Outriders has been out for over three weeks now, and most players managed to complete its story arc. Despite being conceived as a looter shooter game, Outriders also successfully proves to be a great sci-fi RPG. Its story may not be as compelling when first starting out, but it is a slow burn to a wildfire. At first, the game seems to be about this civil war between human factions, the Insurgents, and the Enoch Colonization Authority (ECA for short).
In Outriders' prologue, players learn that the planet is not as Earth-like as it seemed because of the Anomaly. This disturbance is capable of disintegrating human bodies. The Outriders discover this at their expense, and they are forced to retreat back to camp. This sets in motion a chain of events that culminates with the main character unable to prevent the other humans on the Flores from disembarking or warning them of the danger. Due to injuries, the PC gets placed back into Cryo.
31 years pass, and the Outrider suddenly awakes from cryo, only to find the world is at war. The conflict began because of how the Anomaly storms made the ECA lose control over the little resources they had. With the Anomaly storms destroying most of the electronic assets and being unable to grow crops or produce medicines, riots began.
The Quest For The Signal
Hope is found when the Outrider joins Shira and Jakub, and they concoct a plan to find the origin of the signal that is imprinted in the main character, especially with their newfound powers thanks to them becoming Altered. This signal is believed to be from "a place beyond the Anomaly," where all electronics haven't been fried by the storms. The quest begins for the Outrider and Jakub to find Dr. Zahedi, and with him the signal. Their hope is that there is a place for humanity to live happily, to end wars, to avoid the Anomaly.
Then, in the First City, Zahedi reveals that he has an Uplink Node that can allow them to send a signal to the Flores, still orbiting Enoch, in order for it to launch the pods containing all resources. This changes everything, and the quest becomes something more. It's not only about finding a place to settle down anymore, but it becomes a matter of long-term survival of the human race thanks to what can be retrieved from the pods.
The Forest And Alien Encounters
The signal seems to come from someplace beyond the forest, where the prologue is first set. In the forest, the group finds that Dr. Scurlock managed to find a cure for the deadly fungus inhabiting the area, and everyone is injected with the antidote. Later, though, the Outriders protagonists find out that the cure is made by butchering human beings, Scurlock is revealed to be an antagonist, and after his demise, Zahedi, Tiago, and the main character discover that the scientist was experimenting on a prisoner called August.
August is not human, and Tiago explains that he is from a race called the Pax, native to Enoch. No one really knows what happened to them, but when the team sets foot in the desert, they start uncovering the mystery. The main character encounters another alien race, who are violented and aggressive, and using state-of-the-art guns. The group is kidnapped by the aliens, and the Outrider has to face hordes of these "Ferals" to free them. Unfortunately, Jakub dies in the process of saving his step-daughter, Channa.
The Pax, The Ferals, And Monroy
The group cannot stop, so they advance through the desert and discover advanced human-made technology they never saw on Earth. With the tech come also a few scattered notes, and the characters learn that other humans made it to the desert way before they ever could. The name "Monroy" seems to be everywhere, so they assume it was the leader of the civilization beyond the forest.
During an assault that is about to cost Tiago his life, August sacrifices his nature by stabbing himself with an Anomaly-infused dagger. This turns Tiago's alien friend into one of the Ferals. August is able to save Tiago, but then he seems to be blinded by primordial fury, and he doesn't recognize Tiago. To prevent August from killing him, the Outrider kills August. The question remains of why the Pax would ever turn into Ferals.
As the Outrider sets foot in Pax City, where August's race used to live, it becomes apparent that something far more sinister had happened. They learn that, years before, Monroy elevated himself to the status of absolute monarch, and he enslaved the Pax in fear of what they could do to him and his men, despite the aliens being friendly and treating them like gods. His paranoia and his inability to understand what the Pax were doing with the obelisks (namely, controlling the Anomaly to keep it in check) led to the aliens rebelling to save themselves, turning themselves into the bloodthirsty Ferals so that they could fight. While inherently peaceful, it seems the Anomaly can warp them, and their rebellion hit a high point at a very convenient time: the arrival of the Flores.
Humanity, The Caravel, And The Ending
How did other humans get to the desert first, though? As the story progresses, it is discovered that the Caravel, which originally exploded in orbit, was rebuilt by its survivors and other humans left to die on Earth out of despair. Outriders does not explain exactly how, but the Earth's scientists managed to develop even better and more advanced technology than ever before, inventing an engine so powerful that it allowed the Caravel to reach Enoch way earlier than the Flores.
Monroy was the Caravel's captain. He thrived on the authority he had, and gradually acquired even more, to the point where he had members of his own crew executed if they even thought of betraying him or his cause due to remorse. When the Feral's assault had him and a few others retreat back to the Caravel, he sent the distress signal that the protagonists hear upon their arrival. Monroy is found alive on board his ship when the group finally gets there, and Channa shoots him in the head. She had been having visions of the "place beyond the Anomaly," but she is in denial when they find out that it was a video from before the storms back when Monroy's people landed. Then, the playing character has to fight Yagak, leader of the Ferals, murderer of Jakub.
Ultimately, the story becomes one of colonialism. Players learn that Enoch was once the paradise they sought, but that humanity had corrupted and destroyed the planet ultimately. By abusing the Pax, the Anomaly became unstable and the world was changed forever. In so many ways, humanity had corrupted Enoch, turning it into yet another Earth.
The protagonists barely survive another encounter with the Ferals, and they seem to be unsuccessful in freeing the pods from the Flores. However, by the end, the surviving characters see the sky filled with the pods being launched on the surface of Enoch. They succeeded, and while there is no place beyond the storms, at least humanity has a second chance thanks to all the resources that will be retrieved (though, in proper yet disheartening colonialism structure, there seems to be no hope for the Pax). In the game, this happens thanks to the Outrider completing Expeditions, which all end with a pod's content being salvaged.
Outriders is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
