Obsidian Entertainment’s 2019 game The Outer Worlds brought players to the colony of Halcyon to embark on a quest to stop, or help, capitalism, and greed from taking over the colony. Alongside choices that impact the trajectory of the story, players also run into combat encounters to build up their character points, collect armor, and get weapons. While The Outer Worlds received largely positive reviews, there was one complaint players had that The Outer Worlds 2 has the chance to not only correct but completely revamp in the new game.
The Outer Worlds 2 announcement at E3 this year was unsurprising, but still excited players at the thought of seeing a brand new star system and new crewmates. The new game has a lot of potential by placing itself outside of Halcyon, but the plot, dialogue, and characters weren’t really what players had issues with. It all came down to mechanics, specifically combat, and how The Outer Worlds DLC didn’t really add anything new in that regard. If The Outer Worlds 2 already has new enemies and improved combat, it’ll be miles ahead of its predecessor.
Enemies in The Outer Worlds
To The Outer Worlds’ credit, it did have a few different types of enemies that players had to take on. Some enemies were locked to certain locations as well, giving an immersive experience of having players get to know the wildlife of different planets and what they should expect during their adventures. For example, the Monarch wilderness is full of Mantiqueens and Raptidons, but players wouldn’t have to worry about encountering Primals at that time. There were three different categories of enemies: Humans, Aliens, and Auto-mechanicals.
While players would find human enemies with actual names, most of the time they would be certain types of Marauders or Outlaws. The DLC Peril on Gorgon added more Marauder types with special abilities, but otherwise fighting these enemies is pretty standard. Murder on Eridanos added some interesting “possessed” human enemies, but there was really no new combat there, either.
The alien category encapsulates many enemies, including Canids, Mantipillars, Matiqueens, Primals, and Sprats. Most of these enemies can be further divided down into different kinds that distinguish how difficult they are to take on. Players have to continually take on these creatures to figure out the best way to take them down, but otherwise, the combat fighting them can get a bit repetitive. Auto-mechanical enemies have even less diversity, divided between Sentries, Scrap Mechanicals, and Combat Drones.
While the enemies in The Outer Worlds seem to have a bit of variety, truthfully the combat becomes stale after a while. The base game alone takes an average of 25 hours to beat, with each DLC taking an average of 8 hours to complete, so it’s understandable that players got tired of the combat mechanics. Repetitive encounters can feel like a chore in a game, rather than a fun combat altercation—this is especially an issue for The Outer Worlds, a first-person shooter.
How The Outer Worlds 2 Can Improve Combat
The Outer Worlds 2 trailer was incredibly self-aware of the stereotypes often found in-game trailers of the same genre, and told viewers virtually nothing except that a new game is in the works. However, the trailer does showcase an interesting creature that looks like a Raptidon learned how to harness the power of electricity, or at the very least has been injected with something purple and glowing. While the voiceover states players will probably not see this creature again, that might not be entirely accurate given the satirical nature of the trailer.
Regardless, The Outer Worlds 2 would do well to include this creature alongside other new wildlife, especially if the game is taking place in a different star system. That fact alone opens up a lot of different possibilities for varying enemies per location or giving different powers to subcategories of enemies. The Outer Worlds 2 will also do well to add a variety of different weapon types and armor, as the ones in the first game were good but definitely repetitive. More weapons and armor mean more unique combat encounters and players who don’t have to consistently raise the difficulty level to feel challenged.
While The Outer Worlds 2 is probably a long way away, but it hasn’t stopped players from speculating about what changes will be made from the first to the second game. More diverse, challenging combat, as well as a new, more expansive weapon and armor catalog, will help keep The Outer Worlds 2 a fun experience for all players. For now, players can revisit Halcyon and all its combat by playing The Outer Worlds.
The Outer Worlds 2 is in development for PC and Xbox Series X.