Well, it’s been a while ever sincethe initial announcement of The Outer Worlds 2…over three years since then, in fact, with the original announcement now having been a relic of when E3 still existed. But finally, the sequel toObsidian’s award-winning RPGhas resurfaced during The Game Awards with its first gameplay trailer, once again bringing the tongue-in-cheek flavor, starting off with the odd realization that Obsidian work over the years has been on a number of sequels to games not originally developed by Obsidian, namelyStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II,Neverwinter Nights 2,andFallout 3 Part II: The Version That’s Actually Interesting(okay, that last part was this writer, but it couldn’t be helped).
Spacer’s Choice: The Sequel
From there, the trailer says that like all good sequels, The Outer Worlds 2 will include “everything that should have been in the first game.” We then get a look at some new locales, all still decorated in the dieselpunk-inspired style of the original. We then get our look at, as the trailer puts it, more combat, more weapons, and more graphics, showing not just more gorgeous outer space landscapes, but also several ways to cause mayhem in them. Taking down enemies after tracking them with heat vision, slow-motion grenade explosions, melee combat with motorized sawblade weapons, and more.
Review: The Outer Worlds
Even with these unfortunate and evident shortcomings on the technical side, The Outer Worlds is a rewarding and ultimately intriguing adventure.
It does seem like a bit of an odd choice for a gameplay trailer, though. After all, while The Outer Worlds still had its fair share of enjoyable combat, Obsidian’s games are typically known more for having their writing, characters, and dialogue be their strongest strengths, typically allowing for players to even find alternate solutions to dilemmas via discussions. Heck, the first game is even onour list of games where combat is practically optional(alongside another Obsidian title, the aforementioned Fallout 3 Part II). Still, it’s likely just that Obsidian doesn’t want to give away things too quickly, and the last moment of the clip shows us the game’s satire of capitalism is going to be present.
The trailer also reveals that The Outer Worlds 2 is now also set for a 2025 release, meaning Obsidian will have both this andAvowedto make what could be one spectacular year for the developer. However, while both are also being published by Xbox Game Studios, The Outer Worlds 2 won’t be an Xbox exclusive like Avowed, as it’s now heading to the PlayStation 5 in addition to PC and Xbox Series X, making sure those who started with the original on PlayStation won’t be left out. Regardless of platform, though, it looks like The Outer Worlds 2 should make for one intriguing sequel.
