The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition - Obsidian's first-person sci-fi RPG set in a corporate space colony

[Ol' Willy]

And indeed it seemed to have started the whole "read this log because all NPCs are already dead when you arrive" cliche, except if SS1 did this beforehand, which I never played...

Some logs in SS2 were genuinely good. Like, the scientist who ended up in the Body of the Many and kept his scientific work until the end. Or descend to the madness of Von Braun's captain. The couple who were talking about escape and indeed managed to do it in the last pod right before your eyes. I dunno if any of the TOW logs are of same quality.

 

[KVVRR]

The writing and tone are silly and whimsical despite depicting heinous actions, yes. My point is that NONE of this is different from the main game, at all, whatsoever.

Which is just lazy. This is where it completely falls apart compared to other good works in the same "genre". Outer Worlds never has moments where you put your big boy pants on and take the situation seriously, it's just one gag that goes on for too long.

I think the mission where you went to the Hope and the part where you're revealed that everyone's about to starve were supposed to be those parts, it's just that it falls kinda flat. I remember a lot of people were confused as to how does a civilization with these sort of tech have problems growing food, so I bet that has something to do with it.

 

[DalekFlay]

Man, Im so tired of this "There is this mysterious space station where bad things happened." cliche with its friend: "Super evil corporation do some unethical BS that makes absolutely no sense even looking from the pure greed perspective." and: "There is something really bad happening here, a terrible spooky mystery but you can one shot any enemy, including bosses with ease but please pretend be afraid." also: "I will tell you the story through audio logs and, of course, I will waste your time talking about useless information that doesnt matter to the current plot at all."

This is 100% fair, but in a genre dominated by endless, endless Tolkien copying and pasting I don't think Outer Worlds stands out as particularly egregious. At least its weird, whimsical corporate authoritarianism vibe is somewhat unique.

 

[cvv]

This is 100% fair, but in a genre dominated by endless, endless Tolkien copying and pasting I don't think Outer Worlds stands out as particularly egregious. At least its weird, whimsical corporate authoritarianism vibe is somewhat unique.

It's unique in its utter lack of imagination. This is not a corporate dictatorship, they just copied standard totalitarian tropes, took the "socialism" label down and wrote "korpret" with crayons instead.

I'd love to play a game portraying a society controlled fully by a corporation, without any standard gubermint laws or regulation, in a smart, rational and credible way. ToW doesn't even come close to it.

 

[Quillon]

Tim & Leo/Obs need to realize this is a failed setting, they either have to abandone it or revamp it completely somehow and make the sequel with as little ties to first game as possible(and fire the dykes), otherwise they'll suffer the same fate as they did with Deadfire, albeit to a lesser extent since this isn't a very niche type of game.

 

[DalekFlay]

I'd love to play a game portraying a society controlled fully by a corporation, without any standard gubermint laws or regulation, in a smart, rational and credible way. ToW doesn't even come close to it.

Play Shadowrun.

 

[KVVRR]

Tim & Leo/Obs need to realize this is a failed setting, they either have to abandone it or revamp it completely somehow and make the sequel with as little ties to first game as possible(and fire the dykes), otherwise they'll suffer the same fate as they did with Deadfire, albeit to a lesser extent since this isn't a very niche type of game.

well it's a good thing they revealed that Earth went dark within the last 5 minutes of the game then, supposedly things are a bit more normal there so they can just leave this star system and make a secuel discovering just what happened there.

 

[RepHope]

You can go to another solar system outside Halcyon and totally shake things up, so that’s not a problem. The problem is the writers.

 

[cvv]

The problem is the writers.

We say writeresses shitlord.

 

[Wulfric Pinewood]

Anyone knows release date on steam for it. It will be october 2020 ?

 

[Flying Dutchman]

I don't know, I thought Epic Store shackles fell off after a year, so that would make sense.

(Plus, if they bundle the DLCs, they can charge an Ultimate Choice! price, I guess.) I'm pretty curious how they intend to sell it or parse out the content for sale on Steam or if they'll just dump it all up on Steam at full price and pray no one has heard of Gamepass.

 

[Wulfric Pinewood]

Gamepass is okay but games dissapear from it so you can play them only for limited time, at first its okay but after longer consideration it won't work for crpgs or other titles with high replay value.

 

[Whisper]

this turd

not turd
it sounds like the standard Outer Worlds experience, bro


i.e. it is worse than turd

 

[DalekFlay]

Anyone knows release date on steam for it. It will be october 2020 ?

It's DRM free, so you could download it and never touch Epic's launcher again if that's your issue. If you just wants it on the Steams no matter what though, then that doesn't help.

 

[kangaxx]

I'd love to play a game portraying a society controlled fully by a corporation, without any standard gubermint laws or regulation, in a smart, rational and credible way. ToW doesn't even come close to it.

The original Deus Ex had a stab at it tbh (although obviously the veneer of government was there). The difference was the writing in that game mostly showed rather than told, which is the absolute reverse of TOW. You should see Cyberpunk attempt it, but who knows how that'll turn out.

Anyway the show vs. tell seems to be a common difference between modern writing and that of twenty years ago (both game and films/TV). Another example is something like The Last of Us 2 really ramming home the "revenge bad" message, whilst simultaneously removing the player's element of agency/element of discovery in the matter.

 

[cvv]

You should see Cyberpunk attempt it, but who knows how that'll turn out.

I know. It'll turn out the same way all the 1980s cyberpunk is. But it's not a credible stateless corporate dystopia, it's how leftists imagine it. It's about as credible as leftist fantasies about a society with no corporations and only the government, i.e. socialism.

 

[coldcrow]

This is 100% fair, but in a genre dominated by endless, endless Tolkien copying and pasting I don't think Outer Worlds stands out as particularly egregious. At least its weird, whimsical corporate authoritarianism vibe is somewhat unique.

It's unique in its utter lack of imagination. This is not a corporate dictatorship, they just copied standard totalitarian tropes, took the "socialism" label down and wrote "korpret" with crayons instead.

I'd love to play a game portraying a society controlled fully by a corporation, without any standard gubermint laws or regulation, in a smart, rational and credible way. ToW doesn't even come close to it.

Smart, rational and credible are not the first things coming to mind when I hear "corporation". It's pretty much the same in any hierarchy - be it a corp, the state or the church, people rise until they hit their post of incompetence and usually stay there.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

And indeed it seemed to have started the whole "read this log because all NPCs are already dead when you arrive" cliche, except if SS1 did this beforehand, which I never played...

Some logs in SS2 were genuinely good. Like, the scientist who ended up in the Body of the Many and kept his scientific work until the end. Or descend to the madness of Von Braun's captain. The couple who were talking about escape and indeed managed to do it in the last pod right before your eyes. I dunno if any of the TOW logs are of same quality.

 

[DalekFlay]

Kotaku with an article today about how the ending options are too morally grey and depressing.

 

[Flying Dutchman]

Kotaku with an article today about how the ending options are too morally grey and depressing.

They're probably still mourning the loss of Kotaku UK, or as it's known, Kotaku Who Cares

It's also Ethan Gach who wrote the review, who embodies all the worthlessness that Kotaku represents. When he started waxing poetic about the inhumanity of cigarettes and corporate malfeasance in an attempt to make a point and elevate something you're not supposed to be elevating because - shocker - it's not a political game. Sorry, Ethan.

Thank god they don't give a score, even less of a reason for anyone to care about their opinion. He'll probably love Bloodlines 2, though.

 

[kangaxx]

Kotaku with an article today about how the ending options are too morally grey and depressing.

They're probably still mourning the loss of Kotaku UK, or as it's known, Kotaku Who Cares

Had no idea they'd gone done the swanny. That has perked up my morning, thanks.

 

[Avarize]

You should see Cyberpunk attempt it, but who knows how that'll turn out.

I know. It'll turn out the same way all the 1980s cyberpunk is. But it's not a credible stateless corporate dystopia, it's how leftists imagine it. It's about as credible as leftist fantasies about a society with no corporations and only the government, i.e. socialism.

Any completely ancap society would have corporations paying much more attention that their employees/citizens stay loyal, in ways both malign and benign. And they definitely wouldn't go about in ways that tank productivity, like only feeding people tuna or something on the first planet of the base game.

 

[cvv]

Any completely ancap society would have corporations paying much more attention that their employees/citizens stay loyal, in ways both malign and benign. And they definitely wouldn't go about in ways that tank productivity, like only feeding people tuna or something on the first planet of the base game.

Yes, and I suspect those would be only two of the many important differences between socialism and ancap.

Altho you might argue a planet owned by a single corporation - without the moderating forces of competition - could indeed be similar to the good ol' socialist "paradise".

For every dictator the key is to keep people from escaping their slave camp. Socialists had barbed wires and mine fields and guard towers on the borders. I suppose a planetary corporate dictator would try to keep people inside with knotted contracts and debt traps. (ToW might even hint at some of it, dunno, couldn't bear playing this dogshit for more than 2 hours).

 

[Ranarama]

I'd love to play a game portraying a society controlled fully by a corporation, without any standard gubermint laws or regulation, in a smart, rational and credible way.

Wouldn't happen. Once society is controlled you get regulatory capture, and you have regulations, just ones that favor the corps.

 

[DalekFlay]

Any completely ancap society would have corporations paying much more attention that their employees/citizens stay loyal, in ways both malign and benign. And they definitely wouldn't go about in ways that tank productivity, like only feeding people tuna or something on the first planet of the base game.

The game is not trying to be realistic at all. That's not its tone, and it shouldn't be judged for failing at something it's not at all trying to do. It's more of a Terry Gilliam allegory world than a "realistic" one in any way.