I was invited by Square Enix and People Can Fly for the opportunity to play an early access PC version of Outriders.
Outriders is a new RPG shooter from People Can Fly. Now before you go off and say ‘This sounds like every other way you describe a modern shooter,’ or ‘I’ve heard that one before,’ or ‘Hey, that’s what they said about *insert game here*,’ With this though, there is so much more to it than what you think. Truth be told, I’ve never been that much of an RPG guy. I’ve enjoyed them, but they’ve never been my favorite. However, I think this game might be the one that gets me hooked.
The game itself is a 1-3 player co-op, so you can play by yourself or with your favorite friends. In this story, 2159 and Earth had become unlivable and now we’re forced to find a new home. You’re sent out into the galaxy to find your new home and after 80 years of looking you find Enoch. After seeing a signal of possible life, a possible new start. This is it! This is going to be the best thing to happen in forever to you. After all the suffering and desolation you’ve found your home. Then it’s just ripped from you as a horrific storm. You’re caught out in the thick of it and forced to retreat. Some of your friends and comrades die, but you survive. You and the survivors are forced to retreat and placed in your cryo pods until it’s safe to come out and then you wake up 30 years later. The world now in total shambles as the storm, now known as the Anomaly is raging and taken over Enoch. Society scrounging to survive. What resembles society has survived, but barely. This is where you take control and begin.
The mechanics and gameplay were very tight for an early version of the game. Now, I played with the keyboard and mouse and it felt really well built. Now my time playing not on a controller is limited, so I personally was bad, not the game itself. It took me a second to figure out the ability to roll in any direction. That was honestly something I wish I could have found sooner. All the combat feels really great as well. Shooting and hand to hand feel really fun whether in close quarters or far apart. Every move you make matters no matter what happens. After surviving the Anomaly before being frozen, you realize that you’ve been affected. You’ve become what’s known as an Altered. This is where the class that you choose comes into play. There are four classes in total (the fourth will be announced at a later date). Pyromancer class allows you to control and create fire, Tricksters can control time and space, and Devastators use their strength and the earth to well devastate. I only had the opportunity to play as the Pyromancer and found that class to be a good mid-range for your attacks with some longer plays. The firewalls were honestly the coolest (there’s a pun somewhere in here) as you create a moving wall of fire to hunt down and attack enemies. Devastators are more of a close-up damage dealer with tighter combat. Tricksters are more quick and fast, dealing damage up close and personal to your enemies and slowing time to gain the upper hand. I tend to be someone who does play more ‘run and gun’ style of play so the Pyromancer class worked OK for me. Having the ability to shoot a bolt of fire through the ground to an enemy and killing them is pretty satisfying, to say the least. Remember that there is still a fourth class that will be announced at a later date. With these classes comes the ability to upgrade your skills and powers. The skill trees on these characters are super in-depth for each class and character. These are the classes that makeup you and your comrades, your group of Outriders. Now with you and others, your goal is to go out and final the source of the signal that brought everyone to Enoch. The leveling system of the game is something that I really truly enjoy. The farther that you move into the game they become slightly harder and more complex as you move forward. Overall, these aspects are really great to see in a game. Going in-depth with a character that you’ve created is something that I’ve always enjoyed.
Overall, Outriders is something that I’m really excited to play. It’s a game that’s gritty, dark, and borderline heavy to watch at times (at least from what I played). It was a game that gets me excited to play an RPG and really get into it. The narrative seems like it’s been played about from games prior, but People Can Fly have breathed new life into it. It just feels so different, it feels like it truly is all up to you and the other members of your Outriders crew to fight off the evil and find the source that brought you to Enoch. This is a game that just feels so different to me when it comes to an RPG. The darkness and I’d even venture to call it creepiness of the game really stuck with me. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but the depth of both character and action is easily something that anyone can get wrapped up in. If you can’t tell, I’m really excited about this and can’t wait to get my hands on the final product. Outriders will be out Holidays 2020 for the Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Playstation 5, Playstation 4, and PC. Check out the trailer below.
