28.11.2019

The Outer Worlds was my most anticipated game of 2019, which has admittedly been of slim pickings when it comes to quality as the console generation winds down for Xbox and PlayStation. Obsidian has made some great games down the years (particularly RPG's), and is now under the banner of Microsoft having been acquired in 2018. Does it live up to Fallout New Vegas? Or is it a terrible disappointment?Having seen a few takes I think the best way to describe The Outer Worlds visually is as a Bioshock RPG or as a more light hearted space faring RPG. It really is nothing like Bioshock and isn't really ever as dark, although it has its moments. Your character is mute, which I actually like,and the dialog system has been directly ported from Fallout New Vegas where the story picks up with you being awoken from cryogenic sleep. At this point you have the chance to customise your character with some fairly extensive options and particularly in terms of attributes and perks.Other elements to make the transition from Obsidian's prior Fallout work is a time stalling system that is similar to VATS, but less friendly to the player as time does not stop completely. This works well within the combat system which features a variety of guns (some are quite interesting) and melee weapons. One of the small things that is much better is the ammo system with light, heavy and energy ammo representing everything that you will find in Halcyon. There's no more finding ammunition for different weapons which is great.Factions also make the way across to The Outer Worlds but it does not really rival Fallout New Vegas where here it is a bit more mixed in terms of quality. Some factions are more interesting than others but all of the characters and many NPC's are fully engaged within the game world where some of the writing is genuinely funny. What applies to characters also applies to factions and during the course of the game you will have the chance to find companions that you can bring on to your spaceship and I didn't like all of them or find each character interesting but that's to be expected. There are also loyalty missions that you can decide to complete but I can't see that there is really any reward for doing so outside of currency, armour or achievements and the quests don't really make any lasting difference to the overall story. It should also be stated that the AI is incompetent and so your allies aren't very good in a firefight, although some upgrades can help you negate this a bit.I liked the story overall and it does have you make some key choices throughout. Unfortunately these choices are usually binary in nature and it would have been welcome to have more than two directions.Bugs have also carried over from New Vegas with occasional pop in, long loading screens between areas and the player character having a tendency to point a weapon at everyone at all times. You can holster your weapon but I'm surprised that I didn't get involved in more gunfights with pointing my gun at random NPC's so much. It's a minor niggle that will hopefully be patched.---Summary (Scored out of 10)---Graphics -7- Not the best but it isn't where The Outer Worlds is sold ultimately.Sound -8- Pretty good with some nice music throughout and particularly towards the end of the game.Gameplay -9- Carried over from Fallout New Vegas with minor revisions and tweaks and it still proves to be great fun.Lifespan -9- It took me around 25 hours on my first playthrough. I might go back and give it another run eventually.---Verdict---Did The Outer Worlds live up to the hype? It mostly delivered for me really and Obsidian couldn't have really done much more. I'm more of a fan of the Fallout universe and that cannot be replicated here, but it does still tell a good story, albeit overall uninspired. I'd perhaps not say that this is my Game of the Year, but it is the most solid RPG I have played in a while and if you like the genre you won't be disappointed.

8.6.2020

Ok, so I've waited all year for this to be released on the Switch because I wanted a Fallout style first person RPG for the system ever since I bought the console.I also have a PS4 Pro so obviously I could have got this game for that ages ago and of course it would be superior in terms of the graphics especially on the big screen at home. However, I already own many games of this type including the Fallout titles for that system and I just wanted The Outer Worlds on the Switch with both options of portability and docked play available, after all commuting to work is on the horizon again soon sadly with plenty of distraction needed from obvious worries!Now lets be clear,at this point just after release and even with the 4GB day one patch it's true the game doesn't look great particularly in docked mode and it is struggling to maintain the target 30 FPS in certain areas of play, I have found handheld mode is considerably better looking on the small and much more forgiving Switch screen and it also seems to run a lot smoother overall due to using a lower resolution in this mode compared to docked. Audio is excellent with no problems there at all.Despite the technical visual issues that are clearly present however I must say that the game is really good, the full game is here nothing has been cut out and it has a great story with excellent characters and top class voice acting, it's very funny with a tongue in cheek sense of humour, there's loads of customisation and items with deep RPG elements involved and lots of genuinely interesting side quests to compliment the solid main story, you have plenty of dialogue options that affect the way things go and most importantly the game still manages to actually play quite well for the most part, also the Switch version does include motion aiming control options and at last you can scale the size of the HUD text to suit the small screen, it's well thought out and honestly I'm really enjoying the game.Graphics do not make a game, they never have. Besides, I'm pretty certain that this will be patched in the coming weeks and things will improve considerably with a bit more time and work from the development team, sadly that's the modern way so while the Switch version at this stage is definitely a bit on the rough side the simple fact is that The Outer Worlds is a very good game and if you only own a Nintendo Switch or you just want a portable version of this game I would still say it's absolutely worth a look, or possibly hang on a little while to see if a further patch arrives to improve the experience if graphic performance is really important to you.I can live with the rough looks I'm old school I suppose and the game itself is fab, it'll do for me because I now have the Fallout style game I've been waiting for on the Nintendo Switch so it's all good.4 stars.Update*The game has now had a patch that does improve the graphics and performance to a reasonable extent, it's still a bit rough but it is better than the early days and also the price is now half what it was on release so I would definitely recommend giving this a go now on the Switch. ?

8.6.2020

Ok, so I've waited all year for this to be released on the Switch because I wanted a Fallout style first person RPG for the system ever since I bought the console.I also have a PS4 Pro so obviously I could have got this game for that ages ago and of course it would be superior in terms of the graphics especially on the big screen at home. However, I already own many games of this type including the Fallout titles for that system and I just wanted The Outer Worlds on the Switch with both options of portability and docked play available, after all commuting to work is on the horizon again soon sadly with plenty of distraction needed from obvious worries!Now lets be clear,at this point just after release and even with the 4GB day one patch it's true the game doesn't look great particularly in docked mode and it is struggling to maintain the target 30 FPS in certain areas of play, I have found handheld mode is considerably better looking on the small and much more forgiving Switch screen and it also seems to run a lot smoother overall due to using a lower resolution in this mode compared to docked. Audio is excellent with no problems there at all.Despite the technical visual issues that are clearly present however I must say that the game is really good, the full game is here nothing has been cut out and it has a great story with excellent characters and top class voice acting, it's very funny with a tongue in cheek sense of humour, there's loads of customisation and items with deep RPG elements involved and lots of genuinely interesting side quests to compliment the solid main story, you have plenty of dialogue options that affect the way things go and most importantly the game still manages to actually play quite well for the most part, also the Switch version does include motion aiming control options and at last you can scale the size of the HUD text to suit the small screen, it's well thought out and honestly I'm really enjoying the game.Graphics do not make a game, they never have. Besides, I'm pretty certain that this will be patched in the coming weeks and things will improve considerably with a bit more time and work from the development team, sadly that's the modern way so while the Switch version at this stage is definitely a bit on the rough side the simple fact is that The Outer Worlds is a very good game and if you only own a Nintendo Switch or you just want a portable version of this game I would still say it's absolutely worth a look, or possibly hang on a little while to see if a further patch arrives to improve the experience if graphic performance is really important to you.I can live with the rough looks I'm old school I suppose and the game itself is fab, it'll do for me because I now have the Fallout style game I've been waiting for on the Nintendo Switch so it's all good.4 stars.

24.6.2020

I won't at all say that the visuals are great in general whether it's on its own or relative to other games similar to it. However, what it does is prioritize what is important to one's experience rather than making everything on your screen eye-candy.While characters can be still-looking and unexpressive when looking at random NPCs, the characters that have significance to the player such as companions and quest givers feel and look alive because that's where energy and focus felt purposefully diverted towards.Weapons and abilities look great though they don't have much variety in terms of sheer quantity.The environments do look and feel a little empty in terms of trees/plants and wildlife

28.10.2019

At times I forget this isn't a Fallout game, the similarities are striking. Playing it on Xbox using the game pass, it really is a great game. Difficulty is set just right for it to be a challenge, with the ability to craft a character how you want to play. You can go all sneaky and avoid everyone, or go massive melee and just smack everything with big hammers. I've gone gunner, with the usual pistols, assault rifles, snipers, light and heavy machine guns, RPG launchers and flame throwers. You get to craft a space ship crew and kit them and yourself out with progressively increasing levels of armour and weapons and mod the heck out of them. As you fly around a star system fetching,

7.5.2020

The Outer Worlds, is amazing. All the different areas of the game are unique and hold unique enemies within them. For Obsidian's first standalone game without the help of Bethesda they have absolutely nailed it, the amount of options and missions/quests you have allows for a varied story as well as high replay value.The story, albeit a short one (the whole game is around 25-30 hrs if you complete everything) is full of character depth and choices, making you get attached to these characters, which makes the choices you make even more impactful. Along with which areas you put your skill points in this can become quite enjoyable - there was a moment where I managed to 'persuade'

25.10.2019

Outer worlds is absolutely amazing. Yeah, there are a lot of problems within the game, but it’s still a complete masterpiece. Even on the second to last hardest difficulty, it’s both fair & hard at the same time. I still think at fallout 4 has a bit of an edge in certain aspects, but! Regardless! It is a perfect game, and it has plenty of everythingg within to keep you occupied for hours.Now, for me, it’s not five stars. I’m sorry, but there are quite a lot of bugs, noise (if you know photography then you’ll know this, but noise is where colours, and pixels are out of place, and the image looks bad.Armour. In mostly every game these days goes inwards.

8.1.2020

For any fallout fan this game is a must. This is the route bethesda should of gone with Fallout 76.This game plays and feels like any other bethesda game however it is bought to us by obsidian who made fallout new vegas.The gameplay is fun very responsive Id argue a slight improvement on fallout 4.There are several ways to tackle missions. Stealth,Guns blazing,Useing disguies etc plenty of variaty.The story is pretty decent although a bit short you feel like you just get going then its the end. However they have announced there will be story dlc realesed later this year.There are consequences to your choices and actions within the game which gives it a lot of replay value.Graphically and visualy

17.2.2020

I got this for my husband for Christmas and he had played it through before New Years because we just couldn't stop playing. It's so good! I'll play through it on my own at some point for all my own interactions, but I loved watching him play through. Player choice feels real, and the individual character story lines with the people you pick up are wonderful. The writing is great - so much memorable dialog and story experiences. There's humor, drama, action, intrigue, couldn't ask for more. Best solo gaming experience that I've seen in a while.And ZERO BUGS!!! I can't tell you how many EA and Bethesda experiences I've had in recent memory that were just riddled with bugs and issues that pull you out of the immersion.

13.1.2021

I played almost entirely in docked mode on my 60 inch TV and I saw no problems with graphics. Perhaps I have a later, improved version of the game, but I thankfully didn't have any of the lagging it graphics resolution problems I saw mentioned before I chose to buy.I enjoyed the motion aiming- that's new and cool to me, although I'm very new to gaming after a 20 hiatus(thank you covid?)The storylines were interesting and showed a great sense of humour. It really reminded me of the beloved series "Firefly"... So I was happier than a... Well I was very happy. I liked how it adapted to your choices. Your reputation with each faction increases/decreases based upon your actions,

22.6.2020

Seeing a few reviews talking about graphics, frame rate, lag etc...While I appreciate the game may not be performant on the Switch, I think everyone knew because this was a port from more powerful consoles that this was always going to be an issue.As a complete novice to the game, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Game mechanics were simple enough to pick up quickly, complex enough to engross and flexible enough to adjust your style to your preference. I'm ashamed to admit I blasted through this game in a long weekend. Although the game does struggle at points, this didn't feel like a big deal at any time during play-through. During intense battles where lots of enemies appeared (usually because I shot someone in a neutral zone...

10.11.2019

Just imagine if Obsidian had made Fallout 4 (They should have, New Vegas is a masterpiece) and you get the idea of what the Outer Worlds is like.The thing about Obsidian games is that they understand what makes a good RPG and what makes a good RPG is how your interaction with NPC's (companions and non companions alike) can shape your journey. Bethesda seem to have forgotten this which is why Fallout 76 is such a flop.Right from the beginning of the game your choices can shape your journey and the great thing is it doesn't take long to get stuck into the gameplay. You're introduced to a couple of characters, that dark brand of humour and away you go.The upgrading is simple and accessible,

1.12.2019

In this day of always online, multiplayer and loot box orientated gaming I thought I'd never see a game like this again. Utterly disappointed in Fallout 76, just as with mass effect andromeda, both were games made by corporates, not gamers to extract maximum money with little quality or substance. But the Outer Worlds takes me back 10-15 years to the heyday of quality rpgs where solid gameplay, the world, characters, graphic's and narrative are central. This is a great rpg game which will give you around 40 hours of enjoyable sci based gaming which has so much reply value too. Hats off to obsidian for this game, they've utter surpassed bioware and Bethesda and I will happily buy any DLC for this or the sequel!!

5.6.2020

there are a lot of negative reviews about the switch port of this game but I have to say I love it.OK so they have compromised on the graphics and the frame rate is not as high as the xbox or PlayStation.Everyone is comparing this game against the two other consoles but you need to forget about them and think Switch with its lower spec. The fact that this was even bought over to the switch itself is fantastic and I have had no problems in playing this in the docked or hand held mode. Yes the graphics are low and that doesn't bother me in the slightest and the frame rate I have had no problems with at all.Overall this is a great game and a breath of fresh air to the switch so i definitely

12.7.2020

I have really enjoyed this game, as it has a similar post-apocalyptic graphic design as Fallout. The great twist is that the storyline is in space, so you have several great maps to explore and complete quests in. Some parts are very cinematic, and there are many dialogue options, which may not be suited to gamers who prefer quick point-and-shoot games. Just like within Fallout, and Skyrim, you can negotiate differently with the CPUs depending on personal preference, and this will have an interesting impact on your story experience. The world that is created in this game is very thoughtful and even makes you question the social structures of your existing world.

The Outer Worlds - Reviews

Info

Analysis

Detail