I Finished a Game: Outriders

I’m sorry for the continued absence on the blog–there are many reasons for this, but I’m not going to go into that for now. I’m just going to write. Something that I do a ton of now, but I just keep seeming to spin my wheels and get nowhere. At least, when I finish a blog entry and post it, I get to have some satisfaction of finishing a topic and moving on to the next one, something that I don’t seem to do well with these days.
Anyway, today I just want to talk about a game I finished a couple of days ago: Outriders by the developer People Can Fly and published by Square Enix. I was drawn to this game because of its initial trailer several years ago at the Video Game Awards hosted by Geoff Keighley. I had envisioned my own (very different) project with that name, so that caught my attention. Also, from all appearances, it appeared to be a 3rd person version of Destiny, with a mystery about a mysterious force called the Anomaly. I was intrigued by this game and I made sure to try it out. Having finished it a couple of days ago, this will be both an impression of the game as well as a “review” of it.
AnomalyI won’t go too deep into the story as it is something that you can find out just by reading any coverage on the game or watching the trailer. Basically, you play as an “Outrider” (someone who has special skills and is tasked with finding potential landing sites for colonists–think “Pathfinder” from Mass Effect Andromeda). Something goes awry (The Anomaly) and things take a turn for the worst. That’s where you come in after this initial set-up. Again, I’m skipping many things in the story, but essentially that’s the gist of it. The story, after a strong set-up for the Anomaly and all that it does, fizzles at the end. Don’t get me wrong, the set-up is great, but a lot like many stories today (Millennials/Gen Z learning “story” from Lost/JJ Abrams and company?) the set-up completely falls apart (in my opinion) in the resolution phase. I won’t go into spoilers (I really wish that WordPress had a reliable and easy *spoiler* tag), but to say there is a fair bit of Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad to the resolution of the story would not be too far from the mark. I really dislike it when creators set up this insane “mystery” and then fail to deliver on an equally insane (but totally plausible) resolution. Quick digression (/digression on): I see this is in more and more media (TV, movies, games, even some comics/graphic novels) and I have to wonder if this really is a “Lost” phenomenon. To me, there’s no point in creating an “insane” mystery if you can’t deliver on an “insane” answer because it just leads to disappointment with the ending of the story(/digression off).
Game Mechanics
For me, this was the saving grace of the game. As a 3rd person shooter, I felt it was above average in most instances. It was tight enough that I didn’t have to worry about aiming and being too inaccurate and the shooting felt good. While it advertised being available for three (3) players, I prefer solo games, and was able to do the entire game solo.
It used “difficulty tiers” so that you could customize your difficulty experience. If you wanted to make it rock hard and unforgiving (SoulsBorn people), you could, or if you wanted an easier, less demanding session, you could do that as well. I played it at a middle-ish difficulty, on the lower end and it was challenging enough there.
The secret is to choose and use the powers that match your play style (along with your Outrider’s class) and to maximize your equipment. As a 3rd person “looter-shooter,” the game forces you to constantly upgrade your gear and equip skills and powers in order to stay competitive, especially as you move to higher difficulty levels.
I’ve found I have a fondness for this, so even though the “grind” is sometimes repetitive, I personally didn’t mind as long as I was getting cool new gear. The legendary drop rate for items is probably a little too low at lower levels and even though I’ve read about Apocalypse Gear online, I’m not sure if that’s a thing because I’ve not yet gotten any even though I’ve done several Expeditions (endgame content).
Overall Rating and Conclusion (B)
This is one of those games that I ultimately liked and was glad that I played. While its story is more like Destiny, it plays more like Tom Clancy’s The Division (1 & 2), and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon games. Unless done wrong/very badly, I tend to like those type of games (3rd person shooter, with RPG progression elements, and tons of gear/loot to change out to make your character better and more effective in combat. I had thought I’d spend more time in the endgame (Expeditions), but realized that it would just be a “time-sink” for me and that the time would be better spent playing other games on my backlog (free time). I did not get the Platinum trophy (100% of the trophies for the game). I ended up at about 56% when the credits rolled. However, they have a new endgame DLC called Worldslayer and I may revisit the game and purchase the DLC next year, when 1) I have more time (finished my dissertation), 2) the DLC is cheaper, and 3) when I’ve cleared some other games from my backlog. The only real disappointment for me about the game was the resolution of the story. The “hook” promised to be something extraordinary, but the resolution was something that was quite ordinary indeed, and really kept me from giving it five (stars) all around.
I hope you have a great day and if you’re into 3rd person looter shooters, you might want to give this one a try–as long as you’re not looking for an “amazeballs” story!
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