The Outer Worlds | Obsidian
THE OUTER WORLDS ANSWERS A BASIC QUESTION.
Sometimes Less is More.
by Felipe Parada
After getting in a good amount of time with The Outer Worlds, I sat back and asked myself a very interesting question. Something that I really haven't thought of until now. Do we really need games that are 100+ hours long? I mean if you sit back and think about it, how many of these games do you really finish? Thankfully, The Outer Worlds helps us answer this question.
I'm not going to sit here and make comparisons to other games like Borderlands 3 and the Fallout Series. But after playing the Outer Worlds, it's hard not to make the comparison. These are the games that were used to, they are our "comfort" games and they check every box that a game needs. Fetch quests, escort missions, grid loop, these are the mechanics we've all become accustomed to. So you can look at this as one part review and one part article.
The Outer Worlds had a very familiar format but it feels refreshing at the same time. There's no unnecessary grind or pointless fetch quests. Every mission feels unique and part of the overall narrative. The game will run you anywhere from 30 - 40 hours depending on your playstyle. There are multiple ways to engage any situation and that's where the game really shines.
The world building is, wait for it……. out of this world. The Outer Worlds takes a page out of games like Destiny and God of War when it comes to the size of the open worlds. Even though this is an open world game, you are given small areas of a larger world to explore. These are called "Exploration Zones" and they are much more digestible than trying to tackle a gigantic open world like Grand Theft Auto or RedDead Redemption. In all honesty, I prefer these smaller exploration zones because the exploration feels worthwhile. You're not just exploring an empty wasteland, there's a real sense of discovery and unpredictability that current open world games lack. Also having your companions along for the journey adds to the seller world building that Obsidian is known for.
The Outer Worlds has some real gorgeous locations.
The Outer Worlds | Obsidian
The interaction between you and your companions have a real sense of weight and it never feels like it's shoehorned in for the sake of narrative. Hearing your companions have separate conversations about their past help expand the ever growing lore of The Outer Worlds. There were a handful of times where you approach an NPC, only to have him or her start a conversation with one of your companions. It’s a nice touch on how the world interacts with one another. It was this mechanic that led me to try and interact with every NPC just to see if there was any backstory between its inhabitants.
This type of interaction carries over to the combat in The Outer World's. The moment to moment gunplay differs from other titles. On the harder difficulties, if your companions die, they stay dead. So sometimes it's better to avoid confrontation until you reach a higher level. I'll admit, I am so used to running and gunning that forcing myself to slow down felt odd at first. I kinda felt bad that my companions were dying so I had to switch up my tactics just to make sure they were able to see the next encounter.
Not since Final Fantasy XV have I cared about a group of companions this much. You can only imagine my anxiety hearing my companions scream out "Get it off, get it off!!!" while in the middle of a gunfight. I can only imagine the pain I will feel when permadeath is active on Supernova difficult. I'll pose a question to those who have played the game. Can you really picture yourself losing Parvati? I really think that reason alone will prevent me from playing Supernova difficulty.
And after all that time spent with your companions, getting to know them, stopping an evil corporation with them and listening to their advice on missions, it all comes to an end. But it's not an exhausting type of conclusion that you feel after completing most RPG's. It's the type of conclusion that makes you want to start up the game again just to see how differently it plays out. I can easily see myself running through this game multiple times.
Conclusion
The Outer Worlds is a game that does not waste your time, and I really appreciate that. There are so many games in my backlog that may never get finished because of the sheer length of the game. Games like Assassin's Creed Odyssey, The Witcher 3, Red Dead Redemption 2 can all be praised for the amount of content offered, but in this case, is more always better?
The Outer Worlds is not one of those games that gets placed in the backlog bin. This is mainly due to its great pacing and brilliant world building. This game might just have the perfect length, and can be put right next to another almost perfect game called Marvel's Spider-Man.
Check out some of the early game play below.
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