Outriders

Outriders is a very silly game, it makes me laugh at how macho it tries to be, at how it postures as this dark and gritty science fiction epic whilst completely immune to notions such as irony or wit, or imagination. But I can't hate it, the bracing lack of self-awareness is almost adorable as it parades its 'war is hell' story as written by Timmy, age 10.

It's all quite stupid, but crucially, is also an awful lot of fun to play. Having a single shotgun blast liquefy 3 enemies in one go and have their limbs do a little fleshy fireworks display is something that just clicks with the Caligula part of the brain. Having an annoying enemy sniper finally get their comeuppance as I dive-bomb them into mush just makes my day in a way that no amount of clever abstract puzzle solving can. If there is any genius on display, it's in this delirious bloodbath and the ability to take such a tired genre as the third person cover shooter and make it exciting once more, bringing a touch of old school madness to the table and evolving it into something engagingly tense and frantic.

Speaking of old-school, People Can Fly (PCF) are evidently from a time when stories in video games were a truly vestigial element, nothing more than a gossamer thin pretence to justify whatever on-screen carnage you were making.

I suppose given the nature of the game and its dalliance with role-playing, a narrative was somewhat required but on reflection I do wonder if it might have been better to just leave things to the player’s imagination and keep matters cryptic enough so as to not say anything and make fools of themselves.

I wish I could be kinder but the writing is hilariously awful, that kind of staggeringly bad that has value in that it will often raise a good old chuckle. Cliches are deployed as if from a textbook, motivations are as inexplicable as they are nonsensical, and characters are generally painted with the world's widest, most unwieldy brush. The plot is straightforward, the twists relatively unimaginative, the entire endeavour just lazy context filler only with far more words than was necessary or desirable.

Also, why is everyone such an unbearable prick? I appreciate that PCF made Painkiller and Bulletstorm, so terrible characters are kind of their forte, but could we not have had maybe one or two likeable NPCs? There is this adolescent, arrested development vibe where characters act and talk like a 12 year old might imagine as being tough and cool, yet just comes across as moronic and infantile so when the story tries to flirt with some more heavyweight themes it all gets very whiffy and rather odious. I do appreciate the unintentional comedy of it all but I flinch when it feels like I'm watching the world's worst WWE roster teach the holocaust.

Fortunately, PCF are all about combat and as with their previous work they excel in making it sing beautifully above the more conventional din of its genre peers. Yes, it’s a third person cover shooter, but the cover is largely optional and is often there more for the benefit of the enemies rather than yourself, where chaos is the theme as far as gameplay is concerned.

The approach to healing is perhaps the key here. You typically don't recover health automatically, nor are there health packs to pick up, instead healing comes from doing damage and so the motivation to get on the attack becomes the dominant approach. It's a great if relatively simple idea, no longer can you simply hide to heal but instead you have to think fast about how to press the attack to gain any lost health without becoming too exposed in the process.

Outriders also puts far more emphasis on its suite of super powers than say something like Destiny. Guns are still vital to success but the tactical significance of your abilities cannot be understated. Beyond their ability to damage and heal, the level of battlefield manipulation they offer is impressive, as is the level to which you can modify them with gear to enhance their effects.

The RPG elements are well thought-out in this respect, and the option to swap both abilities and skill points at any stage is extremely welcome, allowing on the fly changes to account for any new weapons or armour that may alter your approach.

As for the gear you acquire it is agreeably generous, with frequent drops and a fair variety of cosmetic options as well. Weapons are pretty standard in terms of type, another aspect where imagination seems absent save for a small batch of legendary tier items, but their impact is punchy and satisfying, with little of the ineffectual pew-pew lasers and beams you might otherwise find in a Sci-fi shooter.

Your gear also ties into the game’s difficulty settings or world tiers, where the higher the tier, the higher level your loot drops will be along with a greater chance to find higher quality items.

As someone who tends to avoid harder difficulties I found it to be an almost revelatory system. The desire for better loot demands fighting at a higher level, fighting at a higher level however demands you play smarter which in turn encourages you to exploit the more tactical aspects of gameplay, revealing greater depth and granting greater satisfaction in victory and subsequent loot finds. It has to be admitted that access to higher level loot offsets the higher level enemies somewhat, but the up-shift in challenge remains, as does the compelling risk/reward dynamic the tier system offers.

The old school trappings extend themselves elsewhere much to the benefit of the overall experience. Despite a linear world map and basic mission design, pacing is ultimately improved with very little in the way or needless faff or downtime as you move briskly from mission to mission. The absence of micro-transactions (for now) is likewise refreshing as is the much more palatable approach to resource gathering and equipment upgrading. The endgame is pretty thin, but in all honesty that’s a good thing; better to end on a high than stick around until interest just gradually peters out.

It all goes to make Outriders something of a pleasant surprise in the current climate. A giddy and juvenile blast of fun where beyond all the risible characters and writing is the soul of a game that tries to be enjoyable rather than just an exploitative time sink. It has great action, visceral and gory combat where all the RPG elements go into supporting and complementing it. A somewhat retrograde experience at times, but often an entertaining one with more than a few new tricks to make it stand out.