[{"TitleName":"Outcast","Publisher":"CRL Group PLC","Author":"David O'Connor, HO, Phil Gascoine","YearOfRelease":"1987","ZxDbId":"0003560","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 46, Nov 1987","Price":"£1.25","ReleaseDate":"1987-10-29","Editor":"Barnaby Page","TotalPages":164,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Managing Editor: Barnaby Page\r\nStaff Writers: Richard Eddy, Dominic Handy, Lloyd Mangram, Ian Phillipson\r\nPhotographers: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson\r\nOffice: Frances Mable\r\nTechnical Writers: Simon N Goodwin, Jon Bates\r\nAdventure Writer: Derek Brewster\r\nPBM Writer: Brendon Kavanagh\r\nStrategy Writer: Philippa Irving\r\nEducation Writer: Rosetta McLeod\r\nContributors: Robin Candy, Mike Dunn, Paul Evans, Dominic Handy, Nick Roberts, Ben Stone, Paul Sumner\r\nEditorial Director: Roger Kean\r\nProduction Controller: David Western\r\nArt Director: Gordon Druce\r\nIllustrator: Oliver Frey\r\nDesign: Markie Kendrick, Wayne Allen\r\nProcess and Planning: Jonathan Rignall (Supervisor), Matthew Uffindell, Nick Orchard\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Andrew Smales\r\nSubscriptions: Denise Roberts\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\nEditorial and Production: [redacted]\r\n\r\nMail Order and Subscriptions: [redacted]\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nTypesetting by The Tortoise Shell Press, Ludlow\r\n\r\nPrinted in England by Carlisle Web Offset, [redacted] - member of the BPCC Group.\r\n\r\nDistributed by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced whole or in part without written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return any written material sent to CRASH unless accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photo material which may be used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates.\r\n\r\n©1987 Newsfield Limited\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey\r\n\r\n3-D Artwork by Markie Kendrick"},"MainText":"Producer: CRL\r\nRetail Price: £8.95\r\n\r\nForced from his village and dispossessed of his powers by evil, an old wizard is left to wander in the wilds, rejected and despised. But slowly, so slowly, wizardry begins to trickle once more through his narrowing veins, filling him a with new-found confidence. Returning to his home village he vows to restore his lost powers to their full vigour and take revenge upon the evil force that vanquished him.\r\n\r\nThe village is now inhabited by loathsome birds and malevolent dwarfish entities, hungry for the wizard's four lives.\r\n\r\nThe red energy spheres that occasionally appear can be collected to replenish these reserves, but imprudent wizardly wanderings into the chasms, de-energising areas, and water pits that rupture the roads quickly deplete them again as the wizard struggles for survival.\r\n\r\nOur be-cloaked warlock can protect his ancient bones with his basic energy spell: this magic destroys some creatures, but others are merely stung into temporary retreat.\r\n\r\nThe wizard progresses through his village world using a series of teleporters. Objects that he comes across can add to his magical capabilities or increase his powers of attack, and with these new strengths the wizard can battle his way through the possessed village, an onscreen indicator showing how much of this strange world he has completed.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nJoysticks: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair\r\nGraphics: very ornate but a bit jerky\r\nSound: good\r\nOptions: definable keys","ReviewerComments":["Outcast is addictive and fun. Perhaps it's because I never get very far with each life that I want another go; perhaps it's the smooth graphics, moving at the right pace; perhaps it's even the easy-to-understand gameplay; whatever it is, I find Outcast very worthwhile.\r\nBen Stone\r\n86%","At first sight it seems Outcast might be something a bit special - the colourful graphics are well-designed and with the animated trees create an attractive atmosphere. But the problem is the lack of things to do. The enemies have no intelligence (do they ever!); they just float around waiting to be pushed off the screen with an 'arrow'. And it's a pity about the animation of the eponymous character - he looks really stupid when flying through the air!\r\nPaul Sumner\r\n42%","Outcast is, as the title suggests, fit only to be cast out from the ranks of popular software. It's quite easy to play, but I found it difficult to amass any significant score. The onscreen animation - stars, branches of trees - is quite pretty, but frustratingly you can play for ages without getting anywhere. There just isn't enough content in Outcast.\r\nMike Dunn\r\n59%"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: Not fast on action, but an enjoyable arcade adventure nonetheless.","Page":"24","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Ben Stone","Score":"86","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Paul Sumner","Score":"42","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Mike Dunn","Score":"59","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"The age-old struggle between good and evil lies behind Outcast's fine graphics and medievally slow gameplay."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"78%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"69%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"60%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"59%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"62%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 25, Jan 1988","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1987-12-10","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":126,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nArt Editor: Peter George\r\nDeputy Editor: Marcus Berkmann\r\nProduction Editor: Lucy Broadbent\r\nTechnical Editor: Phil South\r\nDeputy Art Editor: Darrell King\r\nContributors: Richard Blaine, Audrey & Owen Bishop, Jonathan Davies, Chris Donald, Mike Gerrard, Gwyn Hughes, Joe King, Tony Lee, John Minson, David Powell, Nat Pryce, Rick Robson, Peter Shaw, Rachael Smith, Mischa Welsh, Tony Worrall\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Simon Stansfield\r\nProduction Manager: Sonia Hunt\r\nPublisher: Kevin Cox\r\nPublishing Director: Roger Munford\r\nManaging Director: Stephen England\r\n\r\nPublished by Dennis Publishing Ltd, [redacted] Company registered in England.\r\nTypesetters: Carlinpoint [redacted]\r\nReproduction: Graphic Ideas, London\r\nPrinters: Chase Web Offset [redacted]\r\nDistribution: Seymour Press [redacted]\r\n\r\nAll material in Your Sinclair ©1988 Felden Productions, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of the publishers. Your Sinclair is a monthly publication."},"MainText":"CRL\r\n£8.95\r\nReviewer: Nat Pryce\r\n\r\nIt's just not fair. There you were, a benevolent wizard ruling your peaceful little village, when an evil wizard popped out of the blue, devastated the place, enslaved your subjects, cast you out with no spells and transformed you into some inhuman, grotesquely ugly form! (And I thought it was hell on the bus this morning! Ed) While you were wandering around feeling sorry for yourself, you just happened to come across a page from your spell book, which gave you a chance to regain your power... and p'raps save the villagers as well.\r\n\r\nSo off you go into the mythical lands of the arcade adventure, for pritheee, squire, 'tis one of those. Outcast sadly, contains nothing that lifts it above the trillions of other arcade adventures the Speccy has played host to over the years. As the wiz you move though the different zones which make up the landscape around your village, collecting objects and spells. Some objects combine to make others which allow you into 'locked' areas Of the game. Spells are just used to kill nasties which come at you from all directions. Unlike those in Feud they have no mystical or exciting uses, which is a bit disappointing.\r\n\r\nOutcast's presentation isn't bad, but the graphics, though fast, flicker a little and suffer the occasional colour class. This doesn't stop the game from being quite playable, but I found no lasting appeal. There's just not enough variety to keep you coming back for more. And for full price these days, I think we expect that.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Drab and unoriginal arcade adventure that suffers from a serious lack of addictive qualities. By no means a wizard wheeze!","Page":"105","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Nat Pryce","Score":"6","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"4/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"6/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 69, Dec 1987","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1987-11-18","Editor":"David Kelly","TotalPages":148,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: David Kelly\r\nDeputy Editor: Graham Taylor\r\nStaff Writer: Jim Douglas\r\nStaff Writer: Tamara Howard\r\nArt Editor: Gareth Jones\r\nDesigner: Andrea Walker\r\nAdventure Help: Gordo Greatbelly\r\nZapchat: Jon Riglar\r\nHelpline: Andrew Hewson\r\nContributors: Richard Price, Chris Jenkins, Tony Dillon, Gary Rook\r\nHardware Correspondent: Rupert Goodwins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mike Corr\r\nSales Executive: Steve Prescott\r\nClassified Sales/Production: Alison Morton\r\nPublisher's Secretary: Debbie Pearson\r\nSubscriptions Manager: Carl Dunne\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\nTelephone [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries [redacted]\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by EMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n\r\nCover Illustration: Angus Fieldhouse\r\n\r\nSinclair User\r\nEMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1986 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\nABC 84,699 July-Dec 1986"},"MainText":"Label: CRL\r\nAuthor: The Zen Room\r\nPrice: £8.95\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\nReviewer: Chris Jenkins\r\n\r\nOutcast has little going for it in terms of originality, graphic sophistication or polish. So I'm surprised to see that it's a product of the normally reliable Zen Room team. It's the usual 'quest for the magical objects' thing, with your outcast wizard searching for spells and weapons which will enable him to regain his powers and return to his home. Magical stars allow him to move to hidden areas of the game. Only the backgrounds, which feature some nice touches like trees waving in the wind offer any excitement. The screen display flips from scene to scene rather than scrolling, the enemies - such as birds, dwarfs and reptiles - are poorly designed and subject to attribute clashes, and the sound is minimal. Some of the effects, such as the poisonous spikes, are totally naff. About the only thing you won't encounter in your quest to defeat the Skull of Doom is any excitement.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"A feeble attempt to emulate the success of arcade adventures like Heartland. Very overpriced.","Page":"56","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Chris Jenkins","Score":"4","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"4/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]