The Outer Worlds Review

"Fallout in Space!"

Campaign

October 28, 2019 at 8:53pm
By Jason Stettner

This is the latest RPG experience from Obsidian, and it’s definitely a wild one. You get to start by creating whatever sort of colonist you want to be and then awaken from sleep. Time has passed, a lot apparently.

There’s what I would equate to a mad type scientist that awakens you and just sends you off onto a nearby planet to meet his associate. Things go horribly wrong and you need to make your own way within the Halcyon colony.

There’s not really a mystery going on in this, but it sure does bring an over the top sort of narrative that’s just awesome to explore. The core story isn’t necessarily long, but it is awesome. Your real value from this one in terms of gameplay time is entirely up to you. There’s a vast system of planets or well little satellite areas to explore along the way. You’ll get more out of this if you take the time to explore, visit those other places and meet people. Many of the folks out there have stories, or if you’re lucky some quests to go on.

The main narrative is chunky enough, but there are so many other quests to take part. Some companion options, or just other ventures you’ll find as you take in this series of strange alien worlds. It’s just generally a lot of fun, and the elements I’ve described all filter into what’s a game of just choice. You can do whatever you want, whenever you want. The story changes based on the small or big changes you make and you can see these played out as you continue along.

It’s great, as the entire direction I was headed was based on how I wanted it to be. There’s a excellent sense of freedom in sculpting the tale you weave through, and that offers a lot of replay value to do stranger things with new characters. You could also use a series of save points, no one’s judging you. That leads into one element that’s disappointing, is that you can’t continue playing after you finish the main story.

You have to go back to a certain save point to do so. That’s not a huge negative, but at the same time I wanted to keep progressing in this landscape. I also found that the romance options which are non-existent to be something that felt like it was missing in this. You had companions with a quest or two, but they didn’t have as great of a connection to what was happening as they could have.

Gameplay

This is one strange looking experience that comes across as Fallout, while being very polished. It’s clean, yet old looking and that just works ever so well and I’m generally talking about the base mechanics or UI elements. The places you visit are stunning in their own way, there’s just an amazing sense of depth within them. I was particularly blown away by Monarch, it’s just so gorgeous to take in and very lively. There’s so much going on, too many things to discover and many folks that you can interact with.

These interactions define your experience, as does the type of character you create. You get to spend skill points as you level and become better at various situations. You can gain charisma like I did for better dialogue, or become a master at combat. Perhaps you’re more into stealth, that’s your choice. The dialogue is full of wit, there are many laughs to be had and it just largely let’s you tell it how it is out there. There are also perks that you occasionally get, as do your companions. If that’s not enough, defects might show up that you can choose for some bonuses.

You’ll get to find a large range of weapons, clothing or items that will assist you. These can all get damaged, you can find better stuff and there’s a lot to these inventory type systems. You can also modify your weapons to make them better, and again that leans into the elements of choice. There’s just a lot to do, many buildings to enter and so many possible situations that can happen. It loads relatively quick and runs well with only minor performance dips that appear every so often.

I was able to play this on Xbox One X and it looked wonderful, it really is hard to describe the great level of visual depth and quality that is present here. It handles well, the combat is dynamic and I loved the time slowing element to placing your shots. A clever way to do something different and fun. I also loved how quests left room for creative problem solving, at times making fun of traditional game based formulas of play.

The Conclusion

The Outer Worlds is a truly unique experience that brings great levels of humor, lively locations and what feels like complete freedom in how you want to go about doing things. You’re not necessarily forced to do anything in this, and you can tackle situations however you’d like to. If you want to move through the main story, do that. If you’re interested in going out there and seeing what’s available, go right ahead.

Create your own characters, forge a path with neat companions and hopefully see everything the Halcyon has to offer. There’s a lot, and it’s not too ridiculously massive as well. It’s nice to see a game that has you wanting even more, yet feeling perfectly content with what you’re given. I had a grand time playing this, it felt like my kind of game and it’s totally worth revisiting to do different things within. I hope we get to see this universe of corporations expanded as its wacky and so fun. This really does feel like Fallout, in space!

Read our Control Review
View our The Outer Worlds Hub

The Outer Worlds Review on Xbox One X
Review Code Provided by Private Division

Rating Overall: 8.6