Outcast sequel A New Beginning has a release date, almost 25 years after the original sci-fi adventure game
Don’t worry, you don’t need to have played the first one
Outcast: A New Beginning is gearing up to drop its long-awaited sequel to the nineties sci-fi adventure game, with its newly-announced release date landing almost a quarter of a century after its predecessor. If you’re new, or have just forgotten what happened in the first Outcast - of which there’s a good chance given that time gap - you should apparently still be able to jump in here.
An Outcast sequel popped up back in 2021 under the guise of Outcast 2: A New Beginning, following directly on from the ending of the 1999 open-world adventures of Cutter Slade on the alien planet of Adelpha.
In the years since that reveal - the second time Outcast has aimed for a sequel, following a failed attempt in 2001 - the upcoming game has dropped the numeral to simply become just Outcast: A New Beginning. That’s no doubt an attempt to get those players on board who aren’t familiar with the original Outcast or its 2017 remake Outcast: Second Contact, which wasn’t exactly newcomer-friendly.
A New Beginning is apparently being made by some of the original team, including its director and composer, who have put the new game forward as a more self-aware, deliberately pensive take on the open-world formula. Slade is able to get his Avatar on by caring for the alien habitat around him, along with aiding its indigenous inhabitants known as Talans - who you’ll learn to converse with gradually by connecting with the world - which will earn their trust and help you to unlock more impressive ways of blowing up a load of robotic would-be colonisers. You get a jetpack too, which is neat.
Perhaps best of all, the game proposes a campaign lasting just 35 hours or so - a damn sight shorter than most modern open-world sprawls.
Outcast: A New Beginning will release on March 15th next year, series developers Appeal Studio announced. There’s also a new combat trailer with Slade blasting alien worms and robots while whooping and dropping sizzlers like “I smell a nice upgrade coming up” and “Mmm, special item”. There could be some charm here - we’ll see next spring.