The Outpost Nine: Episode 1

Loved the first episode. It's a point&click game that's closer to a being visual novel with a plot similar to the classic movie Alien. I like how it has a text-based feel but illustrated by being able to examine what's displayed on computer screens and other clever ways to make the story more immersive. Even though the story is nothing new to me, it is still well done and carries a lot of suspense. Episode two started out strong too, but I found myself taking a break from it after getting a bit frustrated. At one part you need to occasionally find a room to hide, but it's hard backtracking to find one and the conditions that lead you to needing to hide feel arbitrary. I died a handful of times and didn't want to repeat it over again to take another chance so stopped playing for the time being. I understand how needing to hide can help further immerse you in the story, but the way it's done feels too annoying for a game that focuses on progressing the story over roguelike deaths.

While i recommend this game i do so only because it is currently being sold at 3.99€. I bought it on a sale so i paid about 1.5€. The style is great and the story was interesting but it is very short. You'll be done in about an hour and that's with me messing up a puzzle. THE GAME IS NOT FINISHED CURRENTLY. There are only 2 chapters available. Knowing this you can decide if it is worth 4€ or not.

I got this on sale for like a dollar. It was hardly worth that much. As a horror game, it's really bare-bones. The sections with gameplay are far too easy while also feeling tedious. The monster is generic and boring, with an underwhelming appearance that is shown off too early for any buildup to be possible. Which brings up another point; Outpost Nine is too short for any buildup to be possible, clocking in at about half an hour. On top of that, it ends in such an unsatisfying way as to ruin the rest of the experience. The rest of the writing isn't that great either. The characters are, for the most part, stereotypes. The dialogue consists almost entirely of crew members either arguing or complaining about other crew members. There isn't enough time to get attached to anyone either, so when characters start dying it's difficult to feel anything for them. At time of writing, there's been no sign of episode 2 even being worked on, which gives little hope for this Alien clone being expanded on any time in the future. tl;dr - it's unfun, badly written, short, ineffectual, and probably never getting finished.

more like The Outpost No Sign of Episode 2 hehehe

Omaha jest sfrustrowany - nie dość, że zmuszono go do ogarnięcia sypiącej się stacji wydobywczej, to jeszcze wolny dzień przerywa mu szefu ze zleceniem przyjęcia przelatującego w pobliżu statku, z którym nie ma kontaktu. To się nie może dobrze skończyć. Przepraszam, czy tu STRASZĄ? 💀 gore: [spoiler] opisy zmasakrowanych zwłok, krótka bezkrwawa scenka z urywaniem głowy [/spoiler] 💀 jumpscares: [spoiler] w sumie jeden, bardzo łagodny i spodziewany [/spoiler] 💀 walka/chowanie się: [spoiler] mechanizm "pościgu" w systemie turowym, bez wrzaskowyskoku, sama informacja o "game over", więcej w recenzji [/spoiler] 💀 triggers: [spoiler] idk telefony od szefa po godzinach pracy [/spoiler] Co jest HOT: + zgrabny miks gatunkowy visual novel z oldskulową tekstówką; + i ta część z tekstówką jest dobrze odświeżona (połączenie opisów z prostą mapką, wybieranie opcji zamiast wpisywania komend); + retro-future oprawa: kolory, niewyraźne linie, oszczędność, interfejsy programów, postacie jako sylwetki i na avatarach, udźwiękowienie, no wszystko jest w punkt; + "jego twarz była tak zdeformowana, że stała się miską na krew i zęby"; + zróżnicowana ekipa bohaterów zmęczonych użeraniem się z przestarzałym, wiecznie zepsutym sprzętem... A co NOT: - ...z którą spędzamy zbyt mało czasu, by dostatecznie się przejąć; - nieuczciwy element pościgu w drugim rozdziale, co nie straszy a frustruje + męczy ciągłym "bip bip bip" w różnym tempie; - nagły spadek jakości w połowie epizodu; - nie tylko brak (auto)zapisu, ale w ogóle nie ma przycisku wyjścia??; - obawiam się, że projekt został porzucony. Pierwszy epizod "The Outpost Nine" dzieli się na dwa rozdziały: ten początkowy to visual novel z niewielkim elementem przygodówkowym będącym pretekstem do eksploracji, i jest cudownie obiecujący: oprawa graficzna na piątkę z plusem, dobra atmosfera, miks gatunkowy pod mój gust, obsada rekwizyty tropy szykujące na solidny kosmiczny horror z cyklu "nie jesteśmy tu już sami". Rozdział drugi nie daje niestety rady - poza dizajnem stwora w cieniu horror wypada blado, lokacje są pustawe, prosta zagadka przeciąga się w nieskończoność przez unikanie stwora (w systemie turowym, nie ma tu elementu zręcznościowego), przed którym można schować się tylko w dwóch lokacjach - nie zliczę, ile razy trzeba było mi zaczynać od początku i iść po ten cholerny łom z nadzieją, że paskuda się do mnie nie przyczepi w drodze do recepcji i zdążę do sali operacyjnej z szafką-chowawką. Niestety, wszystko wskazuje na to, że projekt został porzucony - epizod pierwszy wyszedł w 2018, ostatnia aktualizacja jest z 2020 i dotyczy wydarzenia pokazującego horrowe indyki, kontaktu z twórcą niet. No mnie też jest przykro. Przynajmniej na cudowną oprawę mogę sobie popatrzeć, tyle dobrego.

This was a really interesting and fun adventure. I like the changes in gameplay, the story and the interaction between the characters. The background audio is very atmospheric and the soundtrack and aesthetic complement each other well. I can only hope this game continues the story and we see it to the end.

Short but engaging. I could see this being streched out into a series. I hope they expand upon it.

In it's current state, this game has an hour of content. The writing isn't great, and contains spelling errors (it partially does this to imply accents, but some errors seem to be nothing more than sloppy proofreading) and generally isn't presenting a story which is profoundly new or interesting. The gameplay itself is bogged down by an unintuitive interface, and the 'puzzles' within aren't particularly engaging. The art is also bizarrely inconsistent, with some characters being detailed, shaded, and so on, with others lacking shading and looking far more bland. With all that said, at time of writing, only the first episode is ready. It is possible, come more episodes, that the game will become more polished and engaging, but I would not purchase this game until you have reason to believe that the 'rest of the game' is worth playing.

Outpost 9 is a lo-fi visual novel with a great 70s/80s scifi-horror atmosphere. While the graphics are rather simple, they work well in context of what the game is trying to achieve. The UI, the visual style and the story all come together to make a compelling (but short) experience. The premise of the game is that a group of corporate workers are stuck on an old mining base. They suddenly recieve an usual request from a senior corporate executive. How can you not like this setup? :) If you like movies like Alien, The Thing or Bladerunner, you'll enjoy Outpost 9. Some of the mini-games are mildly annoying, but it's not gamebreaking. Looking forward to Episode 2.

Benjy! I've played a lot of games and have a LOT of games in my library. Can tell you, for a fact, this has been one of the coolest experiences I've enjoyed when playing a game. I really hope you continue adding chapters and content (and like the other reviewer i'd be happy to help in anyway possible). Game took me about an hour to get to the "to be continued..." part at the end of chapter 2. Will patiently be waitng for more content. Thanks again for your hard work and imagination Benjy!