The Outer Worlds 2 Hands-On Preview: A Space Adventure Worth Exploring

It has been six years since the gaming space received The Outer Worlds, with many fans loving the game to bits and hoping for more almost immediately. Thankfully, the wait is almost over with The Outer Worlds 2 on the way, showcasing that these games are stronger than ever. Hardcore Gamer was given access to a preview of the game, giving us a glimpse into what we all have in store for us this time around.

Making Your Commander How You Want

Creating your character is in-depth, allowing various customization options that are always nice to see. You have nearly full control of how your commander is going to look, with plenty of ways to make them look unique in your own way. There are so many ways that you can change and edit your character, from their facial features down to whether or not they have prosthetic arms or legs.

Once your character looks how you want, you can select your character's background. There are six total choices, and these are used in conversations with NPCs and interactables throughout playthroughs. These shape what your character has been through in their life, from the gambler who knows that the universe boils down to blind luck and chaos, to the renegade who has lived a life operating somewhat outside the law.

You’ll also be able to select 1–2 traits of the 9 available traits to make a build that you prefer. There's a wide range of traits covering different playstyles. For example, the Nimble trait will give you an increase in crouch speed and combat sprint speed, making it great for a build that requires stealth or head-on encounters.

Selecting a second trait will come with both advantages and disadvantages. If you choose two traits, you will be forced to pick a negative trait to pair with them, while also allowing you to select an extra skill to start with. These negative traits can either be something that will prevent you from ever having a positive bonus from factions or lock 5 of the 12 available skills, as well as give you health debuffs. While it's a hassle to pick several traits at the cost of one of these negative ones themselves, this allows more variation in your builds while also giving you significant gameplay challenges throughout your experience with the game.

Of the twelve available skills, these are more about tailoring your preferred playstyle to fit into the game. Many of these are very specific and not all of them will be useful for everyone. If you aren’t interested in hacking and speechcraft in these types of RPGs, you can still pick skills to provide you with better sneak attack bonuses or higher health thresholds.

Time to Get to Work, Commander

After you’ve created a character, you’ll enter the first portion of the game, with our player characters being in a position of command and in charge of their own mission. One of the best parts of the first game was the comedic timing and how over-the-top the characters were in their allegiances with the government or their factions. This has been completely retained, even when on a serious mission. With most other pieces of media, this would not work, but the nature of these games makes them work and shine in strides.

As for the mission you are on when starting the game, you’re infiltrating a secretive group that has been housing a Skip Core. This is a mission that requires your group of allies to enter the station that the core is housed in and move throughout the base to meet Agent DeVries at the core. This is a fantastic introduction to the game, as this entire mission takes into account the various playstyles that players can create to play the game. There are multiple areas that backgrounds cannot access due to the skill allocation, while still having plenty of rooms for players to find new ways around the base.

The Outer Worlds 2 Renegade Speech Options

While this is just a small portion of the game that's incredibly linear, there are still moments here for you to experiment and see what your combination of skills and traits can do. If you wish to go heavily into the hacking and lockpicking portion of the game, there will be several terminals and doors that you can access due to the nature of your character. If you prefer a more brute force approach to the game, however, this is also entirely valid and obtainable.

An example that showcases the various avenues to complete areas is when you need to break off from your squad. Here you’ll be met with a choice of either going through a Security Ops section that requires stealth or Central Dispatch, which will have a higher number of guards. Both options are tailored around allowing you to play how you wish, with the stealth portion having multiple terminals, doors and even bots that require high technology prowess to access. Having multiple options on how to complete areas is the core of RPGs like The Outer Worlds, giving players every opportunity to play the game as they please.

The combat is more or less the same as in the first game, but more refined, and it still feels smooth. Guns and melee weapons feel smooth to use without any clunkiness, giving you the chance to fight exactly how you'd like when it comes to a brawl. Then, having the ability to slow down time while you are under pressure allows you to think carefully for an extra moment about how to handle the group, or gives you much-needed distance to either get to a target or back away.

Having multiple options on how to complete areas is the core of RPGs like The Outer Worlds, giving players every opportunity to play the game as they please.

Everything available in The Outer Worlds 2 preview has been nothing but entertaining and a blast to play through. The world-building is stellar, with terminals and characters providing constant context on the situation the universe is in now, and characters still maintain their over-the-top devotion to their factions. Making the perfect, or imperfect, commander that takes the lead on their own missions with an overconfident team, sneaking around or blasting their way through an enemy base, shows that the game is already shaping up to be an absolute blast.