Outlaw Volleyball

• Release Date: July 08, 2003
• Genre: Sports
• Style: Volleyball
• Similar Games: Power Spike Pro Beach Volleyball (PlayStation), Beach Spikers (Nintendo GameCube), Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball (Xbox)

Game Description

The second in the Outlaw series of over-the-top sports games, Outlaw Volleyball features two-on-two action taking place on ten different beaches. Five modes of play include Arcade, Tour, Exhibition, Tutorials, and Drills. Arcade offers a series of matches against eight increasingly difficult teams, while Tour involves traveling to all ten venues in an effort to become king of the beach. Exhibition is a single game; Tutorials helps players learn the arts of spiking, diving, and serving; and Drills is a series of mini-games that involve knocking various things over with the ball. Up to four players can compete simultaneously or online via the Xbox Live broadband service.

As in Outlaw Golf, one of the distinguishing features in Outlaw Volleyball is the ability to take out one's aggressions on other characters -- this time players can whale on either one of their opponents using traditional fighting moves. The benefit to this is that players will steal composure from an opponent as well as skill points. As teams continue to perform well, their composure meter will rise, making them more difficult to beat. The opposite also applies, so players who miss volleys or spike attempts will find their team losing composure. Music also varies its tempo and tune in response to the action during the match.

Sixteen male and female characters are available to play as or against, including Summer and Harley from Outlaw Golf, each with individual attributes that improve after wins or through practicing the various drills. Each of the ten venues in Outlaw Volleyball offers animated crowds to cheer on teams, billboards with fictional advertising, and deformable sand that reacts to player movement. If a player dives for a ball, for example, the sand is designed to shift and give way to the body. Not everything is warm and sunny, however. Locales include roof tenements, prisons, sewers, jungles, and more. As a bonus, additional courts can be downloaded via Xbox Live.

Review: Overall

Outlaw Golf was one of 2002's sleeper hits, not for its risqué humor or colorful cast of clichéd characters, but because its foundation as a golf game was solid, with an engaging swing meter, credible physics model, offbeat courses, and a tongue-in-cheek atmosphere. While the humor eventually wore out its welcome due to recycled cut-scenes and repetitive dialogue, it was clear the development team had the makings of a franchise on their hands. Outlaw Volleyball is the second entry in the tawdry series, and it offers enough skin, double entendres, and gyrating bodies to warrant an "M" rating by the ESRB. It also happens to be the strongest volleyball game released on a 128-bit platform to date, easily besting Beach Spikers, Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, and Summer Heat. While the lowbrow humor is not for everyone, the developers have delivered a sports title that requires technique and some strategy to succeed. More importantly, it is fun to play.

It takes only a quick glance at the scantily clad characters to understand why beach volleyball was selected as the next title in the Outlaw series. Character models are painstakingly detailed with tattoos, makeup, jewelry, and animated facial expressions, and the all-important curves (and for the ladies out there, the bulges) are smooth and well defined. Returning characters from Outlaw Golf include Harley, Killer Miller, Summer, Ice Trey, Scrummy, and El Suave, with ten characters making their debut, many of which resemble various celebrities. Outlaw Golf's sarcastic announcer is also back, but his commentary isn't quite as refreshing as it was in the first title. Sophomoric phrases such as "There's a lost point, and just like your virginity, you won't be getting it back" are repeated five to six times a match, and there's not enough character-specific or situation-based commentary (though it's hard not to smile when he says "holy guacamole with frijoles and ravioli") The announcer can be turned off, however, if you find the commentary overbearing.

The most positive aspect of the title is by far the action on the court, something most developers seem to forget when designing a volleyball game. The arcade-style controls are kept simple enough for novices but offer enough strategy to make the title appealing to sports enthusiasts. Bumps, sets, and spikes are all mapped to one button, with weak and aggressive returns available to fake out or overwhelm opponents. Instead of worrying about controls, players focus instead on positioning themselves under the ball and setting up their teammate -- unlike many other volleyball games, you actually aim where you want the teammate to receive the set, allowing you to set up a perfect spike opportunity at an angle or directly in between opponents. Best of all, players are no longer at the mercy of the computer AI, as they can switch between teammates at any time, reminiscent of the late, great Kings of the Beach on NES and computer platforms.

Blocking at the net requires a sense of timing, but is an important part of the game, and three types of serves can be performed with a vertical meter used to gauge power. Instead of merely reacting to a spotlight on the sand, you actually feel you are in control of each point in Outlaw Volleyball. Adding to the strategy is the use of turbo for serves and spikes, and characters can actually improve their core skills by participating in several mini-games that are genuinely enjoyable to play through. One such drill, Spectator Invaders, has rows of players moving from left to right and down one row closer to the net (just like Taito's classic arcade game, Space Invaders). Players have to practice aiming their shots to knock at least 16 over before they reach the net. The humor comes from the song they "move" to --- a variant of the Macarena, complete with hand gestures and sidesteps.

Two key elements that are apparently mainstays in the Outlaw sports series are momentum and the ability to beat up characters. Whether it's punching characters in the gut or kicking them in the choppers, the beating aspect now makes more sense in Outlaw Volleyball than it did in Outlaw Golf. Instead of hurting your own teammate, you can pummel either opponent before a serve to strip a character of his or her momentum. Fight tokens are earned for long volleys or acing a serve, and the combat is now in real time instead of the rhythm-based interface used in Outlaw Golf. This means players are in direct control of each punch and kick, but this isn't Soul Calibur or Virtua Fighter on the beach. Fighting is rather easy and repetitive, similar to the scuffles found in most hockey video games. But since the results can affect a match, it is often a necessary evil. Momentum is reflected by the rate at which a character's turbo recharges, which can be important late in the game when every shot counts.

Outlaw Volleyball offers a lean but solid selection of game modes. In addition to the Drills mode for increasing a character's core attributes, players can embark on a Tour, which takes place across ten courts. A total of 50 events are available, and the game wisely mixes up the action by offering several exciting variations in matches. In order to advance, players may have to be the first to score a set number of points, be the first to seven points and win by two within a time limit of four minutes, or compete using one of two different rules: side out, where only the serving team scores, or rally, which gives a point to whoever earns the kill regardless of the serving team. Furthermore, players may have to deal with time bombs -- dynamite left wherever the ball lands for the point. If a player runs into it, it explodes on impact, causing the character to fly in the air.

Outlaw Volleyball is not a perfect game. The default camera angle is playable, but a bit too far away from the characters, and other choices are simply too hyperactive or close to be of any practical use. The net is also sometimes hard to judge, computer opponents late in the Tour mode are often brutal, and there should be more advanced techniques available (like actually jumping for the ball). It would have also been nice to earn experience points by executing certain shots over and over again -- the more successful blocks a character performs during a match, for example, the better his or her ability should be in that skill. Yet with Xbox Live support for lag-free matches, a diverse selection of 16 characters, and an interesting lineup of offbeat courts, it's hard to complain about this first-time effort that is the best volleyball game on Xbox, GameCube, or PlayStation 2 at the time of its release. Unlike many of the swimsuits featured in the game, there's some breathing room for further development, but Hypnotix has once again surprised audiences by proving Outlaw Golf was neither beginner's luck nor a fluke. The Outlaw series is here to stay.

Review: Enjoyment

The volleyball action is fun, and the amount of customization options keeps things interesting. More attention to attribute-building, a career mode, and some advanced control options would be welcome for the sequel. The ball physics are also a little strange -- it seems "heavier" than it should be.

Review: Graphics

Just like in Outlaw Golf, it's fun to watch the character introductions once, but players will skip them each time a match begins -- unless of course they want some extra glimpses at how a swimsuit looks as a character stretches during their warm-ups. Camera could be better, and the animation is sometimes a little stiff.

Review: Sound

The announcer repeats his phrases way too often, but he can be turned off. The music is a mix of rap and hard rock, but players have the option to use their own music stored on the hard drive. Unfortunately, Dolby Digital isn't supported.

Review: Replay Value

{!Xbox Live} support is a huge plus, but the unlockable extras could use some work. The swimsuits aren't radically different from each other, and there could be a few more characters, locales, or modes of play.

Review: Documentation

The full-color manual explains nearly every facet of the game in a clear, concise format. The only thing missing is a description of each of the Drills.

Production Credits

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