This is not the usual type of game review I do, since I largely focus on indie games, so this review will be somewhat different and more comprehensive (aka long) than typical. There is a lot of game and a lot to discuss and it deserves a lot of attention.

The Outer Worlds 2 was developed by Obsidian Entertainment, who brought you not only the first in this series, but also Fallout: New Vegas, the Pillars of Eternity series (one of my favorites), Knights of the Old Republic 2 (another favorite), Pentiment, South Park: Stick of Truth, Neverwinter Nights 2 (another favorite), Avowed, and a slew of others.

The company was founded by former Interplay/Black Isle employees. The same company that gave us the original Fallout, Fallout 2, Planescape Torment, Baldur’s Gate…the list is too long to include everything, but these were the first CRPGs that I played and where I fell in love with the genre. It was a different era of gaming and I am thankful I bore witness to it. It was a magical time because everything was so new.

Story was an integral part of Black Isle RPGs, as was humor, both of which are very important to me. I am a gamer that loves a good story, but one that does not only infuse humor, but creates multifaceted characters and deep enthralling lore. I want to laugh, but I also want to feel. I want to be attached to the characters I interact with. Black Isle and Bioware were always capable of this (In my world Andromeda does not exist). Obsidian has also created characters that I fell in love with and stories that fascinated me.

Does Obsidian succeed at creating a magical world with The Outer Worlds 2? Not to the extent of those titles of that foregone era when just having a home computer was magic in and of itself, and we waited to see that a game had “gone gold,” but there is still something weighty here. I wanted to give this game the time and accolades it deserves, which has taken me over a month to do. The game is quite meaty and needed to be played in full (completely for review purposes and not anything to do with how fun it was…) before I could give a proper review. 

Game Title: The Outer Worlds 2

Developer:  Obsidian Entertainment

Publisher: Xbox Game Studios

Release date: October 29, 2025

OS: Windows – High Specs*

Platform: Steam*

Price: $69.99 – Basic Edition; $99.99 – Premium Edition

Please note that this review will have very minor  spoilers.

What Is It 

The Outer Worlds 2 is a sci-fi space RPG and the sequel to Obisidian’s The Outer Worlds, which was a commercial success, but due to its first-person only POV, it was not one that I could readily play and enjoy. I had hoped it would be third-person or both, like New Vegas was, but that was not to be. It was only recently that I was able to play the first installment, although in short sessions, on a Rog Ally. In bed. While laying down. It is easier to play first-person laying down so I don’t have far to fall when I pass out from dizziness. It was a fun game, but the point of view very much hampered my enjoyment.

The Outer Worlds 2 fixes this issue, I am sure amid complaints from players like me who either suffer from motion sickness or just prefer a third-person point of view. Some feel first-person is more immersive, but I do not and feel a huge disconnect playing anything without being able to see myself (I might be more than a little vain).

I liken Outer Worlds 2 to Space Fallout, which is a fitting comparison considering Obsidian Entertainment and Black Isle before them, created the three best Fallout games, which include Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout: New Vegas. Some might be wondering why I would not nominate Starfield for Space Fallout. The reason being is because it lacks the humor and charm of the aforementioned titles. Although, I guess it could be Space Fallout 4 if comparisons are needed.

The game features a myriad of worlds to explore, each with its own ecosystem and lushly rendered scenery. I spent quite a bit of time just looking around at how beautifully alien it all was. I also spent a lot of time fending off the local fauna, which seemingly had it out for me. The human inhabitants were not all that friendly either. You would think I was wearing a person as armor or something…

The Mostly Good

Story

The story is not an all-encompassing quest to save the galaxy, though there is a bit of that (Commander Shepard already did that spectacularly). It is not deep in the sense that Mass Effect was, and I never spent all that much time thinking about the going ons within this world when I was not playing (I still do about Mass Effect). The story is decent and pokes fun at commercialism and cults; what’s not to like? Unless you’re in a cult or own a huge conglomerate, I guess. The game and the storyline are silly and fun and that is perfectly fine. There is some thoughtful prose and decisions about morality to be made, but it’s your show, you can decide how good or bad or anywhere in between you want to be.

Audio

The audio is fantastic; the soundtrack being the high point. While there are not any old standards, there is a slew of unique music created specifically for the game and it is very fitting for Space Fallout. There are dozens of songs that can be listened to on radios within the game. The work alone to create the soundtrack must have been extensive and time consuming. Hats off to the audio department for providing such an amazing musical backdrop to the game.

The soundtrack, which boasts 154 songs and was composed specificially for the game by some amazingly talented musicians, comes with the Premium Edition, Premium Upgrade Edition, or can be bought on its own for $19.99. It can be downloaded and listened to at your convenience, which I highly recommend doing, as you don't truly get to absorb it all while in the game. It certainly gave me a better appreciation for what went into its creation by listening to it out of the game. I think it is well worth the cost as it truly is a masterpiece. The included tracks include serious instrumental pieces, silly jingles, and everything in between. It is a fitting companion to The Outer Worlds 2's whimsy. I highly recommend Sprat Crisps and Liftoff Laxatives. 

Voice acting is decent, though some of the random NPCs that had dialogue were rather lacking in emotion. While I don’t expect all NPCs to be the vocal equivalent of Laurence Olivier, it would be nice if their vocal intensity matched the situation; sometimes that was not the case. In a completely monotone voice, “Oh my beloved wife of 87 years died, I am so bereft…ooh a squirrel.” This conversation may or may not have taken place, but you get the gist.

A lot of well-known voice talent is featured in The Outer Worlds 2, but there were two particular actors that I feel were underutilized, in fact, barely utilized at all. The voices will be very recognizable and I imagine others will be as disappointed as I am that they did not have bigger roles in the game.

Point of View 

Or should I say views as there are three available, first-person, third-person, and third-person far. The latter, for me, is the best option. While I would have managed on normal third-person, I would still experience some motion sickness. With the camera further away, I can play for hours without feeling the effects.

Customization 

The Outer Worlds 2 is filled with customizable equipment (weapons, armor, helmets). To customize, mods need to be acquired, which can be found, bought, or made. It is then as easy as dropping them into the open slots at a workbench. Usually items have one or two slots, but not all mods can be placed in all equipment and cannot be removed once placed, so it is best to decide what works best with your play style before insertion.

Equipment

The amount of equipment that can be acquired is astounding, if not somewhat overwhelming. I could never figure out what I should be using/wearing and was always changing my gear up until I found Gary. Gary is now my go to armor, for reasons. However, there is no weight limit so hoarding gear is an option and one I took advantage of.

Flaws 

Flaws are offers that you can’t refuse (you can, and really should read the downside of each carefully). They pop up seemingly randomly, but are based on the number of times you complete an action, such as stealing. I readily accepted the Kleptomania Flaw, which significantly increases vendor prices for stolen items. However, it also makes you steal randomly, regardless of where you are. I often found myself in the middle of a populous area automatically taking whatever was lying about. This does not make you friends. Hopefully, you will just have a bounty to pay, but sometimes it angers others enough to attack you. Then you attack them and then more people attack you and it just goes on and on forever until you reload your last save. While initially this flaw was hilarious, it stopped being fun and had me standing as far away as possible to speak to NPCs, just so I wouldn’t steal whatever was right in front of their faces.

As the game progressed, I became less apt to pick just any Flaw, sorry Compulsive Liar Flaw, because I realized that while some things are initially funny, they stop being so when you cannot stop your character from performing these actions. An important thing to note, is that you cannot remove Flaws once you accept them. Be very prudent. Or not and see what happens. Live life on the edge. It is only a game after all. Gary likes us to live life on the edge and encourages the stealing. He’s very chatty for armor. 

Not All Is Well

Story

I know, I know, I already said story was good and it is, but it does have flaws (see what I did there). You see, for a good portion of the game, I was pretty confused as to what my purpose was. I guess perhaps that was the point. I did not have much of a purpose other than being me and stealing stuff, as I seem to be really into that (Gary is always full of encouragement). It took hours before I was able to put everything together in a cohesive manner that I finally kind of understood. Sort of. This was after reading everything that I could find, which reminds me, read everything you find, as it is utterly important for the narrative to be understood, even if it takes you a while to get there. That, I guess, is the point of it all; to figure out what is going on in this crazy universe.

Companions

Ahh, yes the companions. There are companions. They are fine. They shoot things and a couple of them heal me. I guess that’s enough. They talk too. About themselves. We could talk about me. Be cooler if they talked about me (please see the comment when I said I was vain) or anything other than themselves because they are mostly boring. The least boring companion is a psychotic cult member named Aza. She likes to kill things. A lot. She and Gary would make a smashing couple, if I do say so myself. Wait a minute…maybe the Gary armor you have is the real friend you made along the way. Scratch this, one companion is interesting and he’s not even a companion at all. In fact, not only is Gary the most interesting, he’s the most chatty. I realize this does not come as a shock to anyone who knows a Gary. He encourages me to steal, calls out “For Gary” as his battle cry, and often gets me spotted when I am trying to sneak around because he won’t shut up. Yep, that’s what one would expect from armor made from organic material that is named Gary.

Maps

Good news is, there are maps. There are icons on said maps. There is a legend for Icons. There is a feature where different levels can be viewed. You can change the location from local to region in most areas. These are all great until you take a closer look and realize most of the icons are the same or similar colors, which are generally ecru or yellow. The terrain is brown and tan. You can imagine this would create issues tracking quests, and you would be correct. I am not sure how well thought out this was, but more time should have been taken to think about this. At the very least, include a “show on map” feature when making a quest active. This would provide some guidance for players, instead of them scanning the map repeatedly, unable to find where the quest location is and wandering around for minutes, if not hours (I may or may not have done this many times). 

Buggy

While there were no bugs that kept me from playing the game, there were bugs that made it impossible to complete some quests, including late stage ones that would have made the final area of the game easier to traverse. These involved  speaking to individuals to further a quest, but the dialogue was never updated. This was by far the most frustrating thing about the game. I do not want to go into too much detail, as doing so would include major spoilers, but save often. Even that may not be enough to fix the issues, it wasn’t for me. If this fails, killing is your next best option. Gary is always down for a good killing.

 Conclusion

I had a blast playing The Outer Worlds 2. It was neither life altering nor did it provide any innovative gameplay. Ok, maybe Gary counts as a little innovative. What it did provide was hours of silly fun and some interesting, yet not all that complex puzzles to work out. Often, problems had several solutions to match different skills and playstyles. Maybe it will not win any awards for most interesting companion or best storyline, but it makes up for it in humor and charm. Sometimes, I just want to play and not worry about saving the world, again (even if that might be required).

The grand finale was less grand than I hoped…until the last scene. It was an unexpected ending to the wild ride that was The Outer Worlds 2. I honestly was expecting a different conclusion, but I shall not ruin the experience by divulging it. However, I will say that unlike many games of this ilk, the exploration ends, for now, and you cannot wrap up loose ends after finishing the main story. Before venturing forth to the last area, a message pops up to ensure players have finished what they wished to before the end game. It also suggests saving, which is a great idea for those who want to go back and explore anything they may have missed. Two story expansions are slated for future release, but no dates have been given at the time of this review. They are included in the premium edition or when purchasing the premium upgrade edition. 

Yay Or Nay

Yay. Definitely a Yay!! Maybe not a Hell Yay, but a Hearty Yay! The game kept me entertained for over seventy-two hours, plus I never felt confused if I went a couple of days without playing (to be fair, I am already in a perpetual state of confusion, so it’s all good). If you want to play Space Fallout, this is the game to grab, but maybe wait until bugs have been patched and the price goes down a bit. However, with the amount of time I spent completing the main game and most of the side quests (I did watch the entirety of the credits), I think it is well worth its price point.

One thing to note is that water may or may not be your friend. Gary says it is. Who can you trust if you can’t trust Gary?? Gary also coerces me into stealing so proceed at your own risk.

FOR GARY!!!

B + 

*Platform/OS listed is what I played The Outer Worlds 2 on, but the game is available elsewhere, including PS5 and Xbox.

*Minimum Specs: 

Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system

OS: Windows 10/11 with updates

PROCESSOR: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 / Intel i5-8400

MEMORY: 16 GB RAM

GRAPHICS: AMD RX 5700 / Nvidia GTX 1070 / Intel Arc A580

DIRECTX: Version 12

STORAGE: 110 GB available space

ADDITIONAL NOTES: SSD required. Performance scales with higher-end systems.

*Recommended Specs: 

Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system

OS: Windows 10/11 with updates

PROCESSOR: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X / Intel Core i7-10700K

MEMORY: 16 GB RAM

GRAPHICS: AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT / Nvidia RTX 3080

DIRECTX: Version 12

STORAGE: 110 GB available space

ADDITIONAL NOTES: SSD required. Performance scales with higher-end systems.