IN space, no one can hear you scream with delight . . . which is a good thing, because The Outer Worlds is a sexy solar-system hopping, laser-gun blasting dollop of delight.
Fans of Fallout (who isnt?) will no doubt love the nod this action RPG gives to the Bethesda behemoth.
Theres an epic storyline, awesome arsenal, mad modding and some hero/villain character choices which will have you shouting down your better demons.
So far, so Fallout.
Yet there are several important differences expertly executed in this gem from Obsidian. The Outer Worlds offers a much stricter, tighter game world compared with Fallouts sprawling sandbox.
It means there is a controlled direction as you embark on your journey, as opposed to hours spent marauding through toxic wastelands which, dont get me wrong, is an absolute joy – but can become a little overwhelming.
And the writing is incredibly sharp too, doused with some fantastically dark humour.
Story wise your journey begins on board the Hope, a massive ship stuck in stasis in the star system of Halcyon. Your character is roused from slumber by nutty professor Phineas Welles who whisks you off on a space adventure.
You hop from planet to planet and build up a crew of questionable, yet lovable, misfits.
Most mini stories see you siding with one faction against another – freedom fighter or big corporate nasty. Your character can be levelled up in different areas, depending on how you want your journey to pan out.
These attributes are divided into Body, Mind and Personality. These in turn split into Strength and Dexterity; Intelligence and Perception; Charm and Temperament.
These, along with Skills and Aptitude, help you mould a character who will either lean towards blast first, ask questions later or cleverly chat their way past the bad guys.
The weapons are a riot too with different tools offering different damage to different enemies – energy guns for animals, electric weapons for robots etc. Theres also a nifty Max Payne-style slow-mo to make those headshots a little easier.
The gunfights are fun and satisfying but so too are the dialogue sections which turn out to be key in progressing through the game.
All of the time your crew grows and offers up vital styles and useful influences which can come in handy. As NPCs go, The Outer Worlds has a decent offering.
Visually its a gloriously bright and simple game with an incandescent universe and subtly shaded spaceships.
Its always a pleasure to find titles with clever writing and humour that never misses a beat.
The Outer Worlds is one such game. You dont have to fully commit like you do with Fallout, yet you still get similar levels of satisfaction.
Easy to play, easy to love…
- The Outer Worlds on PS4 at Amazon for 29.99 – buy now
- The Outer Worlds on Xbox One at Amazon for 29.89 – buy now
In other news, Sony have teased fans with an original PS5 logo plus boasts of super speeds.
Minecraft fans have been panicking after a viral rumour hinted that the game will end in 2020.
Experts reckon that the new Xbox and PlayStation consoles could cost upwards of 600.
And Fortnite superstars Ninja and Shroud rake in a whopping 10MILLION a year.
Which do you prefer, Fallout or The Outer Worlds? Let us know in the comments!
