The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition – Review
There aren’t that many quirky western role-playing games out there. There are notable exceptions, like as Fallout 3 or Skyrim, but the genre hasn’t had the revival fans might wish for. As a huge fan of games like these, I was eager to give The Outer Worlds a shot when it was released (especially since it was developed by the same people responsible for the fantastic but often overlooked Fallout New Vegas). Naturally, occurrences occur. The brief time I spent with it before it was buried under the weight of my backlog is all the time I spent with it. But, now that a remastered edition of The Outer Worlds has been released for current-gen consoles and PC, it has reclaimed its place at the top of my list.
The Outer Worlds, for better or worse, is a standard-issue open world role-playing game. It doesn’t take any major risks, which is both a strength and a weakness. Even with some excellent writing, the game’s corporate dystopia isn’t explored in sufficient depth, and it ultimately fails to live up to the promise of its premise. The Outer Worlds is a competent RPG thanks to Obsidian’s familiarity with the genre, if not particularly engaging.
It’s the same situation as when we weren’t all that into Days Gone, but now I really enjoy it, and our own Brian Lawver didn’t feel the same way about The Outer Worlds (even down to the verbiage). You can read the complete evaluation at this link, but understand that we have different opinions on the subject matter. Outer Worlds is a great game, in my opinion, for many reasons.
With outstanding contributions to games like Fallout: New Vegas and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, developer Obsidian Studios has shown themselves a master at crafting intricate narratives. A small team under Josh Sawyer’s direction has released Pentiment, and based on our evaluation, it’s safe to say that it’s one of Xbox’s greatest purchases. The narrative decision in The Outer Worlds is crucial to the success of the story. It’s an entertaining story with a lot of depth, and not every line of dialogue will necessarily alter the course of events.
In The Outer Worlds, you play the role of a colonist stranded on a spacecraft (The Hope) that was supposed to usher in a new space age by transporting you to a distant planet through faster-than-light hyperdrive but has come to a grinding halt instead. Adrift in space with no one at the wheel, The Hope drifts aimlessly through the galaxy. You are the sole colonist to break free of The Hope thanks to Phineas Wells, and it is your responsibility to aid your shipmates in awakening from cryosleep.
You’re going to be blown away by the visuals once you get this up and running on a modern gaming machine (we’re using a PlayStation 5). With 4K and HDR, the Halcyon system is a riot of colour. Obsidian’s art direction for The Outer Worlds is a mashup of 80 percent Fallout and 20 percent Borderlands, and it’s perfect for the game’s retro sci-fi vibe. It was the major reason I decided to play the game, and it still stands out as one of my favourite parts. There are many lovely touches when it’s at its best, but there are also some dull patches. What you receive is a bit of a smorgasbord and depending on where in the galaxy you are. You may need to modify your brightness settings if you’re travelling through the cities, as they tend to be darker and more hazy than the surrounding countryside. Even though the day-night cycle likely plays a role in some of it, it doesn’t always seem to help.
However, the redesigned character models look fantastic. I had no complaints with the originals, but I’m always happy when improvements allow me to enjoy them even more. As you conduct a chat with a character, the models appear in a close-up, like in Skyrim or Fallout. This is not the case, as the models are made much better by the excellent animations. My only real gripe is that the mouth tracking during dialogue isn’t always perfect, and that their and your hair is utterly rigid. A lot of vibrant hues and sharp cuts are provided, but unfortunately no physics.
The performance is where this version succeeds or fails. This can be split up into two categories: theatrical and cinematic. Everyone who has played video games for any length of time knows that this implies upgrading either the frame rate or the resolution. I’ll be honest and say that I can’t really notice much of a difference between the two modes, but the performance option does seem to run cleaner. As the resolution drop isn’t too significant and cinematic mode causes frame rate inconsistencies for little benefit, opting for performance is perhaps the best approach.
Surprisingly even though it is improved, the performance option might still have drawbacks such as unstable frames in random situations. We’re probably approaching 60 frames per second, but the occasional hiccup is annoying. This happened to me most frequently while I was sprinting or making a lot of camera movements; I guess it’s related to the game having to fill in more information about its surroundings. Even if it’s an improvement over the original, the game’s foundation is still weak. Yet, thanks to the SSDs powering modern systems, you won’t have to wait more than a few seconds for everything to load when you visit new regions.
The DualSense controller is an excellent addition to the PS5. The Outer World’s adaptable triggers are entertaining to leave on, although not all games make use of DualSense’s extra power. It’s like the recoil from a gun actually bounces back at you, like in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War or Deathloop. In this regard, the assault rifle’s ability to fight back with the R2 button is a fantastic touch that adds realism to the game. It’s wonderful to have this in a slower paced FPS where it can be pleasant, as it’s not something that every game can accomplish, especially multiplayer ones.
Another example of Obsidian’s meticulousness is the prompt that appears when you start the game up informing you about the available DLC. Two add-ons are available for The Outside World: Danger on Gorgon and Murder on Eridanos. Several of these add-ons, like many others, aren’t playable until after you’ve put in some time with the main game. This prompt at the outset not only explains the criteria but also directs you to the location where you can initiate them. These options are conveniently located on the main navigation bar, so you can get back to them at any time, even if you happen to forget. It’s a kind gesture that means a lot.
Finally, with this update, Obsidian has raised the maximum level cap. This is your chance to accomplish more in The Outer Worlds, if you’re a fan of the series or you just want to. The Outer Worlds provides a wealth of opportunities for character development, and expanding your journey into the galaxy will open up even more possibilities for mischief. It’s a great bonus that wasn’t have to be developed, as games rarely see improvements like this even when expansions are included. The only real downside is that there is no way to carry over your progress from a previous save, meaning you have to start the game over. Many players will be disappointed, especially those who spent a lot of time perfecting their avatar on older systems.
