Welcome to our newest IGN First – a month of unique protection in April, and it is all about The Outer Worlds 2. That is the very first take a look at its gameplay in actual time, and it takes us by a quest the place you infiltrate the N-Ray Facility to indicate off a number of of the sport’s new options and mechanics, in addition to the way it’s rethinking stage design. And one of the largest issues that stood out to me is how a lot deeper it’s going to be as an RPG with developer Obsidian wanting again at its previous and even drawing inspiration from immersive sims like Deus Ex and Dishonored.
Whereas that DNA has at all times been a component of first-person RPGs, The Outer Worlds 2 has extra subtle programs in comparison with the primary recreation like a real stealth system and higher instruments to make the playstyle viable, together with efficient melee weapons and abilities to make silent takedowns attainable. Take, for instance, the well being bar above enemy heads – there’s a purple-colored readout that shows how harm a stealth assault will do, serving to you choose whether or not or not you will get a one-hit kill or if it’s even value pouncing in your goal. Enemies will even detect lifeless our bodies and alert guards, however you’ll be able to shortly clear up when you have a ability to disintegrate our bodies on the spot.
Later within the quest, you choose up the N-Ray Scanner, which helps you to see sure objects and NPCs/enemies by partitions. Whereas that is essential for locating essential components of extra concerned environmental puzzles, it’s additionally an essential instrument for a stealth and fight. There are enemies all through the N-Ray Facility who cloak themselves; invisible to the bare eye, however not capable of escape the lens of the N-Ray Scanner. If you happen to’re not dilligent about utilizing it, cloaked enemies can simply run up on you. That is only one instance of how the addition of devices add a brand new wrinkle to gameplay.
There are a number of interlocking programs that issue into the way you’re capable of play, leaning extra into the RPG parts that make up particular character builds. So, stealth and people immersive sim sensibilities aren’t the one means gameplay is increasing in The Outer Worlds 2. Enhancing gunplay was a significant focus for Obsidian, citing Future as a touchstone for what good gunplay ought to really feel like. Not that this recreation goes to show into an all-out shooter, however it performs nearer to how a first-person recreation with firearms ought to play.
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You see an instance of this within the method to the N-Ray Facility motion after we go in weapons blazing. Motion has been tweaked to enrich gunplay as properly, letting you be extra nimble and do issues like sprint-slide whereas aiming down sights like an motion hero – and with the return of Tactical Time Dilation (TTD), the bullet-time fantasy is once more an efficient half of your fight rotation. We had been capable of see throwables, which is in no way revolutionary for a recreation like this, however with their inclusion this time round, you will have one other instrument that you could weave into your arsenal – and even do one thing sick like tossing a grenade, activating TTD, and taking pictures the grenade midair to have it blow up on unsuspecting enemies.
There isn’t a lot to share on the story entrance as of but, not to mention the context across the quest within the N-Ray Facility, however we do see how conversations have been tweaked barely within the sequel. Within the gameplay video above, there is a second we confront an NPC named Exemplar Foxworth who’s survived the cultist takeover of the place. She’s bleeding out and you’ll assist patch her up primarily based in your Medical stat, or reply relying in your Weapons or Melee stats. Though we could not dig into companions in additional element, this half additionally highlights the brand new companion named Aza, a former cultist who’s a bit frantic however joins you to seemingly assist undo what they’ve performed.
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Many of these parts had been half of the unique Outer Worlds in some kind, however the place that recreation was extra about laying a brand new basis for Obsidian, The Outer Worlds 2 appears to be like to be a completely realized model of what it was making an attempt to construct with the primary one. Along with checking it out early, I had conversations with the oldsters at Obsidian to get perception on a ton of its new options and the imaginative and prescient that drove this sequel. It appears eager on wielding the RPG roots of the studio’s previous whereas contemplating what a contemporary first-person RPG may be within the vein of a Fallout – and to be clear, they typically referred to Fallout: New Vegas as a touchstone when making The Outer Worlds 2, so my hopes are definitely excessive.
That is only a style of what’s to return in The Outer Worlds 2 and what we’re masking on this month’s IGN First. I will be breaking down character builds, the brand new flaws system, all of the wild and wacky weapons, and the way a lot greater this sequel is thru interviews with key folks like authentic Fallout developer and inventive director Leonard Boyarsky, recreation director Brandon Adler, and design director Matt Singh. Maintain checking again at IGN all April lengthy for extra!
Michael Higham is the tech evaluations editor at IGN, however is one of the RPG sickos on employees who nonetheless talks about Fallout: New Vegas regularly. You could find him at @brazyazn.bsky.social.