Outcast made me want to be a xenoarchaeologist, which is a problem since it’s not a real field. If, for some inexplicable reason, let’s imagine a pact with the devil, I was only able to play one type of game for the rest of my meandering life, I’d choose open-world exploration games. Preferably of alien worlds.
Every now and then I boot up Outcast, thanks to the GOG version that supports modern systems, but it’s not as easy to get into as it once was. The tiny resolution, fiddly controls – it’s not like Morrowind, another alien realm worth exploring, where it’s aged a bit but only superficially.
But Outcast is now getting a remake, unbelievably. A group of the original’s developers has bought the rights from Atari, and have taken to Kickstarter to make a modern version: Outcast HD.
The initial Kickstarter goal – a significant $600,000 – will cover a complete HD remake, with improved AI, all textures remade from scratch, new controls and animations and Xbox 360 and PS3 controller support.
But you’ll need to chip in $20 to get the basic digital version, and the project has basically just started. The rights were only recently purchased, and only concept art has been provided on the Kickstarter page.
The project’s ambitions go far beyond just giving Outcast a shiny facelift, though. The $1.7 million stretch goal is for a whole new world that will pave the way for Outcast II. It would feature news quests and gameplay, as well as a world that isn’t limited in the same way the original worlds were, as it would be created from scratch.
In less than a day the campaign has already got over $50,000 in pledges, and despite the higher-than-normal pledge requirement to get the game, it seems like the Outcast name is getting people to dip into their wallets.
Cheers, RPS.