Something new under the Sun? A short look at The Outer Worlds



Hey space cowboy, how was the weekend?

Nice. Me too, lots of good rest and seeing the family. Worked on the ship, switched the propellants and adjusted the pre-burners for the winter season - just in time, too. Already snowing outside. Yeah, good life. But not sure know how long this will last, you know. You've heard of it, too, right? The evil folks in black suits and white shirts in their interstellar megacorporations will have us work on weekends. That's the world we live in, right?

First, take this, put a record on. Take you back to the good ol' days.


Hey now, let's not worry, we're not there yet. All is not lost. Because when the time comes, and you launch that Outer Worlds, you can start doing something about it. Kick the megacorporations where it stings, right? We're not gonna take it! The world needs saving, one more time. For the free weekends!

Okay, let's get our bearings. What is The Outer Worlds about? It's a space-cowboy-tinged first-person story- and character-focused loot-'n-shoot action-adventure. And also kind of a love letter to all the Fallouts and Mass Effects, via Firefly, the tv-series. Sorta? Just like the terrific influences, the game has pedigree like there's no tomorrow: Obsidian Entertainment helmed by two of the writers of the original Fallout (though, curiously, no sign of the brilliant, incandescent, imagination-emissive Chris Avellone this time).


From everything the interwebs has told me ... what? Okay, full disclosure - I haven't played the game. It came out a few days ago but it's not available on Steam or GOG. It's a Microsoft and Epic web store exclusive, at 60 €. So, nope. :o) I'm looking to tear down the interstellar megacorporations, here, not feed them. People with PS4s or XBONEs can buy it from a brick-and-mortar if they like. And it'll be out eventually for Nintendo Switch, too.

That out of the way, let me get back to why I care so much about the game. First, I've always trusted Obsidian's writing, the tone that they use. When they put that force into a visceral-looking RPG-action-adventure, hopes are high. Second, the game promises a fleshed-out world and the feeling of inhabiting it, which, for me, are unquestionably key things in any long-term game. Heck, I enjoyed the first Mass Effect a lot more than the mechanically superior sequels (only the mother of ME1 could love its game feel and resource mechanics).

Could anything go wrong?

And then I read the reviews. And then I realised that maybe there was something wrong.


Maybe it was with the game, maybe it was with me, I don't know. Going through the reviews and at least some of the steps of denial, I learnt that there are two major things that seemed to worry me in not only The Outer Worlds, but action games at large. These are certain core gameplay loops that I seem to resist, no matter what I try. Allow me to engage the thrusters and fly off onto a brief tangent.


Ho-hum gameplay loop no. 1 - The Macro-level.

Have you encountered this? The story starts with a bang, distress and danger - I'm the only one that can help, and I need to hurry! Okay, I'm in, you can count on me! I only have one potential lead, taking me on a distant planet, and I scurry with all the possible means. Finally, after a long trip that felt like a lifetime, I land and scour for anyone who could help me find the lead...

And I learn that the people keep having trouble with the automatic rubbish collection and sorting facility. They need me to fix it. Okay, maybe I'll help them, maybe I'll learn something, or not. One family has trouble finding their alien servant, and the chase leads me to an evil faction's hideout. And I should defeat them because that'll help the villagers and they're nice enough people. The whole universe seems to need my services. Slowly, the compelling drive for the original mission is being erased, all worry and empathy being re-directed into clean, discrete bite-size missions irrelevant to the main cause.

I want to be invested, I want to engage and immerse myself in the story - I don't want to fight the game to hold on to my drive and momentum. It must be excruciatingly hard to find a good recipe for open-world sandbox games.


Ho-hum gameplay loop no. 2 - The Micro-level.

Does this feel familiar? Going into the story missions (so not the superficial content fluff described above) always feels thrilling, as if anything could happen! Okay, what is this place? I can't see straight in this snowfall. Now, I do see some holes in the snow in the distance, giving off steam - must be air ducts! But who would build something underground, on a moon like this? What was that noise? Did it come from the left? I should go and hide...

When in fact there is nowhere to hide, the noise is random ambient sounds and the air ducts are decorative. I only have the one path laid in front of me and the choice is to either advance or stay put. As I proceed, I see the path widening into a clearing, there are obstacles on the ground, and I guessed it - when I cross a certain line, enemies pop up and it's battletime. Once I put down the last of them, it's time to collect the loot. Oh boy, I wonder if I'll find the rare magenta Bleümtschnixer flak cannon that matches my gauntlets! Onwards, to the next battle.

The magic of the initial moments of the mission is soon forgotten, the diverging possibilities and options now fading away. There is only limited room for interesting choices, to come up with something, to interact, to think outside the corridor in front of you. Is this an impossible mission for game designers?


Moreover, this reliance on loot mechanisms feels less about immersing the player the story and world, and more like a reward system, designed to keep the player interested in the loot, always looking for better gear. Again, focus is being diverted from the main motivation, the original mission. Rewards make you focus on the rewards, not the activity itself and its motivations.

Aaand we're back on orbit. So, what did we learn? Does The Outer Worlds manage to sidestep these pitfalls, or does it go headlong into both? I'm not quite sure, and I'd like to see for myself.


But I feel it's safe to say this much: we should look at the pictures and ask ourselves what we're looking for. For probably the very first time in the history of LIIGHTEFFOG, I hope I can actually help you find your way. Because now you can Choose Your Own Adventure (R)!

Here we have four different kinds of reviews. Based on what I've told you above, pick the one that feels most like your own groove, on a scientific scale from chirpy-and-starry-eyed to I'm-a-critic-and-critics-critic-dammit:

Ars Technica - "Best Fallout-like game in years. Best open-world adventure of the year."
Polygon - "Ridiculously good."
PC Gamer - "Saturday morning cartoon game."
Eurogamer - "Fades very quickly from the mind."

And be happy. Oh, and let us know which one did you go for. :o)

- Janne

PS: Did I say I don't buy games at launch, at full price? Well, I did just buy Heaven's Vault a while back when it launched. But then, it's an indie game from people I know are good writers and world-builders - oh, and it comes with an indie price as well. And it's so good that I need to write about it.

Comments

  1. Hello, Janne, and a hallowed thanks for this and the following Halloweeny article!

    You mentioned that the micro level "loot loop" bothers you as it distracts the player from the plot and setting of the game and drives focus into the mundane materialistic grind that the game is perhaps based on. It brings to my mind Death Stranding, to be released this Friday if I'm not completely mistaken. Not in the sense that it would follow this same problematic path of game design. And, in fact, I can't say much about the game as I've only seen one trailer last year and read one review. However, I'm still bold enough to suggest that Death Stranding might be something of its own kind. Some say that it will define a new genre of games. We've heard marketing speech before, but I'm positively curious about the game. It seems to be essentially a walking simulator in the true sense. Whereas "walking simulator" used to be a derogatory term for story-only games where the game mechanics were simplified to the point that the player can only move around in the game world and find trigger points where the story would progress, Death Stranding truly seems to simulate traversal of difficult terrain in the vein of survival games. You need to choose your steps carefully, keep an eye on your shoe wear, and also cradle a "bridge baby" in a glass container, all while you transport various items across the wastelands of apocalyptic North America. The game is said to be even boring at times, but still engaging. I imagine this kind simulation combined with the solitude of the wilderness would keep the player focused on the game's setting instead of diverting attention to secondary game mechanics. Sure, I think there are items to craft and infrastructure to build, but hopefully it will be more subtly implemented. Perhaps you should check out some gameplay videos this weekend. ;-)

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    1. Well hello there, Ville! :o)

      You know, I have indeed heard some curious discussion around Death Stranding - really curious. On one hand it seems to promise a wild new genre, by virtue of new type of gameplay. And on the other, one reviewer prompts "... imagine Zelda: Breath of the Wild being made boring, on purpose".

      My first impression is that it's a brave effort to try and make hauling stuff an important activity in the game world, and also an engaging, atmospheric gameplay. Hats off to Mr. Kojima!

      However, I fear that my aesthetic sensibilities are not entirely compatible with Kojima games. I think I got burned the first time during Metal Gear Solid 2, where my character couldn't cling from a ledge for long enough to move some ten metres, and I was stuck. The "amusing" solution was to hang on to the ledge, raise up to peek, lower down, raise up again, and so on for some time in a row. Yeah, essentially the game had me do chin ups for a while, until the character says "Oh, I'm feeling a lot stronger now". And cardboard boxes that you carry in your pocket, ready for using as a hideout. :o)

      I might be slightly allergic to this sort of erratic stylistic to-and-fro within a game.

      This hopefully non-spoilery trailer from Death Stranding tells me that they're only switching gears. :o)
      https://youtu.be/MmVRziqHevA

      But I will follow some more reviews. It does seem intriguing.


      PS: Sorry for missing your comment. I'll need to switch on the alerts. :o)

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