The Outer Worlds - Review

If only hyper-sleep was available to me now. I would use it to go.... I dunno I’m gunna take a nap, well not yet because it’s time to dive into The Outer Worlds!

Setting up your attributes is a really great intro into the game, lying in your hibernation chamber you need to co-ordinate the values in which you’re going to assign to your Body, Mind and your personality. Each of these has an effect on your character and it is important you pay attention to it because it will give you the base to work on. Moving on to your Aptitude at this point you need to designate your job. I decided to go with an Electrician as it lowered shock damage, which I hoped would come in handy once I thaw out. After picking your occupation next comes your character design. Incredibly detailed doesn’t really seem to sum this creation tool up, there is so much choice and variation that the ability to be individualistic is so large.

Phineas Welles saves you from the frozen colony and ejects you out into the unknown to begin your journey. Crushing the only hope, you have the mini tutorial begins and you come across an injured guard. The ‘choose your own adventure’ style conversation dictates your skill increases and the type of person you want to become. I for some reason always tend to go down the intimidation path to get what I want so that’s always fun to staunch out the people you come across. Pressuring your victim to tell you where you are, is a great way to progress things and here it is almost optional, as each time you encounter a new location, there is a lot you can gleam from a cursory glance at it, or if you dig deep you will find more. Sometimes it is as obscure as locating a small undeleted file on a computer, or as large as an entire hidden basement, the point is, that the story will grow and the world becomes more alive, the more you investigate it.

The TTD or ‘Tactical Time Dilation’ is a welcome complication for being in suspended animation for approximately 70 years. This gives you the ability to slow down time to clearly think about your next action and potentially get that beautiful headshot on an unsuspecting enemy. ‘Auntie Cleo Management Training’ is the next addition on your journey. This unlocks the skill improvement section for when you level up, unlocking specialized skills and changing them within this menu and after a few minutes of checking it out you’re able to get a grip on it extremely easily. Having a background in Fallout also makes it a lot easier to grasp the ins and outs of the game but just like New Vegas, everything is a more simplex version. Being able to complete or possibly change the narrative is all skill based. Managing your skill tree is really important and deciding where to place your points effectively will definitely help you drive the story and character you want. Naturally, being an aggressor, I chose to be more of a fighter than converse and change people’s perceptions of me. This meant when having a chat with people and trying to convince them into giving me things or helping me, I had to shoot first and leave the talking until later.

As the story is very detailed and involved, I managed to get off the original planet after stealing the identity of the ship captain and flying off into the sunset. Once you gain this ability, you have a flight map where you can jump to different planets to complete missions. Because of the non-linear storyline, you choose where to go and what to do next which is something I love. Having an underlying guidance of what missions need to be completed but in no necessary order is always a favourite of mine. It means I drive the story and if it changes because of something I have or haven’t done, then that is something that appeals to me.

With the vast weapons, armour, add-ons and missions I found that the whole menu was super simple and didn’t need to be a super savvy player to get used to it. Navigating through was smooth and easy to digest. However, because you’re scavenging constantly you need to smart with what you keep, use and breakdown because it can really help you build a really powerful character. Along with this, the first-person shooting mechanics were really smooth and once I had dialled in my sensitivity, I was firing true. Along with this you have the option to bring along companions with you. Picking them up along your travels or not if you don’t want to, adds another dimension by giving you a crew. With this, you can build their skills to help you in specific situations and these guys and gals are essential to maintaining a tight ship (pardon the pun). Each time you set off you can pick which folks join you in your expeditions.

These days developers are trying to put out something truly breathtaking. With hardware available everyone is pushing the envelope and Obsidian have not forgotten to do this. It seems like they have found every single colour in the spectrum and built an environment in which this flourishes. I constantly found myself lost in the breathtaking surroundings and the array of creative creatures that are scattered everywhere. As the game world is broken up into a series of larger spaces, rather than one singular open space, it gives them more freedom to have fun with a space, instead of having to have one location blend into another. Combining that sense of wonder, along with the unique creatures, towns and people, you easily feel a sense that this is a world that is truly fantastic and not just because of the colour palette.

The potential of The Outer Worlds is truly limitless just like the universe. I believe that once DLC’s are released this game has longevity and is extremely futureproof with the amazing beauty of the graphics. After playing intense FPS and RPG games for so long, it’s nice to be able to take a break and travel around an immersive world and get lost in it. The Outer Worlds does this perfectly, and you will really be able to jump straight in and lose hours and hours to this.