The Outer Worlds represents Obsidian Entertainment's return to the RPG formula they perfected with Fallout: New Vegas, delivering a darkly humorous sci-fi adventure where mega-corporations have replaced governments and space colonization serves profit margins rather than human progress.
A Corporate Dystopia Among the Stars
Set in an alternate timeline where President McKinley was never assassinated in 1901, The Outer Worlds explores a future where unchecked capitalism has evolved into full corporate control of space colonies. You awaken from cryosleep 100 years late aboard the colony ship Hope, arriving in the Halcyon system to find a society dominated by business interests, class divisions, and the commodification of human life itself. The game's retro-futuristic aesthetic blends 1960s space-age optimism with corporate branding, creating a unique visual identity that feels both familiar and unsettling.
Deep Character Customization and Meaningful Choices
- Six-Attribute Character System
- Build your character by distributing points across strength, dexterity, intelligence, perception, charm, and temperament. These attributes fundamentally shape your capabilities in combat, stealth, and social interactions. A character with high charm and perception unlocks unique dialogue options throughout the game, while strength increases inventory capacity and melee effectiveness. Choose from 15 aptitudes during character creation to further specialize your approach.
- Seven Skill Trees for Diverse Playstyles
- Develop your character through seven distinct skill trees covering Melee, Ranged, Defense, Dialog, Stealth, Tech, and Leadership. The system rewards specialization while allowing hybrid builds that excel at multiple approaches. Invest enough points in a skill tree to unlock individual skill upgrades and threshold benefits that dramatically enhance your character's effectiveness in specific areas.
- Revolutionary Flaws System
- Accept permanent debuffs based on your experiences in exchange for additional perk points. Fall from heights repeatedly and develop acrophobia, or take too many headshots to develop a permanent concussion. This unique system allows you to shape your character's story through gameplay consequences, creating genuinely personalized playthroughs where your journey leaves permanent marks on your character.
Tactical Combat with Time Dilation
Combat in The Outer Worlds features satisfying first-person shooter mechanics enhanced by Tactical Time Dilation, a unique ability gained from your extended cryosleep. Slow time during combat to precisely target enemy weak points, dealing increased damage to specific body parts. The system allows for strategic dismemberment, headshots that completely remove enemy heads, and careful targeting of dangerous opponents. Whether you prefer careful stealth approaches, aggressive frontal assaults, or pure dialogue solutions, the game accommodates your preferred style with minimal forced combat encounters.
Companions and Crew Management
Recruit up to six unique companions to join your crew aboard the starship Unreliable, though you can only bring two into the field at any given time. Each companion features their own personal questlines, distinct personalities, and unique combat abilities that complement different playstyles. Your actions throughout the game directly affect companion opinions of you, and companions can leave permanently if they disagree strongly enough with your choices. The relationship system adds weight to major decisions, as you balance your own moral compass against the expectations of your crew.
Multiple Endings Shaped by Your Decisions
Every major quest in The Outer Worlds offers multiple resolution paths, and many can be completed entirely without violence through dialogue, stealth, or technical solutions. The game tracks your reputation with various factions, your relationships with companions, and your major story decisions to create an ending unique to your playthrough. The branching narrative respects player agency in ways that feel increasingly rare in modern RPGs, allowing genuinely different approaches to major problems while acknowledging the consequences of your choices throughout the conclusion.
Step aboard the Unreliable and chart your course through the Halcyon system. Your choices will determine whether the corporate stranglehold tightens or loosens, and whether humanity's future among the stars belongs to the people or the profit margins.
