The Outer Worlds 2 review: Not quite out of this world

My heart sank a bit playing through the opening mission of The Outer Worlds 2. It felt as though the pacing was way too slow with long and convoluted dialogue and I experienced a few instances of performance not meeting expectations.

But as the hours rolled on and I increasingly put my own stamp on the game, I found myself coming to appreciate it and ultimately enjoying it a heck of a lot more, especially as its systems grew deeper and I found myself intertwined in so many different threads that I pulled on myself.

That's really what makes The Outer Worlds 2 an overall fun experience. Every player's journey and approach will be unique to them and there are so many different ways to play through it. The freedom is outstanding and there is so much replay value here.

But it does feel a little rough around the edges in some other areas.

What happens in The Outer Worlds 2? (Spoiler-free)

The Outer Worlds 2 is a standalone sequel and not a direct one to The Outer Worlds which released in 2019.

With The Outer Worlds 2, studio Obsidian Entertainment's signature style is on full display. Obsidian is renowned for making action role-playing games with some of the deepest and most meaningful dialogue options and consequence systems in gaming.

The game is set on Arcadia, a star system that's been invaded by a corporation, where you take on the role of a Commander in The Earth Directorate with the aim to find out what's been causing rifts that have been threatening to destroy it among an ongoing factional war.

The Earth Directorate acts as an administrative and governing body between Earth and other colonies in space but corporations colonise some of these systems, leading to the Outer Worlds being a collection of these colonies separate from Earth.

Like the first game, there is a serious undertone to it about people and corporations using their power to exploit others but there are plenty of humorous and light-hearted moments to keep it from feeling too serious.

Although the story itself is very timely given what's going on in the world right now, it will still resonate for years to come, especially as concerns around capitalism and exploitation in the real world aren't going away any time soon.

You create a character and there is a decent range of customisation options. You pick a background as to why you joined along with traits, which give boosts to your character such as better melee damage, gun damage, lock picking, better dialogue options and more.

You can either pick one trait or two - but if you pick a second, you have to pick a negative one which decreases abilities in other areas.

As you play through, the game will identify different 'flaws' based on how you play and you can choose whether or not to accept them, giving permanent stat boosts and detracting in other areas. It's great seeing what Obsidian thinks of your play style as you go on.

Without spoiling anything, the mission that sets the story up feels a little bit dull and too scripted but it sets up the rest of The Outer Worlds 2 and the real triumph comes beyond that where the game opens up and you get to play exactly how you want.

The writing, its depth and freedom after the opening mission are fantastic. It's sharp, humorous and witty throughout with a few unexpected twists and turns along the way.

You travel to different destinations in Arcadia, taking on loads of different quests and focuses with emphasis on organic exploration, finding interesting NPCs to help out, gathering useful resources and stumbling across side quests to tackle.

On that front, in terms of exploration, the missions themselves and what you'll be doing in them, there isn't really anything that innovates in The Outer Worlds 2. It's more the way interacting with NPCs, exploring different ways to tackle quests and your combat arsenal that makes them interesting rather than what you actually do.

On that, the deep, meaningful dialogue and consequence system, such as simply stealing resources you're not supposed to and being caught, gives so much freedom and is what makes The Outer Worlds 2 fun to play through. Different factions will have different views on you depending on what you do when around each one.

I completely understand it's no mean feat achieving the level of depth The Outer Worlds 2 does in that regard and Obsidian should be commended for it - but it would have been refreshing to see the studio push the boundaries in other areas such as mission design.

The Outer Worlds 2 certainly creates a strong atmosphere in some of its settings / Obsidian Entertainment & Xbox Games Studios

How does The Outer Worlds 2 look and perform?

To note here, a review code was provided by publisher Xbox Games Studios and I played through The Outer Worlds 2 on a base PS5.

The Outer Worlds 2 carries on the retro-futuristic art style from the first game and it generally looks quite good. I wouldn't say it's anywhere near the best looking game I've played but it's nowhere near the worst either.

The game is pretty gory in combat too as you can expect to see enemies being blown up and limbs flying off everywhere if you're shooting at them or using explosives.

The game can be played in a first or third-person perspective - this choice has been included in previous Obsidian games such as Avowed but it's the first time it's featured in The Outer Worlds.

I actually primarily played in third-person and this was my preference, even if there was an element of that floaty feeling this perspective from Obsidian is renowned for.

In terms of performance, when switching between the game's performance and fidelity modes, I found frame rates to dip much lower than expected in both.

It was noticeable in more dense sections and I was surprised at this plaguing my experience throughout. When travelling between areas of interest, it wasn't as much of an issue, but in dense towns or spaces with a lot going on, performance dipped noticeably.

Another case of Unreal Engine 5 perhaps not meeting expectations in that regard.

There are some enemy movements and animations that are off too - in the prologue chapter for example, I found there was no animation for an enemy vaulting over railings. There are some pop ins here and there as the game goes on but nothing outrageous.

I'm someone that likes to tweak settings to get them exactly how I like and there were a couple of things that stood out, particularly with subtitles.

On some settings, subtitles would overlap the textboxes they were supposed to appear in and when I tried to change the size of them, upon my next encounter with an NPC they had returned to the default setting.

It's just little things like that that give the feeling there is a little bit of a lack of polish in some of the finer details at launch.

General gameplay aside from dialogue choices and consequences feels a little bit lacking in terms of innovation / Obsidian Entertainment & Xbox Games Studios

What's the gameplay in The Outer Worlds 2 like?

Think typical action role-playing game, with very deep dialogue choices and a brilliant consequence system, and you've pretty much got The Outer Worlds 2 in a nutshell.

Like its predecessor, it's not a full open world but Arcadia is divided into large areas. These can be travelled between using your spacecraft, which acts as the game's main hub, and more areas unlock the more you progress.

In these areas, you'll take on a variety of different enemies with your arsenal of guns, melee weapons, explosives and more while maintaining health as best you can, completing quests and exploring. More gadgets and additions to your arsenal are added as you progress and some of the equipment you come across is so much fun to play around with.

On enemies, intelligence can be a bit questionable at times, such as instances of enemy soldiers just rushing out at you into a wave of bullets and inevitable death. Enemies have static levels and do not scale to your character.

You can wear armour and helmets for stat boosts, have a medical inhaler to restore health and consume food and drink to also get some health back or for stat boosts.

You level up, upgrade gear, get more skill points and perks. Workbenches are dotted around allowing you to craft ammo, mods to suit your combat style, breakdown to get rid of junk and party upgrades for your companions.

You can choose up to two companions to join you at any one time and they help you out along the way. There are some pretty interesting questlines to explore here too.

There is a lot of freedom in how you approach objectives and usually going off the beaten path or helping others can get you to where you need to go much more easily. Or you can just prioritise the main objective and go for it.

Organic exploration is encouraged with information being key throughout. Gaining information and gathering the necessary resources to do this is vital in some quests.

However the areas themselves between mission markers and points of interest usually feel quite lifeless and there's not much actively going on when exploring.

There will be a cluster of enemies here or there but usually it's quite barren as you travel across what are usually quite vibrant and colourful landscapes.

But finding those sections does lead to some brilliant moments where you meet genuinely interesting and unique characters and get lost in their stories. The Outer Worlds 2 is great in that regard.

Pretty much everything you do has a consequence which should be commended - it's become increasingly common for games to explore this kind of thing on a surface level but so rare for a game to do it as well as The Outer Worlds 2.

Obsidian's mark is clear here, and along with dialogue, these are the standouts of the game which keep it feeling fresh as the hours go on.

Characters and specific locations are great in The Outer Worlds 2 - but getting to them isn't always necessarily fun and engaging / Obsidian Entertainment & Xbox Games Studios

What's the verdict on The Outer Worlds 2?

The Outer Worlds 2 is a fun action role-playing game with meaningful dialogue options and deep consequences, which are the game's highlights, especially when experiencing how it all plays out.

The story is decent with Arcadia being a good setting for the game despite there being a lack of active interesting things happening when traversing through its different lands. What you find makes up for this to a point.

There are some performance issues, especially in more dense areas, where frame rate dips and stutters can occur quite frequently and it's not exactly the best looking game out there for me.

It's a fun sequel to The Outer Worlds and is much more bold and ambitious in its scope with deeper dialogue and consequence options - but I would have liked to have seen a bit more innovation beyond those systems which Obsidian already does so well.

8/10

The Outer Worlds 2 releases on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC on 29 October and is available day one on Game Pass. Pre-ordering the Premium Edition gets up to five days early access starting 24 October.

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