Outriders is the latest game from People Can Fly. As a third-person shooter, you can join up to two friends online to shoot and loot your way through an engaging story with fun, unique skills and weapons.
Welcome to Enoch
Earth is nothing more than a husk. Natural resources are running out and the planet is turning into a wasteland. Humanities only hope is to look to the stars for a new home.
It’s a premise that is the opposite of new. You might even call it old. As a titular Outrider, you are part of an elite group of soldiers who are the first boots on the ground after an 83-year journey through the cosmos to end up on a planet called Enoch. While scouting through the green pastures and vibrant foliage, you chance upon an unexpected lightning storm that zaps your comrades into dust. But when you get hit yourself, you instead get all glowy and get super powers. Thinking that you are dying, you get put into cryosleep where you take a nap for about 30 years.
When you wake up, the once-green pastures are replaced with war-torn trenches. The friends who survived before are now older, more bitter, and fighting battles amongst themselves as well as the mutated monsters that have surfaced. You’re given a breadcrumb of clues and a grumpy posse of friends and you’re set out to use your powers to look for peace. But before peace, you have to shoot a bunch of stuff.
Outriders starts with a generic Sci-Fi setup that I thought would keep an even keel throughout. Often, multiplayer-focused games will just give you enough of a story move you through set pieces so you can shoot at the newer bad guys, collect the newer toys, and repeat. Instead, I found the story and character very compelling. The first area feels very tutorial-esque both in terms of story and gameplay. But from there I found my self more and more hooked every time I found out about a new piece of the puzzle or the next revelation that shed light on what happened to Enoch over the 30 years you were in cryosleep. I became so enamored with the plot that I quickly left my multiplayer friends behind and finished the campaign solo.
With Our Powers Combined…
Okay, just to prevent any undo expectations, you won’t be shooting magical beams out your rings to summon a blue hippie who fights crime. But what you will get is a satisfying gameplay loop that feels right at home in the “Looter Shooter” genre.
As you work through the story of Outriders, you’ll level up and gain access to stat bonuses and new skills. These skills are unique to your class, whether you’re a minigun-wielding Technomancer, a flame-throwing Pyromancer, an earth-shattering Devastator, or a backstabbing Trickster. All of the skills I’ve played with so far felt unique and viable. While you can only have three skills slotted for use at a time, I was constantly switching them out to give new combos a try, or find synergies with my ever-changing gear.
You’ll collect new pieces of armor and a varied array of weapons through quest rewards, hidden treasure chests, or an occasional enemy drop. Working through the main story, upgrades come often and usually provide a noticeable change to character growth. New weapon types can significantly change your playstyle, and armor can come with bonuses that can give your skills some extra oomph. I love seeing new gear designs as you continue to explore the planet, and its extra satisfying when your gear slots match for some bonus style points.
Looking To The Future
While Outriders might feel like the next iteration of games like Destiny or Anthem, there are some key differences that make it stand out. First of all, this is not a live service game. There is no content roadmap to look to once you’ve reached the endgame. There is no trickle of content and there are no microtransactions. When you purchase this game, you are getting a complete experience front to back. That doesn’t mean we might not see more content in the future, though. People Can Fly’s creative director, Bartosz Kmita, told GamesRadar+ that we may see larger content expansions in the future.
Let’s take for example, the major game we took inspiration from, Diablo. Diablo wasn’t a game as a service. They just released the big expansion packs. They were doing it in a different style. Maybe we’ll go that way, or even do some other things. But for sure, we will not abandon the game if players like it. – Bartosz Kmita
Closing Thoughts
Outriders surprised me. I thought I was going to get an unremarkable shooter, just competent enough to keep me going while I chatted with family in online co-op. Instead I got a satisfying and diverse game with a Sci-Fi story that was incredibly engaging even if it went on a little longer than I expected. Despite finishing the story, and despite barely touching the online multiplayer, I still find myself coming back the the world of Enoch for one more fight.
