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I bought this game when it first came out on the PlayStation Network in 2011. It was delayed because of the infamous April 2011 PlayStation hack, but I didn't know about it until the day it released. I played the demo to see what it was about; immediately after finishing the demo, I ran to my dad and begged him to help me buy the game.
Outland is an action platformer implementing a system that lots of gamers seem to have fond memories of whereas Outland is still the first instance of it to me: "color" switching. When you change to red energy, you can absorb red energy from the world and attack blue enemies. Vice versa, when you change to blue energy, you can absorb blue energy and attack red enemies. This comes together in a non-puzzle game to give you some challenges that you'll have to think for a moment about how to solve. That being said, there's nothing challenging about the "puzzles" you come across, and the solution is fairly simple. Easier said than done, as the saying goes!
Gameplay: Outland's gameplay is very much based off of this one mechanic. You'll be color-switching a lot. Thankfully, it's done instantaneously through the push of a button, so you'll be back to hack-and-slashing as if nothing happened. Hack-and-slash is very expertly done here, and the color system is often used but never to a point where you get sick of it. It feels completely natural. Jumping and moving around feels fluid, and seems to work better than most other platformers. This is especially so with the wall-jumping, which, as other reviews have stated, works better here than anywhere else. Boss fights are given major importance, and the game does well at making them feel large and epic even when they don't have to be. It works brilliantly.
Story: The story is so intriguing. This is a case of "the story is minimal and doesn't matter much" and "it's good enough to make you want to keep going and enjoy it" at the same time. You play a man who has been experiencing visions of the past due to your spirit being a reincarnation of a hero from 30,000 years ago. You're tasked with the same quest that he was: defeat the Sisters of Chaos who aim to destroy the world that they created. The enemies you meet were once good, but they have been corrupted by Chaos, and you must defeat them to restore balance to the Earth along the way. The only voice actor is the narrator, and while his lines and acting are not as iconic as Bastion's, he gives a solid performance that has stuck with me.
Music/Sound Design: I want to keep this short and sweet: Buy the Outland - Special Edition pack. I did so as soon as I could. You won't regret owning the soundtrack, composed by Ari Pulkkinen (Super Stardust HD, Trine, Angry Birds, Resogun). The music fits perfectly with the settings they were composed for, and the boss fight tracks have been on loop on my computer since 2011. As for the sound design, it's absolutely solid. That sound when your blade hits an enemy is one of my favorite, and there's a lot of subtle cues like running through the grass, sliding down a wall, that just make this feel like a living world. For an Earth corrupted by Chaos, it still sounds beautiful.
Graphics: And I thought the graphics were beautiful on the PS3! Holy crap! The game looks absolutely gorgeous at 1920x1080. I can't tell you if a game is running at 30fps or 60fps because I really don't care either way, but the game definitely runs smoothly on my computers with no issues.
Summary: For an indie game at $10, you are not going to go wrong here. The replayability is definitely limited, but the experience is one that may stick with you for three years like it has for me. There are few minor issues with the PC port specifically (I don't want to see two control schemes at once), but those absolutely pale in comparison to the rest of the game. I have recommended Outland to all of my friends since 2011, and that has not changed.
EDIT Oct 21 2014: I have now played co-op since writing the review, which works just as well as on the PS3 version. Unfortunately, that also means the game is just as dead, so if you want to play the campaign in full co-op or do the co-op challenges for the achievement, I'd suggest getting a friend.
Additionally, Housemarque and the devs at Knockout Games who ported Outland to PC are continously updating the game! My review previously mentioned a bug with the intro video glitching out, and this has since been fixed along with other updates such as better GPU handling and smoother co-op experiences.