The Outer Worlds 2

Obsidian Entertainment has been quite busy since they were acquired by Microsoft back in November 2018. First, they finished The Outer Worlds, which was released by Private Division in 2019, as an agreement had already been made about this before the Microsoft acquisition, and over the past three years, Obsidian has released no less than five titles. 2025 in particular has been packed, first with Avowed in February, then Grounded II in Xbox Game Preview and Steam Early Access in the summer, and now The Outer Worlds 2 is ready on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, PC, and Game Pass.

The Outer Worlds 2 is the sequel to the popular role-playing game The Outer Worlds from 2019, but not a direct continuation. The elevator pitch for the game probably goes something like this: we are dealing with a humorous science-fiction action role-playing game where your choices and everything you do have a major impact on how it all unfolds. It continues in the style of the first game, but this time it's a somewhat larger game.

The Outer Worlds 2 takes place on the isolated colony of Arcadia (the first game took place on Halcyon, as we know) and here you take on the role of an agent (Obsidian describes them as "space cowboys" or "space sky marshals") for the Earth Directorate, an administrative body tasked with coordinating between Earth and its colonised planets out in space.

You start by creating your own character, and although there are only two body types to choose from (slender woman and slender man), there are an incredible number of options for building exactly the character you want. In addition to appearance, you also have to define your character's background and set various "personality traits" that influence what you can and, more importantly, cannot do during the game. You can choose both positive and negative personality traits.

Once you have created your character, you are sent off to investigate some mysterious cracks in the space-time structure, also called "rifts", which have cut off the colonies from Earth. Here, you are quickly swept up in lots of intrigue and dangerous connections, but I won't go into too much detail about the story here, because it's something you have to experience for yourself, but also because it can play out quite differently depending on which character you have created and how you approach the game. However, I can say that this is one of the best-told stories in a long time, and The Outer Worlds 2 offers some of the most satirically sharp and well-written dialogue we've heard in a while. They are all voiced and delivered quite convincingly by the game's voice actors.

The main story is relatively linear, but there is a great deal of freedom in terms of the order and approach to the various side missions. However, it's always wise to look into these side missions, as they often intertwine with your main quest. Let me give you an example from the beginning of the game. At this point, I had already received some good advice on how to progress in my main quest, but then I encounter a man in a small town in the game's first area, Paradise Island, who wants his servant robot updated. If I can help him with that, he will help me further in my main quest, and his solution sounds like it could make things a little easier for me, so I agree to help him instead of going in the already known direction.

This means that I now have to hunt for spare parts for his robot, and I am told that there is an "AutoMech Repair Centre" just outside the town that could be a good place to look. However, to gain access, I need an access card, and since I can't find it, I decide instead to acquire a lot of ammunition (by completing various other side missions) and then shoot my way into the repair area. However, this actually made it more difficult for me to find what I needed, as there was no one left to point me in the right direction. I probably didn't choose the easiest solution here, but it was doable and shortly afterwards, I found the access card I needed, which could have made everything a lot easier for me. Damn. This is just a small example of how you have a lot of freedom to complete the tasks you are given along the way as you wish, how the side missions tie into your main quest, and how the choices you make influence how the game develops along the way.

As mentioned above, there are plenty of side missions and there are also smaller Companion missions. Several of the side missions are quite entertaining and, as in the example above, they can branch out a bit into your main quest, while others are more simple "Go to point A, find object 1, continue to point B, find object 2 and return with objects 1+2 to the task giver". If you want to do everything, there are many hours to be spent on these missions, because although they may seem simple at times, they are rarely short.

The Outer Worlds 2 is a much bigger game than the first one, which was a smaller game that respected your time. You can't immediately accuse The Outer Worlds 2 of doing that. The first area alone, Paradise Island, can take up to 12 hours to get through (depending on how thorough you are, of course), which is only 1-2 hours less than what it took to complete the main story in the entire first game and about half the full playing time of the first game.

If you are not an experienced role-player, the beginning (i.e. the first 4-5 hours) of The Outer Worlds 2 can be a bit difficult to get through. You get the feeling that the game is constantly working against you because you are constantly being stopped in your tracks, for example because you don't have the right skills to open a crucial door, activate an important terminal, or because you don't have the right words at your disposal, so you can't get a crucial character to follow you and thus you are blocked in your progress. But suddenly, typically in a roundabout way - or perhaps via a completely unrelated side mission - a new opportunity arises, a new angle, and you are able to move on anyway. It's quite impressively constructed and it works really well.

The Outer Worlds 2 can be played in both first-person view and two different third-person views, however, I played most of the time in first-person view, as it worked much better for me. Still, it's nice to have the option to choose. As in many other games of this type, you can choose to build your character as you go along to suit your playing style. When I saw how many weapons there were in the game, I quickly decided to go "guns blazing," but the opponents put up a good fight, so it's not all plain sailing when you go down that route. I also tried my hand at stealth, which changes the character of the game a bit, but I always fell back on the more direct approach, which worked best for me after all.

As mentioned, there are many different weapons in The Outer Worlds 2, both "normal" weapons (though they are never really normal) and some pretty crazy weapons. The good thing is that no matter which weapon you use, they all feel good to shoot with and often look spectacular, especially if you use the power-based weapons, where sparks fly around.

You can have two different companions with you, who are helpful in combat, and you can also give them simple orders to attack. There are a total of six quite different companions, all with different attacks and special abilities, and you gain access to them during the game. There may be six of them, but you can only have two with you at a time.

The visual aspect of The Outer Worlds 2 is a somewhat mixed experience. Firstly, it must be said that the design is thoroughly well executed, with beautiful architecture, attractive menus, and exciting character design. Obsidian has truly created a unique gaming world here. The Outer Worlds 2 is by no means an ugly game, but there are certain areas that work better than others.

A good example is the first area, Paradise Island, which, for the most part, takes place outdoors and out in nature with tall grass and colourful fauna. If you take a closer look at the surroundings here, especially if you are playing in Performance Mode, the grass and plants can look a little rough. Shadows are missing in certain places and the grass is static until it gets very close to the player, at which point it begins to animate and move in the wind. It looks strange when you move through a large area of grass and it suddenly starts moving a few metres in front of you. It's typical in 60fps Performance Mode to see these kinds of cutbacks on the visual side, as it's not as pronounced in 30fps Quality Mode.

There is a noticeable difference in visual quality depending on the area you are in. As described above, outdoor areas can be somewhat rough to look at, while indoor areas or areas that take place underground look much better with artificial lighting from spotlights and lamps, which create beautiful and atmospheric light and shadow effects.

Both the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 Pro have three graphics modes to choose from: a 30 fps Quality Mode, a 40 fps Balanced Mode, and a 60 fps Performance Mode. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S only have Quality Mode (30 fps) and Balanced Mode (40 fps), which means that it's not possible to play at 60 fps on the base PlayStation 5, since you need the PS5 Pro to get that option. This is a bit strange, considering that it's possible in Performance Mode on Series X. It paints a picture that the Xbox versions are clearly the most optimised console editions. We have not had the opportunity to double-check all these settings, but these are the specs we have been given by Obsidian.

The Outer Worlds 2 is a solid and ambitious sequel to the first game. It addresses some of the biggest criticisms of the first game, offers great freedom, and some of the best dialogue we've heard in a long time, and there are loads of fun weapons. It also offers an exciting and unique game world, but in that regard, it's a little uneven on the technical side.

It may not be the easiest game for beginners to get into, but the more time you spend with it, the more it opens up, and the resistance you probably felt at the beginning of the game changes to the opposite later on, and this is where the game really takes off. It just takes a little time. However, genre connoisseurs will easily be able to dive into this world and the entertaining story from the very first minute, as The Outer Worlds 2 does not break new and unknown ground here.

If you enjoyed The Outer Worlds and were one of those who thought it ended too soon, then The Outer Worlds 2 is for you. It may be bigger and different from the first game, but there is no doubt that this is still, thankfully, The Outer Worlds.