Outriders- 8th times the charm?

 I wonder if the word 'looter shooter' is getting as boring to read as it is to type

Egads! Scatter all ye mere mortals for a new behemoth has entered the ever cluttered pantheon of online looter-shooter live service extravaganza game thingies. A genre of game that absolutely has not been milked to ultimate death and has already pretty much presented everything it can in the way of success, ingenuity and prestige. Okay? They absolutely did not hit their utmost limit years ago and have been chasing that success ever since... so stop saying that... No, rather these sorts of games have become the golden hen of the game's industry, comparable in their folly to 'cinematic universes' to Hollywood or trying to seek a favourable trade arrangement with those notoriously avaricious Martians. (They'll haggle you out of house and home every time!) They all want a little taste of that sweet good pie though, don't they? The promise of a captive audience who'll drop everything they're doing to stare up at the sky for 2 hours for a painfully slow live event to drop. Who'll go nuts over spending on those low effort recolour skins that get popped out every two weeks or so. That'll support this game so that the devs can breath a little easier for the next few years. But how often does that work out? And how likely is that to work out today? Man- I don't know.

To be clear, though this is the first time I'm addressing Outriders in a blog, (with it being the main focus. I remember dropping their name in a list at some point) I've been looking at this game ever since it's first reveal. That's over a year ago, and yet I never bought it up once on this blog. Let me remind you, that this is the same blog where I construe entire thesis' on the most insignificant of topics, even going so far as to attack a topic for no over reason than to make as many covert Jojo references in there as I could. I'm not exactly choosy. And yet I didn't feel the desire once, the tug, or even the slightest of niggling, to turn my attention to Square Enix's newest entry to the looter shooter genre. Why? Was I just sick to death of Looter Shooters in general? Kinda, yeah. But there's a much more pertinent reason. Because the game just looked so gosh darn boring.

I mean, wow. How can something that gets published by freaking Square Enix, the kings of visual overcomplexity, look so drab, derivate and just dull. The story just follows some colonisation efforts on an alien planet which, surprise surprise, is hostile. Players take on the role of 'Outriders' who job it is to; charter a new alien world in hopes of making sure it's habitable for a colony ship? Sooo they're Pathfinders from Mass Effect then? Only with a new name that doesn't really make any sense. 'Outrider' sounds more like an outlaw/bandit kind of thing. (Maybe it's justified in the story. £20 on it not getting justified in the story) This quickly descends into a war against the inhabitants of the planet Enoch and if that sounds at all interesting to you, don't worry it's presented as generically as possible. Dialogue is cheesy side of lame and seems to directly contrast with the gritty 'realism' vibe that the visual department was going for, characterisation is non-existent (Although in fairness that's entirely through lack of trying rather than failure of execution) and the guns look mostly generic as heck. And yet despite all that; people seem to like this game.

Heck, from the threads I've read some people straight up love this game, and I'm still trying to reconcile that adoration with the dull game I briefly touched during the demo stage before concluding that drinking paint thinner would be a more constructive use of my time. And in a point towards the game, I think that my problem might have been that I was just personally not suited for this sort of title. Most seem to agree on one stipulation you must meet in order to enjoy this game. On back-door deal with Hadraniel you need to solve in order to make it past his gate into the realms of fun. You have to have friends. Whoops, guess that disqualifies me right off the bat. Fair enough, thanks for trying. What do you mean I have to socialise? I come to video games to escape people; what kind of topsy turvy backwards logic is this? (But seriously, no one says this game plays best alone.)

Actually the range of discourse I've heard surrounding this game is some of the most divisive I've ever read; or at least, coming from people who all still seem to be of sound mind and aren't lost in the cycle of 'must justify the money I've wasted'. There are folk who call this game a gallery shooter with unimpressive abilities and a pitiful selection of cool weapons to spruce up the mundanity. There are those who call it a refreshingly straightforward adventure with rare, yet tantalising endgame loot to keep players coming back for more with that sweet addiction. And then, here's the really confusing part, they praise the powers for being so robust and making the different classes play unique. Yeah, all those other points where just distinct viewpoints on the same subject but when talking about powers folk are straight contradicting each other. Who do you believe?

In fact, some people out there even love the corny cheesiness of the main character's dialogue and derivative set-up, citing a comfort from the familiarity of it. To this I can actually start to see people's view, because I understand exactly how it is to step into a new world and sigh as you realise there's a thousand new stupid names and races that the devs want you take utterly seriously in order to be invested in this world. (Even worse when they want you to download a third-party app in order to read all this stupid lore to begin with; Destiny 1) But then there are other's who are praising the great world building, so I really can't pick up the temperature of this game. All I can add to the conversation on my part is that I had a little bit of time with the pre-release Beta and could not have been less interested. (Okay, that's no entirely true, I also played the beta for Homefront Revolution which endures as the single most mind-numbing beta experience I've ever endured; but if this game is even reminding me of that dumpsters fire, that's not exactly great company.) I suppose this really is a 'see it to believe it' situation.

Wherever the matter takes you, there's one point of contention which absolutely is not up for debate and that's the roughness of the online capabilities; because of course. In today's day and age you haven't made an online game unless you've hooked it up to a tiny server room under your kitchen sink, and then subsequently freak out when that cannot hold up to the sheer wave of newcomers. Do you sometimes wonder if these devs ever bother to go through the basics to prepare? Don't they hire some stress testers or keep some extra server providers on speed dial just in case? I just think it really helps you make that first impression, and honestly that's still the impression that matters. There's folk out there who'll argue until their blue in the face that No Man's Sky is amazing now; (Last time I played it was alright, I'd be surprised if it's improved that much) but general folk still remember the terrible launch days. Months from now are people still going to remember the constant server drops that attacked the Outriders servers for these initial weeks? Maybe not, because it's not as serious an issue, but it's still an inherently bad look.

And then there's the loading screens. Yes, if you know what I'm about to talk about you're likely scrunching up your nose to say "Oh come on, is this really that big of a deal?" And yes; it is to me! So this is a game wherein every single none shooting and walking action that you take, opening a door or jumping a gap, will send you into a brief cutscene. That's two fade to blacks whilst your character is shown doing a simple two second action. The excuse for this being that it's a rubber-band system that keeps co-op teams in the same play location without surprise teleporting them. So that means we have a game that can't load entire play areas, which sort of sucks given the new generation we've just entered, but also one that wastes just that little bit of time everytime you play. I know what you're thinking: "it's two half-second loading screens, get over it". And if that were it, I would. But we're talking every time you want to move to a new map, again and again. It's that small death from a thousands cuts that'd drive someone as neurotic as me literally batty.

People Can Fly are no strangers to sweaty action, having helped make 'Gears of War: Judgement' , so I have no doubt that the moment to moment shooting is as exhilarating as they can make it; so if that's what you're looking for out of a looter game then have at you. I'm just dubious to the rest of this game and whether there is truly enough incentive to attack this title for months on end, feeding off of every content drop for sustenance, or if half the fanbase is still in the honeymoon phase of the relationship. From where I'm standing I will say this; all those looter games that fell off did generally have much more negative general reception than this, so who knows; Maybe Outriders might be the one to go the distance and join the leagues of Destiny and Division as games that take a ludicrous amount of effort to keep alive and are just about worth it. (Keep shooting for those stars, guys.)