However, The Outer Worlds was released as an Epic Games exclusive (for the PC) in 2019. This was one of the games that I was really looking forward to playing and would have considered as a launch purchase, but the fact that it was an exclusive talked me out of purchasing and playing it at release. No problem, they probably don't miss my Day 1 purchase, and I have more than enough games that I should finish before buying any more.

Developed by the famed Obsidian Entertainment of Fallout: New Vegas, Neverwinter Nights 2 and Kotor 2 fame, it was to be a completely new RPG IP to break away from the Fallout universe. Hopes were high that the studio would be able to put out a really great game in a setting where they had full narrative and lore control.

So, after the year long exclusive (read, beta testing...) was finished, The Outer Worlds finally showed up on Steam with a bunch of DLCs. It launched on Steam on sale, so I was quick to snap it up, eager to dive into a new RPG from one of my favourite studios!

The Setup

The player character of The Outer Worlds is one of the original colonists sent from Earth in 2285 to the Halcyon system. Two ships were sent out, the Hope and the Groundbreaker with a combination of cryosleep and FTL drive. However, the Hope was lost before arrival and the colonists of the Groundbreaker ended up settling the new star system by themselves.

Fast forward to the present day (2355), when the scientist Phineas Welles discovers your starship (the Hope) and unfreezes you from cryosleep. In the intervening century, the mega-corps have taken over the Halcyon system... and everything is a flouro-coloured parody of capitalism gone crazy. It's like living in an advertisement!

After you are dropped onto a Halcyon planet, you find that you have accidentally dropped your pod directly onto Welles's planet-side contact. Thankfully, the ship AI (Ada) doesn't appear to have a problem with accepting you, and welcomes you onboard as the new captain of "Unreliable".

Welles has plans for you to disrupt the current order of Halcyon... and that is where your story begins. Newly awakened, and completely lost in the future... nothing like Fallout?

The Game

The character creation is fairly standard and very similar to the Fallout games. There are different names and descriptions for skills and attributes, but players who have played the Fallout games will find themselves completely at home here.

Each skill belongs in a grouping of three similar skills. They level up together until 50 points, and then from there, they level up individually. At various stages of development (20/40/60/80/100 points), you get perks related to the skill. I found that the combat unlocks were much less interesting than the social/thieving unlocks, but that always tends to be the case for these games. I prefer the unlocking of additional areas or options rather than flat out stomping on enemies!

You can also choose a previous profession, which give slight bonuses or perks. From here, the tongue in cheek character of writing that is going to be a constant throughout the game starts to show up. The hilariously wry descriptions of the jobs...

Upon the first hour or so of the game, you have that feeling of a wide expanse... however, you will start to realise that the game maps don't end up being that big. Sadly, they end up being quite restrictive in comparison to what we've been treated to in other games... and it doesn't really come with an added bump in detail.

Still, that sense of wonder and awe at exploring the landscapes is hard to shake. This is really one beautiful looking game, so much colour! It really brought joy to my heart to see it! I know it is a small thing, but when you see a game world so beautifully crafted....

Then you get into the settlements that are dominated by the mega-corps. You start to understand the hyper-colour of the outside... the contrast between the towns and the nature is just so vast. It's a neat trick!

However, the towns and settlements are where the real meat of the game is. People... with their problems. There is an ongoing clash of ideas between those who want to advance up the mega-corp career ladder... and the idealists who want to strike out into the Wilds and exist as free frontiersmen.

... and you will start incorporating some of these characters into your crew. Strangely, or perhaps not surprisingly... there is a distinct Firefly vibe to some of these characters. The naive, idealist and wide-eyed mechanic?

... the Vicar with a mysterious past?

... the episode where the cargo hold of the Firefly got turned into a pen for cows?

The Unreliable is the ship (which formerly belonged to your squashed contact...) that serves as your hub between travels and missions. There are various places to explore within the ship, and the ability to chat to companions to futher their story... or to poke around their rooms to check out various story flavour items.

... but mostly, you will just change and upgrade equipment here before bouncing out to a new planet or landing.

The ship AI (ADA) is a slightly mysterious entity that seems to take suspiciously easily to the change in command. There is something hiding in her memory... and there are hints that this is not the first time that there has been an unexpected leadership change.

I do tire of the retro-technology art style in many of these games (and films and TV shows...).... I expect my starships and space faring vessels to have progressed far beyond mono-chrome displays and Moon-landing era switches.

From the ship, you can easily flit around the 6 planets and several stations/ships that make up the Halcyon system. Although it appears that you have a large world (several worlds...) to play around in, you will quickly find that landing on a planet just drops you into a fairly tight map with the mission goals tightly nested together.

Combat is perhaps the weakest part of the game... which is a bit unfortunate, as it is also a fairly large chunk of the game. Much of the game plays out in an MMO type fashion... you shoot monsters, and numbers fly off them until they or you are dead. You can slow time in a similar fashion to Fallout, to target enemies more easily... but it isn't really that necessary. Handy, but you can also just strafe and shoot.

So, bullet sponges for enemies that shoot back... very dissapointed! Plus, it doesn't really create that much of a sense of realism to the fighting either... If I plug an enemy with a High Velocity Sniper bullet... or a Rocket... I don't want them absorbing about 50 more of the same before they go down. All without any degradation of their abilities....

... there is an interesting RPG mechanic in flaws. If you take enough damage, you can opt to pick up a character flaw (minuses to various skills/resistance) in exchange for a bonus Perk. It's interesting... but then, most of the perks were not interesting enough to invest in the first place!... so, taking a character hit... for something that is of marginal worth? Nope... no thanks! It would have been more interesting if the flaw came with a unique perk instead... rather than offering a choice of one of the generic ones that you just pick up by leveling up!

Equipment is another bit of an empty mechanic. You have your guns and armour... they can be leveled or have mods attached. But everything is all a bit incremental and the mods are really quite uninteresting, mostly a small bonus or an elemental effect. It's hard getting attached to a particular generic Rifle when a few hours later, you will have generic Rifle Level 2 which completely poops on the previous one... but is otherwise exactly the same.

Visuals, Sound and Performance

On the two machines that I played The Outer Worlds on (the gaming rig and the gaming laptop), it ran really nicely at 1080p on the high refresh rate monitors. It doesn't appear to be a game that heavily taxes gaming machines... but it looks amazingly beautiful at the same time. I think much of that has to do with the lack of attempt at realism, instead aiming for a more distinct art style. I really like it... no, I really LOVE IT!

... although I really dislike the retro feel of the technology, I did enjoy the retro posters and other artworks!

My Thoughts

I have mixed thoughts about The Outer Worlds. I really wanted this to be a game that I could lose myself in... and it is sort of. The art style and narrative world is top notch... I love it, and it makes me so happy to see it!

However, the combat and RPG mechnics... the game elements... are so uninspired. I want to play a GREAT RPG in the manner of Fallout or Skyrim... but I get a First Person MMO instead. Bullet sponge enemies are a thing that belong on consoles or phones... this could have been so much better.

Lots of disappointment, I love the setting and story even if the choices are a bit toy black and white without the difficult morality of serious adult games like The Witcher... but it is such a chore to play. Sad face....

Review Specs

Played at 1080p (144Hz) on:

XMG Fusion 15

CPU: Intel Core i7-9750H
RAM: 16 GB
Storage: SSD (SATA/Nvme)
GPU: Nvidia GTX 2070 Max-Q

Intel BX80662I76700 Core i7-6700 Prozessor (3,4GHz)
6GB EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 SC GAMING
GIGABYTE Z170N-WIFI
Ballistix Sport LT 16GB DDR4
Samsung 960 EVO M.2 512GB
S4 Mini Case (NFC Systems)

Splinterlands (aka the best blockchain game out there!)

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