The Game Awards surprised many with the announcement ofThe Outer Worlds: A single-player, first person RPG from Obsidian Entertainment and the creative team behind the original Fallout and Knights of the Old Republic II titles. With a distinct “This is the next-gen Fallout that never was” feel, the upcoming title brings with it great hope and expectations for fans of theFalloutfranchise and of Obsidian Entertainment games.
The Outer Worlds: Everything We Know
The Outer Worlds Story & Setting
In a future wherehumanity has traveled far into space by using special cryogenic chambers, the game presents a semi-open-world exploration experience in a Sci-fi setting. Colonies far removed from earth have become the new frontier, and colonists travel to settle and find promise in these new lands. Mega-corporations have their own plans for these new developments, seeing market opportunities for their many ventures, and not always in the interest of humanity.
In The Outer Worlds, you awake from hibernation on a colonist ship that was lost in transit to Halcyon, the furthest colony from Earth located at the edge of the galaxy, only to find yourself in the midst of a deep conspiracy threatening to destroy it. As you explore the furthest reaches of space and encounter various factions, all vying for power, the character you decide to become will determine how this player-driven story unfolds. In the corporate equation for the colony, you are the unplanned variable.
The game presents opportunity for varied and interesting landscapes, cultures, races and story arcs that promise to branch out with player choices as is traditional for Obsidian’s RPG titles. In light of recent AAA titles such asRed Dead Redemption 2, it is important to note that while the game provides open-world exploration, it is not completely seamless or a completely open galaxy. So the game’s accessible world size will be more akin toMass Effectthan Fallout: New Vegas.
Players can expect to exploretwo Planets (that we know of), several space stations and asteroids within a distant Solar System. Areas open up as players complete quests and unlock them with in-game actions. These locales will have limited level scaling, so adventurers should be careful not to venture forth into certain locations until they are ready for the challenge.
The Outer Worlds: Gameplay
The game is a first-person RPG, and whilst there is aCharacter Creationoption, players should not expect to see their character often.The player character is alsosilent, butNPCdialogue is fully acted in English. Players can expect to see UI and Subtitle support for 10 languages: French, Italian, German, Spanish (Spain), Japanese, Korean, Polish, Russian and Portuguese (Brazil)
As a player-driven story game,player choices are an integral part of storydevelopment and will impact not only immediate quest and mission outcomes but affect the player’sReputationwith severalFactionsand the game’s severalEndings. Players might want to make good use of the save feature as the game will have “point of no return” flags.
There are sixStatsand they have an acronym much like “S.P.E.C.I.A.L” in Fallout, and players obtain a newPerkfor every 20 points spent into a Stat. Players can put up to 100 points into a stat, and these attribute points are used to determine yourLockpickingandHacking. There’s no attached mini-game for either one of these now.
The game will feature multipledifficulty Settings.
Builds in The Outer Worlds
Character Buildswill be an integral part of the game, as players are encouraged to customize and optimize their layouts via a network of Stats,Skills, Perks and Abilities. A new concept called “Flaws” brings a spin on Fallout’s Traits or Mutations:
Equipmentis of course a part ofBuilds, with damage being calculated by both your character’s Stats and Perks and your chosenweapon. The game features four weapon categories:
Weapon Mods: Much like the Fallout series, weapons will feature Mods. Modifications are special upgrades that give weapons unique characteristics, such as addingFire or Shock damage. Players can therefore expect to spend some time gatheringMaterialsandCrafting.
Combat Features
Forcombat, the game uses something similar to Fallout’s VATS - a feature calledTactical Time Dilation. This special ability slows time and displaysEnemyinformation including their classification, armor level, hitpoints and their associatedfaction. Aiming during Tactical Time Dilation is 100% manual, and the restrictions on use can be eased by investing in Perks and Skills.
On first impression, and much like Fallout 1 and 2, character customization and party optimization will be the driving factor behind encounter outcome. Players can expect their planning will be more important than their reflexes, even without full-stop-time.
Companions in The Outer Worlds
Companionsare also a feature of the game, whereas players can recruit party members to crew their Starship - but can expect these companions to interject in their adventures with their own views, objectives and missions. There are apparently six companions, and we know of two companions already:EllieandFelix.
Outer Worlds Starship & Crew
Players will have their ownSpaceship, that comes fitted with an AI calledADA. ADA is programmed to change and adapt based on the character’s actions, opening up further promise for role-play and consequences to your choices.
The Ship will act as a main hub for your party, as your portable Camp. It is not yet known whether players can make improvements or changes to this base of operations.
The Outer Worlds Gallery & Trailer
To read more about The Game Awards 2018 find the latest news here inBioware Teases Announcement Next Dragon Age Game At TGA 2018,Bastion Developer Announces New Game Hades At TGA 2018andGod Of War Wins Game Of The Year 2018. You might also want to check out theFallout 76 wikiwhile you wait for news on this title.
