Game News The Outer Worlds released on Steam and GOG

[Fenix]

Zibniyat your wordiness is about nothing, you want to compensate the lack of quality with quantity.
Do not work.

 

[Zibniyat]

Zibniyat your wordiness is about nothing, you want to compensate the lack of quality with quantity.
Do not work.

No, and do notice how besides the "it is shit" non-argument, you have said nothing at all.

Every single game-world can be deconstructed and shown to be an incoherent, retarded mess, if one invests enough time and effort.

 

[Fenix]

It's funny how you don't notice that yourn argument is that same.
Also, I have noticed that used many words after people offered you their titanium arguments, that m,ean you are demagogue.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

My DL failed as its a hotspot. Now gets 0-54 bps... yeah no dls until dec 2. This game will never get DL'd.

 

[Daidre]

Most games, or fictional works in general, are perfectly fine with just presenting some obvious, mechanical and immediate concerns & obstacles (like if there is oxygen in the atmosphere and in sufficient amount, if there are necessary minerals to mine, whether there are some freak climate aspects like wild storms and similar), but fail to tackle this aspect of epigenetics. The sequel, if it happens, can draw upon both science and some philosophies to present challenges related to this particularly huge, even if seemingly subtle, issue.

Now I agree that some planets were not fleshed out sufficiently, and the use of wild colour palette did not help. Still, to just say how the world "is shit" is simply arrogant and wrong.

It is because most sci-fi authors have at least passing workable knowledge on modern-era space exploration with science behind it and could extrapolate their casual knowledge well enough on near-future space colonization. Or plagiarize from those who can at least.

And yes, modern scientists would try to check whether something is edible and provides a proper sustenance for a humans. Or whether you can grow something edible on the planet they are about to colonize. And they would totally NOT attempt to shove Earth plants into alien ecosystem and hope that everything would be peachy.

Honestly, looking at "humanity" in TOW I was mostly wondering how in the world this bunch of dumb and inefficient inbreds was able to leave Earth and Solar System in the first place.

PS And I understand that there are hard and soft sci-fi and completely ok when later waves off almost anything science-related. But when I see "harder" issues of space exploration ineptly dragged into sci-fi so soft that it's squashy - it does indeed provokes quite reasonable "it's shit" reaction.

 

[Zibniyat]

modern scientists

Dude, who cares what "modern scientists" say or think? They can barely agree on any one thing regarding nutrition across decades, much less more serious stuff. They do as they are commanded by the employer, nothing more. If they are employed by a corporation, then they'll research things the corporation wants and not pay attention to other things. Incidentally, exactly how it is in the real world, just not as absurd as in the "end-state of crony corporate capitalism" of The Outer Worlds world (yet).

Those systems were colonised by corporations, not by a "government agency" who obtained a green light after a "panel of experts" thoroughly reviewed the data. In the mean time, something strange had happened to the Earth as well, and the colonists were left on their own.

 

[Zibniyat]

Honestly, looking at "humanity" in TOW I was mostly wondering how in the world this bunch of dumb and inefficient inbreds was able to leave Earth and Solar System in the first place

How do migrations, even by "dumb and inbred" populations, happen on Earth at all? If you have a basic technology for travel, that can be bought if not constantly reinvented by different groups of people, then travel as such becomes a very good possibility.

 

[Zibniyat]

PS And I understand that there are hard and soft sci-fi and completely ok when later waves off almost anything science-related. But when I see "harder" issues of space exploration ineptly dragged into sci-fi so soft that it's squashy - it does indeed provokes quite reasonable "it's shit" reaction.

These are just useless labels invented by people whose time had long passed. "Hard" sci-fi is a contradiction, where an author decided to meticulously introduce realism that he thought important, but no way that it was ever anything other than scratching the surface, pretending how it is "more realistic" just because it crams up a lot of physics into it.

And we are talking of *games* here, alright? Just as it cannot be that "anything goes" simply because of a game being a work of fiction, so too is hypocritical and baseless to "forbid" games from introducing things others did not, as if it is a kind of taboo to try and do something different with the setting. This game tried to introduce a novel idea, however insufficiently fleshed out, and tied it to the narrative of the main quest. That idea works in the game world, a world that is intentionally made absurd (but not impossible, again current real world is a circus shitshow), and one of "absurdities" is in allowing corporations to be colonisers rather than countries or what have you. The idea is as such fine.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

While it ultimately boils down to personal preference whether you treat this game as a net positive or not (just as there are Skyrimfags out there for example), I can't really understand your fixation on TOW of all new releases. Certainly, as content starved as modern RPGfags are, there are better alternatives to rally around and defend rather than this mediocre product, Zibniyat.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Hard and soft sci fi? Sounds like porn back in the days. Ah 80s porn and mags.. gen X was a rockin good time. I recall my one friend who was short (never grew talker than 5'). Walking into into the back room of the video store where there was a porn model... lol.. his face was right at titty sucking level. Wish i had a camera back then. She didn't mind.

just said

.you boyz shouldn't be back here. Now shoo... but do come back in a few years.

Wink wink..

The 80s. Neon green glow in dark tassels... or was it black light? I mean vibrant pink..

 

[Flying Dutchman]

Is Tim Cain still at Obsidian?

Some Seattle dev forums were say he either quit/retired or went on half-time up in Seattle.

 

[Zibniyat]

of all new releases.

Such as? I have very little time for playing games, and I generally am not really that much into them. Some months ago I decided I will play all of Obsidian games, those I like at least. That still left POEII, South Park, Alpha Protocol (played for a bit) and some others as not interesting enough for me to play, so I did not play them.

TOE was one of those I found entertaining enough.

Besides, it is odd to say "fixation" when I am merely providing opinion not in line with that of the majority of vocal Codexers. It sounds as if I am being denigrated somehow... Though I know you did not intend for it to sound like that.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

Such as?

I was mostly thinking of Fallout 4 which is at least fun when taken as more of an open world FPS with RPG elements in which you get to explore and loot different locations. I haven't played TOW start-to-finish, but to me it seems that it has failed in both copying the narrative qualities of FNV (which it supposedly wanted to be a sort of spiritual successor of) and in being a competitor to Fallout 4. TOW's setting is too zany and the exploration doesn't seem to be as enjoyable as in Fallout 4.

It sounds as if I am being denigrated somehow... Though I know you did not intend for it to sound like that.

I certainly didn't. It was more of an 'is *this* the hill you want to die on?' sort of remark.

 

[Zibniyat]

Magnat

First, I find all "post-apocalyptic" and similar games ugly, and I don't just mean aesthetically. I find them disturbing, cynical, deranged, degrading and similar. I wrote about it very briefly in my post upon finishing Fallout New Vegas (the second post, I wrote 2 posts in total on the topic...):

Spoiler

Fallout New Vegas. It is not a very good game. Not sure if it is a good game at all, though I have to admit I've had fun visiting some locations and fighting various enemies, but this could also be simply because I've decided to finish this Obsidian game and see for myself how good it is, and have put aside all other games and other forms of entertainment (mostly).

So far I've played it for 18 hours.

Random thoughts:
- whilst Fallout 3 is "gray with an occasional shade of blue", FNV is basically "yellow and brown" - an improvement I admit...
- many major quests or choices are childish and "gamey" in the worst sense of the word, like the one involving some ghouls and their "journey" which was pretty cringey; Caesar comes across as far too gullible, can't believe he just offered me to do what he did, and just as I first met him - there was no "proving my loyalty" which should be expected to occur judging by all the fuss about Caesar and his infamous Legion;
- stealth and sneaking is extremely overpowered if you have the skill above 30;
- most characters are uninteresting and boring to be honest, ironically the Benny guy comes across as genuinely "alive";
- the wasteland is properly called as such: no exterior location is really interesting, it feels bland and uninspired, countless "invisible walls" don't help, though interiors are better; New Vegas, however, is just a couple of casinos and despite loads of people in them the city itself feels small and barren;
- on the plus side, major settlements (aside from New Vegas obviously) do feel alive and "lived in", they have a proper sense of scale: these include the NCR HQ and the Legion HQ primarily, though some smaller ones (belonging to some gangs) also aren't bad.
- explosives are fun to use, and they can be used strategically to cause great mayhem and damage.

Feels strange to say it, but the game really feels sort of "gamey". Even the capital city is based around games. And boring, most of the time.

Finished Fallout: New Vegas. Played it for 42 hours.

This game just confirmed what I've always known: I don't like "alternative history/present post-apocalyptic" settings at all. I avoided these kinds of settings (and games) before. The reason is mostly due to aesthetics and the "feel" these settings have and invoke, I view such settings and their aesthetics as ugly, and since aesthetics is a major component of quality and enjoyment for me, that means playing these kinds of games is rarely satisfying. Almost everything is more or less ugly, brown and yellow, decayed, people look (and are) dirty and unkempt most of the time, the world - along with its individual parts like landscapes, dwellings, miscellaneous objects etc. - are all dirty and modern (i.e. ugly) too. The "funny" wallpapers are just disgusting and boring too, portraying a type of cynical and sarcastic "optimism" which I have no appreciation for.

Although my initial impressions of other things in FNV were mostly bad, I have to say that - notwithstanding what I said above - that there are some interesting locations like the Hoover Dam, the NCR HQ and the Legion HQ, some Vaults were very interesting especially that one which experimented with plants and mushrooms (very haunting atmosphere there, complete with excellent music and ambient sounds), then there was that location with ghouls and space rockets etc., many interiors are very believably made and seem complex enough but not overdone. Overall, I'm pleased with the interiors' designs, and some exteriors are good too.

I said it before, and again I will say that some things in this game feel too "gamey" and "unbelievable" even from the perspective of the world in question. Just one of many examples here is the fact that one of the casinos in New Vegas city employ a (non-feral) female ghoul as a "bartender"; I don't know how that ties in with the fact that such casinos and New Vegas as a whole are focused on profits, but there should be inverse correlation between profits and such employees and such places of their work.

The "choices&consequences" thing is mostly well done, there are multiple solutions to many problems and even solutions often give several options on how to achieve them. I've seen that personality/speech/barter dialog checks are the most frequently used, which means that if someone wants to role-play a charismatic talker he can get many things done that way. Too bad, for me at least, that I didn't really care for many of the solutions, the characters generally felt dry and shallow, mostly "colored" by the faction they belong to. Ultimately, I chose the "independent New Vegas" path and have destroyed both the NCR and the Legion, and have left a number of factions to their own devices (super-mutants whom I didn't care about as one such example).

Oh, and one thing I noticed is that even if I was obviously in an open war against the Legion for instance, having killed a number of them, and was vilified by them, for some strange reason looting their various crates, footlockers and other containers counted as "theft" and I regularly lost "Karma" because of it (I don't even know what's the purpose of this "Karma" here, it didn't seem to have an effect on anything).

~~~

From 1 to 10, going as objectively as I can and disregarding my dislike for post-apocalyptic settings of this kind (even though I don't think this dislike is wholly subjective, in fact a lot could be said about it but not now), I will rate this game as 7 out of 10. Which means decent, worth playing if there are no better games around.

If I am to rate it more "subjectively", and taking into account how I experienced its post-apocalyptic setting, then I would rate it 4 out of 10.

I think I am definitely done with bothering with Fallouts, Wastelands, ATOMs and whatever other similar games exist. For me they will always be bad games, despite their objective strengths in areas other than aesthetics and the "feel" of the world.

Secondly, I did in fact try Fallout 4... fully aware of my dislike of such games. Putting aside my dislike, it immediatelly felt forced, shallow and artificial, that is - as a (modern) Bethesda game. It was all so predictable and tiring. The Vault, the behaviour of the people in it (it just has to be that people degenerate, especially morally), the fake cluttered open world... I did finish Fallout 3 years ago, and I found it actually entertaining, but I couldn't stand a game that will just have "more of the same".

Now, for your concrete statements (don't take anything I write too personal here):

it has failed in both copying the narrative qualities of FNV (which it supposedly wanted to be a sort of spiritual successor of)

I disagree with and despise all developers and everyone else who desire "spiritual successor" of anything; I want originality, even if "only" derivative and even if in the end it ends up a complete failure. I do not follow game development too much, mere words, promises, marketing and propaganda do not amuse me nor interest me; final creation is what I care about only; therefore I do not really care if the developers decided to try and emulate some aspects of FNV, or wanted to make a "spiritual successor" of it. These things, "copying" and "spiritual successor", do not constitute an argument for or against any particular game. Developers should be shamed for doing such things, not praised, for they publicly display creative bankruptcy as something good, which is wrong in more than one way.

being a competitor to Fallout 4

I realise that video games are an industry as well, hence competition is a valid thing to be taken into consideration when a developer, or a publisher, decides to make a particular game. That said, for people like myself - who simply roll their eyes when hearing about "alternative hystory/present" and "post-apocalyptic"- there really is no competition.

TOW's setting is too zany

It is quite "in your face" with an obvious anti-corporatist and anti-capitalist (some could even say pro-communist or whatever, not that I care) theme, that colours (sometimes literally) everything. However, there are interesting places to explore, and the world - despite all - feels coherent enough and alive, in my opinion at least. I can't comment on Fallout 4 which I played only briefly, but TOW has a more coherent, more lively and more believable world than even FNV, the latter trying too much to bring into life what is nothing else than a wasteland; FNV heavily relies on lore & world-building (through, for example, elaborate politics) to try and create an illusion of a living world, and is quite successful at that... until you realise that it really is an incoherent illusion.

TOW, on the other hand, does have an array of unique characters (all pretty nutty of course), and a few quests related to the main quest do a good enough job of explaining the world around you. It feels like a living, but decayed world. That it is "too zany" may be correct, but in a way it was a breath of fresh air. And I say that as someone who does not really have any desire to play any of its DLCs/expansions, because they seem to be "more of the same", and whilst satisfied I can say that I did have enough of such game for the time being (and also because I want to play other games, currently Exiled Kingdoms which I have invested over 50 hours into thus far and have done 50 out of its 90 quests so far).

exploration doesn't seem to be as enjoyable as in Fallout 4.

This is where personal tastes are simply too different. I dislike Fallout 4 just as I dislike all similar games, and I don't care about exploring it at all. So, not really an argument for or against what you have stated, but on this particular issue we will have to agree to disagree.

It was more of an 'is *this* the hill you want to die on?' sort of remark.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Is Tim Cain still at Obsidian?

Some Seattle dev forums were say he either quit/retired or went on half-time up in Seattle.

That would be really disappointing that it takes him almost fifteen years to put out another game after Troika, and it's this. And then that's it and he's done.

Really a way to fizzle out.

 

[Flying Dutchman]

That would be really disappointing that it takes him almost fifteen years to put out another game after Troika, and it's this. And then that's it and he's done.

Really a way to fizzle out.

Yeah, word (not mine, this is second or third hand) is he took "advantage" of the COVID situation and left for Seattle, although it was confirmed he said he was planning to retire anyway (he announced internally in the studio he was going to retire last year at some point).

If I get someone to confirm it officially, I will, though. I can't be bothered to scroll through his husband's social feeds (if he has any).

It's possible he's just working part-time remotely and maybe the "success" of TOW changed his mind.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

So, not a game where you stroll into "town" and slowly capitalize to OWN it all. Scavenging, privateering, etc? Maybe I'll know if i ride some free networks in town for DL.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Sorry infinitron but....

Library is a public network and they GIVE you the password to use. Pretty sure the levies applied to my property taxes pays for services thus why they GIVE free internet. If the covid wasn't here one can use their computers connected to fiberoptics to DL. Sorry buddy, ain't pirating anything here. Many cafe hubs also offer FREE internet. You thought I was breaking into and riding a paid service... oh for shame on your ASSumptions.

Why don't i get a satellite hookup? Overpriced garbage imho from the local services.

 

[Roguey]

Yeah, word (not mine, this is second or third hand) is he took "advantage" of the COVID situation and left for Seattle, although it was confirmed he said he was planning to retire anyway (he announced internally in the studio he was going to retire last year at some point).

If I get someone to confirm it officially, I will, though. I can't be bothered to scroll through his husband's social feeds (if he has any).

It's possible he's just working part-time remotely and maybe the "success" of TOW changed his mind.

This is looking pretty accurate. https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-land-380041180

Advanced Narrative Designer at Monolith
Greater Seattle Area

Advanced Narrative Designer
Monolith Productions (WB Games)
Nov 2019 - Present1 year 1 month

Content Design Lead
Undead Labs
Apr 2019 - Oct 20197 months

Senior Content Designer
ArenaNet LLC
Oct 2016 - Feb 2019 2 years 5 months

Unless they got divorced, it seems unlikely to me that Tim's husband would be working in Washington all this time while Tim's staying in Southern California forever.

 

[Flying Dutchman]

This is looking pretty accurate. https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-land-380041180

Unless they got divorced, it seems unlikely to me that Tim's husband would be working in Washington all this time while Tim's staying in Southern California forever.

I haven't gotten any confirmation on this anyway, so it may not be true.

BUT Tim's hubby has jumped around for the past few years, maybe they did get a divorce.

I also lol'd at "Advanced" being part of a job description. Jesus, developers keep making new titles to give the illusion of advancement and progress?

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I know ya'll hate me linking the google goober links but this struck me funny:

What if FAllout New Vegas 2 came out when Outer Worlds 2 comes out. Will either actual be made? Eh??

GAME RANT

 

[Mastermind]

Piracy can help you avoid the cash cost of playing this game but it can't help you avoid the true cost of this game: hours wasted that you'll never get back.

 

[BlaineMono]

Every time I hear Outer Worlds I think it is about Outer Wilds, a vastly superior game, and then I get sad because I remember Outer Worlds exists.