Outriders a game to remember?

The Good

Outriders is one of the most hyped and awaited games of the 2021 spring release schedule. This game, produced by Square Enix, has captured a huge audience of returning fans as well as fans of the Over the Shoulder shooter genre. This game boasts a huge in-depth story with lots of loot, and classes each with their own specialty.

This game is mashing a number of ideas into one huge title. Forming a 4 person fireteam, you take on waves of enemies as you fight to protect the last of the human race from extinction by the Altered. This game ultimately feels very familiar as well as very new, drawing inspiration from games like Mass Effect and Gears of War, and adding elements of a MMO all into one fairly easy-to-digest package.

So far in my hours of playing this game, it has shown me just a fraction of the story and the depth of the characters. This game brings stunning shooter gameplay first and foremost, the feeling you get as you face down numerous foes with only your skills and guns on your side to best them is wonderful and challenging.

The Bad

So far, this game has been a wonder but there are always some things that could have been executed better or smoother. This game is no different with a couple of bumps in the road at release. There are a couple of visual glitches caused by the physics engine. Capes and clothing can spaz out randomly when caught just right by geometry. The servers were fairly unstable on launch day, causing many connection dropping issues and issues with re-authenticating to the servers.

Also, the lack of a “single player” or “offline” mode for this game meant that while these server connection issues persisted, the game was completely unplayable. Many users had taken to Twitter to voice their frustration with developers releasing imperfect games and causing strife within the player base.

This game seems to have been very well fleshed out. But a little bit more time could have been spent of testing the very limits of the game. Some of these bugs seem very obvious to the player and I am surprised that they were not caught or addressed before release.

Games these days seem to focus only on the game breaking bugs in order to get the game out as quickly as possible. Less and less games are being delivered fully fleshed out and playable on day one.

The Speculation

I am having a blast playing this game, even with all the issues it has had, the gameplay is incredibly enjoyable and engaging. Having been a huge fan of the Gears of War and Mass Effect titles I am feeling fairly nostalgic with this gameplay.

The gameplay feels rewarding and engaging, the graphics are fantastic so far, and I am thoroughly enjoying the multiplayer aspect, mixed with the Highest World level, brings another angle this game brings to the table. Working together with friends to beat seemingly unbeatable odds is what this game is about.

All the loot, currency, crafting and customization can get a little overwhelming at times but a lot of it feels familiar and is very easy to understand if you take the time to go through it once. I am loving the look and feel of the weapons, so far they feel gritty and heavy.

This will definitely find a place among my favorite games, though perhaps not one of my all-time favorites. Until a lot of the bugs and glitches are patched out there are just too many unpolished bits to this game that are unpleasant or unflattering.

My personal favorite part of this game comes from the gritty cover to cover system of a classic Third Person Shooter like Gears of War. Running and gunning while keeping a tactical position is crucial to success, which keeps the fights engaging and brings the teamwork requirement to a new threshold.

The Closing

I would definitely recommend this game to my friends, and I might have already done so. This game is captivating and engaging, it had familiar elements mixed with brand new ones. It has a wonderful loot table and is rewarding every step of the way. I will keep coming back to this title for at least the next year, if not much further into the future.

I would love to see teases of an expansion or DLC for this game. I want to see harder challenges and perhaps full-blown raids to take down some spectacular foes. I don’t think that would be too farfetched though only the game developers can really tell what the future of this game looks like. But we can always hope.

This game will continue to impress and captivate their audience as long as they can deliver on their promises. I know I will be paying attention to the future of this game. Will you?

Remember to keep your weapons close and your friends closer, they will be key to your survival Outriders!