REPLAY: Outriders

When Outriders was first announced back in 2019 I was skeptical. That is how I am with most games that are announced nowadays but still. The reasoning here was because it looked awesome. Whenever something in the video game space LOOKS awesome, watch out. **cough cough ANTHEM**

Once the game finally came out in 2021, I took my chances. What is $60 to most humans anyway? Chump change?...............

Going into the game with trained minimal expectations I was shocked. This game is FUN. Yep. Fun. I have a love in my heart for looter shooters (Borderlands, Destiny, etc) and Outriders delivers that love right back to me. "Go here, shoot these baddies, and then go here and shoot THESE baddies and then shoot this boss" is the formula and it feels great. Now Outriders does mix it up with its awesome skill and ability progression. You can choose between 4 classes that each offer their own gameplay styles and options. They range in style from your typical Tank class to your Assassin and Mage classes. 

At launch, there were some issues with characters being accidentally deleted, gear being lost, crashes, and more bugs than you can shake your stick at but if I am being honest, I didn't experience any of these. I got pretty lucky as the friend I did Co-Op with on my first time lost all his high-tiered loot and got some back with random rolls that were not what he had originally. Problems aside, the gameplay felt awesome. Rolling behind cover and scouting for your next hiding spot while enemies chuck grenades made every battle intense. You get flanked if you stay still and trust me, the A.I. does NOT like you in one place. You are constantly moving and blasting soldiers or creatures with skills and an array of weapons. From Assault Rifles that will cause chains to latch on the bad guys and do additional damage to Shotguns that will cause a rift that explodes everyone nearby, there are PLENTY of ways to dispatch your foes. Any of these weapon abilities can be placed on any other weapon you choose. It does add a lot of depth and replayability since you can make any weapon to your liking. I will admit that I have my favorites and I stick with them but I am sure a lot of people would play differently than myself.

Going into the game for my second playthrough I knew exactly what to expect: A very weird story that, if I am being honest I did not care too much about, but exciting gameplay. I skipped roughly 95% of the cutscenes and went full into my build. I know that sounds bad but after experiencing the story on the first time around, I didn't think I needed it this time. Short summary: a lot of people got shot in the face. Like. A lot. In almost every other scene some one is getting blasted. I played one of the classes I have not used before (Pyromancer) and blitzed through the early stages of the game. I did do every side quest that popped up for the max XP and loot gains to helped my Pyromancer become an ultimate tool of destruction. 

The quests are still pretty good and go back and forth from "piece of cake" to "WHY THE HECK DID I DIE THIS IS BS!!" I honestly like it but I will say that it is not very consistent as some missions in the middle of the game seem WAY more difficult than the end.

As you progress through the story, you unlock World Tiers that will increase enemy levels, difficulty, and the rarity of loot you gain. There comes a point around the middle of the game where it is NOT a good idea to increase this World Tier as you unlock it as you will die. And die. And die. Especially playing solo. I got to about World Tier 8 and kept it there until I gained 3-4 personal levels just to allow myself some breathing room. I think it's great that you can change these from 1 to whatever number you have unlocked at any time. It really does make some of those extremely aggravating missions less so.

Progressing through the campaign and completing every side quest, I was able to max out my main character level and all of the skills. Experimenting with these still proved to be fun. Did I want to be a long ranged damage dealer or did I want to get a little more up close and personal with my fire abilities? I ended up sticking mid-range and using bullets that inflicted fire on anyone who opposed me. I would also use some skills that slowed everyone down and inflicted an Ash status effect to deal even more damage to them. Ultimately, I found myself trying different paths and finding the one I liked. It worked for the rest of the game and I had a great time feeling pretty powerful.

The second time around, Outriders felt pretty darn good to play. Reaching the end, there is some "after the credits roll" activities to partake in. I didn't really do these during my first time but they are actually a heck of a lot of fun. You get to pick an objective out of a few levels and go into almost a massive horde mode. You get different loot depending on the time of completion and it adds to the tension. I've clenched the cheeks on more than one occasion trying to beat my time or score again and again. 

Replaying Outriders was a pretty cool experience. If you haven't played through yet I do encourage it. Either solo or with a buddy I'm sure you'll have a good time. The story leaves a lot to be desired but if you can overlook that, it is worth the time.

Outriders is out now on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S.