The Outer Worlds 2 is one of three games coming from Obsidian Entertainment in 2025, two of which are RPGs. Unlike the high fantasy Avowed, The Outer Worlds 2 is a sci-fi adventure, and the way that it leans into the genre by allowing (and encouraging) players to have their characters take on Flaws is an interesting way of differentiating the experience from the troubled chosen one energy often assigned to fantasy heroes, like the protagonist of Avowed.
Unfortunately, exploring these Flaws was not the focus of the 40-minute demo I played at Summer Game Fest. Instead, the demo focused on combat. I don't jump into games like The Outer Worlds 2 for the shooting, so, admittedly, I did not walk away from the preview all that impressed. That's not a knock against the game--the combat is serviceable--but it was disappointing to play a segment of The Outer Worlds 2 that felt like it was just the first game revisited without a chance to experience any of the new stuff.
So far, from what I've played, if you liked The Outer Worlds, then you'll like the sequel. If you weren't a fan, the demo I played did not convince me that The Outer Worlds 2 will be for you. More of the same isn't necessarily a bad thing, though--The Outer Worlds is superb. The gameplay doesn't need to change all that much--The Outer Worlds 2 can just be a Marvel's Spider-Man 2 kind of sequel, where it's just more of the same that came before because what came before was very good.
After playing the demo, I sat in on a group Q&A with a few of the developers and asked The Outer Worlds 2 creative director Leonard Boyarsky about how the game responds to choices and builds on the original's concept of playing as a flawed protagonist who might not get everything the player wants.
"I think it's, again, it's back to the reactivity," Boyarsky told me. "If I start doing stuff that my companions don't like, they're going to let me know about it. Basically at a certain point they're going to be like, 'If you keep doing this, there's going to be a problem.' … Each one of them has their own story arc that you can do [your] best [to complete]. It's like, 'Am I going to try to pull this person away from their faction?' If I go into a faction headquarter that this person [is] a part of and I start shooting people, I can't expect them to just not say anything about it or just help me kill everybody."
Combat feels solid--it's not all that different from the first game.
Boyarsky indicated that The Outer Worlds 2 does a pretty good job of reacting to your narrative choices, often even ensuring its toughest choices can't be circumvented. "So as you go through the game, hopefully--if we've done our job right--that stuff is very obvious where you're going to make those choices," he said. "And we love to morally embrace stuff where it's like, 'Okay, maybe neither of these is a great choice [and you have to go with] the least-bad option.' And that could have to do with [the companions.] I have this companion standing next to me [who doesn't like what's about to happen]--if it's possible for me to extricate myself from the situation, maybe I should go back to the ship and switch out my companions or something before I make this choice. And even then, that doesn't always work. They might be waiting for you at the ship when you come back [and say,] 'I'd like to have a word with you.'"
That seems cool! It also sounds inline with the first game, albeit perhaps more clear-cut in how devastating the consequence of a choice can be. I'm eager to see this first-hand, and have a chance to play through the mechanics and features in The Outer Worlds 2 that seem to be brand-new. We won't have to wait too long--The Outer Worlds 2 is set to launch for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC on October 29.
Source
Unfortunately, exploring these Flaws was not the focus of the 40-minute demo I played at Summer Game Fest. Instead, the demo focused on combat. I don't jump into games like The Outer Worlds 2 for the shooting, so, admittedly, I did not walk away from the preview all that impressed. That's not a knock against the game--the combat is serviceable--but it was disappointing to play a segment of The Outer Worlds 2 that felt like it was just the first game revisited without a chance to experience any of the new stuff.
So far, from what I've played, if you liked The Outer Worlds, then you'll like the sequel. If you weren't a fan, the demo I played did not convince me that The Outer Worlds 2 will be for you. More of the same isn't necessarily a bad thing, though--The Outer Worlds is superb. The gameplay doesn't need to change all that much--The Outer Worlds 2 can just be a Marvel's Spider-Man 2 kind of sequel, where it's just more of the same that came before because what came before was very good.
After playing the demo, I sat in on a group Q&A with a few of the developers and asked The Outer Worlds 2 creative director Leonard Boyarsky about how the game responds to choices and builds on the original's concept of playing as a flawed protagonist who might not get everything the player wants.
"I think it's, again, it's back to the reactivity," Boyarsky told me. "If I start doing stuff that my companions don't like, they're going to let me know about it. Basically at a certain point they're going to be like, 'If you keep doing this, there's going to be a problem.' … Each one of them has their own story arc that you can do [your] best [to complete]. It's like, 'Am I going to try to pull this person away from their faction?' If I go into a faction headquarter that this person [is] a part of and I start shooting people, I can't expect them to just not say anything about it or just help me kill everybody."
Combat feels solid--it's not all that different from the first game.
Boyarsky indicated that The Outer Worlds 2 does a pretty good job of reacting to your narrative choices, often even ensuring its toughest choices can't be circumvented. "So as you go through the game, hopefully--if we've done our job right--that stuff is very obvious where you're going to make those choices," he said. "And we love to morally embrace stuff where it's like, 'Okay, maybe neither of these is a great choice [and you have to go with] the least-bad option.' And that could have to do with [the companions.] I have this companion standing next to me [who doesn't like what's about to happen]--if it's possible for me to extricate myself from the situation, maybe I should go back to the ship and switch out my companions or something before I make this choice. And even then, that doesn't always work. They might be waiting for you at the ship when you come back [and say,] 'I'd like to have a word with you.'"
That seems cool! It also sounds inline with the first game, albeit perhaps more clear-cut in how devastating the consequence of a choice can be. I'm eager to see this first-hand, and have a chance to play through the mechanics and features in The Outer Worlds 2 that seem to be brand-new. We won't have to wait too long--The Outer Worlds 2 is set to launch for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC on October 29.
Source