The Outer Worlds 2 | REVIEW | PC/STEAM

''BACK INTO THE WORLD''

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Developed: Obsidian Entertainment

Published: Xbox Game Studios

Genre: RPG

Release Date: October 29th,2025

Platforms: PC/Xbox Family/PS5

*Review copy provided to me by Obsidian and Xbox Game Studios

#GiftedByXbox

The Outer Worlds 2 is the latest western RPG to hit the market and it is developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Xbox Game Studios. With the recent release of Avowed being a really fun game, at least to me, people have been left fidgeting and waiting for the sequel to the Fall Out like title, The Outer Worlds. Well now that the wait is over after these many years, was it worth that wait or does it under deliver on its promises? Only one way to find out, so lets go!

''BLACK HOLE SUN... WONT YOU COME''

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GAMEPLAY:

Think what you want about Obsidian and their gaming output throughout the history, with several hits and obviously several misses to go alongside it as well. But I don't think it can be denied that the company at this time is on a bit of a streak currently with The Outer Worlds releasing in 2019, then with the release of Grounded 1 and 2, followed up by the release of Avowed and now arriving at The Outer Worlds 2 here in 2025. They've put out 6 games in the same amount of years and honestly thats pretty insane and puts a lot of the industry to shame with how long some companies take to just release even one in the same time frame. Picking up off the high notes that the first Outer Worlds left us off with, Outer Worlds 2 aims to put us at the forefront in the social department and wants us to make alliances with crewmates, which honestly annoys me a little bit considering how evil I can get in RPG's. Most of the the time when I have a crew member or jut a random NPC in RPG's like this, if even one of them say something off putting to me or annoying me, I just blast them, no questions asked.. so to now say I got to be on my best behavior as I explore these diverse and vast worlds along side them so we may take on rival groups we happen to run into or not be able to make a peace pact with, its devastating for my evil morale. Taking place in the Arcadia settlement, you play as an officer who has seen better days. Think of those grizzled down type of characters who have ''seen too much'' over the course of their life time and now they're cold and hardened to the point where they seem like they're just a shell, that's pretty much how I see the character this go around in the game. Throughout this adventure you will be given the option of just what kind route you wish to take for your own gameplay style. For example, you can use to be more a sneaky bean by taking your time, being strategic, making your way through situations using stealth with your skillsets or just be like me and be a freak that just wants explosions and chaos and rush in like you're Leeroy Jenkins or something, or rather how I imagine myself, as Danny Devito waltzing into a room, ''so I just started blastin''. No matter which style you play as, the game will remain engaging and fun regardless, which is the beauty of a game letting the player have the freedom to choose how they want their adventure to play out and not the other way around with developers wanting to play one way or no way at all.

In essence The Outer World's 2 storyline this go around leans more into a revenge arc as yourself and your own crew are clean off attempts on your life that was orchestrated behind the scenes by some other entity that wanted you all dead. This journey of revenge, takes you all over, with each new area or biome being more impressive than the previous one with some beaming with flora that give it that alien avatar like feeling as you trek through its lands, scarred lands that have seen better days, poison themes, large mountains peaks that really bring in the whole ''awe'' of the moment, etc, every biome you enter feels more fleshed out than the last and has more attention to detail than what you've previously experienced in the worlds from the first title. That's not a dig at the first Outer Worlds, that's just a compliment towards the level of dedication put towards this game in an effort to surpass the last title. You know what that means right? MORE VILLAGES TO PILLAGE AND DESTROY. Which.. I may or may not have done, it will forever be a mystery. If you're a fan of titles like Fall Out New Vegas, then you'll right at home here with Outer Worlds 2 as the game as the title goes ''back to basics'' in a way with the devs deciding to try to make it as close as possible to the blueprint that set the standard for the RPG market of this genre with engaging missions to be played and obtain at every location you come across, each having a different plight or structure to it that is unique to the area you are in because not everywhere in the world has the same issues, so obviously things will be different, harsher or even more on the weirder side than you might expect. Along side missions to take on for main campaign or side quests because, duh, there's a ton of side quests, which push your game time for this game up many more hours than you were expecting, that when completing all of them can turn your experience into one that lasts over 30 hours or more, on top of taking on scavenger hunts which are available in every zone, makes every area in your journey feel fresh and exciting with new enemies or monsters to take on to test your skills. The crew plays a vital role in Outer Worlds 2 as well, in both a negative and positive way, which can lead to both frustration or hilarity, whichever way you decide to take it. For example should you be getting into an argument with an NPC and trying to sway them to agreeing with you or finding a way to bribe them, should you be having trouble, your crew members can engage in the conversation as well and help turn a lost cause of a chat that could explode into a frenzied fire fight and instead make it a peaceful agreement without blood shed. That's BORING. Screw that, TONIGHT WE DINE ON ADVERSARY SOUP. Ok no, fine, we'll be good, this time at least. My point is on the good end, they can actually help you out quite a bit and be very beneficial to all deals made, but also a detriment to you as well because that same great AI that helps you negotiate, ends up crumbling under the pressure during the actual gameplay and combat sequences themselves, which I will get to in just a minute, because they can be pretty annoying.

Still though, even being annoying here and there, they do serve a purpose in combat overall with all characters having their own uses and skillsets to aid you in battle, such as tactical move sets, characters like Niles being your meat shield and getting all the aggro from mobs off you, crew members that are essentially a designated medic that will heal you and your party when you need it, all possible through every crew members individual traits that makes all of them unique in their own way and makes it so that you have to decide where and when they're used in order to add in a bit more strategic style to your gameplay, if you wish it. The good thing about that, I mean, besides being fun as heck? Its that you can keep switching out crew from crew and playing in different styles throughout DIFFERENT playthroughs, which means you can potentially do two playthroughs, three playthroughs or even more and it would be a total different experience based off the approach you take, which is extremely awesome, and makes you want to come back for even more adventuring. But while the game is filled with 95% positive, there is still the negatives that stick their ugly head in the door to make their presence known. One of the things is of course the classic glitches known to happen on the engine thats used, they're like Thanos, inevitable and you're either going to have to ignore them to try to have a good time or just laugh at how absurd and silly they end up being with bodies after they die still talking to you or making funny grunting sounds as if they're soul is trapped in some sort of purgatory and cant escape, becoming a silent movie where an NPC's mouth will move as they talk to you, yet nothing audible comes out, dialogue trees messing up, etc. Nothing too major with those and honestly, theyre just something to laugh at since they do not hinder the overall experience, but something that does hinder the experience, and something that could tick people off is your allies AI responses. During combat, sometimes your team members can act REALLY dang dumb, like me standing in line at a fast food restaurant and forgetting what I even wanted to buy in the first place.. oh yeah, THAT kind of dumb. During intense gun fire, your team will do a few things, one of them is hide and cower and stick to their cover spot and won't move, even after the enemy advances to their position, they'll just nap and take their time out and not give a damn, then at the same time, sometimes when they decide to ACTUALLY move, they follow you and stick to you on glue, which in turn if you're trying to hide and survive, that because of them on you like white on rice, they force you out of your hiding position, straight into enemy fire, which of course most of the time will lead to your death. Gee, thanks, you freaking jerks. You're lucky I've turned over a new leaf, otherwise, you'd all be dead.

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''THERE USED TO BE PEOPLE HERE.. UNTIL I SHOWED UP''

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OVERALL:

At the end of the day, The Outer Worlds 2 ends up a fantastic time and improves on many things the first game failed at. Obviously it has flaws like glitches causing hilarity, some conversation dialogue becoming muted or your teammates getting in the way of progression because they feel like acting like stupid jerks, but besides those negatives, the game excels at immersing you in this new world with interesting characters, gorgeous landscapes, intense fire fights, an intriguing story that to me is more interesting than the original games story was, skill traits for each member of your party and hours upon hours of side content to keep you occupied should you need a break from the main campaign. If you enjoyed recent titles like The Outer Worlds and even Avowed, then you will feel right at home here with The Outer Worlds 2 and I recommend giving it a shot, even if its just taking a look at it via Game Pass. I dont think you'll be disappointed. So with all that having been said, my verdict is clear, GameNChick says BUY NOW.

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