I’ve never been a fan of first-person shooters. However, for some reason, I fell in love with Fallout 4 while watching my son play and had to give it a try myself. I loved it. My arthritis caused a problem though. It’s not easy to play Fallout, or any other first-person shooter, on a PC when your fingers just don’t bend the way most people’s fingers do. Surprisingly for me, that problem was solved when the game we’re going to talk about today was released on the Nintendo Switch.

The Outer Worlds, developed by the same folks at Obsidian that developed Fallout: New Vegas, is absolutely stunning to behold and to play. You would expect there to be quite a few similarities between Fallout and The Outer Worlds, but really, there’s not many. They both do what most first-person shooters do and contain a lot of the same elements, but the feel and the excitement are totally different. So what is The Outer Worlds about? Here’s what the official press release has to say:

“In The Outer Worlds, you awake from hibernation on a colonist ship that was lost in transit to Halcyon, the furthest colony from Earth located at the edge of the galaxy, only to find yourself in the midst of a deep conspiracy threatening to destroy it. As you explore the furthest reaches of space and encounter various factions, all vying for power, the character you decide to become will determine how this player-driven story unfolds. In the corporate equation for the colony, you are the unplanned variable.”

We’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s start with Skills. There are seven skills within The Outer Worlds: Melee, Ranged, Defense, Dialogue, Stealth, Tech, and Leadership. Each skill has associated specialized skills. In the beginning, putting points into a skill also increases the point level of the specialized skill nested under it.

However, this only works for the first 50 points. After putting 50 points into a skill, such as Stealth, you have to add any additional points into the specialized skills nested under that skill. So if you’ve added 50 points to the Stealth skill, for example, you would have to choose between Lockpick, Hack, and Sneak when you add more points to that category.

I found this to be quite helpful because when I was getting the hang of the game I didn’t have to choose between putting a point into say, the specialized skill for Hacking, or the specialized skill for Lockpicking, because they are both nested under the Stealth skill. By the time I had added 50 points into a single skill, I knew what I was doing, knew what I was going for, and choosing between two specialized skills was no longer an issue. At that point, I was able to make a confident choice that I wouldn’t regret later.

Let’s move on to the heart of most first-person shooters, the combat. Combat takes place in the first person, and even though I usually struggle with that perspective, I found it to be really smooth and intuitive. Any trouble I had with aiming or being accurate was my problem, not anything to do with the game itself.

There’s a lot to think about and keep up with when it comes to combat, but not so much that it’s overwhelming. You have weapons types, armor types, modifications, and damage types. You have multiple companions to choose from. You have multiple factions to fight with or against.

There are 6 weapon types: 1-handed melee, 2-handed melee, handguns, long guns, heavy weapons, and science weapons. Many weapons have a special effect, such as knockback or bleed, which can help deal extra damage or give you an advantage. I’m not sure how helpful the special effects are because, honestly, I never noticed when they occurred.

Ballistic weapons, such as handguns and rifles, require ammo. Ammo comes in three types: light, heavy, and energy. I was really pleased to discover that you find ammo all over the place while you’re exploring. You really shouldn’t have to buy ammo at any point. It should be noted that light ammo is easier to come by than heavy ammo and energy ammo is the least plentiful. So, if you choose an energy weapon, you might have difficulty finding enough ammo to prevent a trip to the store or vending machine.

Most weapons can be upgraded by adding mods. Different weapons will take different types of mods, as well as a different number of mods. Mods can improve everything from the recoil to the range to accuracy. I found it pretty easy to find a weapon that I felt comfortable with and could also improve with modifications.

There are two types of armor, head and body, in four classes: clothing, light, medium, and heavy.  The difference between the four classes of armor is pretty much the weight and the amount of damage they block. While different classes do block different amounts of damage, you can find armor in any class for any damage type. You don’t have to choose heavy armor to block energy weapon damage, for example.

Your choice of armor depends on your play style. If your character is a big, burly beast all about kicking butt and taking names, you probably have a decent amount of carry weight capacity, so you’re going to go with heavier duty armor. If you are going for a more well-rounded character, (like me) you’ll probably have less carry weight capacity, so you’ll go with light or medium armor.

The combat is smooth and while the enemies are not pushovers, they’re never so difficult that you get frustrated or rage. As I’m new to First-Person Shooters in general, I was surprised at how well I did with the combat. It was difficult enough that I believe veteran FPS players will be challenged, but it wasn’t so difficult that newbies like me would be overwhelmed. You can always turn up the difficulty level if you find the combat isn’t challenging enough for you.

When it comes to exploration, I set the bar high. I was happy to discover that The Outer Worlds exceeded my expectations. While not always large, each of the 10 areas that you can explore is interesting and detailed.

These beautiful, open areas contain many things to discover, lots of loot to collect, and plenty of quests to undertake. You can work on the main quest for a while, then switch and work on the side quests, or you can skip the side quests altogether. If you do choose to do the side quests, you can do them in whichever order you like. It should be noted, however, that the side quests you can do depend on which factions you support.

Almost every location has at least two factions that are in direct opposition to the other. It’s up to you which side you do quests for and support. Completing quests for a particular faction raises your reputation in that faction. Raising your reputation in each faction brings with it a perk or benefit. How do you choose sides? Do you let your moral compass choose? Do you weigh the different advantages of the perks? Again, it’s all up to you and your particular play style.

There are six different companions that you can recruit. Unlike crewmembers which you can recruit to help you on your ship, the Unreliable, companions go with you on your adventures. You can carry up to two companions with you at a time and each must be outfitted with weapons and armor. Each companion has their own views, objectives, and missions which you can choose to undertake, or not.

I think that’s the thing I love most about The Outer Worlds. It doesn’t matter how you play, you can succeed in this game and have a great time. My son Alexx and I have vastly different play styles, and yet we both enjoy this game immensely. Heck, it doesn’t even matter if this is your first shooter, you can still succeed, learning as you go.

Making the choices you need to make for all these things is not always easy, but there are truly no wrong answers. You can play how you want to play. You can even kill every quest specific NPC in the game and still finish the story. Every choice you make, whether it be the weapon you’re carrying, the companion you’re using, or a choice in a conversation with an NPC, matters. Every choice you make is important and changes the course of your adventure.

If you are a graphical snob, you will be happy. The Outer Worlds is absolutely gorgeous. Every area is extremely detailed, with absolutely everything thought of. From the sky to the enemies to the advertisements, absolutely everything is beautifully done and exactly what you would expect it to be.

I know I’ve been gushing about it, but there is one complaint that I have. The map, while detailed, doesn’t allow you to mark waypoints. I did not have any trouble navigating without them, but it would have been nice to be able to mark a place on my map where I wanted to go that was a little bit off the beaten path.

I have seen people, including the developers, say that the game is short. However, if you do the side quests, explore all the little nooks and crannies, and really explore what the game has to offer, you’ll definitely get your money’s worth as far as time spent in this adventure.

I think anyone who enjoys exploration, combat, customization, and choices that matter, will enjoy The Outer Worlds. You don’t have to like Sci-Fi or even shooters to like this game. The story stands on its own and is interesting and intriguing in its own right. The gameplay is fun and exciting. I think everyone should definitely check out The Outer Worlds. Don’t have a Switch? No problem. You can pick up The Outer Worlds on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One as well.

A Nintendo Switch review copy of The Outer Worlds was provided by Private Division for this review. 

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The Outer Worlds

$59.99

9.5

Score

9.5/10

Pros

• Choices Matter
• Smooth Controls
• Challenging Combat
• Compelling Story
• Beautiful Environments

Cons

• Can't Add Waypoints to Map

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