Obsidian's Sequel Struggles to Attain the Heights

More expansive isn't necessarily improved. It's a cliché, however it's the truest way to encapsulate my impressions after investing many hours with The Outer Worlds 2. The development team expanded on each element to the next installment to its 2019 science fiction role-playing game — increased comedy, foes, arms, attributes, and locations, all the essentials in games like this. And it works remarkably well — at first. But the load of all those daring plans makes the game wobble as the time passes.

A Strong Opening Act

The Outer Worlds 2 makes a strong initial impact. You are a member of the Planetary Directorate, a well-intentioned agency focused on curbing dishonest administrations and companies. After some major drama, you end up in the Arcadia sector, a colony fractured by hostilities between Auntie's Option (the result of a union between the first game's two big corporations), the Protectorate (groupthink pushed to its most extreme outcome), and the Ascendant Order (reminiscent of the Church, but with mathematics rather than Jesus). There are also a series of fissures creating openings in space and time, but right now, you urgently require access a communication hub for critical messaging purposes. The problem is that it's in the heart of a warzone, and you need to find a way to get there.

Like its predecessor, Outer Worlds 2 is a first-person RPG with an overarching story and many side quests scattered across different planets or areas (large spaces with a lot to uncover, but not open-world).

The first zone and the journey of getting to that relay hub are spectacular. You've got some goofy encounters, of course, like one that involves a rancher who has given excessive sugary treats to their beloved crustacean. Most direct you toward something beneficial, though — an surprising alternative route or some additional intelligence that might unlock another way forward.

Unforgettable Events and Lost Opportunities

In one memorable sequence, you can encounter a Guardian defector near the bridge who's about to be killed. No mission is tied to it, and the sole method to locate it is by searching and hearing the ambient dialogue. If you're swift and alert enough not to let him get slain, you can preserve him (and then save his runaway sweetheart from getting slain by monsters in their refuge later), but more relevant to the current objective is a electrical conduit concealed in the undergrowth nearby. If you trace it, you'll discover a concealed access point to the communication hub. There's an alternate entry to the station's sewers tucked away in a grotto that you could or could not notice contingent on when you pursue a particular ally mission. You can encounter an easily missable character who's crucial to rescuing a person down the line. (And there's a soft toy who implicitly sways a team of fighters to support you, if you're considerate enough to protect it from a danger zone.) This initial segment is rich and thrilling, and it appears as if it's overflowing with deep narrative possibilities that rewards you for your curiosity.

Diminishing Hopes

Outer Worlds 2 fails to meet those opening anticipations again. The second main area is organized like a map in the original game or Avowed — a big area scattered with key sites and secondary tasks. They're all story-appropriate to the struggle between Auntie's Option and the Ascendant Brotherhood, but they're also short stories detached from the primary plot in terms of story and spatially. Don't look for any environmental clues directing you to alternative options like in the initial area.

Despite forcing you to make some difficult choices, what you do in this area's optional missions is inconsequential. Like, it really doesn't matter, to the extent that whether you allow violations or lead a group of refugees to their demise leads to merely a passing comment or two of dialogue. A game doesn't have to let each mission impact the narrative in some significant, theatrical manner, but if you're making me choose a side and pretending like my selection matters, I don't believe it's unfair to hope for something further when it's concluded. When the game's previously demonstrated that it can be better, any diminishment appears to be a concession. You get more of everything like Obsidian promised, but at the price of substance.

Bold Concepts and Missing Drama

The game's middle section tries something similar to the main setup from the first planet, but with clearly diminished flair. The concept is a bold one: an related objective that covers two planets and encourages you to seek aid from assorted alliances if you want a more straightforward journey toward your goal. In addition to the repeat setup being a little tiresome, it's also lacking the suspense that this type of situation should have. It's a "pact with the devil" moment. There should be difficult trade-offs. Your association with each alliance should matter beyond gaining their favor by completing additional missions for them. All this is absent, because you can just blitz through on your own and achieve the goal anyway. The game even makes an effort to hand you methods of accomplishing this, indicating alternative paths as additional aims and having companions tell you where to go.

It's a side effect of a larger problem in Outer Worlds 2: the apprehension of letting you be unhappy with your decisions. It frequently goes too far out of its way to make sure not only that there's an alternate route in frequent instances, but that you are aware of it. Locked rooms nearly always have several entry techniques indicated, or nothing valuable within if they do not. If you {can't