The Outer Worlds | Review | Xbox One

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If you've heard anything about The Outer Worlds it was likely in the same breath as some other properties, such as The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Fallout: New Vegas, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and even titles without a colon in their name like Mass Effect or Bioshock. Those games appear to have influenced the developers (Obsidian themselves having worked on some of them) but it would be disingenuous to claim there's nothing to set this new IP apart from the precursors that were instrumental in its construction.

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by Chris
Brand

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@SuperCrisco

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Developer: Obsidian
Entertainment
Publisher: Private
Division
Platforms: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, Switch (2020)
​Players: 1

It all starts in the Halcyon Colony, a far off star system in which corporations are the de facto government. Indentured workers are commonplace and The Board, composed of many corporate entities, respects nothing but profit. Once you're pulled out of stasis by Phineas Welles, a relatively sane scientist, you are given the task of helping the rest of the unfortunates on your ship who are still blissfully frozen, sticking it to The Man as you go (or not, should you elect to walk a different path).

The character creation process is much as one would expect, going into this with the aforementioned Bethesda RPGs in mind. The all-important attributes will lay the foundations for your playstyle, whether it's more Sam Fisher, Noam Chomsky, Rambo or an all-round "Sam Chombo" build. It's a rather streamlined, efficient, procedure without sacrificing build diversity nor the complexities that an open world RPG typically offers.

At this point, the game provides few options when it comes to allocating skill points, which may be discouraging, but this is completely mitigated by awarding you with a whopping 10 pips for each level gained. This method is further enhanced due to skills being contained within groups of 2 or 3, which allows you to buff multiple skills by adding a single point into their parent category (until a skill hits level 50, then it's business as usual).

Stepping out into the game's first open world area, we were taken aback by the use of colour. Vibrant hues are abundant among the flora and fauna that are native to the handful of celestial bodies you'll be required to explore, each with their own, slightly differing, ecosystems. Even in subterranean caves where earthy browns and muted greys are the norm, there's swathes of neon from glowing fungus and the occasional anti-personnel mines, which seem to have been purposefully placed but, as tourists to this particular patch of space, we can't be sure aren't naturally occurring.

As is the fashion, quests can be completed in a number of ways. If you aren't built for stealth or wish to avoid stealing, a silver tongue may grant access to restricted areas or there's the standard RPG trope of a quid pro quo arrangement. Failing that, most folks won't argue with a flamethrower. At least, not for very long.

Many of the faces you'll meet are exaggerated caricatures, some endlessly parroting the company slogan through fear of punishment, others holding a genuine belief in the propaganda. Whilst this could wear thin, it's well-written satire that’s wonderfully performed by the voice actors, and serves to illuminate the "real" characters that have a more prominent role. Parvati, a companion you'll encounter early on (and one of our favourites), is a pleasure to travel with, not only for her combat and passive abilities, but her wholesome, innocent charm.

Your party will often run into trouble, even if it's a conscious decision made only to test out the whacky Science Weapons hidden around Halcyon. Fights are fast and frantic with smooth gunplay, which will feel familiar to anyone who's played a recent Fallout or Borderlands, but they're over a little too quickly on the easier difficulties. On hard mode and, presumably, Supernova (where food, water and sleep become necessary) a bit of forethought is required.

Tactical Time Dilation is a more skill-based V.A.T.S which slows the action to a crawl, allowing you a few free shots to damage and debuff the biggest threats, while each companion has a special ability to both damage and stun foes. Utilising these abilities will give you an edge, though it's important to regularly update your loadout and use the correct damage types. Consumables can be mixed in with your standard health packs, giving short-lived bonuses to stats. So ubiquitous are these items, that we found ourselves using them before, during and after engagements, yet still our pockets were overflowing.

An, albeit minor, sticking point is the game’s Flaws mechanic. After taking enough of a certain type of damage, say, from a specific enemy or too much head trauma, you'll be prompted to accept or decline a Flaw, a permanent condition that negatively impacts your stats in exchange for an extra Perk. Up to four Flaws can be accrued on Normal Mode, while higher difficulties feature more. It's a great idea for those fully committed to the role-playing aspect, whereby too many encounters with a certain type of foe could trigger ‘anxiety’ (read: debuffs) when near that enemy, but the hit to your stats rarely seems like a fair trade as the Perks, whilst providing concrete benefits, are largely unimaginative.

With that said, there's nothing that really detracts from the experience as a whole and our biggest gripe is having to wait years for the inevitable sequel. The Outer Worlds is a better Fallout than Fallout 4 and the shorter runtime (around 20 - 30 hours) is offset by having more replayability than its contemporaries. The fact that it's also free for Xbox Game Pass subscribers is just icing on the cake.

Pros

• A thoughtful narrative, interwoven with satire, that's begging for repeated playthroughs
• Beautifully designed alien worlds with a fittingly eerie soundtrack
• A brilliant cast of characters
• Plenty of references for sci-fi fans
• Some highly amusing dialogue options

Cons

• Perks aren't exciting enough to make Flaws seem worthwhile

9/10