Diablo and Destiny mix in nextgen - Western journalist impressions from Outriders (Topic)

In the not too distant future, the dying Earth has forced its inhabitants to seek a new planet for life. After decades of space travel, a new planet has been found, and a brave group of colonists is given the monumental task of entering a new world. On the surface, this distant planet is ideal, lush and peaceful - a place where people can feel right at home. But not everything is as it seems, and this new world is replete with hostile creatures and mysterious forces beyond the control of man. This is a short summary of a new game from People Can Fly [by Painkiller, Bulletstorm, Gears of War: Judgment] called Outriders. Recently, journalists were given a touch of this ambitious new project, and they were left in a good impression. They also talked to the developers.

"A very ambitious RPG shooter"

When talking to reporters about Outriders, People Can Fly CEO Sebastian Wojciechowski emphasized that their game is “a very ambitious RPG shooter” that has been in development for four years.

The setting of the game is described as a science fiction meeting with wildlife, where we are given a lot of freedom. Polygon starts with a pretty obvious thing:

“Outriders is very similar to Destiny with many Anthem and Gears of War elements. It has Destiny science, action-packed Anthem, control mechanics, and Gears-like level design. The game also has its own ideas, but during my 2 hour playthrough, I was unable to capture all of them.

While Outriders feels like a shooter, it's definitely an RPG in the first place. It has a pumping system and a skill tree. There are side quests and a choice of answer options in the dialogues. After the single-player prologue, where our hero wakes up after 30 years in cryogenic sleep, you choose one of four classes that will determine your character's abilities until the end of the game.

In this game session, only three classes were available: Pyromancer with fire, Trickster, a close-range class with time manipulation abilities, and Destroyer, which is essentially a tank and can control the ground. I chose Pyromancer because his medium range attacks were closest to my own playstyle [but also because playing with fire is great] [...]

[...] It is difficult to say whether it is better to play Outriders alone or with other people, as it depends a lot on your personal preference.

The co-op was built into Outriders from the very beginning and according to developers, it is the main focus. Difficulty depends on the number of players, but co-op is not the only factor that affects it [...] ".

A mix of Diablo and Destiny

A journalist from PC Gamesn describes the gameplay similar to Gears of War, but with all the frequent comparisons with the same Destiny, as does Polygon, the game is more like Diablo, with elements of a shooter from Respawn:

“The dark visuals can immediately remind of Gears of War. The gameplay from moment to moment includes dashes to cover and sharp lunges to attack. Outriders has the post-apocalyptic atmosphere of "Mad Max" that reigns on the planet. Enemies do not die quickly, and they need to be shot well, no matter what weapon you have

Diablo is another clear influence, which became clear when one of the developers mentioned his love for loot and the dark world of Diablo, but it's also noticeable in the game's ability system. After you finish the prologue, you will be prompted to select classes and this is clearly borrowed from the Blizzard game.

Strange Weapons

Game informer in his material emphasizes that the game has a rather strange weapon, but at the same time it is saturated with an authentic spirit. Since the anomaly destroyed all electronics and familiar elements of science fiction, people had to use kinetic, more realistic weapons. This voluntary restriction means that players will have access to an arsenal based on 20th century weapons. You will pick up weapons with different status effects and characteristics.

“We didn't want laser weapons. I don't know, but for some reason it doesn't really fit into our setting. We wanted to add the physical, kinetic strength that you get when you give. We wanted the players to feel like they were holding a heavy, powerful weapon when shooting, ”says Technical Director Krzysztof Dolas.

An interesting example was provided by the head of audio effects Marcin Czartinski:

“We have a gun covered in meat. While firing, you may have the sound of frying bacon because when you fire this pistol it overheats and the meat that is all over the place starts to fry. When not in use, it pulses as if it were alive. ”

There is room to move on

In general, reviews of Outriders are positive. All of the above, only a small part of what awaits us in the game. Publications note that she still has room to grow:

“The more I think about Outriders, the more I want to know the rest of the story. We've already been in space, but the game shows that it still has room to explore. What is behind Enoch's anomalies? Why do they split some and endow others with superhuman abilities? What is this mysterious signal broadcasting from the planet? I don't know, but I want to know.

But here's the important thing: it will surely be fun. The action in the game is fluid and satisfying, even if it sounds familiar from past games. Developers looked at the games they played to determine what genres and mechanics they liked; they wanted to make a game that they would like to play themselves.

Lead Writer Joshua Rubin, who has previously worked on franchises such as The Walking Dead, Assassin's Creed and Destiny, said this is a whole new experience. It's like writing historical fiction from scratch ... "- Polygon

So far, we can say that Outriders is a nice combo for both shooter and RPG lovers. The graphics of the game, based on the words of its authors, are not yet finalized, but hopefully, it will be consistent with its gameplay. However, from our observations, we are a little skeptical about the project, since so far it looks a bit like Anthem. And although teamwork and the use of class abilities are called juicy, in our opinion the project does not yet stand out as something revolutionary.

The Topic of Article: Diablo and Destiny mix in nextgen - Western journalist impressions from Outriders.
Author: Jake Pinkman