Outpost Delta

Because I've reviewed so many Metroidvania-style action game, I go into each new title a little worried that I'm going to know all of the cliches. There seems to be a cookie cutter approach to a lot of the recent releases where we're collecting the same abilities, fighting the same bosses and traversing through the same types of environments. For its part, the new game Outpost Delta largely avoids many of the cliches by focusing on low-gravity enhancements and walking on walls. Unfortunately, this interesting wrinkle to the formula is just about the only good thing I can say about what is otherwise a boring, messy and often broken throwback action game.

Look, you know the spiel: A space station is under attack and you've been sent in to clean up the mess. That means killing a bunch of aliens and robots, all while tracking down key cards that will unlock doors and open up new parts areas of the outpost. It's a familiar formula that was perfected with games like Super Metroid and Axiom Verge, two run 'n gun greats that clearly had an affect on developer Hidden Achievement.

To say that this game does not make a good first impression is an understatement. I spent the first half hour riding elevators up and down the space station, running through narrow corridors, and putting up with overly aggressive enemies, all in the hopes that it would eventually lead to something fun. But the fun never comes. In its place is a repetitive game where every section of the ship plays out exactly the same way and the new abilities, while novel, are more frustrating than functional.

Let's talk about those abilities, because that's the one thing about Outpost Delta that differentiates it from the countless other Metroidvania-style action games. Because this is a space station, our hero is able to adjust the gravity in order to jump higher and even float through dangerous areas. We also unlock the ability to walk on walls and the ceiling, opening up a whole new way of traversing the purposely convoluted levels.

These are solid innovations that had the potential to shake things up, but the developers fumbled the execution every step of the way. The worst offender is the ability to walk on the walls and ceiling, which simply doesn't work half the time. In theory, your character is supposed to automatically attach themselves to the wall or ceiling whenever the ability is toggled on and they get close enough to stick. I say "in theory" because it rarely works out like that. The game demands precision when dealing with lasers and other obstacles, but you'll spend most of the adventure fighting the controls and wondering why the abilities don't work as advertised.

And even if you're able to stick to the wall, good luck moving or jumping around. Controlling the character while moving up and down is a nightmare, as is dealing with tight passage ways, transitioning from wall to ceiling, dealing with enemies while upside down and pretty much everything else. What's even more frustrating is that all this feels completely arbitrary. Sometimes you'll get untethered if you jump too far, while other times it will be fine. The game makes it hard to find that line, which ultimately results in a lot of cheap and unnecessary deaths.

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Speaking of which, this is as good a time as any to mention that the enemies are aggressive to a fault. There are a number of bad guys who will immediately (and relentlessly) rush our hero and pin him against a wall. This means that you can't move to escape or shoot them, since there needs to be a little space between you and the enemy in order to get a shot off. This is only made worse when you realize how fragile the protagonist is. All it takes is a few hits before we're forced to go back to the checkpoint stations, which are not distributed as liberally as one would like.

Oh, and that reminds me, Outpost Delta is the kind of action game where the checkpoints can screw you. I ran into a situation where the game got saved on the wrong side of laser, forcing me to start the game over from scratch. In another failed play through, the game saved as I was trying to escape an especially aggressive alien. Not only did I die in the process, but every time I respawned, that enemy was there and I had next to no life. And it's not like I could just go and find more, because there's a finite amount of health pick-ups on the space station, which left me in a maddening loop of death, respawn, death, respawn, death. It seemed that the only solution was to start the game over again.

It was during my third attempt to beat the game that I started to notice how bland and unremarkable the level designs are. No matter what part of the outpost you're exploring, the backgrounds always look the same. It's the same coloring, the same view, the same obstacles, the same enemies, the same elevators, the same boxes. Everything is the same. And it's not like it's the same gorgeous graphics from one level to the next, because Outpost Delta is an ugly game. The pixel graphics are messy and the animation doesn't work properly a good portion of the time. The presentation does not come together at all.

And that brings me to the final (and most devastating) point: Outpost Delta is too damn expensive. You're spending $25 for an action game with ugly graphics, bland level designs, aggressive enemies, broken gameplay and a story so generic that you'll forget it even exists. That's far too expensive for what amounts to a bad game that completely squanders the only innovative idea in its arsenal. You're better off replaying Super Metroid, Axiom Verge or almost anything else.