🔗 Share this article

When I first encounter with the original Outer Worlds game, I was quickly hooked by its satirical, Fallout-esque brand of humor. The game featured engaging exchanges, character diaries, and promotional posters that portrayed a company-run society that was both bleak and entertaining. My biggest worry starting the sequel was that this entry – without blame of its own – might not be as comedic compared to the first.

Certainly, things weren't perfect. Yet society certainly seemed slightly less fractured at that time. The Outer Worlds presented a dystopia that didn't strike extremely relatable, and yet accomplished to be both touching and hilarious. I began the sequel pretty sure that this installment wouldn't be able to pull this off a second time, but I'm delighted to report that I was wrong. This follow-up is just as laughter-provoking as the game that preceded it, and furthermore presents fresh concepts as opposed to merely repeating similar elements similar to a tired company slogan.

Developing Personalities

Most of the NPCs players encountered in the first title had been defeated by the deeds of corporate entities like the in-game corporation, and were painfully aware of how much their situation was terrible. This sequel progresses matters in a distinct route, including personalities who are brainwashed (periodically symbolically, often literally). Many of these characters aren't conscious of how extremely screwed up their situations are, or that there may exist choices to a life lived under the domination of a massive corporation or bound by the creeds of a high-demand religion.

The sequel examines forms of company influence that are more subtle than only making the masses poor. Various personalities have been indoctrinated into the kind of excessively zealous "work ethic" rhetoric you might encounter on social media accounts that vow to show the key to success should you purchase for an overpriced workshop, or participate in a dubious blockchain project. Furthermore, the release's company advertising has evolved.

Modern Themes

There are still numerous demotivating signs throughout facilities warning about deducting staff compensation who even contemplate taking a day off, but additionally there are allusions to network marketing strategies, featuring a new hire handbook that proudly declares, "Unfamiliar individuals are simply customers YOU haven't met yet!" As someone who was raised in a network marketing family, I promptly exploded with laughter upon viewing this reference, because it's a saying I have frequently encountered stated precisely by people at the base of such schemes.

Fortunately, this follow-up is equally humorous and satirical as the first game.

This installment additionally investigates the dilemma numerous people experience when it comes to work, political matters, and including buying decisions: Having to select the smaller of multiple bad options. While attempting to choose whether to support a dangerous corporate entity or a dangerous religious group throughout the experience, I discovered I was aligning with the known negative: An established corporate entity that sucks (but only uses advertising to program its members), as opposed to the cult, which is similarly terrible, but employs a horrible approach termed "cognitive reset" to maintain its followers compliant.

Doubtful Authorities

Even the people you represent could fail to be dependable. Playing as an Earth Directorate agent, you're tasked with working to return control to the Arcadia colony subsequent to a forceful company buyout, and you will quickly find that each of the invaders and the defenders follow distinct (but similarly terrible) ideologies. Yet a speedy examination of the messages on your spacecraft's system demonstrate that the Earth Directorate isn't exactly the universe's most principled organization either, as shown by an answer to an emergency signal that notifies the contact it will take "3-5 business years" for a response to their message. (This duration is approximately the time it takes for numerous individuals to reach a human support representative via telephone currently.)

Familiar Situations

Many moments in this installment are extremely familiar, but it's a cleansing kind of recognition, and this release achieves equilibrium between its bleak societal vision with humor that's truly humorous while avoiding incongruous. One major theme is the near-instant onset of enshittification that seems to take place in the wake of any major corporate acquisition. Workers from each party of The Outer Worlds 2's major acquisition see their quality of life decline as a result, while the CEOs in charge of the hierarchy are, of course, raking in the cash quickly.

Well, at minimum I understand where I stand.

Comparable to the original title, The Outer Worlds 2 is intrinsically comedic, but it also isn't afraid to get serious. During a moment, while exploring around the release's primary explorable world, I discovered a corpse with a recording in the vicinity. The audio log revealed that this character (who was aligned with the brainwashing religious faction) had perished in an incident during efforts to track down and kill her significant other. This romantic partner had apparently defected from their faction, and the deceased character was angry about her partner's {traitorous