GOG.com (gog stands for Good Old Games) is a website distributing classic games for the PC. However they are NOT the next underground community operating semi-legally. Everything is done very professionally, games are offered with the consent of the copyright holders and I assume for mutual benefit. All available titles are pretty cheap (between $5.99 to $9.99), DRM-free, compatible with new PCs and new operating systems like Windows XP/Vista (I think full support for Win7 is on it’s way too) and often come with additional materials like soundtrack, making-of, artworks etc.

So what?

Well, a few weeks ago GOG announced that they are working together with ATARI to re-release some of their classic games as Master of Orion, Master of Magic and, you guessed it – the Master of Them All – Outcast!

Yesterday our favorite game officially made it’s debut on GOG and, as the community over there would say, it was “an instant download”

So, does it work?

I guess the main question on many peoples’ minds is “Is the game still buggy”? Well, from what I’ve seen so far this gotta be the most stable version of OC yet. Installation went smoothly on Windows 7. I had some old save-games so I was able perform a quick bug-check.

• Twan-ha riding? – No problem! OK

• Going through the mud in Shamazaar? – Cutter switches to normal walking speed, just like he should! OK

• Music? – Plays normally! OK

• Getting to the boat light in Cyana? – Couldn’t do it! X

I am not quite sure if the last one is a bug but if a normal jump doesn’t work after fifty attempts there is something wrong. I also recall that I was able to get to the light without cheats the first time I played OC.

Another question that you’re probably asking yourself is “Can I play in high resolution”. Unfortunately, my prayers to “about a thousand different gods” went unheard and the max resolution is still 512×384. HOWEVER …… I tried the famous unofficial 640×480 resolution patch and it friggin works! For the first time I get it to work! I was very skeptical since the folder structure of the GOG release is a bit different. But it did work (after switching Win98 compatibility mode for the oc1/2/3/.exe files to ) and here is a proof

Damn, it’s beautiful to go through Adelpha without that stupid black frame around the game screen! I want to stress though that the resolution patch is still unofficial and there is no guarantee it will work for you! Also the game gets unstable when using it – in my case it crashes every time I try to load from inside the game (loading from the “loader” is OK) as well as when I die.

What you get with the GOG release

• The original  1999 Outcast, as bug-free as it gets and running smoothly on your brand new PC!

• PDF manual

• A making-of video

• The soundtrack on MP3

• The “outtakes” videos

• Artworks in high resolution

I wish you a lot of fun on Adelpha!

Here is what the front page on GOG.com looks now. It will change in the near future so I decided to keep it for the coming generations.