"The Outer Worlds": A shrill, quirky space adventure
28.10.2019
Translation: machine translated
Developer Obsidian focusses entirely on its strengths in "The Outer Worlds". Great character design, witty dialogue and a colourful world - both figuratively and literally.
Almost at the same time as Bethesda is trying to sell you a paid subscription for the failed "Fallout 76", "The Outer Worlds" by Obsidian is being released. The studio that created one of the most popular games in the series with "Fallout New Vegas". Now the developers are back with an open-world action role-playing game that can best be described as a "Fallout" in space. However, on closer inspection, it almost has more similarities with "Mass Effect".
Less is more
"The Outer Worlds" is set in a star system called Halcyon, which is dominated by ten corporations. After 70 years of cryosleep on a supposedly lost colony ship, you are woken up by the slightly mad scientist Phineas Vernonen Welles. He wants you to help him rescue the remaining colonists. However, this goes against the interests of the board, which is run by the CEOs of the mega-corporations. If you feel like it, you can rat out your awakener to the first authority that comes along. The game then simply goes in a slightly different direction. "The Outer Worlds" gives you quite a lot of creative freedom.
"The Outer Worlds" is a manageable game. At least if you compare it to "Skyrim", "Fallout 4" and the like. Instead of thrusting you into a gigantic world where quests and activities are inevitably repetitive, Obsidian has opted for a more deliberate design. You travel to a series of planets on your adventures, which, with all the side quests in the rules, you can complete in three to four hours. Most of it is optional. But because you're not cluttered with tasks and the world isn't sprawling, it feels more compact, loving and cohesive.
Characters you want to listen to
The first moment the game reminds me of the space soap opera "Mass Effect" is when I enter Groundbreaker. A bustling space station with colourful neon signs and gigantic spaceships gliding majestically past the glass roof. You meet strange people at every corner. Such as the general merchant Moon Man, who wears a huge moon mask that he is apparently never allowed to take off and that I absolutely have to have. What he's also not allowed to do is stray from his strict company slogans. No matter how deep you drill, he always finds a way to do corporate advertising - unless you drill really, really deep.
Obsidian's strength, as always, is the characters. Starting with the scatterbrained Doc, you constantly meet new crazy fellows on your travels. You can add some of them to your crew. Just like in "Mass Effect", you'll fill your spaceship with a whole troop of space adventurers over time. Two of them can accompany you on your excursions. It's worth trying out different combinations, as the conversations between the team members are extremely entertaining. And each character has their own series of quests that you shouldn't miss out on.
Your comrades aren't the only ones who are pretty talkative. As we know from "Fallout" and similar open-world RPGs, every NPC with a name above their head has something to say. The faces are animated in a reasonably believable way, but the facial features and postures remain relatively static. However, this does not diminish the entertainment value of the dialogues. What particularly struck me is that you can finally ask completely absurd questions and say things and your counterparts react appropriately. You just don't have to be surprised if you get snapped at if you compare someone's home with the rash on your bum, for example.
Action, skills and crafting
Numerous dangers lurk on the planets and space stations, which you can put an end to with a huge arsenal of weapons. A slow motion system helps you to aim. You shouldn't expect too much tactical depth from the combat system. The weapons, from laser hammers to plasma launchers, at least provide variety. Of course, there is also a crafting system. You can add mods to weapons and equipment, upgrade them or process them into resources. The design of the armour and weapons is absolutely top-notch and, like the rest of the game, is based on Raygun Gothic.
The skill system is straightforward, but still allows for many play styles. If you completely neglect your intelligence, for example, your character will speak as if they had fallen on their head. This opens up completely new dialogue options and makes for even weirder conversations. There are also perks such as more inventory capacity or fast travelling despite being overloaded.
I am a vacuum cleaner
"The Outer Worlds" is not a perfect game. Although the level design is attractive, the graphics are not the crispest on closer inspection. This can also be seen in the animations or the character models, which are always the same. All the people in Halcyon are of medium height and slim. And the fact that you constantly have to rummage through every drawer and box and collect every packet of cornflakes gets tiring after a while. Does anyone make me do it? No. Can I stop doing it? No. At least it's nowhere near as bad as in "Fallout", where you can plug in every damn spoon and fan.
"The Outer Worlds" offers you 20 to 40 hours of entertainment. Due to the relatively short length of the game, the gameplay never gets repetitive and the levels never get boring. It offers plenty of variety, a gripping story, an imaginative world and lots of iconic characters that will make your stay in Halcyon unforgettable. On the other hand, there are the typical weaknesses of such open-world games. When I rummage through every crate, every corpse and every cupboard like a man possessed, I feel like an insatiable space hoover. And strictly speaking, the gameplay always boils down to the same thing. Chatting, running, shooting, looting, going back. But that would be a bit too short-sighted. The overall package that Obsidian delivers with "The Outer Worlds" is flashy, crazy and definitely worth a look.
"The Outer Worlds" is available for PC, PS4 and Xbox One. The code was made available to us.
Philipp Rüegg
Senior Editor
Philipp.Rueegg@digitecgalaxus.chBeing the game and gadget geek that I am, working at digitec and Galaxus makes me feel like a kid in a candy shop – but it does take its toll on my wallet. I enjoy tinkering with my PC in Tim Taylor fashion and talking about games on my podcast http://www.onemorelevel.ch. To satisfy my need for speed, I get on my full suspension mountain bike and set out to find some nice trails. My thirst for culture is quenched by deep conversations over a couple of cold ones at the mostly frustrating games of FC Winterthur.
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