Outlaw Volleyball (OVB) is the second Volleyball game to be released for the Xbox console and is the follow up to Outlaw Golf. Like it's competitor Dead or Alive: Xtreame Beach Volleyball (DOAXBV), it uses a 2 on 2 format and contains a bevy of scantily clad characters. But being part of the Outlaw series of games its characters are a rather twisted mix of aptly named, stereo-typical misfits of both sexes ranging from Trailer Trash to a Latino version of Fabio. These crazy characters are a trademark of the series and are in keeping with its sense of humour. This humour being sometimes crude but never too crass, is reflected in every aspect of the game and is at most times very amusing. If you enjoyed it in Outlaw Golf, you won't be disappointed by here.

From the main menu there are six options. Exhibition, standard single and multiplayer matches with up to four players on the one court, two per team. Random Play, the same as Exhibition but all the decisions about character, courts and game types are made for you. Tour is the main game mode containing 50 matches where you also unlock new content and best of all, Outlaw Volleyball also supports Xbox Live for on-line play! The game offers a series of tutorials that are essentially instructional videos that cover each aspect of the games controls and rules. These tutorials are narrated by some of the character from the game and are very well done. Some will cause you to laugh out loud at the antics and dialog of the nutty narrators and by the end of them you will have acquired enough knowledge to pick-up the controller a play.

The control scheme is very easy to learn, but does take time to master. Viewed from a roughly 45 degree down-looking angle to the court perpendicular to the net, the control scheme is focused around coloured markings on the ground. When a ball is hit to your character, a red target appears and you have to stand within it to receive the ball. Once inside it, holding one of the buttons will perform an action. The A button will either set the ball for your partner or spike and the B and X buttons will return the ball weakly and strongly respectively. The Y button is used for blocking your opponents' spikes. This ground markings method works quite well and allows you to aim as you wait for the ball to reach you. With enough momentum, gained from winning points and fights (I'll get to them later) turbo moves can be performed. These moves produce an impressive display of special effects and make your player or the ball move faster and with more power. However, turbo moves seem to be more visual than anything as they can still be blocked and returned as usual.

The last option available from the main menu is Drills. These training drills are not essential to complete before playing your first match but I would highly recommend you try them out. The drills are a series of challenges designed to both improve the skills of the player and upgrade the statistics of the playable characters. Each character can have their, Speed, Power, Offence and Defence improved by successfully completing drills that will make winning matches much easier. The drills are well designed and do a great job of reinforcing the controls learnt in the tutorials and again can be quite funny. The drill where a group of Macarena-like dancing spectators advance towards you space-invader style, as you try to knock them down with spikes is definitely one to remember. More drills are unlocked as you progress in the Tour mode as are extra characters, costumes, courts and tournaments.

The matches themselves would be quite entertaining and playable as a standard Volleyball game, but anyone familiar with the Outlaw series would know that these games are far from ordinary renditions of their sports. Each match you play has a different set of rules and scoring system. There are standard volleyball scoring rules such as Rally Point and Side Out where you can and can not win points when your team is receiving (not serving). Combined with the scoring system are game type rules that vary for standard and timed to the more obscure Casino and Hot Potato. In Casino rules, the team with the most cash at the end of the game wins, with a prize pot for wining a point increasing in size the longer a rally lasts. I found this rule set quite painful as some games seemed to last forever and were exceptionally hard to win. Hot Potato turns the ball into a time bomb. If the ball explodes on your side of the court, you loose the point. If it lands on the ground prior to exploding, it leaves a time bomb in its place that will explode some time during the next point. This is by far the most fun rule set to play and adds a whole new element of timing your possession to ensure the ball explodes on your opponents' side of the court. Each match uses a different combination of scoring system, rule set, time limit and score limit. This keeps players on their toes and forces you to change tactics regularly.

On top of the kooky game types, players can also engage in a bit of biffo during a match in order to gain momentum for themselves and drain it from their opponent. Momentum determines how fast your Turbo Meter regenerates. Fights are a simple, A-Kick, B-Punch, X-block and Y-Special Attack affair with the left thumb-stick or D-Pad controlling the height of the attack and the characters' movement. Quick button smashing and good timings should result in wins every time. But you can only choose to fight at certain times during a match, for example on a serve when you have a fight token. Fight tokens are gained from Aces and wining long volley shots.

The graphics of OLV are good, but not the best. They are nowhere near as detailed or intricate as DOAXBV and use simpler models but feature texture art that is very detailed and sharp for both characters and courts. Outlaw Volleyball lacks the deforming sand physics and has a lot more issues with character models that clip with clothing although fortunately there is usually not a lot of clothing on the characters to clip! The actual view that the game is played from is great and focussed more on functionality than visual appeal. The camera does a good job of keeping all the action in view and giving the player enough time to react.

My only major gripe with this game is the AI. It seemed quite obvious to me that the computer-controlled characters are a little bit better than they should be. Now by that I don't mean that it was just too hard and I kept getting my arse whooped but your computer-controlled opponents consistently return shots that you or your team mate would have had no chance of returning. It becomes frustrating when shots you know should have won points keep getting returned and when the situation is reversed, you consistently fail to return them. I don't know if this AI "cheating” was included to boost a below-par AI, but it can be likened to a First Person Shooter where bots can snipe you with a pistol from essentially beyond the horizon. It can be annoying, but it makes beating the "cheating” computer player all the more sweet.

The multiplayer options for OBV are great and combined with its humour and blatant sexual innuendos, makes for a great party game for both men and women. When playing off-line, up to four people can play on the one Xbox, with all the game types and unlocked characters and courts available to use. When playing on Xbox Live only two people can play each other at any one time with their team mate being controlled by the computer. It would have been nice to see 4-player support for Live. There is also an option to download extra content when it becomes available, such as new characters and courts and we can't wait to see them become available.

The sound in OVB as a whole is quite good. The voice acting is appropriately corny with questionable accents and suits the characters perfectly. The commentary is funny the first few times you hear it, but gets old very quickly. Thankfully it can be turned off. Custom soundtracks are supported so if you don't like the half-decent music included with the game you can just replace it with the tunes of your choice. This option is often overlooked by game developers and is a thankful addition to OBV.