First, a word from the developer: “lost in transit while on a colonist ship bound for the furthest edge of the galaxy, you awake decades later only to find yourself in the midst of a deep conspiracy threatening to destroy the Halcyon colony. As you explore the furthest reaches of space and encounter various factions, all vying for power, the character you decide to become will determine how this player-driven story unfolds. In the corporate equation for the colony, you are the unplanned variable.”
I have now completed my first run-through of The Outer Worlds. It took me approximately 20 hours to finish the game as a fast-talking gunslinger (with a penchant for assault rifles), and I have some thoughts. I still don’t think it is entirely fair to call this game “Fallout In Space,” but I can also see plenty of the shared DNA. How did I get on with the game? Read my mostly spoiler-free review to find out.
Basic Information:
- Release Date: October 25th, 2019
- Platform: PS4 Pro
- Price (at time of purchase): $60
- Developer & Publisher: Obsidian Entertainment, Private Division
- ESRB Rating: M
Pros:
- I really appreciate that this game can tell the story it wants to tell (or rather, let the player tell) and be done in under 25 hours. I did my best to clear out every quest and side mission, and I was still able to complete the game in a weekend or three. This is a refreshing change of pace compared to games that boast of “100s of hours of gameplay,” which I almost never finish.
- There are lots and lots of ways to play & roleplay.
- For me, this also often lead to option paralysis. I found myself reloading a save more than once to get what I considered to be the, “best,” possible outcome (especially in dialogue-based interactions). Then again, that may be my issue as a player, not the game’s fault. This may not be as much of an issue for you if you go in with a strong character concept (i.e. who you want to RP).
- Character customization is in-depth without being overwhelming. One such example is that you occasionally have the ability to take on a flaw (like fear of dogs) for an additional perk point.
- As a pro-tip for those making their character: I wouldn’t worry too much about assigning base stats / perks. Your initial choices are not your destiny, and you will have plenty of time to customize your character via stat points as you level up.
- I’ve enjoyed the characters (and the variety of skin tones, ages, etc), the world-building, and the aesthetic of the game a lot. There is definitely a lot to like here.
- Sassy ship AI ADA is a stand-out, as her dialogue options typify the game’s humor.
- BUT: there are still basically no chubby people, though, which is a disappointment.
- (Minor Spoiler) There is an LGBT romance sub-plot for one of the player character’s companions. It’s cute.
- I like the variety of weapon types, and the fact that so much of the game can be approached with no weapon at all.
- With that being said, by the end of the game, some of the weapons felt the same, save for doing different amounts of damage. This was especially true of the assault rifles and “heavy” guns my character preferred. In other words, you will not find Borderlands levels of weirdness as far as weapons go.
- The world is suitably dystopian. It is fun and funny to watch the game lampoon the most absurd excesses of capitalism and corporations.
- Like in Fallout: New Vegas, this game offers ending vignettes for each character and settlement you spend significant time with.
Cons:
- I am playing on PS4 Pro, but the load times can still be killer. It is also frustrating to go right from one load screen to the next (e.g. from the ship to a point on a world map, and then from a world’s map to an “interior space” like a building). This happened relatively often, and while it was never enough to have me put down my controller, it was obvious.
- Seeing the same companion special attack animations over and over gets repetitive. I wish there was a way to turn off said animations (or that there were more attacks for each companion).
- The button mapping took time to get used to (ie that L3 is sprint and not crouch, for example)
- There are also a few bits of UI weirdness (like the fact that it is impossible to unequip a companion’s helmet after you put one on, the fact that it is very difficult to holster your weapon and keep it away, and the fact that you can’t organize your items when working on a workbench).
- The game is easy on normal mode, especially with companions. I almost never died, except when I did heinously dumb things. Even then, the number of times I died remained in the single digits. Ultimately, I was more likely to re-load a situation to try a different approach or dialogue choice than because I died.
- Even after beating the game, I never found an armor I liked the look of.
- The more time you spend with the game, the more you notice some of the rougher edges, and the presumably smaller budget. This is everything from smaller issues (like the UI issues mentioned above and minor graphical glitches), to reused assets (i.e. 80% of armors being a re-color of an earlier armor) to the reduced size and scope of each world.
- As I said above, I found the reduced scope refreshing, but it is also important to go in with appropriately set expectations.
- Did the game, “stick the landing?” Yes and no.
- On one hand, there are groups that focus on more “socialist,” anti-corporate beliefs, and depending on the route you take, the people espousing those beliefs can prosper.
- On the other hand, (mild spoiler warning) almost all of the leaders of these movements were revealed to be duplicitous in some way: they were murderers, double-timers, and generally portrayed as up their own asses. It isn’t a flattering portrayal, to be sure.
- If you are hoping for this game to be about something, you are likely going to be disappointed. Based on my play-through, the game is more interested in giving the player a power fantasy than espousing any particular political belief (and to be frank, this makes sense, given how Obsidian had to account for player choice). It does take jabs at capitalism for sure, but only an extreme, dystopian version of it.
Conclusion:
Ultimately, the characters were fun to spend time with, the environments were suitably different, and the choices and ideas contained in the game got me thinking. It isn’t a perfect game by any means, but if you are looking for a spiritual successor to Fallout: New Vegas, or a game that allows for a variety of play styles and RP approaches, this may just be the game for you.
Check it out here.
You may also enjoy…
- “Fallout: New Vegas,” by Obsidian Entertainment
- “Mass Effect: Legendary Edition,” by Bioware
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