Initial reviews of
Outpost were enthusiastic about the game. The American version of
PC Gamer rated the game at 93%, one of its highest ratings ever for the time.
It was later made known that the reviewers had in fact played beta versions of the game, and had been promised certain features would be implemented, but never were.[
citation needed]
Indeed, many of the features described in the game's own documentation simply did not exist in the game at all. These included the ability to enter diplomatic relations with the rebel colony and the ability to build roads, orbital colonies, or the mass driver. Many of these gameplay aspects were later patched in, though in appearance only, as many of them failed to have any meaningful effect on gameplay.
Following the release of the game, the game's general
bugginess and perceived mediocre gameplay, along with the lack of features described in most of the game's reviews and the game's own documentation led to a minor backlash against the computer game magazines of the time by consumers who bought the game based on their reviews.[
citation needed]
In 1996,
Computer Gaming World declared
Outpost the worst computer game ever released.
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