The Outer Worlds: First Impressions

I’m having a real hard time trying to decide if I like The Outer Worlds or not. With more than 20 hours played and roughly half of the game completed, I’m still on the the fence, so I thought I’d post my initial impressions and try to figure out exactly why I’m struggling to get through it.

The Outer Worlds is a sci-fi first person RPG. You play as a recently de-thawed colonist in the Halcyon system. It’s a setting that’s clearly had a lot of thought and attention put into it with a wide and varied range of corporations, characters, environments and technology. There’s clearly a Firefly inspired ‘space western’ style to it as you recruit a rag-tag crew of mercenaries and bounce from one frontier world / outpost to the next in search of ever more lucrative work.

The game is very bright and colourful (although arguably a little too garish at times) and takes a rather laid back, not-too-serious approach to its setting, missions, characters and dialogue. And dialogue is a big part of The Outer Worlds, with all of your various speech skills (persuade, lie and intimidate) playing a key role, in addition to various other skills such as medicine, engineering or perception.

I really like the dialogue system and how so many of your skills come into play when interacting with others and opening up new ways to approach or complete missions. As far as the RPG mechanics go in terms of building your character with different skills and perks, I really can’t complain.

When you’re not talking you’re going to be fighting and, once again, I don’t really have too many complaints about the combat system. You have a decent, if somewhat limited, selection of weapons, all of which can be upgraded or modified. The armour / clothing options may not be great, but they do the job. Overall, the combat isn’t anything special but it’s solid and fairly enjoyable.

So I like the setting, the style, the RPG elements and the combat. So why am I struggling to like the game as a whole? After a lot of thought and consideration I think I’ve finally figure it out – as unique and interesting as the setting may be, I feel like I’ve done this all before.

 

The first world you land upon has two main factions. You can choose to help one – at the expense of the other – or you can try to broker some kind of agreement between the two. The second major world you land on also has two main factions. And, once again, you can choose to help one – at the expense of the other – or . . . I think you get the point. 

The missions in The Outer World feel so uninspired and by the numbers. I had one quest to find a missing worker who was last seen in a house in some nearby ruins. I entered the house and was immediately confronted by an odd couple who invited me to stay for dinner. Cannibals, obviously. I knew because I’ve played this mission before in so many other games.

And that’s the real problem I’m having with The Outer Worlds. Despite the unique setting, there’s nothing unique about any of the missions you undertake. They all follow the same repetitive patterns from one location to the next, with similar options and outcomes. And they’re not, I hate to say, particularly exciting from a narrative standpoint.

It certainly doesn’t help that The Outer Worlds often splits what should be sub-objectives of a single quest into multiple quests tied to a single location. I find myself having to check my quest log far too often in order to keep up with exactly what quests I’m doing and where so I don’t have to continually backtrack to locations I’ve already visited. 

The companion characters who you can recruit also feel very shallow. You only really get to know two of them prior to their recruitment and the rest just kind of join you because . . . well, just because. I’m hoping they’ll become more interesting as I explore their personal side quests but we’ll see how it goes.

For now, I’m going to continue slogging my way through the rest of The Outer Worlds in the hope that it expands and evolves into a more engaging and unique quest experience that actually does justice to the unique and engaging setting. It’s been pretty frustrating so far, I have to say. There’s so many aspects of the game I like, but the entire experience is dragged down by such bland and by the numbers quest design. I really hope it improves.

Now Playing: Star Wars: Squadrons (VR)

Star Wars: Squadrons may not be a VR exclusive title but, with 45 hours clocked at the time of this review, it’s become the VR game I’ve put the most amount of time into. And although I have tried playing a few missions out of VR, I can’t say I enjoy the game half as much when I do. Playing in and out of VR are two very different experiences. Once you’ve played Squadrons in VR, you really can’t go back.

The feeling of being in the cockpit, the increased situational awareness and the sense of scale all combine to build an incredibly immersive VR experience. But, as I’m sure I’ve said before, there’s a big difference between VR exclusive and VR supported of which Squadrons falls into the latter category. 

It doesn’t support VR motion controllers but this isn’t a surprise given the lack of assignable keys / buttons. I guess you could argue that the cockpit should be VR friendly and allow you to flip switches and press buttons within the VR space but for that to work, Squadrons would have to be built from the ground up for VR.

I played Squadrons with a 360 pad and, although not as immersive as a proper flight stick might be, it did the job, at least for me. And I do think VR gave me an advantage over other, non-VR users – it’s so much easier to judge distance when manoeuvring around or between obstacles, and it’s so much easier to track targets when you can just . . . turn your head. 

But the fact that Squadrons is only supported in VR and not exclusive does lead to some unfortunate drawbacks. The first is visual fidelity. Whilst the game looks sharp and the textures look high resolution out of VR, in VR is another matter. This is most noticeable when looking at the background star fields which in VR look like a low resolution jpeg stretched across your vision.

It’s not too noticeable when you’re engaged in the action and tracking targets but when you do notice it . . . ugh. The characters and ships also lack the sharpness and detail when seen in VR. It feels like Squadrons needed a VR specific visual overhaul, not only to improve the overall quality, but to replace various textures which might look good outside of VR, but look rather low quality in VR.

The VR performance also isn’t perfect, and although I haven’t had too many issues, I’ve seen many other people who haven’t been so lucky. Obviously, the strength of your hardware will play a factor, but it doesn’t seem like the game is properly optimised across the variety of available VR headsets. Supported, not exclusive, remember?

Thankfully, despite the VR specific issues, Squadrons is still a blast to play. There’s a pretty decent single player campaign of 14 missions split between the Empire and the New Republic. It’s certainly not going to win any awards, but it does what it needs to in order to keep you invested and engaged. The two squads you fly with on both sides of the conflict have their own personalities and quirks, but you can’t really interact with them in or out of missions. 

The missions are fairly varied in terms of objectives, but there’s a lack of variety when it comes to ship types. I’m not just talking about the 4 ship types on each side available to you as a player, but the larger capital ships. We see a mon calamari cruiser, for example, during one of the prologue chapters, but it never appears again throughout the entire campaign.

Overall, the campaign serves not only as a decent tutorial system for all of the various ship types across both factions, but it also provides a pretty fun and replayable (thanks to various difficulty settings and mission medal rewards) single player experience.

Beyond the campaign are two modes – Dogfight and Fleet Battle. Dogfight is a pretty simple 5v5 multiplayer team death match mode with a score limit of 30. It’s a short, punchy mode that’s great for a quick fix. Fleet Battles, on the other hand, is the real meat of the multiplayer – a 5v5 objective focused mode in which two teams attempt to destroy the opposing team’s capital ship.

The mode can also be played solo or in co-op with and against bots, which is a welcome inclusion given that the MP may be dead in a year or so if Squadrons doesn’t receive the content updates it needs or deserves. Fleet Battles are at their best when your team works together, supporting each other and playing to the objectives which I’m pleased to say happens far more frequently than not.

The main problem with Fleet Battles right now is one of balance. Players have already discovered some, shall we say ‘optimal’ ship builds and tactics that can make these battles be incredibly one sided, particularly if you’re playing as the Empire. This has led to an annoying situation whereby players on the New Republic side are quitting before the match begins resulting in matches not being ranked due to the team imbalance. And ranking, as a whole, seems to be somewhat broken, even when you do finally play in a match with balanced teams. 

There’s some cosmetic customisation available in Squadrons but it’s really nothing to get very excited about. I can’t say I care too much given how little you actually see of your pilot or the exterior of ships in combat, but it still feels like they’ve given players the bare minimum to work with and called it a day.

I don’t know if we’ll see more content for Squadrons but I hope we do. I don’t see why the game can only be a ‘one and done’ or a ‘live service’ title as if there’s no middle ground in which it can thrive. I’d happily pay for a campaign or multiplayer expansion if it offered a few new ships, modes and maps. But even if Squadrons, as the content currently exists, is all we’ll ever get, given the reduced price, I’d still say it’s good value. And even when the multiplayer base inevitably runs dry, I can still see myself returning to it to replay the campaign or engage in Fleet Battles against the AI.

7/10

Gallery: Horizon Zero Dawn (Part 2)

 

Now Playing: Resident Evil 3 Remake

I recalled very little of the original Resident Evil 3 going into this remake so, like my review of the Resident Evil 2 remake, this review isn’t going to serve as a comparison of the original – not what it’s gained, or what it might have lost during the transition – but instead, a review of what we’ve got now.

And as much as I did enjoy playing this remake, I have to say I’m still quite disappointed by it. If I did have to make a comparison it would be that this remake is to Resident Evil 2 what Resident Evil Zero was to Resident Evil – a shorter, more linear, action focused but ultimately forgettable companion piece.

I played through the campaign three times on all of the initial difficulty modes. My first run, on Standard, even when exploring every map for every collectible and item, was still over in 4 hours. My second run on the easiest ‘Assisted’ setting to pick up the few odd collectibles I’d missed was over in less than 2. And my third run on ‘Hardcore’ wasn’t much longer. I didn’t bother with the difficulties unlocked beyond Hardcore because after three separate runs, I felt like I’d seen everything the game had to offer.

I can’t say I didn’t enjoy each of my runs and I liked the addition of the ‘coin shop’ which lets you buy various items and weapons to mix up your play as you progress through the various difficulty modes. But that’s really what the game is focused upon – multiple, multiple runs on higher difficulties and more challenging ranking objectives. If you’re someone who just likes to play through a campaign once and move on, you’re going to feel very short-changed by this remake. 

And to be frank, this remake does feel like it was knocked out on the cheap. It’s not just the length, but how much content is recycled from the Resident Evil 2 remake. The ‘sewer’ section in this remake may have a different layout, but it’s essentially the same environment you fought through in Resident Evil 2. You also return to the gun store from Resident Evil 2, and get to enjoy an extended return to the police station from Resident Evil 2. When a chunk of your game is just recycled content from the last and barely scrapes 4 hours in length, it ends up feeling more like a DLC.

And that’s the best way to describe how I feel about this remake – it feels like a DLC for Resident Evil 2. And I really liked Resident Evil 2, so I that’s why I still enjoyed playing this. But I’m damn glad I didn’t buy it at release or pay full price for it. That said, I picked it up at 50% off and I still feel a little ripped off.

The disappointing thing, is that this remake could have had so much more to offer – more locations, more puzzles and more sections where you switch between Jill ‘potty mouth’ Valentine and Carlos. We could have seen more of the city, more new locations and more new enemy types. The boss fights in the game are all pretty fun but also pretty easy once you’ve learnt the pattern. 

And that’s kind of the problem with this ‘multiple run’ approach to design – once you’ve done it once, it gets easier every time. There’s no more surprises and despite the increasing difficulty, the game actually just gets easier, particularly if you use the coin shop to unlock various health, defence and attack boosters, not to mention unlimited ammo weapons. And why wouldn’t you? It’s all the game really has to offer beyond your first run – the ability to unlock items that makes each repeat play even easier than the last.

Overall, I enjoyed playing this remake enough to play it through more than once, but by my third run, even I’d had enough. If you enjoyed the Resident Evil 2 remake then I’d still recommend picking this up but only on a significant discount.

6/10

Gallery: Horizon Zero Dawn (Part 1)

Now Playing: The Furious Wild (DLC)

The Furious Wild is the first ‘expansion’ content released for Total War: Three Kingdoms. It introduces a new culture type – the Nanman – and features a complete overhaul of the campaign map which has also been expanded to include several new regions in the south-west. Like with the other major DLC releases for 3K, this expansion is accompanied by a patch and free additional content, but this review will only focus upon the pieces that you’re actually paying for.

The Nanman come with four playable factions, each led by a unique character and each with their own unique campaign mechanics. The goal for each faction, however, remains the same – to unite all of the Nanman tribes beneath your banner and form your own Kingdom. Every tribe you confederate through conquest or diplomacy will bring new benefits to your faction through an increase in prestige, the rate of research or by unlocking new units.

Your initial army roster will be somewhat limited, but as each tribe falls beneath your control that roster will rapidly expand to include more than 25 new Nanman specific units. Sword, axe and spear units operate exactly as you’d expect in comparison to their Han equivalents. But the Nanman also get access to more ‘exotic’ units including elephants and tigers.

There are ways the Nanman can get access to the more traditional Han units, but I’m not sure why you’d want to play as the Nanman if you don’t want to create armies full of rampaging tigers and elephants. If you’re accustomed to playing as the Han factions then switching to the Nanman can take some getting used to, but once you do, playing as them in battle can be very enjoyable and they certainly add some welcome variety to the Three Kingdoms campaign. 

The Nanman have their own system of government, although it operates, more or less, just like those of the Han factions. They also have their own unique technology tree and building types, although the core systems of character assignments, satisfaction, faction support, public order, corruption and income types (commerce, industry, peasantry) remains the same. And this is where we run into the main issue I really have with this DLC – the lack of unique cultural mechanics.

Nanman characters don’t have classes like those of the Han factions – no vanguards, champions or strategists. They are, however, subject to the same types of character stats and their related faction / unit benefits – cunning, for example. Nanman units, like their Han counterparts, are also subject to the class based system of ranged (blue) axe & sword (purple) cavalry (red) and spears (green). So a Nanman character with a high cunning (blue) stat, will always be more beneficial when in command of ranged (blue) units. This results in a situation where, even though Nanman characters are not class based, their units and the statistic boosts they provide to those units are.

If a Nanman character has a high cunning base stat, you’ll want to assign them as your unofficial ‘strategist’. These characters can then boost their stats in a particular skill as they level up, and unlock additional benefits by completing personal ‘missions’ based upon various actions – such as winning duels, killing enemies or by increasing the levels of particular units within their retinue. 

To be clear, it’s not as if this system doesn’t work in practice, but it doesn’t feel quite right. As an entirely new culture type I would have expected the Nanman to utilise their own unique class system both for characters and units. Instead, we get a system which is really just a slight twist on the core class system and frankly, isn’t as interesting to manage from a character perspective. 

And that’s my main criticism of this DLC – it doesn’t really go far enough to establish the Nanman as their own unique culture. Too many of the core systems remain the same aside from a slight tweak. Am I expecting too much? I don’t think so, not when this DLC is marketed and more importantly priced as a major expansion.

I do like the Nanman campaign. It feels like a mini-campaign playing out alongside the main campaign. Because of their starting location, you won’t really be interacting with the core factions, not until you unite the tribes and form the Nanman Kingdom. By this time the Han factions will have become more established and powerful and you may, like me, find yourself in a pretty fun and massive border war. But with the formation of the Kingdom your campaign is pretty much finished, and there’s not much incentive to continue on. 

Overall, The Furious Wild is a welcome and decent expansion to Three Kingdoms, but I wouldn’t say it’s an essential one and I do feel the asking price is simply too high given how little of the core faction / character systems this DLC actually changes. The map overhaul is good, the new units are great and I’m glad there’s more variety and conflict centred around the once rather barren southern regions of the map. I’d recommend picking it up at some point, but maybe wait for a sale.

6/10