Why The Outer Worlds Is Out Of This World
There is something more than a little special about The Outer Worlds, a new game franchise from Obsidian Entertainment. The masters of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II and Fallout New Vegas seem to be experts in putting out games and projects people can champion. For me, on a deeply personal note, Fallout New Vegas was an awesome game for a multitude of reasons. Perhaps the thing that hit closest to home for me was the Mohave itself. I was born in the SouthWestern United States and for almost thirty years I have spent my entire life in this perceived desert wasteland.
When people think of Arizona, they think of a monument to men’s hubris, mocking the very idea of putting a city in the middle of a desert. I spent my summers roaming the 100 plus degree weather on my bike, racing around with my friends as we found ways to keep cool in the sprinklers and air-conditioned homes. Maybe even a visit or two a week to the local public pool.
That idea and even those fond memories betray the beauty of the Mohave found in things like the mountains of the east and north, with their pine-covered tops that entertain folks in the winter as it snows. In Utah, I spent a few summers observing nature’s beauty as you pass through Arizona’s Grand Canyon and into the range of Zion National Park. With my father being from Las Vegas, I spent time as we drove through the Nevada desert with its variety of ranches and farms.
Seeing my provincial home displayed in a game was special, as even Western games in their genre tend to take place very little in the SouthWest. Obsidian was able to capture the variety of feelings those of us share for the Mohave, as we explored its post-apocalyptic shell. But that’s not how The Outer Worlds feels – at least not to me. It’s alien with strange planets in a fantastic sci-fi galaxy, but it still strikes an odd chord with me.
By definition, I fall in to the age range of the millenial generation. I’m seriously concerned about the future of our planet, but also remember what it was like not to have internet. I was raised in the aftershock of the glut of consumerism that the 1980s were so bloated with, that it billowed out into the next two decades. But I also saw the cost, as we now live in a world where the yoke of corporate influence is felt and seen everywhere.
In The Outer Worlds, you can find a small questline about a worker in the canary on Eden-2’s starter planet who had a heart attack while at work. Despite being more than six feet tall, it took longer than twenty minutes for anyone to notice and even begin to help them. Only a few days earlier this same worker had put the wrong cans in the wrong container. It would be nice if we could take comfort in this being fiction, but it isn’t. Because it didn’t happen in Outer Worlds, it happened at an Amazon fulfillment warehouse. And not one of the many across the planet we currently inhabit, but one located in the great state of Ohio. When workers came to see what had befallen coworker, they were instructed to get back to work around the scene of the emergency services desperately trying to revive the downed worker.
The corporate nature of the venomous “Board” that acts as the ruling authority in The Outer Worlds feels a little cartoonish, but considering the fact that Amazon trains management of their shipping facilities to try and keep the floor associates from taking breaks or lunches, even permitting the use of urinating in empty water bottles, homicidal actions aren’t exactly the largest leaps in logic. That’s the odd thing, the satire strikes clean. But the lack of them having any real presence gives them the feeling of being boogeymen rather than adversaries. It often feels the real enemy you face is one we currently face today: apathy.
The apathetic nature of the characters of The Outer Worlds is gut-punching sometimes. And it’s not just the cannery workers. Apathy has seeped into every level of society in The Outer Worlds, from the elite in the golden city of Byzantium to the corners of Edgewater. It’s within that apathy that The Outer Worlds’ greatest strength gets to shine through. Blind optimistic inspired bravery in the face of the greatest of odds, bouts of earnest sincerity in small stories, and quiet tragedy carried with grit and determination.
Dr. Phineas Vernon Welles is perhaps the biggest display of a lot of these traits. An incredible scientist whose realization about the fate of the colony leads him to drastic measures to rescue you at the beginning of the game. His constant faith in the Hope’s frozen colonists as “the best and brightest humanity has to offer” is questionable, from a logical standpoint. After all, the offers in character creation for your character’s former profession dont seem to indicate that. To his very last action, he constantly maintains such a faith that this is the colony’s best possible chance for a future.
Parvarti Holcomb is an incredible character based solely on the design concept. An asexual queer character is not only your first companion but, based on your decisions, becomes your first friend in the Colony of Halcyon. Her kindness and compassion aren’t far from stock characters in many games, but at a crucial point to decide the future of the Edgewater she makes a drastic plea. As you learn more, you recognize the loneliness embedded in her character’s DNA. Her burgeoning relationship may be player dependent, but they make for some of the best moments in not only her character’s quest but also in the game as a whole. Ashley Burch’s vocal performance is able to express this character in a way that it feels impossible not to adore her.
Felix Millstone is a burgeoning revolutionary, ready to light the fires of resistance at any given notice. He’s also a huge tossball fan whose special combat skill has him, outright dropkick enemies. A rebel without a cause, he looks to your character for guidance and his outcome may be one of the more reliant on player mentorship to see a positive outcome in the game’s ending. His anger is understandable, as it feels authentic to the feelings of a lot of youth today. An “Angry Young Man” as Billy Joel might call him, he knows that what’s happening in society is wrong, but has neither the power or wisdom to see actual significant change. However, he never gives in to apathy – always fighting on the edge of it, trying to change an inevitable future for himself.
I did not expect to like Nyoka as much as I did, and definitely not the extent that I ended up adoring her. I thought her character would be your fun drunk party guide through a dangerous world. Instead, what shines through her character is that of someone who has suffered tragedy and struggled her entire life. Even though she indulges in her libations, she never forgets her past. Her love for her former comrades runs deep, and her pain at their loss is visceral. Mara Junot’s performance is incredible as her range is stretched out and explored.
In our modern times, it is difficult to make it through the day without some terrible news about our planet’s potential future, the worst aspects of humanity being spread around the airwaves, and a look at a future that seems to only get harder and more difficult as we continue to walk forward. But if there’s one thing I’m taking away from The Outer Worlds, it’s the lessons I learned from my companions. Obsidian Entertainment has crafted what we can only hope is the first installment to a new legendary RPG series.
What other tales and adventures lie in store in, The Outer Worlds?
