I’m a fan of adventure games and I’m a fan of horror games, so when I got the chance to review Outpost 13 I took it. And while quite short it does show some promise. Unfortunately, the game is way too short to comfortably recommend it at the full asking price. That said, if you can get it on the cheap it might be worth picking up. It takes place on a remote outpost on an icy planet, a tale that pretty much screams The Thing. That’s right. There’s a monster on the loose and it just happens to be you.
You play as Fenrir, or one of the other furry friends, seemingly possessed by some weird shadowy creature that tasks you with doing nasty things to the scientists milling about. Because it’s evil? Because that’s just what it does? Because it’s hungry? Who knows. It’s not really explained just what it is nor how it’s tied to a rather cute pixelated canine. But, the goal is pretty clear to anyone who’s seen either version of the obvious inspiration for the game. You’re out for blood. Human blood.
Of the three options I ended up picking the lone cat of the group because, well, I love cats more than dogs (sorry dog lovers). So, instead of grabbing Fenrir I ended up bringing Dr. Meow Meow Jones along for the ride. With the exception of the intro in which you’re pretty much forced to choose the titular star of Outpost 13 you can pick any of the three options and as far as I know it doesn’t make a difference. I did only play with the one character but I’m pretty sure that it’ll play the same no matter which one you choose.
Anyway, so it’s up to you to clear said base of all human life. Which, while tricky it isn’t difficult. I really had little clue as to how to go about knocking everyone off one by one, but even then it still took me only ninety odd minutes to complete. With full knowledge on how to get to the endgame I can speed through it in like fifteen. Honestly, this is way too short for any game let alone an adventure. If there was any real issue that I had with Outpost 13 it was the length of the experience. That, and it just sort of ends leaving you wondering where the second half of the game is.
My favorite part with Outpost 13 was actually trying to figure out how to kill everyone off. As I mentioned above, it’s not too difficult but figuring out the solution is half the fun. You have to clear out four rooms by keeping those inside occupied somehow, a couple answers only gathered by snooping around the vent system at night. Which was something that I actually had to look up because I didn’t know that this was possible in the evening hours. Still, once I managed to suss it out I had fun seeing the carnage caused.
Outpost 13 is a good game but it falls a bit short of being great. If it were longer with more deep puzzles and interactions it would have rated higher on my personal scale. As it is it seems more of a demo for a unfinished game than anything. I do highly recommend grabbing this but not at the $10 asking price. Because it does have some interesting puzzles and playing as the monster instead of the hero is a novel approach that so few games take these days.
