After six years of fans waiting, The Outer Worlds 2 is finally here. It's arguably a better game than the original in several important ways. It looks better, the beginning starts with a bigger bang, there is now a third person mode and the list goes on. It's everything a sequel should be and more, while not rocking the boat too much to revolutionize the game or the core idea.
Virtually The Outer Worlds 2 is, it's still not a good shooter on the same level as other RPGs Destiny 2 or even Borderlands 4. Let's go through why the game is a better RPG than a shooterto convince those on the fence that they don't need to beef up their shooting skills to jump into Obsidian's latest.
Create your character
Establishing the life of a land directorate officer
Regardless of what Background players give themselves at the beginning of The Outer Worlds 2they will be an officer of the Earth Directorate, essentially serving as the space police. Like most major RPGs, players can customize their character to a wild degree, from their facial features to their body, including any cybernetic appendages.
Skills and Traits can be chosen at the start of The Outer Worlds 2and as players level up, they can also earn perks. While some shooters also offer customization options, fans of RPGs live for the smallest details, even if it takes two hours to create just one character.
The dialogue system
Let's talk about text, baby
The dialogue system i The Outer Worlds 2 that's exactly why it's not primarily a shooter. Players must eventually get into gunfights with other factions or tear it up with monsters. However, it can be fun just spending hours talking to NPCs and setting up quests, some of which don't even require shooters.
Thanks to the upgrades compared to the original, almost every character aspect i The Outer Worlds 2, from skills to backgrounds, questions in conversations. It makes sense that a Renegade, or a Professor, would bring their knowledge or biased opinions into a conversation, or that a character gifted with hacking skills could resolve certain dialogue disputes. It makes the game feel more dynamic and treats words more like the game's secondary bullets.
The search for material
Slower pace
Most shooter fans come into a game expecting a lot of action, and the dialogue example too The Outer Worlds 2 is one reason why things will slow down in this RPG. Additionally, players will spend a lot of time sifting through houses and abandoned buildings, looking for items and crafting notes, or looking at downed bodies in hopes of some sweet loot.
This then leads to a lot of time being spent in menus, which isn't exactly the most fun, but it's a necessary part of the RPG experience. The Outer Worlds 2 is a great game that allows players to progress at their own pace. All of these minor details could be ignored to play it more like a shooter, but in that case players would be at a disadvantage, since stats matter here, unlike in a Call of Duty game.
Your squad matters
Be my companion
Building a party is a huge part of the RPG experience, and The Outer Worlds 2 have some good companions to recruit. Players will start with Niles and Val, and later unlock Inez, among many others. They will fight automatically in battle, but most characters have special attacks that players can activate with the press of a button.
Managing teams can be a big part of shooters, including some Call of Duty, Battlefieldand Tom Clancy game. But armed conflicts enter The Outer Worlds 2 It's not intense firefights like in those franchise examples, and the player's teammates actually have personalities to get to know, along with specialties. They are not generic soldiers, in other words.
The gadgets
Space is strange
In addition to companion-based powers, players also have gadgets and strange weapons that aren't part of standard shooter templates. Like its predecessor, this sequel has more in common with Ratchet & Clank series than it does with the larger shooting brands. For example, an early gadget will allow players to manipulate time, slow things down to get the perfect shot, or perfect by The Outer Worlds 2's standards at least.
There's a weapon that can dissolve bodies, and of course Science Weapons with weird features like the ability to shrink enemies. Using gadgets and weird weapons like these examples doesn't require much accuracy, which is unusual for shooters where accuracy is all.
Disadvantages of shooters
From feel to cover
That's the positive thing about it The Outer Worlds 2which makes it a good RPG. Now let's explain why the shooting aspects aren't great, even by other RPG shooting standards. Regardless of the gun, it doesn't feel as easy to go into iron sights as it does in most shooters.
There is a slowdown that doesn't create that nice feeling of adrenaline that many players get in shooters. The insertion The Outer Worlds 2 feels better than its predecessor, that's for sure, and it's good that ammo can be crafted, and that weapons don't fall apart quickly. However, that's not enough to make the gunplay really good, as it's just a means to an end.
Movement is not fluid
Destiny 2 This is not
More than the aiming and the shooting game, the movement is a bit stiff also in both first and third person modes i The Outer Worlds 2. Shooters aren't exactly known for their fluidity, but there are plenty of instances where the shooting feels just as good as the movement.
Destiny 2 is a good example – which has RPG elements – as well as Bungie's other darling, Halowhich helped pave the way for shooters that felt good on consoles. The slide is the coolest thing with the movement in The Outer Worlds 2; otherwise, it's not notable in the grand pantheon of video games, be they RPGs or shooters.
- Released
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29 October 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Intense violence, blood and gore, strong language
- Publisher
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Xbox Game Studios
