Scourge: Outbreak (PC) Review

Well, sort of…maybe a little. Tragnarion has put some work into the title. The gunplay is a little tighter than it once was, for instance. Recoil is a bit less dramatic, leading to slightly more precise aiming. Of course, that may also be due to the more accurate mouse controls and not so much on the part of the team's effort.

Developers are also active in the game's Steam community, with patches released semi-regularly. Individual developers have even gone as far as engaging in multiplayer sessions with fans and posting about it afterwards. That's something most big games can't boast.

Therefore, perhaps it's a case of 'not really' succeeding, because all of the problems that plagued the game originally are still there. Characters are loathsome stereotypes, as before. For instance, the female character, Amp, features a rear end a horse would be proud of, and sports an over-the-pants G-string that rides so far up her backside it's a wonder she can aim straight. Then there's the extraordinarily bland, square-jawed, crew-cutted leader who has the personality of a slug.

Detestable and boring characters wouldn't be much of a problem if there were other qualities to focus on. Sadly, Scourge: Outbreak fails to provide almost any compelling features. Gunplay is its most competent mechanic, and that in itself is only painfully average in comparison to the rest of the industry. Cover mechanics are cludgy but passable, weapons are remarkably unremarkable - from a shotgun to rifles.

The game does attempt uniqueness with its "Abrosia Suits" and squad AI, however. The player suits feature a shield and shockwave power. Unfortunately, though, these are abilities completely uninteresting in actual gameplay, and inferior to just aiming and shooting at things. Also, squad AI is much like the rest of the game's Artificial Intelligence: almost always terrible. Characters will run around in circles, charge into walls, stand in corners, and generally be useless.

On top of this, the story will likely not be of any interest to pretty much anyone. 'Trite,' 'cliché,' and 'boring' are all words that would accurately describe what is going on in Scourge: Outbreak's tale of running through corridors and shooting endless waves of enemies. Speaking of shooting endless waves of enemies, the game also does a poor job of indicating when the player must stand and defeat a just a limited number of enemies and when they have to fight through endless waves to reach an objective point.