🔗 Share this article

During my first experience with the initial Outer Worlds, I was quickly hooked by its satirical, Fallout-inspired style of comedy. This title featured dynamic dialogues, personal journals, and propaganda materials that portrayed a company-run society that was both grim and humorous. My primary concern starting the sequel was that this version – without blame of its own – might not be as funny compared to the first.

Sure, things weren't perfect. But the world undoubtedly appeared a bit less broken in those days. This universe showed a bleak future that didn't strike extremely relatable, and nonetheless succeeded to be both emotional and comical. I began The Outer Worlds 2 feeling quite confident that this installment couldn't succeed to accomplish this a second time, but I'm pleased to report that I was incorrect. This follow-up is just as chuckle-inducing as the title that came before it, and furthermore presents original ideas rather than merely repeating identical material similar to a tired company slogan.

Evolving Characters

A large portion of the non-player characters gamers met in the initial release had been defeated by the actions of business corporations including the in-game corporation, and were painfully aware of how much their situation was terrible. This sequel takes things in a distinct route, featuring characters who are brainwashed (occasionally metaphorically, regularly truly). A lot of these NPCs aren't conscious of how deeply messed up their situations are, or that there might be choices to a life lived beneath the control of a large business or limited by the creeds of an intense faith.

This follow-up examines forms of corporate control that are more subtle than simply keeping the population impoverished. Numerous characters have been programmed with the type of extremely eager "grindset mindset" language you might encounter on social media accounts that claim to disclose the secret of achievement if you pay a costly program, or participate in a sketchy crypto scheme. Furthermore, the release's corporate propaganda has evolved.

Current Topics

There are still numerous demotivating signs throughout facilities warning about deducting pay from workers who dare to contemplate taking a day off, but additionally there are references to pyramid scheme strategies, including a new hire handbook that proudly declares, "Unknown people are merely customers YOU haven't met yet!" As an individual who was raised in a direct sales household, I instantly erupted laughing when encountering this reference, because it's a saying I have regularly listened to repeated exactly by people at the base of those structures.

Thankfully, The Outer Worlds 2 is as comedic and satirical as the initial release.

This sequel also examines the situation many of us experience when it comes to work, political matters, and even personal purchases: Being forced to choose the smaller of several poor choices. During efforts to decide whether to support a risky company or a dangerous religious group within the title, I discovered I was aligning with the familiar evil: A familiar company structure that is awful (though just utilizes advertising to indoctrinate its followers), rather than the cult, which is equally bad, but uses a horrible approach termed "psychological renewal" to keep its adherents in line.

Questionable Employers

Even the people you serve may not be dependable. As an Earth Directorate agent, your mission involves trying to reestablish order to this outpost subsequent to a forceful company buyout, and you will quickly find that each of the invaders and the residents adhere to distinct (yet equally horrific) beliefs. However, a rapid inspection of the communications on your spacecraft's system reveal that the Earth Directorate isn't precisely the world's most ethical organization too, as evidenced by a response to a help request that tells the sender it will take "three to five corporate years" for a reply to their transmission. (That time frame is approximately the time it takes for many people to contact a human support representative via telephone these days.)

Recognizable Scenarios

Various situations in this sequel are extremely familiar, but it's a cathartic type of familiarity, and the game succeeds in balancing its depressing dystopian setting with comedy that's truly humorous while avoiding out of place. One major theme is the quick commencement of decline that appears to occur following significant business mergers. Employees on both sides of this sequel's major acquisition find their existence decrease as a result, while the leaders at the top of the hierarchy are, naturally, accumulating money quickly.

Hey, at least I recognize where I stand.

Similar to the original title, this follow-up is naturally humorous, but furthermore doesn't shy away to become dramatic. At a certain time, while exploring around the release's primary explorable world, I stumbled across a body with a recording close by. This message revealed that this NPC (connected to the indoctrinating cult) had been killed in an event while trying to locate and kill her significant other. This romantic partner had apparently defected from their faction, and the deceased character was enraged by her lover's {traitorous