I got The Outer Worlds for free from one of Epic’s gaming giveaways. I’ve had two cracks at playing this - I ended up doing a Windows reinstall and didn’t get back to the Outer Worlds for some time. I may add here that the version Epic gave away contained both DLCs, Peril on Gorgon and Murder on Eridanos. The latter was definitely the more engaging of the two, but they added something like 20 hours to the game overall, which was a bonus to an already very good gaming experience.
For the seven of you who don’t know, this is an Obsidian game, makers of fine products like Knights of the Old Republic II, Fallout 3: New Vegas and Tyranny. The game is set in alternative universe - yes alternative, not alternate - where US president William McKinley was never assassinated, and corporatism has run wild. Profits before people, workplace safety is the worker’s responsibility and endless advertising are the norms.
The Outer Worlds takes place in the Halcyon solar system, which is part of the Halcyon Cluster. The mega-corporations that rule this alternative universe have set up shop on the various planets of the system and your adventures take place there, with a couple of exceptions in space-stations and asteroids. You play the part of a guy who gets custody of a spaceship purely by ridiculous chance, but then it’s up to you to right the various wrongs this setting has.
This is a first-person shooter with many role-playing elements, with direct inspiration drawn from the 3D Fallouts, the Bioshock games and many others. At its heart, The Outer worlds is a game where you blast or whack hordes of enemies using a myriad of guns and melee weapons, all of which can be upgraded using components that you loot, coupled with skills and feats that you earn through levelling up.
If you’ve played the aforementioned games, little in this one will come as a surprise. Not to say it’s not a good game though - it is. It is good, wholesome fun the whole way through, especially when you factor in the DLCs.
Throughout your adventures in the Halcyon system you can opt to go things alone or join up with a maximum of two companions. Each of these have their own stories that you can pursue, for example, Parvati’s growing love interest with the boss lady of the Groundbreaker spaceship. They also comment on the things you do in game, especially lockpicking and hacking. Periodically, you can get their input on important game-branching decisions. Like yourself, they also level up and can be geared and upgraded.
Although I got this game for nothing, I’d happily pay for it. It’s a quality piece of work that had me entertained for nearly forty hours. The game’s appealing retro-futuristic Art Deco visual style, good voice acting, wry and knowing sense of humour and, most importantly, the fun factor make this a complete winner. It’s not short of narrative twists and turns either. You can be completely in league with the corporatist mentality of the day, you can be mercenary and do your own thing, or you can be a rebel and fight the system. Sometimes you can do all three in a short space too.
Screenshots are owned by the IP holder, not me.