Outlaw Volleyball Screenshots   The Final Say! Gameplay 9.0 Graphics 9.8 Sound 9.0 Value 9.5 Outlaw Volleyball - reviewed by Andrew B Review Date: December 2003 Review Score: 9.5/10  Distributed By: Red Ant

From the creators of Outlaw Golf, Simon & Schuster once again bring their own take on the Volleyball world with their new game entitled "Outlaw Volleyball" that promises to make Volleyball a thoroughly enjoyable sport as they did with golf.   Outlaw Volleyball isn't aimed at those "purest" gamers who want realistic sports games like Links and Fifa but rather at those gamers who enjoy beautifully created female players, lots of T&A, violence, crude humour, mini-games and everything else that made Outlaw Golf a hit... in other words the male gamer! If you thought the girls from Tecmo's Dead of Alive Beach Volleyball were hot... wait till you see the girls of Outlaw Volleyball.   The characters in Outlaw Volleyball are diverse, stereotyped and extremely clichéd and contain everything from gorgeous female strippers, white rappers, hardcore white trash, Latino male models, air-head blondes, crude English punks and rough assed bikers. The comedic Steve Carrels also lends his voice to the commentary of this title who is quite over the top with his character acting and gives the title a huge dose of humour. Carrels is extremely reminiscent of the commentator in the original Ridge Racer on the PlayStation but fortunately Steve can be turned off here.   Unlike Dead of Alive Beach Volleyball, Outlaw Volleyball actually has a sturdy gaming engine that lends itself some extremely entertaining gameplay. There are various gameplay modes that include Exhibition, the stock standard one match that lets you play against any other characters in the game, provided that you have unlocked them. If you want to open up more powerful characters and new areas, you must compete in the Outlaw Tournament to show your prowess to the world of Volleyball fans.   The game also offers various mini-games that help keep the gameplay fresh and exciting. These mini-games involve hitting spectators with your volleyball before they cross the line or hitting a specified spot for points. These mini-games (or drills) help build up your characters attributes so that you become a more competent volleyball player on the court. The learning curve of Outlaw Volleyball has a medium level of difficulty but fortunately there are tutorials to help both the novice and professional gamer master their skills.   The main thing that sets Outlaw Volleyball apart from all those other games (besides the T&A) is that all your characters have access to a turbo metre that allows you to perform some outrageous manoeuvres.

By holding down the right shoulder button (or as the cute air-blonde says in the tutorial says, the shoulder things), it brings up your turbo metre. By holding the right shoulder button down, it shows you how much is left on your turbo metre and if you move, you basically race around the court like the fastest man in the world, the Flash. The trick with the turbo metre is that when you push either one of the spike buttons, you perform a powerful super manoeuvres that basically slams the ball into the opponents court. The control system will take a little time getting use to but once you have sorted out the basics, it is quite easy to master. The A button is used to bump, set and spike, the B button is used to weak return, X is used to slam the ball, the white button is used to engage a character in a fight with the left analog stick used to control your character around the court.

You can even attack other players in the game, although not as complex as Soul Calibre II or any other game of that genre, it is still an entertaining way to break up the monotony of Volleyball. Your characters can perform basic fighting moves that involve kick, punch, block and super moves that not only teaches them a lesson for messing around with you but is extremely entertaining. Outlaw Volleyball also supports a variety of multiplayer options and the best option of them all is that the game supports XBox Live that allows you to challenge other players throughout the world.

The programmers who done the graphics for Outlaw Volleyball have done an amazing job on the characters and backgrounds and my hat goes off for them. Unlike Dead of Alive Beach Volleyball, the backgrounds of the Outlaw Volleyball are extremely detailed and colourful and have quite a bit of movement having in the backgrounds such as 3D spectators jumping up and down, there are no cardboard cut outs here! There are various locations in the game where players visit that include beaches, street courts, women's prisons and even Peruvian jungles. The main drawing point of this title is the beautifully designed characters, both male and female alike. They contain a high count of polygons with extremely realistic textures that move with a humanlike grace and you can almost be forgiven to think that you are watching a television volleyball match. The female characters are simple stunning and when they move across the courts, certain attributes of their bodies move with that real-world feel... I think you know what I mean. Each character also has a choice of outfits, depending on what you desire.

As mentioned before Steve Carrels lends his voice to the commentary of the game who does a wonderful at adding some well deserved humour into this title. The only down side of the commentary is that it unfortunately becomes a little too repetitive but fortunately this can be turned off. Each character also has their own voice that has been professionally done, whether it's a native American accent or a trashy British punk, everything has been done perfectly. The game also features a very hardcore soundtrack with dozens of different songs that helps with the atmosphere of this addictive title. There are also various sounds of players hitting the volleyball and of course the sounds of super moves and the fighting.

Outlaw Volleyball is one of the most entertaining sport games that I have played that not only has loveable characters who have a touch of crudeness to them but also a very sturdy gaming engine with great playability. The main drawing card for this title is the amazing graphics and perfectly designed female characters that move with grace and even a little bit of naughtiness. If you are looking for a fun title that goes way beyond Dead of Alive Beach Volleyball than this is the game for you. Highly Recommended!

- Andrew B