Line #6 VideoGame/Outland2011


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4	[[quoteright:318:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Outland_5043.jpg]]
5	[[caption-width-right:315:VideoGame/{{Ikaruga}}, eat your heart out.]]
6	''Outland'' is an adventure platformer game, developed by Creator/{{Housemarque}}. It was published by Creator/{{Ubisoft}} for the Platform/XboxLiveArcade and Platform/PlayStation3 in 2011, and then published by Housemarque themselves on [[Platform/IBMPersonalComputer PC]] through Platform/{{Steam}} in 2014. It is known for combining {{Metroidvania}}, BulletHell and [[PlatformGame platforming]], and is heavily influenced by ''Videogame/{{Ikaruga}}''.
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8	An unnamed man experiences bizarre dreams every night, and no medicine can rid him of them. Exhausted and compelled to find answers, he visits a shaman who tells him a tale of what is occurring. Thirty millennia ago, two divine sisters, [[LightIsNotGood one of light]] and [[DarkIsEvil one of shadow]], created the world, and both of them wished to destroy it afterwards. A hero rose up and, using his own soul, bound them both to the earth. The main character is the {{reincarnation}} of that hero, and the fact that he's back means the sisters will rise again too. Therefore TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt is at hand, and it's up to this new hero to rise up and begin SavingTheWorld.
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10	''Outland'' plays much like a 2D ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' game, with the player being capable of jumping and interacting fluidly with the environment, and fighting with a sword and various special abilities. Unique to the game is the ''[[Videogame/{{Ikaruga}} Ikaruga]]''-like colour switching mechanic: most game objects come in a blue or red colour, and the player eventually gains the ability to switch between the two colours as well. Matching the colour of an enemy makes both sides deal reduced damage to each other, and allows the player to absorb bullets, while contrasting it has the opposite effect; similarly, coloured objects are only solid to the player when the colour is matched. The game is not a {{Metroidvania}} in the strictest sense; although the world mostly remains open to be explored as the game progresses, each level is linear, with only small rewards for backtracking later on. Rather than exploration, the focus is on action, platforming and puzzles.
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12	[[SimilarlyNamedWorks No relation]] to the 1981 film ''Film/{{Outland\|1981}}''. Or to the successor comic to ''ComicStrip/BloomCounty''. Also has no relation to the 2012 Australian [[Series/{{Outland\|2012}} TV series]].
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14	!!This game provides examples of:
15	* ActionBomb: The Kamikazer enemies will rush the player and explode.
16	%% * BadMoonRising: The sisters merge to form one.
17	* BigCreepyCrawlies: A great many enemies are large spiders and insects.
18	* BulletHell: The bullet patterns are just as extravagant as a [=2D=] flying game would be.
19	* CarryABigStick: The Golem boss wields an enormous stone club.
20	* ChargedAttack: Of the elbow charge variety. Strangely enough, it does little to no more damage than basic sword swings but stuns and knocks back most enemies hit by it, including the shielded non-giant warrior enemies even if you hit them from the front.
21	** An additional charge skill allows you to [[spoiler:absorb all energy in the vicinity, regardless of color]] and unleash a destructive screen-filling shockwave.
22	* CollectionSidequest: Of the usual "hidden item" variety. Most of the time you just get some concept art out of it, although you do ultimately get the ability to stick to walls longer, reveal all large money pots in the game and double the strength of your melee attack if you get enough of them.
23	%% * DarkIsEvil: Sister Moon.
24	%% * TheDragon: The Dragon.
25	%%* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt
26	* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Spiders, flowers, bugs, you name it: if it's ColorCodedForYourConvenience and not inanimate, chances are it's going to either eat you or shoot a lot of bullets at you and then eat you.
27	* FinalBossPreview: Seen in [[spoiler: a flashback to the previous hero's final battle.]]
28	* FreeFallFight: Against the witch boss.
29	* GenreBusting: Mixes Metroidvania with elements of BulletHell shooters. It's what happens when Super Metroid and Ikaruga make sweet love while Castlevania watches.
30	* GodIsEvil: [[spoiler:Subverted in the end where they see the world crafted by time and men, decide that it is not theirs to destroy, and leave.]]
31	* GoingNative: The opening depicts TheHero leaving the big city to find a cure for his visions.
32	* {{Golem}}: The first boss is a gigantic Golem who was created as a GuardianEntity.
33	* KamehameHadoken: The Beam. No real surprise there.
34	* LightIsNotGood: Sister Sun, one of the twin goddesses who created the world, and now wants to end it.
35	* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: At least two types of warrior enemies carry one. Especially annoying with the GiantMook variety, since you can only jump over them to hit them from the back right after they attack: try jumping too early and you'll hit their head or their mace or try getting too close before jumping and you'll hit their prone mace.
36	* {{Mayincatec}}: The aesthetics '''ooze''' this, from the random artwork on the walls to the intricate carvings to the humanoid enemies' armor and even to the bosses. Look no further than [[spoiler:the Winged Serpent]], another name for [[spoiler:Quetzalcoatl]].
37	* MetroidVania: Although a fairly linear game, with half the upgrades found focusing on improving combat abilities and the other half having mostly limited interactions with the game world, the game is open to explore at the player's leisure, albeit with limited rewards.
38	* OrangeBlueContrast: Just look at the box art or any screenshot, it's a relentless barrage of orange and teal. Because the gameplay asks for two contrasting colors, and black and white were already taken by ''VideoGame/{{Ikaruga}}'', it is somewhat understandable.
39	* RedOniBlueOni: Sister Moon and Sister Sun, respectively.
40	%%* {{Reincarnation}}
41	* ReversePolarity: The main gimmick of the game.
42	* ShockwaveStomp: Very similiar to the Mario variety (well, besides using feet instead of his ass), complete with a momentum-halting front flip before the actual execution. The actual shockwave doesn't really have that much range, but the kick and the stomp count as separate hits.
43	* SilentProtagonist: It's implied that he can speak, but it's never seen or heard except for the occasional grunt.
44	* StationaryBoss: [[spoiler: The Sisters]], who make up for it by having the battle take place in a void with moving platforms, requiring you to destroy the ends of the beams that rotate around them and change polarity at preset intervals to make them vulnerable and naturally spamming you with projectiles while you're busy doing both.
45	* ATasteOfPower: [[spoiler: A flashback to TheHero who fought the sisters. He's not that much stronger beyond the playable version at that point of the game besides having twice as many hearts and being able to change polarity right away.]]
46	%%* YinYangBomb

Context VideoGame / Outland2011