The Outsider
Developer(s)Frontier Developments
Designer(s)David Braben
Platform(s)Windows,[1] PlayStation 3, Xbox 360[2]
ReleaseCancelled[3]
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

The Outsider was an action-adventure game for Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 developed by Frontier Developments. It saw players control a CIA agent who goes on the run. It was announced in 2005 and cancelled in 2011.

Premise

The Outsider was set in Washington, D.C. and its surrounding areas, including the CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia, Joint Base Andrews, and Newport News Shipbuilding. The player controlled a CIA intelligence officer, Jameson, who could use various hand-to-hand combat styles and weapons. The game's opening sequence depicts the character wrongly becoming a fugitive, and leaves the player to decide how to continue.[2]

Frontier Developments said that The Outsider would abandon the traditional, prescriptive, mostly linear story of current generation games, and replaced it by simulating characters' motivations and aims. This gave the player genuine freedom to change the story outcomes, with each player having a unique experience rather than simply switching between good or evil'.[4] The director, David Braben, said that this level of freedom would demonstrate what it is to be a "next-gen" game.[5] A new animation system was being developed with the aim of giving a more realistic feel as it is adaptive and less scripted than typical animations.[6]

Development

According to Engadget, The Outsider spent three years in pre-production and two years in full development, funded by the publisher, Codemasters.[7] Following a change in management, Codemasters dropped the project. Frontier entered negotiations with Electronic Arts about turning The Outsider into a Jason Bourne game with the working title The Bourne Redemption.[7] In January 2011, after six years of development, The Outsider was cancelled, leading to nearly 30 staff layoffs.[8] In 2014, Braben told Eurogamer that The Outsider was probably "gone for good".[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Interview with David Braben, Producer of LostWinds and Creator of the Elite Series". Diehard GameFAN. 11 June 2008. Retrieved 11 June 2008.
  2. 1 2 "Frontier announces "The Outsider", its first 'next generation' project" (Press release). Frontier Developments. 16 September 2005. Retrieved 25 September 2007.
  3. ↑ "Exclusive: Frontier's The Outsider Cancelled?". Rock Paper Shotgun. 20 January 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  4. ↑ Houlihan, John (23 September 2005). "Xbox Interviews: David Braben - The Outsider". Computer and Video Games. Retrieved 25 September 2007.
  5. ↑ "Game Theory Episode 21 - Elite". 21 August 2007. Archived from the original (mp3) on 2 September 2007. Retrieved 14 September 2007.
  6. ↑ Waters, Darren (9 August 2007). "What exactly is a next generation game?". BBC News. Retrieved 25 September 2007.
  7. 1 2 "Source: Frontier's canned The Outsider project was actually The Bourne Redemption, and we've got the greenlight video". Engadget. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  8. ↑ "The Outsider 'not cancelled' | Game Development | News by Develop". MCV. Develop-online.net. 20 January 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  9. ↑ "David Braben says The Outsider "probably is gone for good"". Eurogamer. Retrieved 25 October 2018.


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