"Future Imperfect"
The Outer Worlds
Consider me surprised that at the time of this writing it's just after midnight and I finished the credits to Obsidian's latest offering, The Outer Worlds, 48 hours after putting down my money for it, binging it over the course of my days off. That's right, I binged it. I smashed it. I sat down to it and didn't put it down unless I had do, or I needed a moment to recover from the phenomenon that some refer to as "office chair butt".
The concept, without spoilers, is pretty basic and throws you into the heart of the action. During an early foray into colonizing the stars, you were part of a crew aboard a ship called the Hope. At some point everyone was put into cryo-stasis for the journey and things...went wrong. In this case the ships FTL drive took a tumble, and the Hope was left adrift. Rather than mount a rescue mission, for sixty or so years you were left to sleep in icy comfort by the corporate overlords that lord over the Halcyon system of worlds. It was just not feasible to come and rescue everyone. One madcap scientist takes offense to this, and you awaken with a mission briefing and not even enough time to take that piss you've been holding for decades- Get help.
After that the game spirals into a Space Western of marvelous adventure, in a universe where corporate life seeps into everything, from the way people live their lives, right down to the enforcement of the law. It is a tale of a rebellion against The Man, and the one unaccounted variable that fell from the sky. You.
And before you know, it's over, and the dust is settling and you are watching the final outcome of all the decisions you made over the course of one wild ride...Roll credits, back to the start screen.
The Fallout Comparison:
Many have compared this game to Obsidians stab at Bethesda's take on the Fallout franchise, and in many ways I found myself wondering if they just put the New Vegas game under a new graphics engine and UI and made it into a space game. You would not be faulted for thinking that, this game drips with influence from the Fallout series, namely New Vegas and perhaps some Fallout's 1 and 2, with the way your skills interweave in conversations and can steer the direction of a mission at any given time. What you know dictates what you can do. There is even a version of the VATS system integrated into the game explained as a bizarre side effect of being haphazardly awoken out of cry-sleep by a scientist who only half knew what he was doing.
Over Before You Know It:
Ever walked into a movie theater for the latest summer blockbuster and next thing you know you're walking out all giddy about what you saw, and it passed like a dream? That is fairly what this game feels like by the time you reach the ending. It feels like you just started the game, but you know you have done everything from rescuing colonists from their own self destruction, to helping a wilderness survivalist come to terms with her dead team mates, and even starred in a low budget film.
Misleading Galaxy Map:
Many will point out that you do not visit all of the worlds that are listed on the galactic map, which is a point of contention. I can only fathom that they will be utilized for the inevitable DLC (the game is doing very well in the reviews department, Obsidian would be a fool not to pull the golden DLC train). To be honest you only visit a handful of the worlds on the map, various locations opening up on a single world for you to land on for various missions. You will spend 50% of the game going between two points on the galactic map rather often, namely you will be calling the world of Monarch home for the bulk of the game, as it is undeniably the largest world you will visit and has the most quests associated with it to my count. This in no way hurts the game majorly but it does leave you wanting more out of some worlds than others.
You Can Go Back...But Why?:
You're free to go where you will. There's no one stopping you from revisiting a particular settlement you grew fond of. However, you will find that once you have concluded the missions available in an area that there is very little to do in these places, rather than walk around and feel good or bad about what transpired there. There are even beds to use, but these are only really important or serve any function at all in Supernova difficulty. I found myself using a bed, just to say I did. This sort of progression and lack of side distractions serves, perhaps, to help drive the player to stay on task and move forward in the story. It just would have been nice to have something else to do with the factions we've chosen to ingratiate ourselves.
Overwhelming Inventory:
You will find items strewn everywhere that will leave you scratching your head and wondering why you picked it up. Food, booze, oils and creams and pastes, all with minor boosts and buffs for a variety of situations. I never used them. I never felt I had to, at least on the Normal difficulty. It doesn't help that using them is slightly convoluted and is not wholly explained, unless I was not paying attention to a very brief notification in the early stages of the game. While the game does not appear to support any sort of Hardcore Survival Mode like Fallout New Vegas, they certain have enough Rizzo Company Purpleberry Crunch cereal laying around to insinuate that they were thinking about it.
Speech Solves Everything:
Put enough points into Speech, and you will be able to settle most matters that didn't already begin in violence without wasting a single bullet or energy cell. Persuasion and Lying skills opens doors, especially if caught sneaking around areas you have no business in. It helps unlock venues you normally wouldn't have considered and can shift the situation heavily in your favor.
Should you buy this game? If you have a love of science fiction adventure and a fondness for Obsidian's take on Fallout, you will enjoy The Outer Worlds immensely. In some places it leaves you wanting for more. If you're patient, you could wait a while, for it to go on sale for the holidays, or for the DLC to emerge eventually as we all know it will. But chances are if you have an interest, you will get it, and binge it hard and fast like I did.
I liked it. I want more.
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