Outlaw Volleyball = FUN!

Chris Rock · 07-14-2003, 07:06 AM

There was another thread going earlier, but for those who wanted to wait for the reviews of Outlaw Volleyball, let me chime in and give my opinion that it is one fantastic game, especially with friends.

Graphics.
Not just the ...ahem... "well animated" character models. The animations are very well done also. Bumping, setting, spiking, serving, and blocking look pretty realistic.

Sound.
Well, here, I like that you can turn the announcer off, which is nice after the first few matches. What I really wish, though, is that you could keep him on, but make him comment only once in a while, not [rant] AFTER EVERY SINGLE PLAY!![/rant]. Another high point is custom soundtracks, in case you'd like to hear your own tunes when you play. I also like that, when using a custom soundtrack, if you're doing a drill that you need to start over, it lets the song keep playing in the background and doesn't start it over or go to the next one. The 5.1 sound could have been used a little more, but all in all it's well done. When you click the right thumbstick, the crowd will taunt, and it will come from the rear speakers. There is also the very realistic sound of airlplanes in the rear speakers occaisionally.

Gameplay.
This is where this title really shines. It's got all the fun and action of Tennis 2K2, and all the rude humor of Outlaw Golf, except in my humble opinion, this game is much better than Outlaw Golf was (and that wasn't a shabby game!) The solo play is challenging and enjoyable, the minigames ("drills") are a hoot, but there is real joy to be had with 1 or more friends. I've not played over XBL yet, but the reivews I've read all indicate that it is a very smooth running game.

Well, there you have it. If you took a "wait and see" approach, your wait is over. Head on over to your favorite retailer and snatch up a copy of this gem.

Hah! I just previewed the post, and if you use a tag that says "[rant]", you get your text Bold and Italicized.

Paul_Fisher · 07-14-2003, 08:38 AM

I have the game and I agree with everything Chris has said.

Look for me online Chris and I'll play you.

BrianS · 07-14-2003, 08:41 AM

I've read a few complaints that the single layer game can be too difficult and that the computer never seems to miss. Any opinions on that? I am thinking about picking this up.

millercv · 07-14-2003, 08:54 AM

It is definately difficult - but it is more challenging than annoying (well once you turn the announcer off).

I thought it was EXTREMELY difficult to start but once I went through the drills and realized "OH that is how you do it" things became much more reasonable.

pitchman · 07-14-2003, 09:17 AM

Quote:

I've read a few complaints that the single layer game can be too difficult and that the computer never seems to miss. Any opinions on that? I am thinking about picking this up.

I rented this Friday and played it for the first time yesterday. I went right to the single player mode (skipping the drills.) Maybe it was just dumb luck (I am NOT that great of a game player) but I breezed through the first match. My score was 14-1 and ended up winning 15-2. Unless the game defaults to an extremely easy difficulty setting, I don't think it is too hard to play. BTW, it definitely plays better than DOA and as others have commented, is a LOT of fun! I have not gone on line, yet. Maybe this evening.

**HTF Ads**

Chris Rock · 07-14-2003, 10:04 AM

Oh, another great thing about this game (for me) is that my wife likes it and wants to play it with / against me. I'm gonna see about getting a splitter for my XBL headset so that we can both play online and hear the player(s) on the other side. (Has anyone reading this post done this? Does it work?)

About the computer players never missing...haven't noticed too much of that. I've only unlocked a few things, but the cpu players are definitely beatable.

Paul_Fisher · 07-14-2003, 10:19 AM

The AI gets tougher as you win more matches, you'll see.

Dave Falasco · 07-14-2003, 10:58 AM

Quote:

I'm gonna see about getting a splitter for my XBL headset so that we can both play online and hear the player(s) on the other side. (Has anyone reading this post done this? Does it work?)

I think Calvin Watts (Nightwing) has come up with a solution for this that works for him. You may want to shoot him a PM for the details.

Nice review, too--sounds like a fun game! I'm going to try to pick this up soon to check it out for myself.

James St · 07-14-2003, 11:31 AM

Quote:

If you took a "wait and see" approach, your wait is over

Thanks for the excellent review Chris

but I'm probably still going to wait a little while since KOTOR and NCAA Football are coming out this week. I'll add this to the list of games I want to pick up though.

I'd be interested to hear some impressions of the online play.

Leslie W · 07-14-2003, 11:41 AM

Nightwing and I have the splitter. We really like it. But we also now have 2 Live accounts, mine and his. We still use the splitter on single player games when our gang of gaming friends are all playing together and I want to take part in the conversation, even if I don't play.

We got ours from Here at a nice price

If you don't like the head set that comes with it, you can use most cell phone headsets that will fit into the connector. We have not had any problems with anyone hearing us, and we can both hear them clearly. So no sound quality is sacrificed by splitting it.