'The Outer Worlds 2 ' Let Me Play As A Big Dumb Idiot, and I Loved It

"After playing through the opening of The Outer Worlds 2, what please me the most about it is that it supports my biggest RPG hobby - playing as an absolute idiot. Sure, the sequel to Obsidian's space-faring adventure has better shooting and shinier graphics, but I'm just happy I can play a hapless bozo that, somehow, manages to stumble their way through every situation, including getting a gate to open by telling a guard, "I don't know what I'm doing here.""

"The Outer Worlds 2 is a direct sequel to the 2019 sci-fi role-playing game, which takes place in an alternate future that started diverging from the real-world timeline in 1901, with United States President William McKinley escaping assassination. Because of this, Theodore Roosevelt never became president, so the megaconglomerate businesses of the era were not broken up after all. Now, in the future, capitalism rules the universe, with colonies ruled by megacorporations that shape daily life and lead a class-centric society."

"This gave the first Outer Worlds a biting satirical comedy element that constantly riffed on the idea of corporate greed and oppression, although it sometimes felt like it didn't go far enough. While two hours with the game isn't enough for me to say if Outer Worlds 2 takes that theme even further, it is enough to say the game still has the same shrewd wit."

The Outer Worlds 2 allows players to embody a hapless, incompetent protagonist who can bumble through challenges while improved shooting and enhanced graphics modernize gameplay. The game is a direct sequel set in an alternate timeline where President McKinley survives in 1901 and Theodore Roosevelt never becomes president, enabling megacorporations to dominate colonies and daily life. The setting foregrounds corporate capitalism and class divisions, continuing the franchise's satirical critique of corporate greed. Early impressions preserve the series' shrewd wit. The opening features an in-universe propaganda film, character creation as an Earth Directorate captain, and a mission to infiltrate the Protectorate and investigate space-time rifts.

Read at Inverse