Outriders offers fast-paced gunplay with RPG elements, as well as some innovative gameplay mechanics. In many ways, the game is also a love letter to PS3/Xbox 360 games, with linear levels and cover mechanics that defined that era in. At its core, though, Outriders is a looter-shooter, so inventory management and class builds also play a huge part in People Can Fly's newest title.
However, contrary to other games from the same genre, Outriders has a very strong story. Many fans compare its plot to story-heavy games like Mass Effect. While the game's lore is certainly worthwhile, it's not without its flaws. There are quite a few plot points in Outriders that don't really make sense when analyzed in more detail.
10 How Come No One Found The Hibernated Outrider Earlier?
When the main character is exposed to the Anomaly, Shira Guttman places them in cryostasis so as not to risk spreading what she thought was a highly contagious fungal infection. The hero awakens 31 years later, to a completely different Enoch.
The one who wakes them is Jane Colm, who was on a scientific expedition at the behest of Dr Abraham Zahedi. Clearly, the part of Enoch where the Outrider was located was accessible to people. This begs the question: Hadn't anyone else been intrigued by a hibernation pod in the middle of nowhere? Why had nobody opened it up during these three decades?
9 The Elusive Anomaly
Why didn't Earth's scientists pick up that there was something odd going on on Enoch before sending out the S.M. Flores there? Players can bring up the issue in a conversation with Dr. Zahedi, but he simply replies that nothing that suggested the devastating Anomaly popped up on the radars back on Earth.
The first Anomaly event was thought to occur on landing day, suggesting that it must have originated on Enoch earlier. An aura of mystery shrouds the entire phenomenon. The origins of the Anomaly and its impact remain one of the biggest unresolved mysteries in the Outriders lore, especially given how central it is to the game's plot.
8 Shira & Jakub Are A Bit Too Vigorous For Their Age
Although Shira Guttman and Jakub Dąbrowski's ages aren't explicitly mentioned in the game, players can estimate them from journal entries about the characters. Given the fact that Shira graduated from college during the Earth's dying years, it can be safe to say that she was in her early thirties when she met the player character. Meanwhile, Jakub must surely be over forty, given his war experiences and upbringing that were outlined in the journal.
After 31 years in hibernation, the player character encounters his much older friends in Rift Town. However, their age doesn't seem to match up with their vigor and in-game actions. Sure, Shira might pass as the ECA leader in her sixties. However, an energetic, truck-driving Jakub nearing the eighty-year mark has to raise some eyebrows, especially in a war-torn environment where elderly care standards are not a priority.
7 The S.M. Flores Tricky Family Policy
Outriders established early on that Shira Guttman's father, a well-respected structural engineer of the S.M. Flores space shuttle, had given up his spot for the sake of his daughter's survival.
There would be nothing wrong with it, except the fact that Ezra Zahedi, the father of Dr. Abraham Zahedi, was an equally important scientist working on the Flores. Unlike Shira's father, Ezra received one extra spot for his son. It seems that the rules dictating who could and who couldn't get a seat on the shuttle were poorly designed, which is difficult to believe given the scale and importance of the entire project.
6 The Mysterious Signal
The ending of Outriders explains the mysterious signal coming from the people who landed on Enoch in a rebuilt Caraval, before the S.M. Flores expedition. It might have made sense to emit it at the start, in order to help the people of the S.M. Flores find their kin on Enoch.
However, conflict later ensued between the Caravel's crew and the Pax (the race native to Enoch), who later then turned Feral to fight their human oppressors. Wouldn't it make sense for the Enochian race to destroy the devices emitting the signal, so that no humans can trace it? Even with the Anomaly standing in the way, someone was bound to find it – which is exactly how the plot of Outriders unraveled.
5 Why Doesn't The Anomaly Affect Everybody?
While players did get to learn about what the Anomaly was and how it evolved into an impenetrable storm, its origins and mechanism remain a mystery. Why doesn't it affect everybody? What determines which individuals evolve into super-powerful beings, while others die a horrible death?
There are many more questions about the Anomaly (and its relationship to the mysterious fungus) that remain unanswered after finishing Outriders. Delving deeper into how it actually works in the potential sequel might not only shed some light on the mystery, but also provide a unique opportunity to introduce more innovative gameplay mechanics.
4 Lazy Eagle Peaks Insurgents
Early on, the game takes the players to Eagle Peaks, high up in the mountains. There's an ECA outpost there, as well as an Insurgents base right where the Outrider needs to go in order to investigate the source of the signal from beyond the Anomaly.
The ECA outpost is lacking in manpower. There are enough Insurgents hiding out in their Radio Tower "fortress" to send at least a dozen cable carts worth of soldiers up to the soldiers and wipe them all out. Instead, they wait around long enough for the players to get there. The Insurgents get obliterated, and miss out on a golden opportunity to capture an important strategic point in the mountains.
3 Rebuilding The Caravel Made No Sense
The Caravel was a space shuttle intended to arrive on Enoch three years before the S.M. Flores, to establish a living area and gather enough resources to prepare for the Flores's arrival. Unfortunately, it suffered a catastrophic engine failure at launch, killing 8,000 people (including the original Outriders) on the spot.
As it turns out, Monroy and his people miraculously restored the Caravel, even improving the shuttle's engines. They set out to Enoch and managed to arrive there years ahead of the S.M. Flores. How does a crew so rapidly restore a vessel that exploded? It works very well as a plot device and delivers a satisfying plot twist, but after digging deeper into it, players will realize that it doesn't really seem too plausible.
2 The Anomaly's Interference With Electronics
It's pretty well-established early on in Outriders' story that the Anomaly storms prevent electronics and wave transmissions from working correctly. Nobody can send signals out of Enoch, the massive 3D printers that helped create the First City became dysfunctional, and many other critical failures occur.
Interestingly enough, devices like walkie-talkies, door mechanisms, and various other electronic conveniences, work pretty well. The game never really explains why the Anomaly affects some devices and not others, ruining the lore's integrity a little bit.
1 The 31-Year-Long Civil War
The Insurgency was born out of economic despair and the Enoch Colonization Authority's unfair treatment of the outcasts. There is no denying that the Insurgents had a legitimate reason to rebel against the ECA. However, dragging out the brutal, armed conflict for three decades is a bit of a stretch.
Many conflicts in human history lasted for much longer than 31 years, but none of them were against the same backdrop and the same context as the civil war in Outriders. Surely, as early as halfway through the war, both sides must have realized that it leads straight towards extinction.