The first contact with Outriders is terrible. It happened to me after trying the demo that was published before its launch: I did not see beyond a clumsy shooter, with very few ideas of its own, from which little or nothing of the good work of the Gears of War saga was seen in its approach to action in third person with coverage. But People Can Fly has managed to shut my mouth with a work that has very good ideas and that manages to generate a simple but deep addiction to find a place between so many looter shooter.
It also has bad things, it is evident. Outriders starts with the disadvantage that it seems a generic game, from its aesthetic to its playable approach, and it certainly is. But once you manage to adapt to his proposal, enter the game and want to advance, everything becomes a continuous surprise. You discover that the confrontations are much more than just typical firefights, that the skill tree of each class is deep and that the title has a huge amount of content.
You can see that People Can Fly is a studio that has worked on the Gears of War franchise, as the approach to the action is very similar, incorporating obvious changes that cause the action is much more agile by reducing weight and giving great importance to skills and support elements. We control our character in the third person and we must take advantage of the coverage, but it will be essential (especially when the level of difficulty progresses) to create a functional build with our character that allows us to solve the different problems that we will be launching. Enemies attacking from a distance will annoy us excessively, as will those who throw grenades, while groups running towards our position will give us no respite. Outriders is a complex and complicated game, where we set the yardstick ourselves.
Outriders uses a variable difficulty system that we can control at all times. And it is a very intelligent system since it invites the player to face complicated challenges with the assurance that this way they will be able to obtain better loot.. Worth the effort? Almost always yes, so we will be involved in very complicated mass battles where we will have to make the most of all our abilities, perks and characteristics of each of our weapons. It is very satisfying to see how the game is able to reward the time we spend in the menus by configuring our character.
It is not something that has happened to me, for example, in sagas like Destiny. Classes are not very different from each other and creating very specific builds is hardly useful for the most complicated challenges, which are the minority. Any confrontation in any main or sub mission here can be challenging, which is addictive and fun, with combat that works.. The possibility of playing in a group of three players also makes a greater sense, being able to take advantage of the different classes and the diverse abilities to generate combinations and strategies together. Everything in Outriders can be challenging and all matches are usually satisfying.
The biggest drawback? That that initial surprise when you understand that Outriders is much more than what it seems at first glance is deflating with the passing of the hours. Discovering for the first time different types of enemies, final bosses (some impressive, challenging and very fun to defeat), situations and complications, they lose steam as we get used to it and everything ends up being excessively routine and repetitive. It is the essence of any looter shooter, it is evident, but here it is very notable for not posing experiences that differ too much from entering a space, fighting, collecting loot, entering another space and fighting again. It is a wheel that rotates continuously and once known, it does not provide much variety.
But until then we will have dozens of hours of good content, spread over various areas with different aesthetics. In this regard, it should be noted that Outriders also draws visual and artistic muscle, with very interesting spaces and with which you will feel the urge to take several screenshots. But it also contrasts with other much more generic ones, something that doesn’t help the general feeling that the game lacks a lot of its own personality. It seems a compendium of places, mixed, without relation between them, with some impressive and others less.
Although it seems obvious that Outriders is a very ambitious work in which People Can Fly and Square Enix have put all the meat on the grill, it is difficult to establish a special bond with their characters, their weapons, their world or their story, often irregular and lacking in charisma. Here you come to shoot, and it is fun, but perhaps you have to work in depth in this regard to find a true future for a project that deserves it.
Outriders is a very fun video game that has managed to surprise me for good, especially after the disappointment that I got the first time. I have enjoyed killing enemies, collecting loot, repeating activities and creating a build to my liking, making the most of my favorite skills and weapons. I have also had the need to try the rest of the classes and vary my way of playing to overcome some of the more complicated challenges, and that is still a good sign. The entrails of Outriders are well formed, carefully and lovingly woven, although on the outside the sensation is different.
It is a shame that the huge surprises generated by its first hours are fading away and that players who do not want or know how to get into the game of loot and the continuous variation of equipment will not want to dedicate so many hours. But if you like looter shooters and want something to share with other friends, it’s a safe bet, and it’s also fun (and enough) alone.. Essential, I would say, if you also have Xbox Game Pass where you can try the game at no additional cost.
Outriders is much more than meets the eye. It is an unexpected surprise that manages to make a place for itself among the most interesting looter shooters on the market, despite the fact that its own appearance and first hours play against it. It is a deep experience, much more than it seems, interesting and fun, that can provide many hours of content and that does not feel unfinished at all; something that most exponents of the genre could not say in its premiere. The surprise effect diminishes with the passing of the hours and there is a lack of variety and sauce so that the dish ends up being appetizing for everything, but the basis proposed by People Can Fly is a very satisfactory one with enormous potential. We will see how its future unfolds.