Revealed last week during The Game Awards 2018, The Outer Worlds has already gone down a storm on the internet, and you can see why. A single-player, story driven RPG/shooter hybrid from Obsidian Entertainment (Fallout: New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity), the game is the beautiful lovechild of a ménage à trois between Borderlands, Fallout, and Mass Effect.
The first trailer for The Outer Worlds acted more as a generalised sizzle reel for what to expect, but a recent interview from RPGSite with Senior Narrative Designer Megan Starks has given us a much better understanding of how the game will play compared to previous Obsidian titles.
A common staple of the role-playing game has been companions, self-thinking NPCs who'll join you on your quests throughout the open world, and can often be romanced or antagonised depending on your behaviour in-game. Starks confirms that companions will indeed feature in The Outer Worlds, explaining how they'll "ask you to help out on their quests and they’ll speak out against you if they don’t support what you’re doing, we want their motivations and goals to always be at the center of their character."
The best new games of 2019 (and beyond)
Many of these companions will have allegiances to certain factions in The Outer Worlds and, in a statement following up the interview on Twitter, Starks even revealed that they might leave you if they don't agree with your choices as a space pirate. Speaking of choices, Stark also said that The Outer Worlds will have "several" endings, describing Obsidian's aim to create "a focused single-player story experience while leaving options open to explore the different environments" around the solar system.
And yes, before you ask, you will be able to kill almost every NPC you meet, should you wish, including those who might be critical to the story. “As a designer, I’m always tempted to just have it made so that you can’t kill this person or that person!" Starks tells RPGSite. "But we have a philosophy where we feel like it makes for a better gameplay experience to allow the player to do these sorts of things. You can even kill the scientist [from the trailer] if you want.”
I don't know about you, but I'll definitely be killing said scientist as soon as I get my hands on The Outer Worlds, which is due to release on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 sometime in 2019. We'll keep you posted once we hear more about a specific release date.
Will The Outer Worlds make it into our list of the best RPG games of all time? We'll have to wait till next year to find out.
