The Outer Worlds
After my disappointment in playing the demo of the button-smashing effort of Indivisible and my failure to grasp the retro-fascination with Myst or the recently released realMyst, I turned my attention to another game...
The Outer Worlds was a big surprise for everyone. If you read my review of Pillars of Eternity, you may realize that the developer, Obsidian Entertainment, helped make a ton of other awesome games. And these guys were bold enough to announce "From the Original Creators of Fallout" in one of their crazy trailers. The game feels like a dedicated Fallout game and people are not afraid to claim the fact that "The Outer Worlds Is What Fallout 76 Should've Been From The Start" (which from my previous post you will know why people hated that game with a passion). Though if you ask the developers, they never intended for there to be such a comparison. Yet, there are still people who refuse to buy the game because it is only offered through the Epic Store. My question is: Is it worth $60?
Companions: It is funny when you look back and how companions were handled in all the Fallout games. The way the characters evolved from a mere baggage carrier to actually interjecting their ideas into the conversation. The Outer Worlds does all this beautifully. You have a total of 6 companions you get nearly right away and a total of two can be with you at any time. They talk with anyone you talk to and even converse with each other when you are walking around. They do offer their own personal quests, personal stories, and added bonuses. The one major problem I had was that there wasn't any romantic options, and the one minor problem I had was their AI is pretty much as bad as they were in Fallout New Vegas. I can't count the number of times they just popped up at an enemy before I even had a proper chance to look down my scope. You can switch out their weapons, armor, and AI scripting. One thing I ultimately loved is the fact that the inventory menu automatically pulls up from your inventory. The amount of equipment "they can carry" is added to your maximum. No longer do you have to ask for them to carry items for you.
The Indifferent: The thing I found when browsing reviews for The Outer Worlds is there seems to be a lot of people praising it for not being 100 hours. They insist that it's a good thing they stripped all those fetch quests, unnecessary exploring, and fluff that you find in Fallout 4. But I found the opposite true. There is something weird when I finish a game like this in 35 hours. And that includes 90% of all the quests since I can't seem to bother those few quests that have you exploring a dot in every single planet. Each planet does give a little leeway in exploring but I was shocked to know how tiny each area was. If you count up all the quests you come to around 80 quests, about half the number of quests in Fallout 4. You are given your ship as a headquarters and an offer to "buy a home" in Fallbrook. You are given 6 companions with a handful of quests to each one. You can collect little souvenirs hitting any of the major areas with "junk" items that may or may not be something worth throwing at your desk. Then there is the option to use 5 fun weapons if things get too boring for you out in the wild. But I miss living in the world. Something just didn't feel right when I was jumping around from planet-to-planet focused on this main mission of mine.
The Good: That isn't to say the game was bad at all. The thing they did right with Fallout New Vegas was that you had to consider your decisions carefully when talking to people. Would you take sides with the "evil" corporation that is trying to get people to make progress as they deal with a crisis internally? Or would you try to help save every person that could "backstab" you in the future? Would agreeing with a commander mean you must fulfill their obligation? Or would telling people the truth actually make things better? As time went on, it became apparent what was really happening and why people were holding secrets. They were afraid. They were afraid people wouldn't understand that, hypothetically, killing that one guy because he chews with his mouth open was the right thing to do! Then again, the decision is yours. The weird thing about it all is that I found myself accepting every quest I stumbled across, morally questionable or not, simply because it felt like the developers wanted me to experience something more lore-related. All of the conflict revolves around you, since you are the chosen one, and your decisions will come back to bite you if you aren't careful. Heh, there were several times I found myself shooting down a fortress of soldiers because "saying no wasn't an option".
The Bad: As much as I enjoyed exploring all sides of capitalization, it was corrupt inside-and-out. A lot of your decisions is whether you will support the corporation or those who do not want any part of it. Your very first major decision will have you questioning why you were put in such a precarious position in the first place. It is almost like the decision has to happen when not deciding would be better for everyone. Every time you might think the corporation is doing the right thing, there would be some personal file with information regarding employee insurance or cutting costs by abandoning towns to the wildlife. Ellie personal quest regarding her parents had me in a fury. They talk about how they needed the money but with a little bit of perception you can call out their extravagant lifestyle (Here I would post a video about how Spiderman's Sandman steals everything to save his child IF I HAD ONE). I loved the story but I sort of wished the corporations weren't so inherently evil.
Review: The amount of love and effort the developers poured into The Outer Worlds is abundantly clear in the quests, environment, theme, and character personalities. Despite the fact that the AI is lacking and the game is rather short even when accomplishing everything it has to offer, there are plenty of things that will surprise you in the decisions you make and conversation options available. If you aren't afraid to play a well-designed, nearly bug-free game then this is for you. If you wanted a game that you could openly explore the world without any interjections then 30 hours might just not be long enough to scratch the itch. Wait until the $60 game goes on sale to give it a try.
11-13-2019