Preview The Outer Worlds Gameplay Footage, Previews and Interviews

[Infinitron]

Tags: Charles Staples; Leonard Boyarsky; Matthew Singh; Megan Starks; Obsidian Entertainment; The Outer Worlds; Tim Cain

We didn't have to wait long to learn more about The Outer Worlds. Not only were a whole bunch of highly detailed previews published today, but Game Informer got their hands on 14 minutes of gameplay footage. The footage reveals a game that is clearly aiming to be an all but explicit Fallout: New Vegas clone, from its traditional dialogue trees and silent protagonist to its authentically Gamebryo-esque janky combat. There's even a VATS equivalent slow mode called Tactical Time Dilation (TTD). In the scenario shown, the protagonist and his two companions answer a distress call and embark on a short mission to retrieve a corporate scientist's stolen research (on "diet toothpaste") from a group of bandits. There are low intelligence dialogue options, and we get to see the flaw system mentioned in the game's Steam description in action. It's a shame about the two annoying journos talking over it, though.

​

Here are links to all of today's previews:

Game Informer
Gamereactor
GameSpot
IGN
MMORPG
PC Gamer
Polygon
RPG Site
Shacknews
​

There's more information in these previews than I can possibly be bothered to summarize on my own, but pretty much any one of them will tell you all you need to know. Obsidian seem to have little to hide, which makes me hopeful that the game will come out on schedule. For the most critical edge, the RPG Site preview is probably the best. They also have a bonus interview with Megan Starks. Oh, and one last thing - there are no romances!

 

[Makabb]

Slow-mo VATS like special effect, Obsidian ripping off New Vegas mods

 

[grimace]

Actual PC Release Date?

Place your bets now.

 

[Azalin]

New Vegas 2:Space Boogaloo?

 

[himmy]

Actual PC Release Date?

Place your bets now.

inb4 Bethesda announces surprise TES 6 launch in autumn 2019 and Obsidian are forced to rush the launch to avoid overlap.

 

[Infinitron]

Actual PC Release Date?

Place your bets now.

inb4 Bethesda announces surprise TES 6 launch in autumn 2019 and Obsidian are forced to rush the launch to avoid overlap.

Forget TES 6, Bethesda's next RPG is Starfield!

 

[Mustawd]

Actual PC Release Date?

Place your bets now.

inb4 Bethesda announces surprise TES 6 launch in autumn 2019 and Obsidian are forced to rush the launch to avoid overlap.

Forget TES 6, Bethesda's next RPG is Starfield!

Yah, this will be an interesting comparison.

Release date anyone?

 

[Infinitron]

It doesn't have one yet. Could be they announce at E3 next year that it's coming out later that year, like what they did with FO4.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Erik Kain from Forbes:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikka...-game-weve-all-been-waiting-for/#1ede0cff11ed

'The Outer Worlds' Is The 'Fallout' Game We've All Been Waiting For

Erik Kain Senior Contributor
Games
The Outer Worlds looks great.CREDIT: OBSIDIAN

I imagine the developers at Obsidian have been watching the Fallout 76 with grim wonder and more than a little schadenfreude. After all, this is a studio who missed out on a bonus from publisher Bethesda because their game, Fallout: New Vegas, didn't top 85 on Metacritic.

Fallout 76 hasn't even come close to that number. While New Vegas had its problems---Obsidian, like Bethesda, isn't known for bug-free projects---it was an instant classic and a much-beloved entry into the franchise. Fallout 76 is a disaster.

So it must have been rather serendipitous for Obsidian (Pillars of Eternity, South Park: The Stick of Truth) and partner studio Private Division (Kerbal Space Program) to be able to announce The Outer Worlds at last night's Game Awards. There's nothing like introducing the world to the spiritual successor of a video game that's currently fallen out of gamers' good graces. With the Fallout brand in disarray, it's pretty perfect timing.



Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky, the original creators of the Fallout games, are co-directing The Outer Worlds, a single-player RPG that looks quite a bit like a new Fallout: New Vegas. The trailer, in any case, is pretty hilarious, and should have Fallout fans pretty hyped by now:

You can watch some gameplay courtesy of GameInformer.

Unlike the Fallout games, The Outer Worlds is more of a Space Western---think Firefly---though it still has the wit and charm of the best of the Fallout franchise. I'm also getting a bit of a Borderlands vibe, probably because that's also a humorous Space Western, though it's more of a loot-and-shoot than an RPG.

"In The Outer Worlds, you awake from hibernation on a colonist ship lost in transit to its destination on the edge of the galaxy, only to find yourself in the midst of a deep conspiracy threatening to destroy the colony," the game's description reads. "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."

See screenshots below:
Gallery: The Outer Worlds
15 images
View gallery

Hopefully it's as good as it looks. The game is being published by Take Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games and 2K. That's good news for PlayStation 4 players. Obsidian was recently acquired by Microsoft, which may be bad news for future Obsidian titles coming to PS4. It's slated for a 2019 release date, though I wouldn't rule out delays.

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

This looks like every game. The presentation, game-play, characters, everything. Pick one, and it bears many striking resemblances. About the only thing seemingly unique is the art style, which also appears to be an amalgamation of every game. If they can take the lessons from every game that they are grafting together to make this neo-Frankenstein, it might be good. Even still, I am otherwise not compelled, simply because it bears so much resemblance to every game.

 

[luj1]

This looks like every game. The presentation, game-play, characters, everything. Pick one, and it bears many striking resemblances. About the only thing seemingly unique is the art style, which also appears to be an amalgamation of every game. If they can take the lessons from every game that they are grafting together to make this neo-Frankenstein, it might be good. Even still, I am otherwise not compelled, simply because it bears so much resemblance to every game.

Agreed, it's absolutely soulless. Amazing how they managed to look like Fallout, Bioshock, Borderlands, Overwatch and Guardians of the Galaxy at the same time. Consoles and PC. This disgusting populism is the very opposite of what RPGs used to be. Should we even call this an RPG? Instead of carefully crafted passion projects targeted at a niche audience, we now have a dozen audiences rolled into one populistic project.

We have come 180 degrees ladies and gentlemen.

 

[Infinitron]

lol, come on. What RPGs used to be = Lord of the Rings and Forgotten Realms at the same time.

Just being non-fantasy automatically puts this in the top quarter of non-genericness

 

[luj1]

Just being non-fantasy puts this in the top quarter of non-genericness

It's not fantasy. And? That automatically means it's not generic?

In fact, I'm sure you don't see how generic it really is.

 

[FeelTheRads]

It's true, it's not a generic RPG.
It's not even a generic RPG game.

It's just a generic game.

Hurray.

 

[MicoSelva]

I am kind of conflicted about what I am seeing. I want to like this. I can see the potential... but it does not look amazing.

I do not want to make judgment after seeing highlights from just one quest, but neither the humor, the writing nor the gameplay seem great at the moment. Hype level is down. A lot.

Graphics are ok, I guess. The style does not bother me but that is just about it.

 

[Skdursh]

Ugh, why did they play the fucking thing with a controller on a console. FPS is made for m&kb, no exceptions. I don't agree with a lot of the other posters here that it looks like generic shit, but I do think this demo would have benefited a lot more if it wasn't played on inferior hardware with an inferior control interface.

 

[luj1]

It's true, it's not a generic RPG

It's not even an RPG

It's just a generic game

Someone gets it. It's like genres don't even exist anymore.

 

[Danlok]

Slow-mo VATS like special effect, Obsidian ripping off New Vegas mods

Well, it's an amazing mod at least

 

[AwesomeButton]

This looks like every game. The presentation, game-play, characters, everything. Pick one, and it bears many striking resemblances. About the only thing seemingly unique is the art style, which also appears to be an amalgamation of every game. If they can take the lessons from every game that they are grafting together to make this neo-Frankenstein, it might be good. Even still, I am otherwise not compelled, simply because it bears so much resemblance to every game.

Well, that's the point - what we are witnessing is the High Baroque period of Popamole. From here it will start to decline and be superceded by the next generation of worse popamole.

 

[luj1]

we are witnessing ... THE MERGE

 

[Murk]

Is the video a camera recording the screen or does it actually look that godawful?

Reminds me of no man's sky's style -- aka, eye melting garbage.

 

[FeelTheRads]

It's true, it's not a generic RPG

It's not even an RPG

It's just a generic game

Someone gets it. It's like genres don't even exist anymore.

You're late to the party, bro.

Everything is everything.
And if it's not, it's because of those damn players and their ridiculous insistence on wanting to play genres they like.

Never forget Sawyer's crying about "genre gatekeeping" while at the same time insisting to put labels on games:
https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/sawyer-wants-rpg-to-evolve.121468/page-18#post-5579592

In other words, if someone says they made an RPG, and you like RPGs you better like it, even if it's nothing like an RPG. Otherwise you're keeping back those poor developers who dedicate their lives to entertain you.

 

[ScrotumBroth]

It's literally reskinned New Vegas in No Man's Land coloured world. Pass.

 

[Crescent Hawk]

I seriously cant believe I am honestly more entertained by fucking darksiders 3 and waiting more anxiously for DMC V or RE2 than this. What the fuck happened man.

 

[luj1]

Never forget Sawyer's crying about "genre gatekeeping" while at the same time insisting to put labels on games:
https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/sawyer-wants-rpg-to-evolve.121468/page-18#post-5579592

Anything Sawyer says is automatically discarded though