I beat Outland. It was a really good and exceptionally pretty game. The gameplay was really great. The platforming was varied, challenging, but not impossible. The combat, with its special abilities that are based on a common resource are a great way to make things a billion times easier if you're having trouble with a particular section. The last boss fight was really good, and really forced you to be aware of your color at any moment, but I just felt it was so different from the rest of the game that it was a little unfun. Furthermore, the ending was underwhelming.
The destination may not have been good but the journey was great.
I started playing Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. I am consistently amazed at how well Kojima Productions improves their gameplay from game to game. They really aren't afraid to change control schemes and create/abandon gameplay mechanics in order to make their games better. Peace Walker is a major step up in control and design from Portable Ops (although it should be noted that they are meant to play very differently).
I would like to talk about the cutscenes. Peace Walker continues using the comic-book cutscenes drawn by Ashley Wood (warning: sound). This started with the Metal Gear Solid Digital Graphic Novel, evolved into Portable Ops with a 3D rendered comic style truck, and has transitioned into Peace Walker with interactive segments in the cutscenes somewhat like quick time events except really awesome.
