The role-playing sport specialists at Obsidian Leisure kicked off 2025 with the discharge of their fantasy motion RPG Avowed, and so they’re set to wrap up the 12 months with a sequel to their 2019 sci-fi first-person shooter with RPG parts, The Outer Worlds. After enjoying by means of The Outer Worlds 2, it is clear the builders have constructed on almost each facet of the unique, making it top-of-the-line RPGs launched this 12 months.
The Outer Worlds 2 refines the RPG components Obsidian first honed with Fallout: New Vegas in 2010, giving gamers a spread of how to progress, from speaking and sneaking to combating their method by means of obstacles. What the group improved most, fortunately, is making the action-FPS RPG really really feel like one.
In The Outer Worlds 2, gamers step into the function of an agent for the Earth Directorate, a company that works with Earth and numerous house colonies, in a distant future. What appeared like a routine mission ends with an unimaginable betrayal, and it is as much as you to trace down the particular person behind the plot that ruined your life. If that weren’t fascinating sufficient, you will additionally deal with an intergalactic battle inside the house colony the place the sport takes place — between the Protectorate, a totalitarian faction with faster-than-light journey, and a megacorporation referred to as Auntie’s Alternative, born from the merger of Auntie Cleo and Spacer’s Alternative from the primary sport. Clearly, the satire of consumerism continues.
Identical to within the first sport, The Outer Worlds 2 packs in loads of textual content and dialogue to form its story, constructing a wealthy universe of politics and sophistication battle. However that epic tone usually will get undercut by the satire. Whereas it does not smash the expertise, dialing the jokes again even 5% would make it simpler to remain immersed within the severe sci-fi world I need to play in, reasonably than the one crammed with too many tension-popping quips.
As anticipated with this type of setup, Obsidian leaves how the story will unfold as much as you. Are you going to stay it to the person and attempt to convey down house capitalism? Will you be the brave hero who at all times does the appropriate factor? Or perhaps the unhealthy man who’s prepared to do something for a buck? That call is completely yours.
An entire new you
On the coronary heart of The Outer Worlds 2 is character creation. After selecting your look, you will determine on a background, traits, flaws, abilities and perks — selections that instantly form how the sport unfolds.
Your character’s background often unlocks distinctive dialogue choices, whereas traits and flaws have a much bigger impression on gameplay. For instance, one in every of my chosen traits was “fortunate,” and from time to time I would come throughout a damaged door with an additional choice to “strive one thing random,” and certain sufficient, because of that trait, it labored.
Flaws are a returning characteristic, however they’re extra fascinating this time round as a result of they arrive with each optimistic and destructive results. Not like traits, which you select solely initially of the sport, flaws are supplied all through your playthrough as a strategy to complicate your character and boost gameplay. One flaw I picked early on was Foot-in-Mouth Syndrome, which grants a 15% enhance to expertise factors. What I did not notice is that if I take greater than three seconds to make a dialogue selection, the flaw picks one at random for me, which positively livens issues up.
Expertise are all optimistic and actually change how the sport is performed. They’re the usual abilities corresponding to hacking, lock selecting, melee, weapons and engineering that you’re going to discover in shooter RPG video games corresponding to Fallout. You begin by selecting two abilities to concentrate on, and as you degree up, you earn two factors to take a position wherever you want. It may appear good to unfold these factors round, however doing so truly locks you out of invaluable rewards. As the sport progresses, challenges require increased talent ranges, whether or not you are making an attempt to unlock doorways, hack terminals or crack open safes.
In my case, I needed the advantages of speaking my method into and out of sticky conditions, so I boosted my speech talent, which truly let me skip a whole boss combat. Later, I seen that engineering helped restore damaged objects, so I invested extra factors there. That backfired with the subsequent boss; my speech talent wasn’t excessive sufficient to decide on essentially the most diplomatic possibility, which meant I ended up combating although I used to be near speaking him down. The Outer Worlds 2 makes it clear that specializing in a number of key abilities pays off, whereas making an attempt to grasp every little thing leaves you with fewer distinctive methods to get out of powerful spots.
Together with abilities are perks. These are passive buffs out there at each two expertise ranges and are based mostly on what number of factors you will have in your abilities. With only one level in weapons, for instance, you possibly can unlock a further weapon slot. Increase that to twenty factors, and your essential assaults hit for 100% extra injury, with 20% of that carrying over to close by enemies. It is one other instance of how the builders encourage distinctive character builds, including depth and replayability as every playthrough can really feel completely completely different relying on which abilities you give attention to.
Obsidian lastly bought the house fight proper.
Far-off worlds, sharper fight thrills
Throughout my time with the earlier Outer Worlds sport, there was one thing that simply felt off throughout fight. It was clear that gunplay and stealth weren’t the focal factors for the builders, as enemies hardly used any ways and weapons did not have any weight to them, making them really feel extra like firing foam Nerf darts reasonably than hefty bullets or laser bolts. Outer Worlds 2, nonetheless, is a very completely different story.
Fight flows easily, with all kinds of weapons that use various kinds of ammo and embody melee choices. Weapons vary from fast-shooting pistols and highly effective sniper rifles to futuristic gear just like the Auto-Hacker 5000, a rapid-fire weapon that may even scramble a robotic’s wiring to make it combat for you. Firefights can play out tactically, with cover-based taking pictures and persistence, or chaotically, by charging in weapons blazing. There are many methods to construct a personality suited to both play fashion.
At your facet are six companions you come throughout all through the sport, one other returning hallmark from the primary Outer Wilds. They be a part of your crew after you full sure quests for them. And as soon as they’re a part of your crew, you possibly can be taught extra about their backgrounds and tackle particular loyalty missions to unlock extra skills.
This time round, companions appear to have rather more impression on the move of the story. Taking up a boss with a sure companion would possibly enable you to intimidate them into backing down, because of that character’s popularity. However for those who depart behind a companion who’s been vocal about eager to face that boss, count on them to be livid. Some selections may even push companions to depart your crew, or activate you completely for those who do not say the appropriate issues to maintain them round. Simply do not count on to romance anybody; that also is not an possibility.
All of this selection is what makes The Outer Worlds 2 so enjoyably complicated to play. The way you create your character, which companions you select, how a lot you discover and what abilities you put money into can result in so many various paths. I’ve little question that whereas I solely discovered two or 3 ways to deal with most issues, there have been in all probability a number of extra I did not even discover. That is what makes this sport so compelling; you recognize the alternatives are on the market, even if you cannot see them but. Locked dialogue choices usually remind you that you just’re lacking the appropriate talent factors, merchandise or piece of data, serving because the builders’ method of encouraging exploration and pondering outdoors the field.
In The Different Worlds 2, there are extra worlds and locations to discover.
Am I a joke to you?
If I needed to identify one weak point in The Outer Worlds 2, it would be the humor. Obsidian carries over the identical writing tone as within the authentic, the place it appears like 90% of the dialogue is severe and dramatic, after which you will have 10% that is simply foolish, usually leaning into the capitalist satire. You is perhaps studying by means of somebody’s emails or chatting with an NPC when, out of nowhere, a random joke will get thrown in.
For instance, one of many flaws I picked initially of the sport was Abrasive. When speaking to different characters, it typically unlocked an aggressive dialogue possibility alongside the traces of, “Do what I say, or I will kill you.” The issue is that these clearly over-the-top responses are normally shrugged off by NPCs, who simply reply with one thing like, “Okay, that is impolite,” earlier than persevering with as if nothing occurred. When being a jerk or a weirdo does not have an effect on NPC opinions or provoke an actual response, it breaks the immersion.
Valerie, the robotic companion and one of many first members of your crew, is a strolling — or reasonably, floating — instance of this. She’ll drop random robotic one-liners that state the apparent, like reminding you that for those who keep on a ship that is about to blow up, you will have a 99.99% likelihood of expiring. The identical goes for sure characters you meet who act flamboyant merely for the sake of being flamboyant.
Not each little bit of humor fell flat for me. In a single occasion, you are confronted with an virtually literal trolley drawback, and for those who select the “unhealthy” possibility, the boss who set it up is genuinely confused, insisting one thing should be unsuitable with you for not losing time doing the appropriate factor. Moments like that work. However when the sport always crams in foolish one-liners the best way Obsidian does right here, it will get previous. I do know that that is an extension of the satirical, humorous fashion of the Fallout franchise, and that The Outer Worlds is itself a satire aimed toward capitalism and company energy. However it does not at all times really feel that method whereas enjoying. I need to get misplaced within the house politics and drama, but the random jokes hold reminding me it is satire, bleeding away the strain with weak jabs.
If Obsidian had leaned right into a extra severe tone for The Outer Worlds 2 — one thing nearer to the Mass Impact franchise — I might simply see it changing into top-of-the-line sci-fi RPGs since BioWare’s traditional house operas. The presentation right here is incredible: The worlds are lush and colourful, and whilst you cannot discover a whole planet, every location feels distinct. The cities, ships and interiors all have their very own fashion, so that you by no means really feel such as you’re strolling by means of copy-pasted environments (one thing that may’t be stated for Starfield, Bethesda’s tackle the sci-fi RPG). The rating provides cinematic weight, the voice performing is superb and each massive second feels prefer it’s constructing towards one thing epic. However then, proper earlier than a significant boss combat, you will get a dialogue possibility that is only a throwaway joke, a reminder that the sport cannot fairly resist returning to the satire nicely.
The Outer Worlds 2 is one in every of my favourite RPGs launched this 12 months, and it is so near greatness. It has virtually every little thing I needed in a sport (sufficient that I might have thought-about it even higher than Mass Impact), however Obsidian simply missed the mark with its tone. Who is aware of, perhaps the corporate will determine it out with the third sport within the collection.
The Outer World 2 might be launched on Oct. 29 for $70 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Collection X and S consoles. It will likely be out there for Xbox Game Pass on Day 1.
