The Outer Worlds

This is one of the hardest reviews to write. So much of The Outer Worlds is polarizing. If you like games like Fallout or Bioshock, this is definitely worth playing, yet it falls far short of those franchises. I played every quest and every dialogue tree I could, along with both DLC, and I finished in 117 hrs. It's a huge world with lots to do. And yet, as I watched the end game montage, I really didn't feel like I had done much of consequence in that time. That is what is frustrating about the Outer Worlds. In terms of graphics, voice acting, and sheer scope, it's an incredible world to visit. The solar system is vast, the worlds are lovingly detailed, and the characters are given excellent voices and some quite funny satirical dialogue throughout. Every weapon, including their upgraded versions, has a unique model and feel, and there are nearly a hundred different clothes and armor sets to deck out your character with and the characters of your shipmates. It's really a cool world and so much hard work went into the designs. And yet. . . As visually distinct as all the weapons are, I rarely ever felt like it mattered much which weapons I chose, or upgrades I installed, or armor I wore (as long as it was beefy). Sure, you can use stealth or fury, melee or ranged weapons, sniper or explosive rounds. But it all ended up feeling the same by the end. The loot felt like the same loot in box after box. The most disappointing aspect is that under the dazzling veneer each location in the solar system felt the same as the others. Unlike a similarly titled game, The Outer Wilds, where each planet in the solar system has its own unique physics and mechanics, here every location looks different but functions basically the same way way: kill critters, fight or talk your way through humans, finish quests. This would have been so much more if it had the creativity of Bioshock or Prey. Is it worth playing? Yes. But it could have been so much more.

First dialogue you have after being given control over your character is with a Patrol guy who's wounded, you get the chance to give him med-packs for him to heal up. But only if you do it before engaging in dialogue with him. If you, foolish as you are, do not hand the med-packs over immediately, you won't be given the choice again. I expected better.

The Outer Worlds feels like Obsidian tried their hand at making a Bethesda-style RPG, while completely forgetting what makes Bethesda games so enduring, so it just ends up feeling mediocre and soulless. The game's story, sidequests, characters and themes can all be boiled down to "CORPORATION BAD", and that's it. There's no depth, no nuance, no shades of grey. The game is written like a cartoon where a band of witty, quirky heroes take on a big bad evil corporation. Compare it to something like New Vegas where the question of which faction is best for the wasteland is a massive, diverse issue with no clear answer. Makes you wonder what happened to Obsidians writing department On top of that, the world feels dead. There's nothing to see, nothing to discover. The maps are small, and the game itself is over in only about 15-20 hours despite having an asking price of 60 dollars.

In other words, "holy @$%, a first-person perspective game I can play without literal nausea." This game had been on my list for a while, but I didn't pick it up until it was on sale because I fall into that category of people for whom first person games cause actual headaches and nausea. Understandably, I hesitated to drop $60 on it therefore. I didn't know about the settings toggle to turn the camera bounce off. Or the ability to increase your own peripheral vision. (Are these things standard in the sort of first-person games OW is frequently compared to in the comments? I haven't seen mention of them in frustrated Google searches before.) In any case, instead of having to close down after about 45 minutes due to feeling unwell, I can now enjoy the game for hours, just as I would my usual isometrics or third-person perspective titles. I only have about 20 hours in the game, having reached Monarch for the first time, and so far I'm enjoying it. A lot of NPCs seem written to stereotype, but I'm having fun with it nonetheless--there are so many punchable people in this game. I'm mostly running with a high-dialogue skill and high-stealth build, and playing (fumbling) sniper, and I appreciate the number of "talk your way out of it" options implemented in the dialogues. In terms of gripes, I do find the consumables overly granular in mechanics, for all they're a bit fun in a worldbuilding and environmental storytelling sort of way. Based on other reviews, I haven't yet gotten to the part where it "gets bad", but it gets a full 5 stars from me for having the sort of accessibility options that let me play it at all. If I'd known about that beforehand, I would have paid full price.

Obsidian is decent when you give them a Franchise and an Engine and do all the leg work for them. They are terrible when it comes to being creative and this is no different. Outer worlds isn't the worst but it's the hardest 5 out of 10 in gaming history. This game is so incredibly average and mediocre there is no need to ever play this game. It provides some humor but that's about all it does right. The atmosphere, graphics, combat. level design, quest, characters, story are all painfully forgettable.