Welcome to Review Fix’s newest segment, Play for Free, where every week, we play a random demo on the Xbox 360 Live Arcade and tell you if it’s worth your time.
Part old school “Prince of Persia,†other part “Limbo,†“Outland†is easily one of the best 2D platformers available on the 360 Live arcade. While the visuals are simple, they are colorful and provide a fantastic setting to this mystical story. With pitch perfect gameplay, not only is running, jumping and sliding simple to pull off, but attacking your enemies with a magical sword is fun, intuitive and sure to satisfy.
Even though the demo only allows you to play for about 25 minutes, there’s enough of a taste here to show you that the core gameplay and platforming elements are as close to unblemished as they possibly can be. The level design is intriguing as well, with plenty of traps and enemies along the way to make the game more than an homage to the great side-scrollers of yesteryear. A sneak peak at the story confirms this and is enough to entice a purchase. Throughout the game, you must harness two opposite powers to access different parts of each level. At certain times, you’ll have to use your blue powers, which will make you able to fight red enemies, jump on blue platforms and be immune to certain obstacles. When in red form, the same thing occurs, as your attacks will hurt blue enemies and allow you to use red items to further your exploration. Original and smart, it’s a nice device to make the adventure more than a simple 2D quest.
While the sword fighting elements were a bit repetitive, with a few taps of the x button needed to initiate a nifty three-hit combo, the melee combat is still fun.
Overall, this is a title that not only proves 2D side-scrollers aren’t dead, but also that they an still be stylish, difficult and enjoyable.
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