🔗 Share this article

During my first experience with the initial Outer Worlds title, I was immediately drawn by its irreverent, Fallout-inspired brand of humor. This release featured engaging exchanges, character diaries, and advertising displays that illustrated a corporate dystopia that was simultaneously grim and entertaining. My biggest worry heading into the follow-up was that this installment – through no fault from itself – wouldn't be as comedic as its predecessor.

Admittedly, situations weren't flawless. Yet society certainly seemed slightly less fractured in those days. This universe depicted a grim society that didn't strike overly familiar, and nonetheless succeeded to be simultaneously emotional and comical. I began The Outer Worlds 2 pretty sure that this installment couldn't succeed to pull this off again, but I'm delighted to state that I was incorrect. This sequel is as chuckle-inducing as the game that came earlier, and furthermore presents new themes instead of simply reusing the same content similar to a worn-out business tune.

Developing Personalities

A large portion of the NPCs players encountered in the initial release had been beaten down by the activities of company organizations like Spacer's Choice, and were acutely conscious of the degree that their existence was miserable. This sequel moves events in a distinct route, presenting individuals who are programmed (occasionally metaphorically, frequently actually). A lot of these NPCs aren't even aware of how deeply screwed up their situations are, or that there could be alternatives to a lifetime passed under the domination of a huge company or limited by the creeds of an intense faith.

The sequel investigates methods of business domination that are more subtle than simply keeping the people destitute. Many NPCs have been indoctrinated into the kind of excessively zealous "work ethic" discourse you can discover on social media accounts that claim to disclose the key to success when you buy for an overpriced workshop, or participate in a questionable digital currency plan. Additionally, the title's company advertising has progressed.

Contemporary Issues

There are still many discouraging displays in various locations warning about deducting staff compensation who so much as think about taking a day off, but additionally there are allusions to pyramid scheme strategies, featuring a new hire handbook that proudly declares, "Strangers are just clients you haven't met yet!" As someone who grew up in a direct sales environment, I promptly exploded with laughter when encountering this reference, because it's a phrase I have regularly listened to repeated exactly by those at the bottom of such schemes.

Luckily, this sequel is as comedic and satirical as the original title.

This installment also examines the predicament numerous people experience when it comes to employment, political matters, and even consumer choices: Having to choose the reduced of multiple bad options. During efforts to determine if to assist a dangerous corporate entity or a problematic faith organization within the title, I realized I became supporting the known negative: An established corporate entity that is awful (yet merely employs propaganda to indoctrinate its followers), rather than the religious group, which is equally bad, but uses a terrible method termed "mental refreshment" to keep its adherents in line.

Questionable Employers

Additionally, the individuals you serve may not be dependable. Playing as an space operative, you're tasked with working to return control to this outpost after a forceful company buyout, and you rapidly learn that both the aggressors and the residents adhere to separate (but similarly terrible) ideologies. Yet a speedy inspection of the communications on your ship's terminal show that this agency isn't exactly the galaxy's most moral employer either, as demonstrated by an answer to a distress call that notifies the contact it will take "several organizational cycles" for an answer to their transmission. (This period is about how long it takes for me to get a hold of a real help desk employee over the phone currently.)

Recognizable Scenarios

Many moments in this installment are extremely familiar, but it's a therapeutic type of familiarity, and this release achieves equilibrium between its depressing dystopian setting with humor that's truly humorous yet not seeming inappropriate. One major theme is the rapid beginning of enshittification that appears to occur following large company takeovers. Workers from each party of The Outer Worlds 2's significant consolidation find their existence decline therefore, while the CEOs at the top of the food chain are, of course, raking in the cash quickly.

Hey, at least I recognize my situation.

Comparable to the first game, this follow-up is naturally humorous, but it also isn't afraid to become dramatic. At a certain time, while wandering around the game's first accessible planet, I discovered a deceased individual with a recording nearby. The audio log revealed that this NPC (connected to the brainwashing religious faction) had been killed in an event during efforts to hunt down and kill her lover. This loved one had apparently defected from their organization, and the now-dead NPC was enraged by her lover's {traitorous