When I first heard of The Outer Worlds during the 2018 Video Game Awards ("VGAs"), I was skeptical to say the least. While Obsidian Entertainment had some powerhouse development staff that worked on the original two Fallout games and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords ("KOTOR 2"), they also had a had a somewhat troubled track record. KOTOR 2 and Fallout: New Vegas were notorious for their bugs and Obsidian's last attempt at a big shooter/RPG, Alpha Protocol was critically slammed.
The numerous game play demonstrations following the announcement of The Outer Worlds, did little to assuage my skepticism. From a distance, this game seems like nothing more than a half-hearted attempt to ape modern Fallout titles, but actually playing the game made me realize that The Outer Worlds is one of the most compelling RPG experiences in recent memory.
It should be no surprise that The Outer Worlds takes cues from the modern Fallout titles. Obsidian worked on Fallout: New Vegas, after all, but calling this game a clone or Fallout-like does it a disservice.
BE YOURSELF
Combat features a mechanical tribute to Fallout's V.A.T.S system, called Tactical Time Dilation, or T.T.D. Unlike V.A.T.S, this new system does not pause time completely and still requires the player to manually aim their weapon. Shooting different body parts yields different effects, both in and out of T.T.D. Shooting an enemy NPC in the leg might cause them to fall, shooting them in the head induces a negative "blindness" status effect. Certain weapons have special effects that activate on hitting a target in the chest, including knock back effects and even an effect that temporarily knocks targets unconscious. T.T.D will highlight the effect of shooting a weapon at a body part, but even more, it provides flavor text on the target and even their mental state. I found T.T.D useful for killing alerted enemies before they could sound the alarm while trying to sneak or when my holographic shroud failed.
Weapons and armor require repair with use. The more often you fire a particular weapon or take hits in certain armor, the more that item's condition will decrease and become less effective. There are two ways of dealing with damaged equipment in The Outer Worlds, replacement or repair. Items in this game are not all that hard to come by, odds are that a player is likely to have some effective weapons or armor at any time. Repair ultimately becomes more appealing than replacement as you start indulging in weapon modification. Repair is far from costly, all weapons and armor can be broken down into weapon and armor parts that can be used universally in each item type.
Stealth is underdeveloped and while later areas are more conducive to a stealth based play style, it is an area I'd like to see Obsidian improve in any sequel or similar project. Stealth functions somewhat similarly to Fallout. However, The Outer Worlds opts for individual indicators over each enemy. Early on, it was somewhat difficult to determine the field of vision of enemies, some kind of indicator inside of T.T.D could be useful. Regardless, enemy AI is weak regarding stealth and stealth dedicated routes are oddly missing in missions.The holographic shroud -- a device that acts as a holographic disguise -- is given to players early but it is only applicable to certain restricted areas and require a faction specific ID to use, this idea should be expanded upon if there’s a sequel.
Melee combat can be fun but it too suffers from being underdeveloped. Not once did I notice any sort of enemy reaction -- like knock back -- to my blocking in melee and I quickly abandoned it as useless. That said, using dodge and T.T.D can leave you feeling like a ninja, quickly dodging attacks and taking an enemy from behind.
Companions can be equipped with any weapon and wear any armor with no penalty. Any equipment your companions do use is still available for your character if you un-equip them, and they do not suffer any degradation to their condition.
Companions are pretty useful in combat if they're properly equipped and utilized. Companions can be ordered to go to a particular position, return to the player character, or to focus fire on a particular enemy. Companion aggression levels, follow distance, and ranged/melee preference can also be set individually.
The numerous game play demonstrations following the announcement of The Outer Worlds, did little to assuage my skepticism. From a distance, this game seems like nothing more than a half-hearted attempt to ape modern Fallout titles, but actually playing the game made me realize that The Outer Worlds is one of the most compelling RPG experiences in recent memory.
It should be no surprise that The Outer Worlds takes cues from the modern Fallout titles. Obsidian worked on Fallout: New Vegas, after all, but calling this game a clone or Fallout-like does it a disservice.
BE YOURSELF
Character customization in The Outer Worlds is extensive, for those inclined, the character creator can offer potentially hours of fun.
The Outer Worlds' character creator is heavily inspired by Fallout, while it does not ape the latter's S.P.E.C.I.A.L system it certainly is reminiscent of it. Upon creating your character's face, you'll be asked to apportion your attribute points into strength, dexterity, intelligence, perception, charm, and temperament. Each of the attributes can be decreased for more attribute points and increased.
When attributes are decreased to "below average" a serious, game changing penalty is imposed. If you lower your temperament to "below average," you'll find that you no longer have the ability to regenerate health passively, requiring you to rely more heavily on health consumables. Attributes can be boosted temporarily by some consumables and can be permanently reduced even under "below average."
Players also choose an aptitude, this is a character building opportunity as it involves choosing a profession for your character before the events of the game. Aptitudes offer a small boast to skills, for example, sous chef grants a plus one to the one-handed melee skill, and they do not have any bearing on your story and questing experience in the game.
Skills are divided into several categories and are partly influenced by attributes. The skill categories include: defense, ranged, melee, dialog, stealth, tech, and leadership. Until a particular skill in a category is 50, skill points must be apportioned to the skill category versus an individual skill. In this system, adding one point to the "melee" category raises both one-handed and two-handed melee skills by 1, once one of those skills reaches 50, the skills in the category must be leveled independently. Skills gain a special bonus or ability at every 20 points.
The Outer Worlds offers even more character customization by awarding perks every second level. Perks can have effects like increasing carrying weight or turning head shot kills into concussive explosions that damage nearby enemies. Perks can also be gained in exchange for accepting a flaw.
Flaws are negative perks that the game gives you an opportunity to accept when you've experienced a damage type, enemy, or circumstance a requisite number of times. Players can take 4 flaws on the highest difficulty under the Supernova survival mode. Flaws can effect attributes, damage susceptibility, and even movement speed. Perks can be pretty useful, so I had no problem accepting 3, even if the combined effect of my flaws removed my ability to regenerate health and forced me to use my inhaler to heal like some asthmatic space pirate.
The Outer Worlds offers even more character customization by awarding perks every second level. Perks can have effects like increasing carrying weight or turning head shot kills into concussive explosions that damage nearby enemies. Perks can also be gained in exchange for accepting a flaw.
Flaws are negative perks that the game gives you an opportunity to accept when you've experienced a damage type, enemy, or circumstance a requisite number of times. Players can take 4 flaws on the highest difficulty under the Supernova survival mode. Flaws can effect attributes, damage susceptibility, and even movement speed. Perks can be pretty useful, so I had no problem accepting 3, even if the combined effect of my flaws removed my ability to regenerate health and forced me to use my inhaler to heal like some asthmatic space pirate.
BOOM, HEADSHOT
The combat and the perspective are the most pointed to aspects of this game that are compared to Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 4, and rightly so. The first person perspective in all three titles is an effective way of immersing a player in the setting no matter how alien that setting may seem. The combat here is alright, the shooting mechanics are not on par with something like Borderlands 3, but the options are broad enough to let you role play any kind of character you want in combat. For instance, I'm a big fan of playing cowboy or wanderer type characters in sci-fi RPGs, so I specialized in handguns, one handed melee, and some stealth skills.Combat features a mechanical tribute to Fallout's V.A.T.S system, called Tactical Time Dilation, or T.T.D. Unlike V.A.T.S, this new system does not pause time completely and still requires the player to manually aim their weapon. Shooting different body parts yields different effects, both in and out of T.T.D. Shooting an enemy NPC in the leg might cause them to fall, shooting them in the head induces a negative "blindness" status effect. Certain weapons have special effects that activate on hitting a target in the chest, including knock back effects and even an effect that temporarily knocks targets unconscious. T.T.D will highlight the effect of shooting a weapon at a body part, but even more, it provides flavor text on the target and even their mental state. I found T.T.D useful for killing alerted enemies before they could sound the alarm while trying to sneak or when my holographic shroud failed.
Weapons and armor require repair with use. The more often you fire a particular weapon or take hits in certain armor, the more that item's condition will decrease and become less effective. There are two ways of dealing with damaged equipment in The Outer Worlds, replacement or repair. Items in this game are not all that hard to come by, odds are that a player is likely to have some effective weapons or armor at any time. Repair ultimately becomes more appealing than replacement as you start indulging in weapon modification. Repair is far from costly, all weapons and armor can be broken down into weapon and armor parts that can be used universally in each item type.
Stealth is underdeveloped and while later areas are more conducive to a stealth based play style, it is an area I'd like to see Obsidian improve in any sequel or similar project. Stealth functions somewhat similarly to Fallout. However, The Outer Worlds opts for individual indicators over each enemy. Early on, it was somewhat difficult to determine the field of vision of enemies, some kind of indicator inside of T.T.D could be useful. Regardless, enemy AI is weak regarding stealth and stealth dedicated routes are oddly missing in missions.The holographic shroud -- a device that acts as a holographic disguise -- is given to players early but it is only applicable to certain restricted areas and require a faction specific ID to use, this idea should be expanded upon if there’s a sequel.
Companions can be equipped with any weapon and wear any armor with no penalty. Any equipment your companions do use is still available for your character if you un-equip them, and they do not suffer any degradation to their condition.
Companions are pretty useful in combat if they're properly equipped and utilized. Companions can be ordered to go to a particular position, return to the player character, or to focus fire on a particular enemy. Companion aggression levels, follow distance, and ranged/melee preference can also be set individually.
SINGLE PLAYER: NOW BETTER WITH FRIENDS!
If any of Obsidian's past projects can be pointed to as influencing The Outer Worlds' companions, you'd be hard pressed to say Fallout: New Vegas. KOTOR II's influence on Obsidian's latest outing is plain to see, companions will comment on the game area and interject during conversations with certain NPCs. Having certain companions with you will even sometimes defuse interactions otherwise damned to end in violence.
Five of the six companions have individual quest lines that are pretty lengthy and give you good insight into who these people are and why they decided to join your crew. At least one of these quests gives you the opportunity to make a choice that will lead to a companion leaving out of disgust, a la Bioware's Dragon Age: Origins.
There were times that I disembarked from my ship alone, usually for role playing purposes, I found myself missing the crew dialog and wondering what certain characters would think. I cared about my companions and their stories and you're missing out if you don't bring them with you at least some of the time.
SHADES OF GREY
Halcyon is home to several factions, from religious apostates and criminal organizations, to domineering, system spanning conglomerates. Your decisions in conversation can effect a faction's opinion of you, but so can your decision to kill or steal from certain factions in general exploration. Mess with a particular faction too much, and you'll become hated by them and a target for execution on sight.
My reputation with a particular faction was so negative, that I was unable to initiate the quests offered in Byzantium. Nearly the entire population of Byzantium were hostile to me, and I had to kill quite a few named quest giving characters who had attacked me while others would not even speak to me. The game did not break, instead, I was still able to resolve the main plot quests and companion quests on the planet,l but it was clear that certain options were either locked off or made much more difficult by the city being on alert for my character. This negative reputation and consequence was the result of my flippant choice to exterminate the entire guard and civilian staff of one of that faction's factories on another planet.
Multidimensional characters are the rule rather than the exception. Every scenario has a number of different solutions even when they are deliberately portrayed as binary. Early on, I found myself reverting to old saves after regretting an impulsive decision before realizing that there were 2, maybe three other ways to solve the situation.
The writing in The Outer Worlds is fantastic. On first glance, the story of The Outer Worlds is typical science fiction faire in the vain of Star Wars or Firefly, however, as a choice driven RPG, The Outer Worlds has a unique trait, reactivity. Your choices matter here, both in conversations and in the actions you take in game play at large through the faction reputation system.
Halcyon is home to several factions, from religious apostates and criminal organizations, to domineering, system spanning conglomerates. Your decisions in conversation can effect a faction's opinion of you, but so can your decision to kill or steal from certain factions in general exploration. Mess with a particular faction too much, and you'll become hated by them and a target for execution on sight.
My reputation with a particular faction was so negative, that I was unable to initiate the quests offered in Byzantium. Nearly the entire population of Byzantium were hostile to me, and I had to kill quite a few named quest giving characters who had attacked me while others would not even speak to me. The game did not break, instead, I was still able to resolve the main plot quests and companion quests on the planet,l but it was clear that certain options were either locked off or made much more difficult by the city being on alert for my character. This negative reputation and consequence was the result of my flippant choice to exterminate the entire guard and civilian staff of one of that faction's factories on another planet.
Multidimensional characters are the rule rather than the exception. Every scenario has a number of different solutions even when they are deliberately portrayed as binary. Early on, I found myself reverting to old saves after regretting an impulsive decision before realizing that there were 2, maybe three other ways to solve the situation.
Many of the alternative options become apparent once you invest more time in the world and the characters on either side of a particular issue. By purposefully burying certain solutions behind certain quest lines and dialog, Obsidian rewards dedicated players in a better way than items or minor world building. While there are certain major players in the story that seem one note, these are an exception and in line with the themes of the story.
A (not quite) OPEN WORLD
GRAPHICS AND PERFORMANCE
The Outer Worlds uses smaller environments than most other games in the RPG genre. The areas in this game are spread out across numerous locations in the Halcyon system, whether they be planets, asteroids or enormous colony ships. Despite their comparatively small sizes, each location is aesthetically interesting and packed with content. It took me several hours to finish the starting area, Emerald Vale, alone.
While the size of the areas allows for the game to be more content dense and for the areas to be more tightly designed it also increases the incidents of loading screens. Players will spend a lot of time in loading screens between entering and leaving towns or their ship, as well as fast travelling.
At times, The Outer Worlds can be beautiful, although a lot of the time I noticed that some textures were muddy. I also noticed a clear performance increase playing the game on Xbox One X compared to the original Xbox One. I noticed significant texture pop-in on Xbox One and some frame-rate stutter.
CONCLUSION AND SCORE
The Outer Worlds has average combat and an annoying number of loading screens as well as an insane degree of customization, its parts amount to a role playing experience beyond anything else in the current generation of gaming.
Rating: 4/5
What did you think of The Outer Worlds? Let me know in the comments!
What did you think of The Outer Worlds? Let me know in the comments!
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