Outlaws

About Outlaws

Outlaws (1997) is LucasArts' spaghetti western shooter in which retired Marshal James Anderson hunts the gang that killed his wife, credited as the first game with a sniper zoom.

Outlaws in Depth

Retired US Marshal James Anderson returns from the general store to find his wife Anna dying, his home burnt down and his daughter Sarah kidnapped by the outlaws Matt "Dr. Death" Jackson and "Slim" Sam Fulton, hired by the railroad baron Bob Graham to "enlighten" the county's people into selling him their land for a huge railroad; the psychotic Dr. Death took the instruction too far. After burying his wife, Anderson picks up his gun again and rides across the Old West, shooting his way through each of Graham's hired outlaws.

Anderson uses Old West weapons and items such as a rifle, shotgun, dynamite and revolver, lights dark areas with a lantern and digs with a shovel in certain spots, and some weapons have alternate fire. On the easier "Good" and "Bad" difficulties he can take several bullets, but on "Ugly" one or two shots kill him, forcing players to rely on stealth and cover. It is largely credited as the first shooter with a sniper zoom and one of the first with reloading. Cut-scenes rendered with LucasArts' INSANE engine are filtered to look hand-drawn. Inspired by The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, A Fistful of Dollars and other Clint Eastwood westerns, it features an orchestral score by Clint Bajakian.

Making Outlaws

LucasArts developed and published it for Windows on 7 April 1997. It received generally favourable reviews: its graphics were compared unfavourably with contemporaries such as Quake, but reviewers almost unanimously praised its play and soundtrack. It was not a major financial success but gained a cult following, and Complex included it among the 25 best LucasArts games.