🔗 Share this article

When I first playthrough of the original Outer Worlds, I was quickly hooked by its satirical, Fallout-esque type of wit. This title featured lively conversations, character diaries, and promotional posters that illustrated a corporate dystopia that was simultaneously grim and amusing. My primary concern starting the follow-up was that this version – through no fault of its own – might not be as humorous as its predecessor.

Certainly, conditions weren't ideal. However, life definitely felt a bit less broken back then. This universe presented a dystopia that didn't strike extremely relatable, and yet accomplished to be simultaneously heartwarming and uproarious. I started the sequel rather certain that this release wouldn't be able to achieve this once more, but I'm pleased to report that I was incorrect. This follow-up is just as chuckle-inducing as the title that came earlier, and furthermore presents original ideas as opposed to merely repeating identical material similar to a worn-out business tune.

Developing Personalities

The majority of the non-player characters users found in the original game had been beaten down by the deeds of company organizations including the in-game corporation, and were acutely conscious of the extent to which their lives sucked. This sequel progresses matters in a different direction, presenting individuals who are brainwashed (periodically symbolically, often literally). Numerous characters aren't conscious of how deeply disordered their circumstances are, or that there may exist alternatives to an existence spent beneath the control of a massive corporation or bound by the creeds of a demanding cult.

This follow-up investigates methods of company influence that are more subtle than simply keeping the people destitute. Many NPCs have been indoctrinated into the type of overly enthusiastic "work ethic" rhetoric you'll find on digital platforms that promise to reveal the key to success when you buy an expensive course, or participate in a sketchy crypto scheme. Furthermore, the release's company advertising has developed.

Current Topics

There remain plenty of unmotivational posters throughout facilities threatening to dock pay from workers who so much as consider having a break, but additionally there are mentions of network marketing tactics, featuring a staff guide that proudly declares, "Unfamiliar individuals are simply patrons you have yet to encounter!" Being a person who grew up in a direct sales environment, I promptly exploded with laughter when encountering this allusion, because it's a refrain I have frequently encountered repeated exactly by people at the base of those structures.

Thankfully, The Outer Worlds 2 is just as funny and satirical as the first game.

The Outer Worlds 2 furthermore explores the dilemma numerous people find ourselves in concerning employment, politics, and even consumer choices: Being forced to choose the lesser of several poor choices. While attempting to decide whether to assist a dangerous corporate entity or a problematic faith organization in the game, I realized I became siding with the known negative: A familiar company structure that is terrible (but only uses propaganda to program its members), rather than the faith organization, which also sucks, but employs an awful technique termed "cognitive reset" to keep its adherents obedient.

Unreliable Masters

Even the people you represent might not be dependable. In the role of an Earth Directorate agent, your assignment includes attempting to restore control to this settlement after a forceful company buyout, and you'll soon discover that the two the attackers and the invadees subscribe to distinct (but similarly terrible) ideologies. Yet a speedy examination of the messages on your ship's terminal demonstrate that this agency is hardly the universe's most principled employer too, as demonstrated by a response to a help request that notifies the contact it will take "several organizational cycles" for a reply to their transmission. (This duration is approximately the time it takes for many people to reach a real customer service agent via telephone nowadays.)

Familiar Situations

Many moments in this sequel are highly recognizable, but it's a therapeutic type of familiarity, and this release manages to balance its depressing dystopian setting with comedy that's authentically amusing yet not seeming out of place. A primary concept is the quick commencement of decline that appears to occur in the wake of significant business mergers. Employees on both sides of this installment's significant consolidation experience their living standards decrease as a result, while the leaders in control of the structure are, of course, raking in money quickly.

Okay, at the very least I know where I stand.

Comparable to the initial release, this follow-up is inherently funny, but additionally isn't afraid to become dramatic. At a certain time, while exploring around the game's first explorable world, I stumbled across a body with a recording close by. This recording disclosed that this character (who was aligned with the programming faith group) had been killed in an event during efforts to track down and eliminate her significant other. This romantic partner had apparently defected from their faction, and the deceased character was enraged by her lover's {traitorous