Outriders

Concise Review:
It’s a generic, cookie cutter, looter shooter that doesn’t excel or innovate in any specific area. That being said, the combat, RPG mechanics and abilities are solid, and I didn’t hate the sci fi vibes and world locations. The story, writing, and voice acting, range from dumb fun to straight up awful, but they don’t get in the way of the gameplay loop. This game is the definition of good not great.


Journal Style Review:
Immediate first impressions. I don’t think the characters, or writing are going to be anything special. Feels generic. Graphics looks fine for the most part, NPCs look a bit rough. Weird pacing to the opening. A lot of short play times followed by cutscenes that are broken up by load times, albeit short ones. I like the gore though and I’m hopeful the world and wildlife will look nice. Also by the time I was at class selection I was kind of digging the story. It’s an easy going fun set up and there were some good deaths early on.

Gameplay is pretty good so far. It’s fast paced and fluid and the different abilities have been fun to experiment with. The life stealing mechanics encourage intense firefights. The difficulty has been challenging but not frustrating.

I might really like this game... The combat looks great and feels pretty good. I love the gore. I like the wildlife and the different world locations so far. Also, the armor looks sweet. I made this badass space Viking. I love his style.

I’m actually liking the sectioned off linear levels system. I thought it would feel like a cheap open world imitation but it’s aiming for something different. It provides tight linear combat sections. I’m skeptical of the endgame content, but I’ve never been interested in endgame content before. This game seems to be providing more of an actual campaign than say destiny. It feels closer to the division 2 which I thought provided a solid campaign. 

I like the waypoint finder but it doesn’t always work which can be frustrating. Also the broken map sections are confusing and I wish we didn’t need to use the truck to go from location to location. That’s a nuisance. I’m tired of traveling to rift town to drop off bounties and hunts. 

While no different than destiny or the division 2, I still am enjoying the constant sense of progression from new loot. 

It’s starting to feel a bit repetitive but I’m still enjoying it. Also the story continues to be really fucking dumb. What’s with the avatar looking person?

Entrances to areas are glitchin more and more often where I can’t use them. It’s getting annoying and is wrecking the games rhythm. 

This story is ridiculous. The monsters look like they are from 2013. The few dramatic attempts are laughable. The voice actor is so deadpan in his delivery in every line. All these things sound bad, and they are, but it somehow still works.

The combat and powers really are the shining star of this game. There are some great gunfights where you really need to plan out how to be most effective.

Graphics really are AA. They sometimes look alright when it’s a cool environment or your main characters armor, but then you get some rough parts for the rest.

The legendary weapons and gear are pretty sweet. I’ve started actually modding my gear frequently now too. Picking the best mods and getting used to the bonuses they provide makes a huuuuge differences. I should have done that earlier. I’m focusing on raising my world tier for this last stretch. Trying not to die. It’s keeping the game fresh. Still a solid experience.

Beat it. Had fun. Nothing special.

Final Score: B+