The Outfit
Released: 2006
Developed By: Relic Entertainment
Published By: THQ
July 1944: The Outfit (Captain Deuce Williams, Lieutenant J.D. Tyler and Sergeant Thomas Macintyre) is a rag tag group of American soldiers fighting in Normandy. Advancing from the beachheads they discover evidence of Nazi atrocities against French civilians, perpetrated they believe by Wehrmacht General Hans Von Beck. US Army Command issues orders, punch through German lines, find Von Beck and kill him. Things get complicated when the trio discovers discord amidst the Germans. Von Beck has been implicated in an assassination attempt against Hitler and has incurred the wrath of General Viktor Morder (pronounced Murder) and his personal assassin Nina Diederich both of the Waffen-SS. The race to get Von Beck is on.
So basically the plots a straight “men on a mission” tale with a twist that’s not really a twist and a not even half assed love story thrown in between Mac and French Resistance contact Adrienne Leprevost. The Outfit is well voiced by veteran actors Robert Patrick (Deuce), Ron Perlman (Mac) and T.C. Carson (Tyler). Despite visions of the T-1000, Hellboy and Kratos teaming up to kick Hitlers ass, that the voice cast conjures up let me assure you this games not that inventive. Deuce is the hard nosed Army Captain, Macs the big guy with a big heart and Tyler is the no nonsense black man (despite the US Army not being desegregated until 1948). Leprevost is…there (really could have saved some time and money just not having her in the game, she is totally superfluous). The villains Morder and Nina exist to sneer. The games biggest sin in my view though in under utilizing Hans Von Beck. Well cultivating an aloof air here is by far the most interesting character, and the one the game should have focused on. A staunch patriot and military man Von Beck finds himself facing down the American Army well plotting against the regime he detests. Hell I’d love to see someone (Yager Development who did Spec Ops: The Line maybe) remake this puppy with the focus on Von Beck or a similar character. World War II has hundreds of games yet the medium of games could still mine much from the era. A German officer plotting against Hitler well trying not to get killed on the front lines would be one such idea.
Gameplay wise this attempts to be a squad based shooter, but is more akin to a less interesting more linear version of Mercenaries. Players select their hero (Deuce, Mac or Tyler) each with their own speciality (anti-armor, long range, close in) and advance threw the level capturing “Strategic Points” from which to respawn as well as Armories, Radio Towers and Motor Pools (that allow access to anti-Tank/Machine Guns, Air/Artillery strikes and various Jeeps/Half-Tracks/Tanks). Killing enemies gives you “Command Points” which you can use to call in additional squad members, repair vehicles or call in the various unlocked methods of destruction. Despite the variety you’ll quickly learn to go for the Tank asap and stick with that for most of the level. There are bonus objectives that vary from level to level that can be completed to earn medals which unlock cheats. Health regenerates and ammo never runs out, though your guns will over heat. Despite the variety you’ll end up picking one hero and sticking with him throughout the campaign, there is no reason to change. Squad commands are rarely used, just point them at the enemy and the idiots will go at it. Command points are award often so conserving men or equipment becomes irrelevant just keep calling in men and equipment until all the Germans are dead.
Copious amounts of firepower will be thrown about, but its seldom accurate (hitting anything with a mounted machine gun requires a cluster of enemies or supplications to whatever deity you prefer). Weapons don’t feel as powerful as they should and there’s too much down time in reloading the big guns. This is especially annoying when your trading blows with a tank (those bastards have a ton of health, I’ll let that slide since the Krauts now how to make a tank) and one of your mooks walks in front of your shell acting as a meat shield. Being able to blow up and level any building is nice, but again the reload times usually means this takes for ever. The destruction only extends to vehicles and buildings, terrain remains stubbornly impervious to total destruction.
Ultimately what kills The Outfit is its lack of ambition. I might of been facetious when I mentioned visions of Hellboy et al, going after Hitler but the idea behind that thought, (make it crazy and cool) would have served the game well. As is The Outfit flirts with crazy, balls to the wall arcade style action but restrains itself from going all out to its detriment making the game feel lazy. What it presents is something mindless, which is perfectly fine if you’re looking to tune out for an hour, but fails to sustain any interest in the long run.
Recommended For: Anyone looking to tune out for an hour.
If You’ve Never Played It: You’re not missing anything, don’t pay more than $10 for this.
Personal Rating: +1
All Games Start with 5 points. Good voice cast. +1. Lets you shut your brain off. +1. Flamethrowers. +1. Tanks With Flamethrowers. +1. Vehicles handle poorly. -1. Weapons lack a certain “oomph” to them. -1. Characters feel sluggish when moving. -1. The solution to every level is grab a tank. -1. Accuracy is a dirty word. -1. Its a war of attrition you will inevitably win. -1. Linear levels leave no room for strategy. -1. Music annoyed me. -1. Losing a tank because it got stuck on a wall. -1. Having one of your idiots walk in front of your AT gun as you fire thus necessitating you wait another 10 seconds to reload only to be killed. -1. Having to restart because a tank, which was supposed to help me parachutes in on my head. -1.
Did the box lie? (Added to rating): “Join the Outfit and lead your squad behind enemy lines to battle the Nazi War Machine”. You sure do. +1. Freedom of Total Destruction: Shoot, Blow Up or demolish everything in your path! Meh, you can’t blow up terrain but you can level the buildings so I’ll give them this one. +1. Destruction on Demand. Airdrop reinforcements into the battle to instantly increase your firepower from Tanks, Troops and Guns to Airstrikes and More. You sure do. +1.
Lifetime Scores
Relic Entertainment: +1
THQ: +1
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