🔗 Share this article

When I first encounter with the original Outer Worlds game, I was immediately drawn by its irreverent, Fallout-inspired type of wit. This title included engaging exchanges, personal journals, and advertising displays that portrayed a business-controlled nightmare that was at once grim and entertaining. My primary concern approaching the follow-up was that this version – not due to from itself – could fail to be as comedic like the original.

Sure, situations weren't flawless. Yet society definitely felt a bit less broken back then. This game presented a dystopia that didn't hit extremely relatable, and still managed to be at once touching and hilarious. I began The Outer Worlds 2 feeling quite confident that this installment wouldn't manage to pull this off again, but I'm pleased to report that I was mistaken. This follow-up is equally laughter-provoking as the game that came before it, and also introduces new themes instead of merely repeating the same content comparable to an tired company slogan.

Developing Personalities

The majority of the non-player characters gamers met in the original game had been beaten down by the activities of company organizations including Spacer's Choice, and were fully cognizant of the extent to which their lives sucked. This sequel progresses matters in a different direction, featuring characters who are programmed (occasionally metaphorically, frequently actually). A lot of these characters aren't conscious of how extremely screwed up their conditions are, or that there could be options to a lifetime passed beneath the control of a huge company or restricted by the creeds of a high-demand religion.

This follow-up explores types of corporate control that are more subtle than only making the population impoverished. Many NPCs have been indoctrinated into the type of excessively zealous "grindset mindset" rhetoric you can discover on social media accounts that vow to show the key to success should you purchase for an overpriced workshop, or put money into a dubious blockchain project. Additionally, the title's company advertising has developed.

Current Topics

There remain numerous discouraging displays in various locations warning about deducting staff compensation who so much as think about having a break, but furthermore exist references to multi-level marketing tactics, such as a new hire handbook that proudly declares, "Unknown people are merely patrons you haven't met yet!" As an individual who developed within a multi-level marketing household, I promptly exploded with laughter when encountering this allusion, because it's a refrain I have regularly listened to spoken verbatim by people at the base of such schemes.

Thankfully, this sequel is as comedic and irreverent as the first game.

This sequel additionally investigates the predicament numerous people encounter when it comes to work, government, and even personal purchases: Needing to pick the reduced of several poor choices. During efforts to choose whether to back a risky company or a problematic faith organization in the game, I discovered I was aligning with the devil I know: An established company structure that sucks (yet merely employs promotion to brainwash its subjects), as opposed to the faith organization, which is similarly terrible, but employs a horrible approach termed "cognitive reset" to control its members compliant.

Questionable Employers

Additionally, the individuals you serve could fail to be dependable. Playing as an Earth Directorate agent, your mission involves attempting to restore order to this outpost following an aggressive business acquisition, and you will quickly find that both the invaders and the residents adhere to distinct (but similarly terrible) ideologies. But a quick review of the messages on your ship's terminal demonstrate that this organization isn't exactly the galaxy's most moral employer as well, as shown by an answer to a help request that informs the caller it will take "3-5 corporate years" for a response to their message. (This period is approximately the time it takes for me to contact a human customer service agent via telephone nowadays.)

Familiar Situations

Many moments in The Outer Worlds 2 are painfully relatable, but it's a therapeutic kind of recognition, and this title manages to balance its depressing dystopian setting with humor that's truly humorous without feeling out of place. An important idea is the rapid beginning of enshittification that happens to unfold in the wake of large company takeovers. Staff members from all factions of this sequel's significant consolidation find their existence decline therefore, while the executives in charge of the structure are, expectedly, raking in the cash rapidly.

Hey, at least I recognize my situation.

Similar to the first game, this sequel is intrinsically comedic, but it also isn't afraid to become dramatic. At a certain time, while traveling around the game's first accessible planet, I came upon a deceased individual with an audio log in the vicinity. The audio log disclosed that this NPC (who was aligned with the indoctrinating cult) had died in an accident while attempting to locate and kill her romantic partner. This loved one had reportedly deserted from their organization, and the now-dead NPC was angry about her significant other's {traitorous