The Outfit (Xbox 360) Review
By: Nate and Nick

THQ and Relic have pulled off something that has yet been done in a WWII game. Remember those army models you put together when you where younger? Even remember playing with a GI Joe and your favorite vehicle was that 75mm halftrack, well your memories are about to become digital. The Outfit puts all those standard vehicles and tactics to life. This game is like GI Joe with A-team thrown into the mix. I wouldn’t say this is the best next-gen game you will see running on a 360 but truly the Xbox would have difficulty running the open level design, however rumors have it that The Outfit uses only about 30 percent of the 360’s GPU potential. You wont only be roughing up the terrain of Normandy with one person, oh no, this is the Outfit after all. There are three in this outfit that are solid iron guys and they are: J.D. Tyler, Deuce Williams, and Tommy Mac (which we will get to later).

Story has it that you are in command of your company, which you will find are not usually your company for more then ten minutes. What that means is you will have to face off against raging Nazis that laugh and yell in German tongue at your badass crew. To help you along on killing every Nazi you come across is your DOD (destroy on demand) options, these options help you by giving you vehicles and a slew of heavy guns as well as aircraft attack. This works by hitting the Y button and selecting what you want in the options. Please note that you will not be able to pick just any old DOD at the start of a mission. The way you use DOD is by building yourself up by destroying/killing Nazi’s and taking over their motor pools (vehicle storages), ammo storages and radio towers. As you do these things you collect money and the DOD options become available, so don’t worry you will have that Sherman selectable in a mater of minutes. Also if your troops go down you can always recruit more (if you have cash). I found it extremely enjoying when I had all my DOD options I could finally take over the Nazi’s towns and laughed out loud while riding my stolen Panzer down the embarked dismembered streets, don’t get me wrong it is extremely satisfying.

Gameplay

The gameplay in The Outfit is unlike any war-type strategy game out there. If you remember Mercenaries for the original Xbox you will kind of understand how this game is based. Playing The Outfit is a very unique experience and you pretty much have any weapon imaginable at your disposal. These weapons and commands are only available if you capture certain Nazi war buildings such as: the motor pool, radio towers and ammo storage buildings as I already stated. Once you capture a radio tower for intense you can call an air strike to any part of the map that is giving you problems. If you take over a Nazi motor pool you can order vehicles and gun turrets and they will be deployed from airplanes to your area. You can also capture German tanks like the SS Panther or German Panzer, armored cars; old beat down trucks or anything that you find that will get you moving. The game, in a way, is based on strategy because you have to arrange different weapons such as gun turrets, deploy different vehicles that help you in current situations. You will probably be calling down more and more recruits as you get in the thick of things. Sometimes you can’t get all the weapons and vehicles you want because you are out of field units (money) and to get more you will have to more than likely take down some Nazi’s with your ground forces.

There is a barrage of vehicles in this game. The allied vehicles are generally not as powerful as the German vehicles, especially the tanks. The allied vehicles include: 4x4 jeep, 4x4 Bazooka jeep, M8 Greyhound, Tank, Crocodile tank, Calliope, Halftrack, Quad .50 halftrack and the 75mm halftrack. The German vehicles include: Gun car, Cannon car, Puma, Wagen, Flammpanzerwagen, Rocketwagen, Panzer, Wirblewind and the Panther tank. There are also other vehicles mainly civilian trucks and tractors, yes that’s right tractors, do yourself a favor and don’t get caught on one of these, please! Obviously it’s going to be hard to grab a hold of the German vehicles because they are behind enemy lines, duh. The best strategy to taking over a German tank, oh lets say the Panzer for instance is to set up some machine gun turrets in a safe location. Setting up these turrets will distract the driver and gunner of the tank. Next just take out the gunner and run like hell over to it and call it your own. Driving the German vehicles is far more impressive and thrilling then most of the allied ones, don’t get me wrong there are some very outstanding allied vehicles, however the German tanks are just impressive. Anyway lets get back on track and give you a brief description of both side’s vehicles.

There are three guys in this elite group as I aforementioned. First lets start with JD Tyler. JD Tyler is a beefed up guy that supports a Light rife which delivers a quick, potent and highly accurate shot. He also has a rifle, which has a fast rate of fire, and an improved zoom makes it even more lethal. He is also equipped with a long-range sniper rifle which is extremely helpful in The Outfit because you always have those krauts that are shooting from zillions of miles away and believe me it gets pretty annoying. The second stud in this group is Deuce Williams, the captain of the group. Even though he is a captain he has repeatedly thrown out promotion just to stay in the field where he does destruction the best. Deuce caries a Bazooka that is sure to blast the swastikas of the Germans stingy “schwarze” uniforms. Deuce also caries a heavy Bazooka and an anti tank rifle for added pleasure. Last but not least, Sergeant Thomas ‘Mac; Macintyre. He is equipped with a grease gun, sub-machine gun and light machine gun. There are also a view German officers you will come across in the game, however I’m not going to give that away; you’ll have to play the game.

Each character can perform a different squad attack well hell brakes loose. JD can lead a massive charge on a vehicle while Deuces crew will attack with their bare hands. Mac can unleash tear gas, what better way to kill the nazi’s but have them cry all the way to their death, how exciting.

Allied vehicles

4x4- This is the most basic vehicle you can get for your crew. This bad jeep is equipped with a .30 cal machine gun. This jeep is mainly used for fast transportation to the other side of a map.

Bazooka 4x4- This 4x4 is obviously set up with a Bazooka and is mainly used to take out large groups of enemy troops. However its fragile some beware.

M8 Greyhound- This armored attack vehicle is mainly used for small arms fire. It is equipped with a .50 cal and a 37mm cannon.

Halftrack- Equipped with a .50cal machine gun this track can take out Germans flat out quick and the armor is quite good against sudden attacks.

Quad .50 Halftrack- .50 cal machine gun makes short work of infantry, aircraft and lighter vehicles.

75mm Halftrack- Its brutal 75mm anti tank cannon brutalizes the Nazi and sends them scurrying. It packs a bunch in close range combat.

Tank- The tank has proved it self time and time again. This Sherman look a like is a piece of American History. Truly historic.

Crocodile- This tank is equipped with a medium rang flame thrower. Use this vehicle to close range to medium range combat, plus the armor gives you time.

Calliope- This tank makes the Nazi’s run for their life’s in sheer desperation. This badboy is equipped with a deadly 75mm cannon and a top-mounted rack bristling with rockets. Use this tank for long-range combat.

German Vehicles

Gun car- The basic of German engineer but yet affective. Its cheap but very speedy if you need to get from point A to point B. Its got a standard issue MG34 machine gun for defense.

Cannon car- Its equipped with a 28mm cannon, this makes it highly effective against infantry and light armor.

Puma- Not only is this vehicle fast but it’s armored generously. A 50mm cannon and a 7.92mm machinegun makes this an eight wheeling destroying machine, truly a good vehicle to the core.

Wagen- The Axis Halftrack has a 7.92 machine gun. Its lighter then the allied one but has more armor, take your pick.

Flammpanzerwagen- This beast is equipped with a flamethrower and a 7.92mm machine gun. This one is just as deadly as the Crocodiles flamethrower but with lower requirement.

Rocketwagen- The Rocketwagen is the idea Axis long range mobile rocket platform.

Panzer Tank- Probably my favorite German tank in the game. This tank makes short work for most any situation. If ends meet with this tank, sorry but lights out. It has a 75mm machine gun, this take doesn’t even compare to the allied tank, its just superior. This tank defines the term blitzkrieg!

Wirblewind Tank- Mainly used for aircraft destruction this tank has a 20mm cannons, four to be exact. (Its good against light enemy armor.)

Panther- This tank is the most lethal tank on the German assembly line. This defines the term power. Not only is this thing loaded up with weapons it’s also loaded up on armor. It is equipped with a 75mm cannon and a 7.92 machine gun. This tank is difficult to take down or take over. The panther is equivalent to the German Mark VI tiger, which was not added to the game. The Tiger was slower but yet equipped with a 88mm cannon, which made it a complete beast, however the Panther will have to do.

Graphics

Although I have my settings for 480p (EDTV) this game still looks incredible. 480p is considered High Def in the Xbox 360 display settings, although it is considered EDTV (enhanced definition). 720p to 1080i would make this game’s graphics shine. Everything in The Outfit is extremely detailed and well textured. I played this game through color stream 480p, which is two times better than standard 480i; this helps you place gun turrets and vehicles extremely accurately since everything is more clear and vibrant. The enemies have a fair amount of polygons, making them look well detailed, unlike any war strategy game. The environments are almost completely destructible; you can knock anything from trees to small fences down with your vehicles. If a lot of things are not destructible in games it can get annoying because you have to drive around these objects, but not in The Outfit. Feel free to smash into almost anything that gets in your way, including those Germans you will come in contact with. The characters also have high polygon counts adding to the overall appeal of this title. The cut-scenes are actual “in game” graphics with a slight bit of dressing added to them. Overall the cut-scenes fit undoubtedly well within the actual game play. The graphics are decent for a war-type strategy game, very well done.

The sound

The sound is truly superb, every crunch of the gravel is heard when you ride over it with your destructive vehicles. All vehicles sounds sound great just like their real WWII counterparts. The Tanks will squeak and squawk just like the real thing, it really adds depth and makes you feel like you’re a solider yourself. When your on foot you will be able to tell what terrain your on even without looking at it, the good part of it is that it doesn’t sound cheap like in some games; it sounds like its coming directly from the source itself. There is one aspect about the sound that got to me a bit and that is the voice acting while in gameplay. Hearing the same thing over and over again makes you want to drop your controller and say why didn’t you take advantage of the hard drive? Once I heard “Anywhere but the belt buckle” for the 60th time it got to me a little bit, I mean heck I don’t think the captain of The A-Team would come up with the same plan every time they disembark. Other then that the sound can’t be beat. The brass and woodwinds truly meet on the sound track in this game, it’s supposed to be serious but yet easy to listen to, and it was.

Control

Maneuvering in this game is not bad at all; it’s just getting a vehicle driving in your favor. Dang you wouldn’t think it would be like splitting an arrow. Every time you come across a narrow opening with a vehicle, a jeep especially, forget about it. It sends nerves of steel shooting out of my veins when I have to get out of my vehicle just to walk by an opening that has a hill, its ridicules. Anyway its like the vehicle has an intimate relationship with hills for some reason. Once I got the sticky maneuverable vehicles down I finally was able to enjoying the game. The tanks seem to handle much better then the fast vehicles, which make sense. Maneuvering the characters is smooth as butter compared to the vehicles. Don’t take this aspect of the game to serious even though I shot this point to heck, its really is not to bad once you get used to tweaking or making your camera coincide with the maneuverability of the vehicle. It still makes me cry however.

Overall

Overall I would say this game is a must for a 360 owner, it just defines the work action and is truly a WWII style I have never experienced. I think its safe to say that this is the best WWII game I have played in a while. I give Relic credit for coming up with a ingenious way of creating the concept DOD (destruction on demand) its just gives a whole new twist on how to recruit men on the spot as well as order those deadly vehicles. We also liked how there where so many vehicles to wet our appetite, especially on the German side of the equation. Not to mention the deep story line that kept me wanting more and more after every mission. This game was truly a great experience for the both of us. Pick this one up.