I know some of you are wondering why we don’t have a review of Square Enix’s and People Can Fly’s Outriders up on the site. Well, to be perfectly blunt, we didn’t get access to the game until a few days ago. Given that the game has several features, such as the single-player/co-op modes and lots of end-game content, we didn’t want to rush through the game. And seeing how we’re reviewing the PC version, I’ve spent several hours trying to dial in the right settings to show off the game, and it hasn’t been exactly easy.
That said, don’t expect a review from us until next week, assuming we get through the entire game and get some online sessions in. As for the game right now, I’ve been enjoying myself. Aside from a few technical issues and glitches, the game is solid. There’s the right amount of gunplay, the story is interesting, and plenty of side quests to keep things fresh.
There’s a ton of weapons and gear, and the crafting/modding system is an interesting change of pace and lets others keep items that they’ve grown attached to. It’s also handy for swapping mods, attributes, keeping items unique. What you do with your weapon would be completely different than what I’d do, and I like that. No cookie-cutter stuff here. Or least for now, anyway. The gameplay starts to change from what we saw in the demo, once you go up in the world tiers, and suddenly it’s like I’m playing a Gears of Wars meets Lost Planet game. I feel like a damned superhero, blasting everything with my powers, and it feels good. It’s like strolling up to an enemy, smacking them around a bit, and watching them explode into gibs. Again, very Gears of War-ish.
I have an issue with certain enemies being bullet sponges, but that’s just the nature of looter shooter games. The game is also very linear, which did drop some of my excitement originally. Everything that I saw originally made it seem like it would be open-world-ish, be we know now that it is. The game retains the demo’s tight feeling, and after 10 hours in, that doesn’t go away. I am not going to talk about the cut scenes…. not going to.
Then there’s the little issue of micro stutters that I’ve experienced across two different PCs; again, that’s what happens with PC releases. And as I mentioned prior, I’ve been doing a lot of testing to see what’s causing them. People Can Fly has stated that the game does have a memory leak, and I suspect this could be contributing to what I’m seeing. This should be getting patched soon.
So, yeah, we’ll have our review up, possibly next week. However, as it stands, I am enjoying the game. I enjoyed the demo and seeing how I racked up 50 hours alone on the PC version; I’m sure I’m going to double that in the full version. If you’re playing the game or plan on it, be sure to add me on Steam (Shadowhaxor), and let’s play some games together.
