Developer: ZyX
Publisher: Otaku Publishing, Ltd.
Platform: PC – Windows 95
It’s pretty easy for English-speaking gamers to access visual novels these days via official translations, original English titles, and fan translations. Back in the 90s, your options were much more limited. European publisher Otaku Publishing, Ltd. released a handful of games before their piracy-based demise at the turn of the new century. They brought out Pro Lesring: Ring Out!! in 1997 for Windows PCs.
Developer: LucasArts
Publisher: LucasArts
Platform: PC – GOG*
So, westerns have never really been my “thing.” With that said, I’m surprised at how few video games have ventured into that territory considering how perfect a setup the film genre provides for games. Outlaws plants you in the shoes of James, a retired marshal and family man. As is so painfully typical of these storylines, he returns from a routine trip to find his partner, Anna, dying. He also finds the farmhouse aflame and their daughter kidnapped. James must find where she has been taken and enact revenge along the way.
Once you get over how routinely ham-fisted the storyline is, the gameplay proves quite fun. It’s a FPS based off the same game engine used for Star Wars: Dark Forces. Gameplay is super fast and enemies are everywhere. There’s also a bunch of keys strewn about stages to unlock other parts of each. Outlaws definitely feels like an older style FPS, but the setting is what really captured my interest. And, despite the obvious storytelling, the animated cutscenes sell it effectively.
My biggest issue with Outlaws has nothing to do with the game itself, but with my inability to play more than one stage in a single sitting. It causes my motion sickness to flare up immensely (even with head bobbing turned off). There’s just something about this engine. So, take heed if you suffer from motion sickness as well. It’s a shame, really, because I’ve immensely enjoyed the experience otherwise.
Sometimes it does get a bit tedious. You migh happen to forget where the specific locked door you need is. Other times, cruel cowboys will shoot you from areas you’d never even think to check. But in all, Outlaws is a pretty darn refreshing gameplay experience. That’s really weird to say for a title nearly 20 years old, but apparently it holds up just fine!
3 out of 5 alpacas
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Developer: Presto Studios
Publisher: Presto Studios
Platform: PC – GOG*
The Journeyman Project first launched in 1994 by then newcomer developer Presto Studios. Their tale about a time travelling hero hooked many, which led to the creation of a second and third game in the series. After the second, Presto went back and remade their original game as The Journeyman Project: Pegasus Prime. It was a seriously hefty upgrade and is the version currently available on GOG. Does the game hold up today?
Yes! Although, there are certainly some really hokey things going on. The Journeyman Project: Pegasus Prime begins with the lead character going through a dull daily work routine in Earth’s distant future. Of course, everything doesn’t stay routine for long. Something weird is going on and requires Agent 5 to enter into the Pegasus time travel machine. From there, it’s up to the player to travel between times to fix whatever broke the space time continuum.
There are only three time periods to really fuss around with, which is a shame when the concept is so neat. In any case, your goal is to correct the wrongs present in these periods. This includes a variety of puzzles to solve, some of which require traversing between multiple time periods before you’re prepared to solve them. It can be tough for some adventure players to walk away from a puzzle, but that’s exactly what you have to do sometimes. Near the end there were also a few puzzles that seemed a bit too reliant on retrying (or maybe I was just really poor at them).
The story itself is not particularly amazing, and wraps up really suddenly, but what makes it worth experiencing is the ridiculous actors. Each character has a FMV sprite and overact with incredible devotion. If you pay attention, you can even see their eyes move subtly as they read their lines while acting out. I love games that have such overwhelmingly silly acting and The Journeyman Project: Pegasus Prime definitely provides in this respect.
It is not a very long experience, but it is mostly entertaining and unusual. Now I want to check out what the sequels have to offer!
3 out of 5 alpacas
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Developer: Epic Games, Vision Software
Publisher: MicroProse
Platform: PC – GOG*
Real-time strategy (RTS) games were big in the 90s on PC. Thanks in large part to Command & Conquer, there was a sudden deluge of other games hoping to work the same magic. It worked in some cases but often not entirely. 7th Legion was one game born of the RTS boom and it stands as an average attempt with some newly introduced flaws.
At least the storyline is kinda neat. The Earth has been nearly destroyed due to pollution, leading the world’s government to send people into space while the planet recovers. Of course, only the smartest, strongest, and riches humans get to go. Everyone else is left to toil on the now inhospitable Earth. 7 generations later, the chosen people return to claim Earth, but the citizens left there aren’t going down without a fight.
The “chosen” are basically depicted as a Nazi parable in color choice, salute, and mindset (they are the ‘best’ specimens of the human race). It’s because of this fact that it is incredibly odd how 7th Legion lets you play as them if you wish. There are two campaigns but anyone playing should probably choose Legion’s side.
Gameplay is all about upgrading your base, increasing troops, and working through the fog of war to find and destroy enemies. Any competent RTS offers the same. Where 7th Legion attempts to be creative is with a power up system, shown as five cards on-screen. These are used to strengthen your side, lay waste to enemies, and the like. The enemy can also use them against you which is when you’ll feel how overpowered some are.
Bringing the game to modern machines appears to have caused some issues, however. The biggest is related to troop control. The game wants players to click quickly to move troops somewhere and then hold click to open up a menu that makes troops aggressive or defensive. Thanks to faster computers, the pop up menu usually comes up immediately during a routine click to move troops. Sometimes this leads to troops not being able to move at all since you haven’t issued the “quick” click command to do so. As of now there’s no fix for it officially from GOG.
7th Legion was the first RTS I ever played and I cherish it for that reason. Still, I wholly recognize that the game does not stand up as anything special in the genre. It has some cool troops mounted on dinosaurs, but that’s really the best you get. Online functionality has also been removed from the re-release, making it much easier to skip over this game.
1 out of 5 alpacas
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July 31st, 2018 
