In an alternate timeline, The Outer Worlds serves as Obsidian Entertainment’s magnum opus – the culmination of RPG mastery showcasing incredible writing, worldbuilding, and player choice. However, comparisons to modern AAA giants like Elden Ring and expectations set by previous Obsidian greats leave its current status more contested. This review aims to definitively evaluate its merits going into 2023 while avoiding hyperbole either way. Does this AA cult classic still warrant your precious playtime against mounting competition?
Setting the Stage – Hype vs Reality
Let’s turn back the clock to 2019’s launch. Obsidian rode high off acclaimed titles like Fallout: New Vegas and Pillars of Eternity, helmed by original Fallout creators Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky. The Outer Worlds arrived as their bold return to first-person RPGs with trademark cynicism towards corporate dystopias.
Profiles in The New Yorker compared The Outer Worlds to Bioshock with Fallout DNA meets black humor. Expectations grew exponentially when Obsidian was bought out by Xbox Game Studios‘ blank check.
Yet for all the hype, flaws emerged diminishing its staying power. While reviewers praised The Outer Worlds 85+ Metacritic score and around 600K early sales, some critiqued its short 15~30-hour linear campaign. Streamers blazed through content quickly through charisma builds.
Let’s analyze how both strengths and weaknesses hold up for modern sensibilities.Has ongoing support patched holes or has the genre moved past its foundations?
Key Strengths – Modern Relevance
Flexible Playstyles + Meaningful Choices
True to Obsidian’s lineage, The Outer World’s emphasizes playing how you want without obstruction. Stealth, hacking, silver-tongued diplomacy, and run-and-gun demolitions all prove viable with tailored companion builds.
Choices cascade in unexpected ways small and large. Decisions like rerouting power to Edgewater over rebel botanists reshape interactions. Dialog skill checks unlock hidden paths and non-violent solutions. It pushes back against AAA trends that reduce RPG mechanics to damage sponge slogs.
Gothic Sci-Fi Setting
The Outer World‘s casts corporations run amok to darkly comedic effects. Spacer’s Choice plague victims thanked you for “not abandoning them in their time of need”. Monarch’s fatalistic scientists push experiments past ethical limits. It presents players unfamiliar dystopia that contrasts with the relatively idealized Fallout vision.
Environmental set dressing builds out these themes through graveyard eviction notices and addiction machines. The lived-in colony sim feel with named NPCs going about schedules immerses you within the world. It fills trope expectations while providing grounded reasons for the decay.
Tight Gameplay Loop
Content criticisms aside, The Outer Worlds provides satisfying gameplay loops. Combat encounters push aggressive flushing tactics requiring constant repositioning. Meaningful gear and crew upgrades unlock new strategic avenues from hacking to inspiration buffs. It evolved real-time-with-pause CRPG mechanics towards smoother FPS transitions.
The Board approved DLC Peril on Gorgon also adds welcomed base building and research content. 70% positive Steam user reviews praising classic RPG elements demonstrate the strong foundation.
Lingering Technical Shortcomings
While The Outer Worlds succeeded at launch in gameplay, it came up shorter in technical ambition. Frequent crashing plagues even high-end rigs years later without definitive solutions. Screen tearing across platforms diminishes fidelity even after patches.
The lack of respeccing also locks early skill/perk choices requiring conservative meta-gaming vs experimentation. Certain companions like Parvati crowd out others in terms of efficiency reducing replay variety. It limits potential combinations despite the strong basics.
Other issues persist around animations with annoying asset pop-in and floaty dynamics. While stylized aesthetics help overcome engine limitations, it loses ground comparing visual splendor with contemporaries like RDR2 and Horizon Zero Dawn. This undertone of jankiness wears patience over longer playthroughs.
Content Depth Issues
While excusable at its AA budget, The Outer Worlds suffers from shallow side content and a short critical path capping around 30 hours including DLCs. It never reaches the epic sprawl hoped for once under Xbox’s umbrella. Terra 2 and Monarch cannot hide repeating asset structures indicating missing biomes.
The narrative also buckles trying to cover systemic colonization issues between multiple factions. While companion questlines tell interesting micro stories, the macro Board vs Iconoclast struggle never pays off satisfactorily. It sets up more than it can resolve even with expanded endings.
Overall, it’s gameplay systems outshine narrative delivery resulting in a lopsided experience that leaves players wanting. It‘s a mile wide but only an inch deep, never fully leveraging the strong universe built.
Verdict – Flawed But Still Compelling
Despite shortcomings both minor and major, The Outer Worlds absolutely warrants attention from RPG fans in 2023 given its bargain pricing and niche open world sci-fi setting. It doubles down on roleplaying fundamentals through reactive worlds, dark humor, and emergent decision making – filling a gap left behind from classic Fallout and modern Deus Ex entries.
It may lack Skyrim’s epic scope or Cyberpunk 2077’s visual splendor, but makes up for such deficits through focused worldbuilding and satisfying gameplay loops. The journey across Halcyon’s troubled colonies contrasts with indulgent AAA padding, retaining remarkable potency nearly 5 years later.
After patches and DLC additions, I confidently rate The Outer Worlds an 8/10 in 2023. Lower than initial reviews but still a game absolutely worth adding to your backlog if you haven’t taken the plunge yet into its twisted corporate space opera. Whether you side with mad scientists, rebel guerillas, or go full corporate stooge, Obsidian ensures an off-kilter yet engaging 30 hours matching modern sensibilities.
For fans seeking reactive worlds, dark humor, and expressive roleplaying, The Outer Worlds stands tall as a AA cult classic against underwhelming contemporaries like Back 4 Blood and Dying Light 2. It may lack next gen sheen, but current sales below $20 provide compelling value worth overlooking flaws for.