of view seems &#147;wrong&#148; 
            if you have Cinemascope turned on (which effectively &#147;letterboxes&#148; 
            the game). The view is graphically correct &#150; but this option 
            makes the screen so wide that your brain has trouble reconciling it, 
            especially if you&#146;re used to playing first-person-shooters. All 
            in all, the controls take a little getting used to, but are good enough 
            to keep you enjoying the game quite happily.</font> 
            <p></p>
            <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">As with all games today, 
              there are also a few minor bugs here and there (clipping and bounding-box 
              related for the most part). However, considering the poor state 
              that many of the industry&#146;s recent &#147;hit&#148; games have 
              had upon release &#150; this game is remarkably bug free. The few 
              that exist are minor annoyances, and do not interfere with the game-play.</font></p>
            <p></p>
            <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Taken in total, <b>Outcast</b> 
              is one game that you should definitely try out. No game is for everyone 
              &#150; but the developers did a darn good job of trying to put a 
              little something for everyone in the game. It can excite you, whisk 
              your imagination away to far-off places, and even make you a bit 
              introspective at times. Give Outcast enough of a chance to get past 
              your initial reaction to the graphics; and you will be rewarded 
              with a rich, dynamic, musical, grand epic that immerses you for 
              hours &#150; no, <i>days</i> on-end.</font></p>
            <p align="right">&nbsp;</p>
            <p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i>- Noel 
              &quot;HB&quot; Wade is a regular contributor to loonygames. Basically, 
              he<br>
              just wants attention. </loonystart></i></font></p>
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<p><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2">Credits: Illustration 
  &copy; 1999 Dan Zalkus. This review is &copy; 1999 Noel Wade. All other content 
  is &copy; 1999 loonyboi productions. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited, 
  goldarn it.</font></i></p>
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