The Outer Worlds 2: Hands-on Preview - Sweet Corporate Takedowns
I hated this preview. Seriously. I just hated that I played this small slice of The Outer Worlds 2. It is annoying me so much that I am growling and moping around my house in frustration, like some sort of video game-playing lion with a sore paw. I have never hated doing a preview so much in my entire 17-year career.
“But why, Matt?” I hear you ask. “We thought you loved Obsidian games.”
Well, I do love Obsidian games, I adore them. The reason I am so angry is, well, I had to stop. I could only play a very small slice, and then I was forced to start again. It was a tease of the highest order, and I am disappointed that Xbox and Obsidian have put me through this trauma.
In short, I want it all, I want the whole Outer Worlds 2, and I want it now.
From the opening menu to the very abrupt end of my demo, I was hooked. It feels like Obsidian has crawled into my warped brain and picked out exactly what makes my perfect experience. It was so dead on with what I love that I can’t see any other game living up to my expectations for the rest of the year like this one seems to be.
My time with the game let me make my way through the opening sequence as many times as I wanted. So I did, five times to be precise. On each playthrough, I found new things, new dialogue options and new pathways. I would go so far as to say this is, for an opening section, one of the most varied I have played since Liberty Island (showing my age, I know.) There are a host of different possibilities, secret pathways and exciting opportunities that allowed me to progress in a different manner each time. If this is an indication of what to expect from the final game, we are in for a whole lot of freedom and multiple playthroughs on release.
The freedom starts with the character creator. All the usual things show up, with a robust and deep system that will allow players to mould their avatar as they see fit, but there are a couple of things most games don’t offer that really add to the experience. The first is the perks and skills system. Players are free to choose up to two perks; the first one is essentially free, but if you choose a second perk, you are forced to choose a flaw as well. It then becomes a question for the player: are the extra bonuses worth the drawbacks? The skill system also works along similar lines. Picking specialist skills puts you on a particular path early, and in this demo at least, really had an impact on what I could do and see within the confines of this level. On my first run through, I chose lockpicking and stealth skills, which allowed me to gain access to certain areas that I couldn’t when I chose combat skills. Each skill has an impact on what players see and do, and a way more significant one than simply making a number go higher on a stat sheet.
The other part of the character creation that had an impact on what I did, though more subtly, is the character background. There is a choice to be made, where your character came from. This choice will affect how other NPCs see you throughout the game and how they interact with you. When I chose the background that had me as a bit of a rebel, doing what needs to be done regardless of authority, my boss specifically called this trait out, saying it was needed for this mission. When I chose a character who had just been looking for a job and kind of stumbled into this role, the boss made a comment that, despite my ineptitude, I had somehow fumbled my way into this mission, and he was left with no choice. These little touches are everywhere in the demo, and they made me smile the whole time.
Speaking of smiling, I think I laughed in this hour or so demo more than I have laughed in any game this year. The trademark Obsidian black humour is in full force here, and they are taking shots at the corporate world like you wouldn’t believe. In fact, a lot of the jokes, intentionally or not, seemed to have a certain gigantic software company, which may or may not be Obsidian’s owner, firmly in the crosshairs. Ballsy, brash and bloody funny is the best way to describe it, and I am all for it. The first Outer Worlds wasn’t shy in skewering late-stage capitalism and corporate worlds, but the sequel, at least from this demo, looks like it is taking it a step further.
Gameplay-wise, it is clear that The Outer Worlds 2 has taken everything from the first game and really focused on improving it. The stealth feels like a genuine option, with some fantastic mechanics in play. The combat feels tighter and more robust, even with the basic weapons I had access to. Even the movement has had a spit shine. The more I think about it, the more it feels like the original game was a proof-of-concept and The Outer Worlds 2 is the game they really wanted to make. There is a lot familiar here for those who enjoyed the first title, but almost everything has been improved and refined.
So, I’ll say it again. I hated doing this preview. It was such a tease. It left me hanging. I want the whole thing now. Every time I played through this demo, I was secretly hoping I would get more, but alas, it wasn’t to be. I now have to wait till the 29th of October to really dive in and get my fill. Even this small sample has me hyped beyond what I expected. Unless Obsidian really fumble the ball, I fully expect this to be right up there in my GOTY thinking as we stroll into 2026. That’s how keen I am for it. I just wish it was here sooner.
