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The Outer Worlds, the new franchise from Obsidian Entertainment, belongs to a subset of computer role-playing games I play with great fervor, until I hit a certain threshold. By then I realize I'm totally burnt out. If I'm not finished, I try to wrap up the main quest as quickly as possible, with no desire to ever return. Every Fallout and Elder Scrolls game I've played has followed this pattern.Experiences like these are driven by curiosity above all. The Outer Worlds holds a great many things to explore, be it maps, characters, skill trees, loot, combat mechanics or stories. You're constantly planning ahead, juggling dozens of goals in your head. It's as if your mind's wrapped up in the future, with your gameplay trying to catch up. As you explore the world to sate this curiosity, however, you lose your driving force. Your mind returns to the present, and you discover that the mechanics alone are not good enough to make you keep playing.
In the unique case of The Outer Worlds, this threshold hit me just as I finished the main quest. I rarely see RPG:s with such a knack for distributing its goods. A constant flow of new areas, quests, mechanics, character levels and lore bits keep the motor running throughout. Then it splutters and dies just as the game ends. It's like an intense romance - I loved every minute of it, but let's never try it again.
EARTH CORRUPTING SPACE
The Outer World's events take place in a future of a different timeline than ours, where megacorporations attempt to settle worlds in the outskirts of our galaxy. Ten different companies vie for control, in spite of them all belonging to the same umbrella company, called Halcyon Holdings. They all act according to the will of The Board, a group of company executives acting as the colonies' government. They are tyrannical, demanding blind obedience from their employees.The goofiness takes the bite off the message, but not the edge. Hacking into computer terminals all over the world, or by talking to people in hushed voices, you learn of the workers' plights. They're stuck in an Orwellian nightmare so blatant, you cannot help but snicker as the companies use scare tactics and window-dressing to try and hide it.
YOUR PART IN THIS NIGHTMARE
As for your part in it, you're a crew member on The Hope, a Halcyon Holdings ship that went missing 70 years ago. When the opening cinematic begins, you're stuck in cryo-sleep, drifting at the edge of the galaxy (among the eponymous "Outer Worlds"). You know nothing of the world, and the world knows nothing of you or The Hope.
A BRAVE NEW WORLD
Spread out over a few maps, this universe holds a few planets, a big spaceship and a small space station. The planets have all reached different stages of terraforming, with unforeseen side effects giving rise to new, strange species of animals and plant life. It gives the environments an uncanny look, a bit familiar but also unreal - things like purple space-gorillas, gallivanting through a field of man-sized cotton flowers beneath a gas giant in the sky.The settlements are where the magic happens. Here, you gather quests, interact with people, hack into computers to learn secrets, outfit yourself and learn about the strange new world in general. This is also where your dialogue skills come into play and the story develops. With top-notch character and dialogue writing, you might feel a little hesitant to ever leave the settlements behind.
You'll find most of your six companions in the settlements, as well, and they all have their own well-developed story arcs worth completing. They do not necessarily tie in with the main quest, but share the same theme of breaking free from the shackles of their past.
A lot of players seem to have taken a shine to Parvati, the awkward ship mechanic, who falls madly in love with a fellow mechanic on another spaceship. Her personal quest is about prepping her for a date with said mechanic, which costs a fortune and tries my patience. Instead, my favorite companion is Vicar Max, who attempts to peddle the religion of scientism on the rest of the crew, until his personal quest forces him to question his entire perception of life. I'm forty, and this is deep.
The dialogue tree deserves special praise, with conversations flowing more naturally than anything I've witnessed in similar games. Many lines are one-offs, specifically designed to allow the player to bring forth character personality. If your character lacks intelligence, you can express this through dialogue (I didn't try this myself). This has no bearing on the plot, but turns the player character into more than just an empty shell.
A PLETHORA OF SYSTEMS
A lot of hostility await you outside the settlements, be it animals, auto-mechanicals or crazed outcast raiders. The Outer Worlds sports an adequate assortment of weapons and protection, all customizable and upgradeable, and a few unique science weapons with hilarious effects that has to be seen to be believed. One particular skill allows you to slow down time, a real asset if you're going for a sniper build.I'm afraid combat is no more than serviceable, which is a pity, considering how much hostility you face. With all your combat options dumped into mods, perks and skills, The Outer Worlds basically employs stat-based combat behind a facade of cheap action. Every fight plays out more or less the same, and there's not many moves you can do to mix it up. You're doing little more than trading blows.
Luckily, it offers a lot of freedom in tackling quests, as has become the Obsidian trademark. More often than not, you may talk your way out of hostility, sneak around it, or send forth your companions to fight for you. And since you earn most of your experience through completing quests, avoiding combat hardly affects your skill progress.
However, I find the strange grouping of skills discourages a versatile playstyle. When you level up, you put points into groups of skills, instead of individual skills (up to a certain point). Unfortunately, the skills are bundled together with others of a similar game mechanic. All dialogue skills are grouped, prompting a dialogue-heavy playthrough is you focus on them. The same goes for leadership, stealth, ranged combat and technical skills, etc. Had Obsidian instead mixed the skill groups up a bit, players would be inclined to experiment more.
TOUGH LOVE
This is something for them to consider for the sequel, which I hope is coming, because this part ends with just another beginning. Being the savior of the colonies is thankless and hard. It constantly rains on your parade. If you bring someone medicine, you might save a life. But in this game saving one often means leaving someone else to die. Due to the inhumane rule of The Board, there ain't enough of anything to go round. Heck, there's not enough of you to go round.In trying to solve this dilemma, your own moral compass might fail you. Whatever choice you make is not going to be clear-cut good or bad. It might end up muddying that worldview you cherish instead of strengthening it. In the end, the answers you seek might be found outside your belief system.
Obsidian have once again created an appealing universe, worthy of exploration through different perspectives. With great quest design, strengthened by thought-provoking writing, I feel like we've only seen the beginning of an epic.
Although I had a great time with it, I closed the book on it as the credits rolled. I am not interested in exploring the different story choices. I had enough of those to make my time with it personal. The world I shaped is my canonical version of The Outer Worlds, chapter one, and I'll think back on it with pride and nostalgia. Let's not alter that. For me, this part of the story is over.
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