[h1]In Short[/h1]
The Outpost Nine is a stylish text-adventure with minimalistic graphics and a pulsating retro-wave soundtrack. It's story is made up of chunks of science fiction storytelling that you probably are very familiar with. That is If you haven’t spent your life up until now on a distant mining outpost somewhere in outer space.
[h1]PROS[/h1]
+ Truly scary monster
+ Anxiety inducing second chapter
+ Nice aesthetic
[h1]CONS[/h1]
- Very short
- Dull storyline and characters(at least in Episode 1)
- Lack of engaging puzzles
[h1]Story[/h1]
The protagonist is Omaha, captain of a mining outpost on Hephaestus VIII, who is rudely awakened by Mayfield, a mechanic. A highly classified call is the reason, and it’s coming from up the high ranks. Turns out it's a distress call. A mining ship in the orbit has sent it, and as protocol says, it has to be assisted to land safely and then examined. Omaha and his crew follow through, but all too soon they find themselves hunted by a murderous alien.
The story doesn't hold much of value. If you're anywhere near familiar with the science fiction horror genre you pretty much know what to expect. All of it is just basically a mash-up of all the classics in that genre out there: Alien, The Thing, etc. It borrows so heavily (from the original Alien movie in particular) that even a motion tracker plays a major role later in the second chapter.
It also doesn't help much that the storyline, including the characters and their motivations, are rather badly written. Throughout the full hour of this first Episode, they never come across as much more than stereotypes. There's Omaha, the reluctant leader who was forced into his position. Also there's Banshee, a Ripley type of character that likes to follow through protocol very closely. The one time she doesn't results in people dying.
With the characters mainly being stereotypes and not shining in any specific aspect, you'd expect them to at least feel somewhat consistent in their motivations or their way of speaking. Which isn't the case. The worst offender being Hart, an old mechanic from Texas who doesn't speak much normally, but when he does, he does it with an awful Texan drawl. At least that's what the writer wants you to believe. All too often Hart(who I genuinely thought was german at the start) seems to slip out from his accent and talks like a normal person.
[h1]Gameplay[/h1]
The Outpost Nine is mainly a mediocre and vaguely interactive visual novel. You spend most of your playtime clicking through dialogue with avatar pictures at the bottom of the screen while looking at a layout of the various areas of the outpost, a moving circle being the characters. Sometimes you get a closer look at the characters in minimalistic fashion standing in front of a bare background.
Puzzles, as the game conceives them, also consist of a close-up of a console or computer screen. The focus being on dialogue and atmosphere, however, there is maybe a total of 2-3 puzzles only.
The first puzzle being an interactive control panel, where Omaha needs to press one button after another, literally following another character's instructions. The second one is in the middle of Chapter 2, which is the definitive highlight of the game.
This whole centrepiece is the part where The Outpost Nine throws at the player all the gameplay it has to offer. Walking around an area, investigating rooms, looking for things Omaha can interact with. For example a data pad that gives him the username and password for a PC that holds a password for the keypad separating him from a life saving train. But that keypad needs to be fixed and that can only be done by finding a crowbar to lift its cover open first.
While doing all that, a motion tracker is there as a warning whenever the alien is getting close, it's frequency of beeping increasing. Once that happens and death is imminent, the only chance is getting to one out of two hiding places. Beware, even though Omaha has died a couple of times already and the player already knows where a hiding place is, it can't be used unless the area is investigated first.
Death is an important feature in the second Chapter. While Omaha starts off knowing nothing and feeling anxious and lost, the player grows each time he dies. That is because he finds out important information or where vital items (such as the crowbar)are located while he continues working on that mental plan of his on how to solve the puzzle, lift off the lockdown and escape through the rail station. And once that’s done that the player can't help but feel a heightened sense of relief.
[h1]Presentation[/h1]
The Outpost Nine's strongest part is it's aesthetic. First thing the player will notice is how the main menu, where the only real music track in the entire game plays, will remind them of Stranger Things. Another thing that stands out is how all the graphics look as though the game is playing on an old arcade machine. They aren't impressive per se but they are enough and support the whole aesthetic.
The sound effects however are something else entirely. Headphone use is definitely to be recommended. They are the main pillar of the atmosphere making sure the player is involved at all times despite the lack of visual feedback. Whether hiding away from the alien in a locker, not hearing much except Omaha’s breath. Or inside a maintenance room, hearing the watery noise of the coolers.
[h1]Summary[/h1]
The Outpost Nine is very short. It lasts only about an hour and yet it costs 4€. It's barely worth that price, also putting into consideration that there's not much to be seen of a second Episode on the Steam page. If the experience got you hooked, you need to check the Facebook page.
However, if I ought to give a recommendation, I'd say: take it. Although Episode 1 is rather rudimentary in story and gameplay, being more like the opening credits than a wholesome experience, it's fairly promising.
[b]This product was reviewed with a key provided by the developer for free.[/b]
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