Obsidian’s The Outer Worlds 2 finally let us get hands-on, and it immediately pinged my New Vegas-brain: more player agency, more build expression, and a welcome tune-up to the stuff that felt clunky in the first game. But while the RPG systems look promising, the much-touted Unreal Engine 5 badge isn’t translating to a generational visual leap-at least not in this slice. With a release date locked for October 29, 2025 on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC, here’s what stood out beyond the marketing gloss.
The opening we played was set in the cramped guts of a space station—so not exactly the “bigger worlds” Obsidian has promised—but it did showcase smarter mission design. Multiple entry routes and shortcuts let you play to your build: a vent here, a maintenance door there, a hacking panel if you specced for it. This is the series at its best: the level bends to the role you’ve chosen, not just your quest tracker.
That role starts with a trimmed-down but impactful character creator. You pick a background (ex-con, lawkeeper, professor—flavorful without over-explaining), two positive traits (brawny, lucky, charming), and one negative quirk like “stupidity” that doesn’t just change dialogue—it can straight-up lock skills. Then you anchor the build with two primary competencies (guns, melee, hacking, etc.). It’s cleaner than the first game, but crucially, your choices ripple through conversations and routes almost immediately. And yes, the trademark razor-dry corporate satire is intact; if you enjoy RPGs that wink while they worldbuild, you’ll feel at home. If you’re allergic to absurdist humor, this tone won’t convert you.
Stealth is the biggest systemic leap. Enemies now have tiers of perception, letting you experiment with distance, noise, and angles. Backstab takedowns finally give quiet builds some teeth. The one miss: lights can’t be disabled, so you’re playing “line-of-sight” more than “shadows-as-systems.” It works, but don’t expect Dishonored-level sandbox trickery. Frequent manual saves and forgiving checkpoints do encourage iteration, which helps sell the fantasy of being a sneaky problem-solver instead of a save-scummer.
Combat, meanwhile, has real punch this time. Movement is snappier—sprint, slide, aim, grenade, weapon swap, and a quick melee all slot together fluidly. Time Dilation remains a brilliant bridge for hybrid builds: slow the world, tag weak points, then finish the conversation with bullets or words. The inhaler returns as your on-the-go medkit, but it’s not a freebie; heal too hard and you’ll rack up toxin, unless you invested in Medicine to smooth the side effects. It’s a neat, thematic tradeoff: power now, pain later.
Obsidian is flying the Unreal Engine 5 flag, but this build doesn’t scream “next-gen showpiece.” It’s clean, colorful, and 4K/60fps is the stated target, yet you’ll notice mechanical facial animation, simple-looking VFX, and occasional frame dips. Mirrors without reflections feel oddly retro in 2025. Is that a dealbreaker? Not for me—Outer Worlds has always been about choices, not ray-traced corridors—but it’s fair to say the tech isn’t doing the heavy lifting here. If you’re expecting a visual benchmark, temper the hype.
For context, the first game delivered tight hubs with a distinctive art nouveau-meets-retrofuturism vibe and middling gunfeel. This sequel seems to flip that balance: gunplay and stealth are way up, presentation is “fine.” I’ll take that trade every time, but console players will want clear performance modes at launch. A locked 60fps matters more to this game than sparkling reflections ever will.
Obsidian’s superpower has always been reactivity—quests that notice who you are and what you did. This preview hints they’re doubling down. Dialogue is plentiful and better-than-average, with negative traits unlocking extra (and often hilarious) lines. The mission we saw responded to our build in ways the first game sometimes fumbled. If the larger zones truly open up and companions layer meaningful perks and banter on top, this could be the version of The Outer Worlds we wanted in 2019.
The big unknowns remain: how expansive those “bigger worlds” actually feel outside corridor crawls, how deep companion systems go, and whether choices land with real, late-game consequences instead of flavor text. Also, expect day-one Xbox Game Pass—this is an Obsidian joint under Microsoft—even as PS5 players get a full release. The cross-platform approach is great; now give us parity on performance and options.
This demo reassured me where it counts: build expression, mission flexibility, and shooting all feel notably better. It also reminded me to keep my expectations sane on the technical front. If Obsidian delivers broader, more reactive spaces and doesn’t ship with jank that undercuts the fantasy, The Outer Worlds 2 could quietly become 2025’s most replayable RPG. If not, it’ll still be a smarter, punchier sequel with sharper combat—hardly a loss, but not the leap some are hoping UE5 implies.
Outer Worlds 2 improves stealth, gunfeel, and character builds while keeping the series’ biting humor. The tech isn’t stunning, with stiff faces and frame dips, but if reactivity and level design scale up beyond the station corridors we played, October 29 could be a very good day for RPG fans.
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