OUTRIDERS Demo

Whenever the word “gang” is mentioned, people usually think of the mafia or some kind of motorcycle club. Hells Angels, Bandidos and Outlaws are just some of the motorcycle gangs out there, and besides being very loud, they are also responsible for many crimes. However, their trademark expertise lies in smuggling, because they seem to be very prolific when it comes to selling drugs.

OUTRIDERS is a colorful adventure game with a humorous take on the subject of motorcycle gangs, and it also takes place in a Mad Max-like world ruled by evil corporations. It uses some of the classic tropes you might be familiar with from old point & click games, but you cannot actually use a mouse here. Instead, a gamepad is recommended, but a keyboard can work just as well.

The story puts you in the role of a guy named Rast, who is part of the OUTRIDERS motorcycle club. He is a smuggler trying to survive in a dying world, while also avoiding the nasty corporations that try to control everyone. You get to explore the wasteland, meet fellow gang members, as well as deal with enemies and solve puzzles, but the whole thing is presented in a comedic manner.

As mentioned before, the mechanics are similar to a point & click game, except without the clicking. Whenever you are near an object or a character you get the option to choose from a few possible actions, such as examining the item in question or starting a conversation with a character. You can also store items in your inventory and combine them in order to get something more useful.

Puzzles are a big part of the adventure as well, because you are often required to use the information you gather and your inventory in order to make progress with the story. As for the graphics, the pixelated retro style is well-chosen for a cyberpunk adventure and quite pretty, even if sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish certain objects from the background.

All things considered, OUTRIDERS is definitely on the right path, especially in terms of writing and gameplay mechanics. The game is a little rough at this point, but then again it’s only an early demo, so we can only hope that future versions are going to be much more refined.