I didn’t much like The Outer Worlds. It wasn’t only that space, as a concept, lacks interest for me. I felt its choice systems were bland and uninteresting, and its plot meandered along without purpose or statement. It was aggressively fine, and with 2019 being filled with cool new game releases, it wasn’t long before I set it aside, and let it fall out of my brain.
The Outer Worlds 2 is different. After only an hour’s worth of prologue, I can feel a deep longing in my gut. There have been clear lessons learned here, with criticisms levelled against its predecessor clearly and lovingly addressed from the jump. The opening stanzas might be filled with all sorts of wordy space terms and pseudo-science – enough to scramble my brain – but the impetus and direction of the adventure is made immediately, crisply clear.
You are an agent working for the Earth Directorate, sent to investigate a mysterious station where a scientific anomaly has occurred. With a team of plucky and enthusiastic agents by your side, you venture into this station, and immediately face off against goons from an army force – but how you defeat them, and where you go, is all up to you.
That’s a core theme in The Outer Worlds 2, and something it has over its predecessor. Where choices in The Outer Worlds could feel shallow, developer Obsidian Entertainment has clearly tried to rectify that here, by layering in choices, and ensuring there’s always multiple ways to tackle each challenge.
Multiple times while exploring the prologue, I found obstacles that could’ve been overcome if I’d chosen different traits from the character menu. I went with melee and lockpicking skills initially, because I liked the idea of always being on guard, and I thought lockpicking might come in handy to get through certain doors. In the prologue, I was able to use lockpicking well enough.
But if I’d chosen an innovative trait, or the engineering skill, I could’ve recruited a robot to fight for my cause. Lacking the skills, I had to leave this option and find alternative routes through combat. Of course, that need to find a new path led me to an entirely different area of the station which did use my skills.
Crawling around, I found a vent to travel through, and discovered I could use wall switches to turn nearby turrets on and off, defeating enemies without ever having to touch them myself. It perfectly suited my planned stealthy approach, and my desire to avoid wasting bullets on roving packs of enemies.
Being able to choose where to go, what to pick up, and what to specialise in isn’t entirely uncommon in games – but it rarely feels so well implemented. On a second round through the space station, I found new pathways, and new methods for dispatching enemies. It all depends on the choices you make, with meaning behind every left or right.
You might even change your fate completely if, for example, you head to Security Ops, rather than Central Dispatch, at one particular junction. While there are naturally bounds the game works within – there is no world of endless possibilities – each choice is married with a wild new consequence. Some choices are easier than others – but with reward behind every deeper conversation and discovery, you want to take the time to consider each move.
And when the action moves to a crescendo, you’ll be left wondering whether your choices led you to this conclusion, and if taking another path might have yielded greater reward.
The Outer Worlds 2 really did surprise me in this tight opening hour. It’s bright, colourful, and bouncy, moreso than its slapstick-y predecessor. The humour lands better, with subtlety in conversations and choices. While the preview wasn’t long enough to form a connection with new characters, there is enough pizzazz here to make them seem human and relatable, in ways that brighten up the journey, and add those all-important stakes.
I’m still not enamoured by spacefaring, but The Outer Worlds 2 has done plenty to endear itself, and to tease a brighter future to come. Forget what came before. The Outer Worlds 2 is doing its own thing, and it’s all the more compelling for it.
The Outer Worlds 2 is set to launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on 29 October 2025.
