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The Outlaw franchise has grown since the release of Outlaw
Golf in 2003 with previous titles such as; Outlaw Tennis
and Outlaw Golf 2 providing hours of risqué gaming. Not
necessarily the greatest game franchise in the world, but it does 
have its perks - like the ability to challenge one of your opponents
to a scrap. Outlaw Volleyball Remixed is the latest offering
from Global Star Software, and with so many other titles in the
series, it makes one wonder if they are going to cover more sports;
will we ever see Outlaw Soccer, Outlaw Baseball or Outlaw
Hopscotch?
The
objective of the game is to defeat your opponents by pulling off
some demon spike within the game boundaries, throwing your opponents
off guard allowing you to score. Returning the volleys can become
quite challenging especially when you are one of the slower
characters. A red circle appears where the volley is targeted if you
are protecting your half of the court you should have a fair bit of
time to reach the designated area. You also have a red circle on
your opposition side of the court which is where you a re targeting;
it can become quite challenging when you have to concentrate on
returning the volley with enough power and directing the ball to the
desired spot on the other side of the court.
During play just before one of the players serves, you can
challenge one of your opponents to a fight, by pressing the Triangle
Button on your controller. After a Loading Screen your player
crosses the court to the opponent’s side of net, and proceeds to a
2D Beat-‘Em-Up-esque mini-game. After another annoying Loading
Screen, you and your opponent are lined up face to face ready to
fight. Which is rather disappointing, the fighting is too be honest
quite rubbish, a two-dimensional melee which involves hand and foot.
There are four modes of play, firstly the Exhibition Mode
which is designed for your casual play and too give your friends a
pasting, Random Play which allows you to jump straight into play;
the game automatically picks four characters for you - all you have
to do is pick your court and game options and you are set to play,
that is, after another huge Loading Screen. The Tour Mode is the
main mode of this game and allows you to unlock more characters,
courts, drills and even more outfits. The Tour Mode consists of 50
events divided by 10 courts. The Drill Mode gives you time to
practice your skills and learn new skills giving you a better chance
in the other modes, as well as letting you unlock more stuff, and
getting better partners giving you a better chance on the courts.
The graphics are what you would expect from a PlayStation2
title, with the usual polygon pop-up recurring in a few minor areas,
which in the closing stages of this generation is inexcusable,
it’s not that hard to make a game without these flaws, especially
now, after the developers have had plenty of time to work out the
highs and lows of the consoles ability to pull off the graphics
required for the game in question. The character models are up to
the usual standard of Outlaw games, with the ir skimpy bikinis
and school girls dress not to mention the male characters with their
usual outlandish styles. The courts are bright and the character
models are nicely detailed.
The commentator sound bites are funny but there are not too
many variations so they become quite tedious after a short while,
and the in-game score, yet again, not the greatest soundtrack - but
they certainly could’ve picked worse.
Although this is a fairly enjoyable title to play it can
become quite frustrating at times, and unfortunately this game is
cast in a pale light compared to other games in this genre. However,
it will be a breath of fresh air to the fans of the franchise. If
you don’t mind long waits while the game is loading and a lot of
posing screens then this title is proberly for you, but remember
don’t just beat your opponents beat them senseless.
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