Sunday, April 19, 2020

Outer Worlds: a very short review

It's Fallout! In outer space! With a psychedelic color pallette!

OK, that's probably a bit too short of a review.

Fallout is a much-beloved long-running series of RPG video games, the first of which came out in (gasp!) 1997 (or even 1988 if you consider Wasteland to be the true origin of the series).

Generally, games in the series feature

  • A post-apocalyptic game world
  • A primary player (you)
  • Various companions who will accompany you on your quests
  • Character customization and development through a system of attributes, skills, and perks
  • Huge, rich, fully-developed worlds
  • A wealth of secondary quests and adventures
  • Factions who offer different visions for how the game will develop, with critical plot choices often pivoting on your decision to support one faction versus another
  • A fair amount of satire and tongue-in-cheek humor

One of the most loved in the Fallout series was Fallout New Vegas, set in the desert of the U.S. Southwest.

The studio that built Fallout New Vegas has now produced Outer Worlds, which stays true to the basic Fallout pattern but resets

  • the game world to outer space
  • your character to a marooned colonist unexpectedly awakened on a drifting colony ship

The visual aspects of the game are delightful; the writing is as snarky as ever, and the various companions, quests, and story lines are as rich and compelling as you would hope for from a Fallout video game.

I've probably put 50 hours into Outer Worlds in the last 3 weeks.

I've been a bit cooped-up, you see.

It's a good game if you are cooped-up.

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