People Can Fly’s looter-shooterOutriderswas released in April 2021 to moderate success, with praise for its combat, crafting, and loot systems, while criticisms were aimed at its storytelling, dialogue, and buggy launch. Overall, the game succeeded where it needed to, providing players with a fun, fast-paced combat system that utilizessupernatural powersalong with weapons, armor, and technology to amass a sizable variety of character builds to face the hordes of enemies the game contains.
The game’s story explores the last remnants of humanity as they flee Earth to colonize the far world of Enoch, with Outriders tasked with exploring the planet before unloading the colonists. In typical post-apocalyptic sci-fi storytelling, things go south upon arrival when a mysterious electromagnetic storm, referred to as the Anomaly, begins destroying everything in its wake.Outridersskips the narrative ahead by thirty years, where humanity is trapped in the same valley they arrived in, now in a civil war with Insurgents who generally follow Altered supernatural humans, who the Anomaly has transformed. Additionally, the Anomaly has affected the local wildlife in terrifying and mutated ways, which further adds to the challenges players must face.
Outriders: Worldslayerbuilds upon the narrative left open from the base game by revealing that the Anomaly, now out of control on the planet due to the loss of Enoch’s native species, the Pax, is expanding and devolving in more and more unpredictable ways that threaten all life on the planet. The expansion also ties up the loose ends of the Insurgent crisis that the base game failed to answer with the addition of the Altered Ereshkigal, who leads them. Furthermore,the DLC and its Endgame contentgo hand in hand storytelling-wise to flesh out more about the Pax, their relationship to Enoch in the past, and their abilities to harness the Anomaly.
While that seems like a lot of content to cover in an expansion, the result mirrors the issues the base game had with its narrative structure. First, the Outrider character acts as more of a bystander to the events that unfold around the other characters. The stakes in the story don’t seem to challenge the Outrider in ways that warrant or see character development. It’s almost as if the Outrider is just a tool to be used to move through the story. And while thedestruction of all life does include the Outrider, it’s the lack of personal stakes that makes the player character seem one-dimensional.
Additionally, the DLC story is far too short for the price tag, coming in at about six to eight hours depending on difficulty and exploration. Ereshkigal isn’t featured enough to flesh out what could be a promising, deeply flawed, and deadly antagonist. Instead, her motivations are typical of villains who want to watch the world burn. And while that motivation could stem from engaging in traumatic history,Outrider: Worldslayerappears to lean into the corruptive nature of theAnomaly coursing through the Altered, which drives their destructive tendencies.
While the Endgame content of Tarya Gratar ties into theOutriders: Worldslayerstory, exploring more of the nature of the Pax and their connection to Enoch and the Anomaly, it leaves some questions open for potential future story expansions. Overall, the story and dialogue pose many exciting ideas and theories, especially in a world with soaring potential for an immersive narrative experience, yet seem to rush through these factors to get the player back to combat.
While the story may have bumps in the road,combat is truly whereOutriders: Worldslayershines, and it is addicting fun to unleash waves of supernatural abilities and weaponry on dozens and dozens of enemies. The game’s loot system is equally enjoyable, driving players to farm for the best gear and mods available to present the best form of their Outrider character to the battlefield. While no new classes have been added to the original four, adding the Pax Skill Tree with two defining branches and an assortment of nodes with active and passive bonuses brings new forms of power for players to experience.
Along with the Pax Skill trees are Ascension Points and Apocalypse Tiers, allowing further customization and greater rewards. Pax Skill Points are earned through the story progression ofOutriders: Worldslayer, where Ascension Points are rewarded for overcoming enemies even in the base campaign. These points are divided into four categories: Anomaly, Endurance, Brutality, and Prowess. Adding points to the desired areas cansynergize with the new Apocalypse Tierweapons, armor, and skills that feature a third mod slot to boost the build players choose.
Another significant aspect ofOutriders: Worldslayeris the option to start the game on a new save with an already leveled character, negating the need to go through the entire base campaign to get to the DLC. This allows new and old players to jump right into unique content, gear, and mods that Worldslayer brings to the table. The character builds that start in this new save slot provide enough strength and power to progress but can continue to be enhanced.
Apocalypse Tiers replace the base campaign’s World Tiers, yet they act functionally similar in that the higher the level players play at, the better the gear and mods that drop. One of the core differences is that players can take these tiers back into the base game, whether they play alone or join friends experiencing those early story missions. This does entice players to re-explore the story from the beginning, advancing this new tier system that now reaches level 40. Such a replay could create an even more powerful character designed tohandle the brutality of the Endgame content.
Outriders: Worldslayer’sEndgame dungeon, called the Trials of Tarya Gratar, can be an extensive run with numerous explorable areas off the beaten path. Primarily focused on Troves, which contain multi-round groups of enemies, players can use these areas for farming Apocalypse gear and specific pieces, as each Trove features loot for one particular piece of gear.
While this particular mode of farming allows players to continue to grind for their desired gear and mods, the dungeon itself is practically the same each run. The only change is the enemy types that might appear in a given room.This resembles the Expeditions of the base game, where the rinse and repeat routine ran the risk of becoming stale. With Tarya Grata’s dungeon and bosses being functionally the same every time, the continual enhancement of gear and mods leaves players with the repetition of increasing their stats, but with no real differentiation in the Endgame.
Outriders: Worldslayerenhances the base campaign with a story and combat-driven narrative that successfully ties up loose ends and poses new questions that may be explored in future releases. With its fluid and dynamic combat, Apocalypse Gear, Pax Skill Trees, Ascension Points, and loot-specific farming,Outriders:Worldslayerbrings the quality of lifeimprovements and advanced customization that begs players to return to Enoch. While some troubles from the base game bleed intoOutriders: Worldslayer, especially with a rushed story and spotty character development, the game nevertheless offers an exhilarating looter-shooter experience that deserves mention.
Outridersis currently available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Stadia. Game Rant was provided a PC code for this review.
The WORLDSLAYER EXPANSION allows owners of OUTRIDERS to dive straight into the new WORLDSLAYER game content.With new horrors to challenge you and new weapons, mods and gear to discover, you’ll be further developing your build through the new PAX hybrid branch class trees.Survive the campaign and you’ll face even greater horrors in the Trials of Tarya Grata, the brand new endgame. Which partnered with Ascension Points offers a new long term progression system for the most committed players.Finally, push hard through the new Apocalypse difficulty tiers, with each step up to level 40 increasing the chances of obtaining incredible Apocalypse gear and its game changing third mod slot.PAX TREES: Introducing the Pax Trees. 2 additional skill tree branches per class extend your build customization options for deeper specialization or new hybrid builds.ASCENSION POINTS: A long-term progression system purely designed to make you even stronger. Kill enemies, collect XP and level up to further specialise your build within the 4 categories of Ascension Points. Customise your Outriders in Brutality, Endurance, Prowess and Anomaly.
