The Outfit is a strategic shooter by the guys at Relic. You've probably already heard about it from hardcore Xbox 360 gamers that downloaded the demo from Xbox live. If you have, don't stop reading now - the full game is a huge improvement over the Live demo.
The Outfit takes the usual WWII setting, and gives you control of three squad leaders - each with their own specialities and their own squad to control. There is a back story - something about renegade Germans, a dodgy Priest, and the French resistance - but do you really care? Follow the waypoints and kill the Germans and you'll be fine. The job of a story is only to give people an excuse to blow stuff up, right?
The levels are linear, it will be a rare event indeed for you to sit there clutching your controller and wondering what to do next. The tasks are simple - destroy this convoy, level this structure - but theres a nice slow, steady and encouraging trickle of achievements along the way. Its nice to see that Relic, unlike certain other companies, put some thought into how they would hand out their achievement points.
The part where The Outfit comes into its own, is with the Field Units (FU) - you earn these fo killing things, and then can spend them on buying 'Destruction On Demand' - air drops of tanks, machine gun emplacements, artillery, airstrikes and other goodies. At the end of each mission you will usually unlock more powerful Destruction on Demand gear. This stuff isn't fluff either - you will need to use it quite a lot, as your guys have terrible, inaccurate weaonry that can only be fired in short bursts. Still, that isn't a complaint - I found myself looking for excuses to use the Destruction on Demand feature - theres something satisfying about getting your hands on all that heavy weaponry. Just don't leave your tanks lying around - the enemy can use them too.
You can call reinforcements - each of your squad leaders can command 4 soldiers. Issuing orders can be annoying, and the solders are, to be frank, thick. Still, as cannon fodder and an extra bunch of guns, they do the job.
Controls wise, shooting and moving should be comfortably familiar. There is a tracking feature for enemies, but you have to be standing still - if you move, you need to keep the target locked yourself. Vehicle control starts to enter the realms of 'unusual' but you do quickly get used to it.
Death is nothing but a minor annoyance - forcing you to respawn at the last control point you took, and trek back out again.
Graphically, the environments are nice, and theres plenty to blow up, burn down or squash with your tanks. The characters are less well rendered, but most of the time you should be looking at the stuff you're destroying, not at the dodgy throwing arm of your grenade-hurling soldiers.
The soundtrack is a standard affair, rousing, slightly rocky music, with the odd drum piece. In game you are treated to a good mix of sound effects that can give you an idea how nasty the action is around the corner.
The campaign is a brief 12 missions. For extra longevity you have multi-player modes - split screen (vertical), system link and Xbox Live options for Co-Op and a variety of Versus modes - think 8-player Battlefied 2, but with each person having a squad. It gets pretty hectic!
Overall, The Outfit is most certainly worth a look. It has some faults, but they're quickly forgiven when you call in an airstrike, and the multi player really lets the game come into its own.
So give it a chance - it's no-nonsense, destruction packed, and incredibly fun.
