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| Peter Triezenberg |
Putting that Fallout pedigree at the forefront.
12.07.18 - 9:03 PM
During last night's Game Awards show, Obsidian Entertainment announced a new game entitled The Outer Worlds. This new game comes to us courtesy of Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky, through a partnership with TakeTwo Interactive, and promises to whisk players away to a Victorian-tinged vision of the future.
In The Outer Worlds, players will explore an entire solar system, known as Halcyon. Players assume the role of a colonist who has recently awoken from a long interstellar hibernation, and is suddenly thrust into this vast universe and set to uncover a corporate conspiracy. The world is inspired by Art Nuveau and Victorian-era science fiction, looking to blend the epic worldbuilding and darkly-tinged humor that Obsidian is known for (particularly in the early Fallout games).
According to Tim Cain, "I think humor is really, really hard to do in a game, but games that go pure dark are hard to take in every night... we like this kind of dark humor where we can put something in the game that also looks silly, but when you dig into it, you find out it’s really horrific." Players will also have a great deal of freedom in how their character interacts with the world and expresses themselves, with dialogue options and multiple branching paths through the story. In a unique twist, The Outer Worlds has the player character selecting a "fear" of theirs that affects gameplay: for instance, PCs can develop a fear of certain enemy types should they take a lot of damage from them. By choosing certain weaknesses, players will be able to gain special beneficial perks, although this system can be opted out of.
"So the game might go, ‘Hey, I noticed you catch fire a lot. Do you want to be susceptible to flame damage?’ People are like, ‘Why would ever want to be susceptible to flame damage?’ But if you’re one perk away from something really cool, it can be really tempting.”
If you'd like to see more of The Outer Worlds, the good folks over at Game Informer have put together a neat video preview you can watch below. Stay tuned to RPGFan for more info on The Outer Worlds, and be sure to check out our brand-new screenshot gallery. The game is currently set for release in 2019 on PS4, XB1, and PC.
