Obsidian Entertainment is having a particularly busy year. The month of October has barely ended when this is already the third game released this year by the American studio, a member of Microsoft Studios. After Declared AND Grounded 2Therefore the time has come for the return of The outer worlds 2. And the specificity of the latter is to be available not only on Xbox Series and PC like its acolytes, but also on PS5.
Six years after the first installment, the developers at Obsidian once again take up space to take players to new constellations and new adventures, with even more ambition. “The first game was a solid foundation to build on,” says design director Matt Singh.
The first game, a good base to go further in satire
For The outer worlds 2, The teams wanted to refine the existing mechanics while refining the narrative approach, with new possibilities and more impactful options. Obsidian thus recognizes that the first game, designed with a more compressed schedule, had only touched on certain game systems such as the reactivity of its adventure companions or the depth of the story. This time, they went further in their desire to revisit the golden age of space conquest, the heart of the series, with conglomerates that would have extended their powers to other planets, to other star systems, and fought in fierce battles for domination.
Therefore, the game takes players to a new colony, Arcadia, which allows us to address new themes and offer a new theater of play, with new companions and new factions. A way to attract new players to attack the stars without losing lifelong fans.
It is not necessary to have done it The outer worlds tackle The outer worlds 2. Newbies can explore space however they want in this open-world RPG. radioactive dustveterans will find echoes of a mythology that is already underway.
Help, trample or manipulate
“Each party had to take place in a different colony,” says Leonard Boyarsky. “This allows us to explore varied themes and tones, with different flavors.” However, one thing remains: the satirical tone that made the first episode famous. In this second game, humor is always present, the dialogues are also sometimes corrosive to happily mock this futuristic society, its interstellar capitalism and its failures.
This time, the megacorporations from the first game (Auntie Cleo and Spacer’s Choice) have merged to become Auntie’s Choice, champion of the fierce liberalism behind the desire to advance individual freedoms. The player plays an Earth Directorate agent sent to Arcadia, a colony torn apart by space-time faults caused by Skip Drive, a new technology. We must do everything we can to repair this.
And it will be your choice: helping, trampling or manipulating the inhabitants and the different factions present that have an interest in these anomalies (The Protectorate for military stability, the Order of the Ascendants to study them scientifically or The Aunt’s Choice to better control the galaxy).
With new gadgets (including a dematerializer to dissolve bodies) and new gameplay possibilities (double jump, parkour, etc.), the player will choose his strategy in addition to his character and his orientations. “It’s not a pure first-person shooter, it’s primarily a role-playing game. But we wanted the filming to ultimately be as satisfying as the dialogue,” emphasizes Singh. The game also looks at your style to assign you a behavioral profile (combination of bonuses and penalties) and “encourage players to fully engage with their playful personality.”
A political fresco disguised as a space opera
We improve our character, but we also laugh at their strengths and flaws in an even bigger world. An improved experience in all aspects (playability, customization, immersion) and particularly in its responsiveness. The dialogues have several answers and as many directions. This will have effects on the management of cities, but also on the tone of the radio, which can be adapted. This is also an important element, because the radio not only transmits music, but also propaganda elements and reacts to the player’s actions. Each faction thus has a different sound design, voice and propaganda, from public radio with an exaggerated or maternalistic tone to better encourage denunciation.
More than ever, The Outer Worlds 2 decided to leave the development of the story in the hands of the players. Betraying, supporting or mocking: everything has consequences on your teammates as well as in the game environment. Will you be a hero or a traitor? Only you know. “If you bring your colleagues into a situation where their point of view is very different from what you are trying to get them to do, they may violently object and collude with you,” warns Leonard Boyarsky. Sometimes knowing how to sacrifice a partner can also be saving, if not understanding.
Obsidian retains its talent for telling the world through our choices, our contradictions, and our flaws, with the same satirical tone that remains at the heart of The Outer Worlds 2. While the irony sometimes seems to take a bit of a backseat compared to its predecessor, Leonard Boyarsky promises that it is, in fact, finer. “We wanted more granularity. There are serious moments, but it’s still Outer Worlds: a satire of power, of systems, of the people who get lost there,” he says. A political fresco disguised as a space opera of humor and intergalactic chaos, where the contradictions of progress are treated with as much acidity as affection.
THE OUTER WORLDS 2 – Available on PS5, Xbox Series and PC
Source: BFM TV
