While the graphics are certainly a bit better than the original, the performance issues from the original have carried over to this release and have been amplified. The game is rife with constant loading stutters regardless of settings. I cannot recommend this at all in its current state. One would be better off playing the original which is quite a bit more manageable in terms of framerate. This poor performance in these modern remastered titles seems to be the rule, rather than the exception.
As of 3/7/23, This version has major performance issues.
While some aspects of the game do look improved (namely lighting on character models), but there are also many questionable artistic *and* gameplay changes, and it overall runs dramatically worse that makes it not worth it regardless.
The game itself is great, and if you're raring to play it, I suggest getting the original for a better experience.
First off I love Outer Worlds. It's smaller in scale than games like New Vegas and Fallout 4, but it is a nice game in that genre. If you enjoy those games and haven't played this, you should. The DLC is great as well.
The "Spacer's Choice Edition" however is a mixed bag. It does offer some significant visual improvements, notably in draw distance and overall crispness thanks to higher res textures and toned down post-processing. It also introduces Global Illumination, which can make for some stunning lighting at times.
Unfortunately many of these changes alter the general look of the game enough that it kinda bothered me, and felt like too much of a revision. The lighting especially does things like turn a wild west style barber shop with bright purple walls and a striking blonde haired barber into a dark and moody room with a dark haired barber. Quite the swap, and every area is like this. The original game also still looks great, especially at the 4k ultra you can likely play it at now, so why change it?
These questionable changes also come at a big cost. I can play the original Outer Worlds at native 4k on ultra settings and a locked 90fps nowadays, but the new version struggles to stay at 60fps even with some things turned down. It also has hitches because Unreal Engine 4 in DX12 mode is trash. So keep in mind that even if you 're more positive on the new look it runs much worse.
All in all at this point in time I'd choose the original version for better performance (90fps is hard to give up once you get used to it). I'd also maybe choose it in 5-10 years because the art changes here are too severe IMO, and it doesn't look as it was designed to. So why buy this?
TL;DR: The original game is far superior; buy it instead.
The new and "improved" graphics look slightly more crisp and detailed. If that were the only change, the Spacer's Choice Edition would be a great upgrade to a beloved game.
Unfortunately, the lighting changes are not all for the better. Some areas are now pitch black and others have lost their ambiance. Worst of all, performance has taken a massive hit. When the graphics quality is maxed out, I get 40-60 fps on average with an RTX 4090. At least it looks pretty, most of the time.
I will stick to playing the old version of the game.
This "upgrade" is hot garbage that should have never been released. Just enjoy the original, as it is a much superior product, and your saves won't transfer over anyways.
