Tank and Spank, Emphasize on the Spank
With the Outriders demo being playable as of last week, I’ve spent more than my share of time playing the game. Between trying to squeeze extra performance from the game on the PC, I’ve also been falling in love. Not just with the gameplay loop of Outriders, but also a particular class; the Devastator. Not just because it’s named after one of my favorite Transformers, but because I can relate to that class.
One of my favorite things about the Devastator is that the class is a damned meat shield. Yes, I’m using terms that may or may not refer to an MMO. With the Devastator, sure, I don’t have any classy and super cool looking abilities that the Pyromancer or the Trickster might have. No, this class isn’t about that. It is about doing damage and laughing in the face of anyone foolish enough to point a weapon at me—all while soaking up the damage like a champ.
It’s also great since the gameplay mechanics centered around healing means you have to continue to do damage to heal. There are passive skills that do this, and there are weapons in the game that use an attribute called Life Leech. By doing damage with a weapon with this, you can stay in the fight without worrying about having to hide behind cover as much as the other classes will need to.
But why is it that I enjoy this class so much? Perhaps it comes from my long history of playing characters needed to protect other classes, like glass cannon DPS classes or those wimpy healers that would die if an enemy so happened to look at them. That’s where you’d see me with this meaty boy, coming out of now where and laying the smackdown on unsuspecting enemies. And in Outriders, I can do that, while soloing and it feels great. While the demo only gives us a few abilities to play with, I like what I’ve played with so far.
Starting with Earthquake, I’m able to interrupt just about any attack that’s being channeled, assuming I’m close enough. When I’m not able to punch someone in the face up close, I pop Gravity Rush. It’s an interrupt as well but from long distance. Those who’ve played a protection warrior in World of Warcraft will find this move very familiar. Gravity Rush lets me close distances by leaping into the air and landing on top of a group of enemies. Handy for interrupts or putting the finishing touch on enemies that are just about dead.
But my favorite thus far is Reflect Bullets! If you’ve ever watched The Matrix Reloaded, you’re familiar with the scene of Neo putting up his hand and stop hundreds of bullets from hitting him. Reflect Bullets is like that, but better – instead of just stopping the bullets, you’re able to send them back where they came from. I’ve used this ability to clear entire rooms. There are also pieces of gear that can modify this (and other) ability to do more damage or extend the duration.
There’s also an ability called Golem, where you solidify yourself for 8-seconds, migrating 65% of all incoming damage. It’s a starting ability but one that Reflect Bullet quickly replaces. I found myself passing of this ability, with one exception; Gauss. The first major boss you fight in the game, that dishes out electrical-based attacks. As that isn’t a projectile, Reflect Bullets isn’t useful in that scenario. But for everything so far, I’ll take Reflect Bullets over Golem any day. There are four other abilities, Impale, Tremor, Boulderdash, and Endless Mass. Each skill reinforces the idea that this class is all about protection while doing damage. While this is this s just a demo, they’re greyed out, and I can’t access them. But I can’t wait until I can.
Unlike other games, the cooldown on these abilities is short. So while you can’t spam them over and over, it’s damned close. It’s a power fantasy trip, and if it’s this good now, it’s going to be fun doing this stuff at a higher level. It makes me wish the game was already available to play, as done everything there is to do in the demo.
So there you go! This is why I’m a fan of the Devastator class, and I don’t have any plans of going back. To be fair and to see what the other classes are like, I’ll give them a try. I don’t see them swaying me away, but I can’t be sure unless I give them all a try.
Outriders releases on April 1st, 2021, for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC (Steam), and Stadia. Are you planning on picking up Outsiders, and if so, on what platform?
