The original Outriders was underwhelming, unbalanced, a bit short in the narrative, and had a few other issues that plagued it. The positive? The groundwork laid down helped to build the skeletal structure for what would become Outriders Worldslayer. To get there, People Can Fly had to do some major soul searching, listen to the community, and deliver on what it intended the game to be in the first place. Sometimes that happens, where you just must go in and retool everything to make it more entertaining. Bungie knows how that is as they re-released Destiny with a new revamped system intact midway through its life. It worked for them…for the most part.
Anyway, Outriders Worldslayer is now out, and I entertaining, solo or with friends. The addition of a new story, which expands the world, though still leaving us wanting more, and also a new backend system with the Apocalypse tier makes the game feel more finished than it originally felt. It certainly is far more fun than I expected.
Let’s dig right into it.
New Story
The planet of Enoch is fucked. Well, it’s perceived to be fucked. The tomfuckery is coming from an original and powerful Altered named Ereshkigal. Her power is destructive, squid-like, and trying to prevent the planet Enoch from being saved. Her mission is destruction and wiping out all life on the planet. Of course, you play as the sole savior in this narrative to stop Ereshkigal’s plans, but there are quite a few obstacles that lie in front of you as the planet slowly and surely degrades thanks to her efforts.
As stories go, this one is good with major kudos for the ending. It contains emotion, sincerity, and a good bit of death and distrust. By the time the game ends, you can see the story start to teeter away from a typical narrative structure, but it never quite gets there, which is sad because it could have been epic. I wish the ending had a branching narrative attached to it to allow for the gamer to choose which path they want to take with their character. That could have paved the way for a beautiful sequel down the road, which would have opened the story quite a bit.
Anyway, branching narrative hopes and dreams aside, the story progresses well and is completely action-driven, which is what you want with a game like Outriders. It’s pure chaos from beginning to end, which makes it entertaining. The only real criticism I have is that I want to know more about Enoch and just want to engulf myself with its lore. The new expansion only touches upon the world and what it’s hiding, so hopefully there is more coming to make the experience more meaningful and not just a perceived one-off. The story is shallow with the beef and delivery. That’s one of the complaints I have with Destiny, where it feels like small, disjointed segments when the story could be one gigantic, massive lore loot.
For what you get in the narrative category with Outriders Worldslayer, it’s enough to establish there is hope for more stories to expand the universe of Enoch and beyond. It’s entertaining and chaotic but also leaves me hungry for more.
Gameplay System
One of the bigger upgrades for this expansion release was the Apocalypse tier system and a more rewarding and balanced gameplay design. I can say without hesitation that PCF has achieved its goals with all three categories. They seemed to go back to the drawing board and give the fans what they hoped the original had contained.
The Apocalypse tier system is a big reason why you want to play this game. There are more powerful upgrades to weapons and gear. There is far more access to everything, and it feels like your efforts are far more rewarded than the first time around. Not to keep harping on it, but this is where Bungie is still faltering with their gameplay design in Destiny, where it’s more of a grind for gear than a reward for your efforts. Outriders Worldslayer wants to reward your hard work and I can say without a doubt that I felt like I was progressing through the system and getting the rewards I think I deserved for the efforts I gave. For example, when I took down mini-bosses and bosses, I was rewarded with better rolls and could almost guarantee one better piece of equipment from the fight. The better equipment helped to match the difficulty arc of the game as I progressed, which motivated and encouraged me to keep going. Rewarding players for their efforts, especially with tough villains, is a great way to maintain an audience. This game succeeds in that category quite nicely. It does help that there are more sets of gear and more weapons/gear to obtain. It’s a huge positive with this expansion.
The Apocalypse tier system also brings new players into the mix with veteran players and does so instantly. When I played this game with Will Silberman, neither of us had touched it prior, but both of us jumped straight into the new system at Apocalypse tier 30. This allowed us to handle the new enemies without having to go back to the original game and grind our way through it. We discovered how much fun this was when Will accidentally didn’t activate that option and joined me in Worldslayer with a character that was essentially level one. Spoiler alert, he was doing almost no damage to any of the new bad guys. Once we figured out the issue, Will jumped into the Apocalypse tier at level 30 and helped me kick some major ass. It was nice having that option and I can only imagine how cool it would be to join upper-level friends and make a difference right from the get-go.
Beyond the new tier, which is the driving point of this expansion, there are other ways to upgrade your character. Outriders Worldslayer introduces the Pax Tree, which is an entirely new tree for the game. It adds more attributes to characters and is quite extensive while requiring the gamer to complete Worldslayer content to acquire Pax points to use. It works, but it is slow-moving when it comes to gaining those points. It might be, at least for me, the most gritty part of the game. On one hand, grinding the game is such a chore, but on the other, it shows what new content the folks at PCF have in store. It’s a great way to do more.
As with the original game, it’s far more fun to play it with friends. The game shows that from the beginning, where the more the merrier, and with the ability to get new friends involved quickly. I found it more entertaining with Will than I did going solo, though I did complete the story solos (Will has a lot to do). Outriders Worldslayer was built for multiplayer, and it shows during endgame content boss fights that require communication, team balance, and great distractions. This doesn’t mean you can’t go solo, but the design feels like it was truly meant for MP.
Now, with multiplayer comes more difficulty. The more you have on your team, the harder the bosses and the more difficult the game becomes in general. That’s all part of the new system and it is incredibly balanced because of this detailed adjustment. The game doesn’t like to let you down easily, especially with the endgame trials content. It wants you to work with a team and make your life more difficult but in a good way. I appreciate that balance with difficulty and like that it even goes that route when you return to the original content. The Apocalypse tier goes with you too, which is even cooler.
Overall, the new additions to the original Outriders structure make for a better time with its gameplay design. It seems to have corrected quite a bit along the way, though there are still more elements of the package that need to be addressed, especially in lore and story. I think that this design is far more thought-through than the original and I hope we get to see more from the game as the series continues.
Presentation side of things
This is a beautiful game. The environments are alive, active, and full of beautiful ray tracing. The cutscenes bring the visuals down just a bit. They’re stuck between PS4/PS5 graphics, which seem to rear its head when people move and speak. I enjoyed the environments and gameplay far more than the scenes in between.
As for the audio and acting, they’re both exceptional. While the script could have used some touching up, the actors seemed to get into the groove of things and the audio that followed the action was superb. Kudos in this category.
Conclusion
Outriders Worldslayer is a considerable upgrade from the original release. The introduction of a new tier, tree, and a more balanced gameplay design helps to make the case for more content down the road. It certainly feels like it’s on the right path to perfection, but still struggling in some minor areas.
