Reviewed
11.07.2019
Publisher
Private
Division
Developer
Obsidian
Format
1x
BD
Digital
Available
10.25.2019
(US)
$59.99
10.25.2019
(UK)
£42.99
Platforms
XB1,
PS4, Win
Difficulty
Adjustable
Dimensions
3D
View
1st
Person
Genre
Action
/ RPG
Player(s)
1
1
(XBL)
n/a
(co-op)
Options
n/a
Requires
n/a
ESRB
M
- Mature 17+ |
| Introduction |
> The Outer Worlds takes place in a space traveling solar
system with many locations to explore. It's an action/RPG, which is exclusively
played with a fist person view. The player can form a party with two NPCs
max, and is responsible for their equipment. Aside from not having a third
person view, it reminds me quite a bit of Knights of the Old Republic
II on Xbox, also developed by Obsidian.
In KOTOR, one can pause time to make tactical decisions,
while in Outer Worlds, the player can slow time (limited)
for perfect aim. The hacking, item/weapon acquisition, and mind tricks
are all too familiar -- and welcome! The game even has a "Plasma
Cutter", which works just like a Light Saber.
> The story is entertaining, while not full of endless text to read. The
player is marooned on a planet, and must repair a spaceship to explore
the solar system. Along the way, one will align with certain factions and
fight against others. The mission is to discover why the people of the
Halcyon Colony are starving, and others are being used as test subjects.
The player's decisions will decide the fate of citizens, corporations,
and the Halcyon Colony.
> So the game is out for Xbox One, PS4 and
Windows
right now, and to be released on Nintendo Switch some time
in 2020. It's good to see games like this be released on all current platforms.
I'm curious to see if Obsidian releases any DLC in the months
ahead, as it would be welcome. |
| Graphics |
> This game uses the Unreal 4 graphic engine, which many
have grown accustom to by now. It's played entirely with a first person
view, which works well enough. At first look, one might see landscapes,
planets in the sky, and vegetation that are reminiscent of No Man's
Sky. Of course, this is a futuristic sci-fi game, yet many of the
buildings, advertisements, and weapons have a decidedly throwback nature.
That's fine by me. The various, impressive locales include bustling cities,
huge buildings, treacherous terrain, large caves, and space stations. On
the other hand, the enemies are a bit vanilla.
> Most of the enemies in the game are either human or android. The rest
is based on rats, dogs, alligators, apes, and huge insects. They do move
and animate convincingly, though. I especially like the time slowing to
show a close-up of the perfect sniper shot .
> The weapons are varied among clubs, blades, scythes, handguns, rifles,
and launchers. The glaring omission is magic -- how can this be? Oh well,
the weapons at one's disposal look cool, regardless. My favorite looking
melee weapon is the Plasma Cutter (of course), while the Grenade Launcher
is the most impressive gun.
> So what about character creation? It’s a simple, easy set of choices
to create a boring male or an ugly female. One might actually come across
a decent looking guy, but why do some developers insist on making ugly
women in RPGs? Overall, quite weak. |
| Control |
> Ok, now I’ve have some major time on this action/RPG by Obsidian
-- to the tune of 45+ hours. It feels familiar in many ways to KOTOR,
minus the time stoppage for tactical decisions. Instead, one can slow time
for everyone and take better aim. It is mainly a run-and-gun type gameplay,
plus (clunky) fist person melee combat. The ability to change difficulty
mid-stream is welcome, as the eventual wall of frustration (for me) does
arrive. Thankfully, there’s not too much precise platform jumping to be
done. I do love the lock picking, because one either has the stats to succeed
or not — no mini-bs-game. How about stealing? I like this game’s version
— easy to do, and talk or fight one’s way out of it. Lastly, I appreciate
the numerous weapons and armor that can be acquired as well.
> So what about managing level ups and equipment? One earns 10 allocatable
stat points every level, plus the occasional perk point. One can earn and
assign perks for NPC team members as well. Don’t like the direction one’s
character is going? The ability to reassign stat points is available too.
For weapons and armor, it’s mainly about weight; carry too much and one
has to salvage, drop or sell items. It’s easy to decide what to equip,
and to enhance it. The incessant need to repair is lame, though. A cool
feature is the story even involves seeking scientific weapons that have
unique effects. |
| Sound |
> The Outer Worlds has music that focuses on the environment
and the situation at hand. It's largely calm, and occasionally pulse
pounding, especially while a major battle is underway. There's nothing
particularly memorable, and certainly nothing to make you turn the music
down. It's merely effective for the player's current situation. Solid to
be sure.
> The sound effects are [mainly] comprised of groans, grunts, bullets firing,
grenades exploding, blades slashing, and numerous environmental noises.
I do like the little jingle every time one uses a vending machine, though.
The best effect (by far) is the echoing sound of a kill shot -- boom! |
| Fun |
> The game will take about 40-45 hours to complete at a normal pace. Quests
are numerous and reasonable to maintain. There’s no GPS for quest objectives,
but the map marks the target area. Each side-quest is possible to complete,
branch or even fail. I failed at least one quest by killing the person
that gave it to me (lol). One is free to traverse all the locales that
have been opened via quest and key cards. The only thing stopping one from
taking a short cut or accessing a particular location is the usual topography
or occasional invisible wall.
> Admittedly, Outer Worlds would've been much more fun with
a third person view and magic. However, for what is there, the game is
solid and quite satisfying. There's no boring 5-10 minute long cut-scenes
to endure. The story is good and not too overwhelming -- whew. Overall,
I had no problem playing this game through to the end, and would consider
another jaunt at some point. |
| Bottom
Line |
> The Outer Worlds is a great sci-fi RPG, albeit totally first person.
There's no option to play with a third person view, which is preferable.
The saving grace is the echoing sound effect when one snipes a head shot
kill. I think having no magic makes for somewhat boring attacks -- aim,
shoot or swing, etc... The locales are a joy to discover, while the towns,
buildings, and spacecraft can be quite a labyrinth. Anyway, if a single
player, free roaming, first person, action/RPG set in a futuristic solar
system sounds good, then The Outer Worlds is recommended. Just don't expect
flashy graphical effects, long cut-scenes, or huge enemies.
Pro tip: Raise
the lockpick and hacking skills to 100 ASAP, and don't forget about taking
advantage of party bonuses to the player's stats. |
| Ratings |
| Overall: 8.3
| Graphics: 9.0 | Control: 7.5 | Sound: 8.0 | Fun: 8.5 |
~Shinobi~
|
