Outlaws

Back in 1997, I picked up the latest game from the once-great studio LucasArts: Outlaws. A first-person shooter set in the wild west with astounding Morricone-esque music from Clint Bajakian and voice acting by John DeLancie and other luminaries, Outlaws offered a classic western story, nail-biting action, great level design, superb graphics for the era and most important of all, compelling gameplay.

As a lawman searching for his kidnapped daughter, your goal is to pursue outlaw gangs across trains, through frontier towns, across canyons, over rivers, through caves and sawmills. With guns, knives or dynamite (my favourite), you faced bloodthirsty foes with great AI. Prequel missions and multiplayer offered extra value after completion of the main quest. I still remember when Allan Sampson and I hooked up via modem for an evening of Outlaws, chasing each other through a map consisting of a bunch of bunkers surrounding a tall tower with crates of dynamite at the top. At one moment, we arrived at the tower's top level simultaneously, each of us grabbing a stick of dynamite and flinging it at the other. Twin explosions blew both of us backward out the tower windows, and there was much laughter echoing through our bachelor pads.

LucasArts, if you're listening, I would purchase a sequel to Outlaws in a heartbeat. (I still listen to the soundtrack, which came on an extra CD with the game!) For that matter, an updated Tie Fighter would be nice too.