Square Enix and People Can Fly's online shooter Outriders initially looked like it might dethrone the immensely popular Destiny franchise, with the newer title having similar aesthetics and gameplay to Bungie's series. However, despite being a highly-anticipated game, Outriders was only able to garner a comparatively mediocre reception. Outrider's gameplay was fun and dynamic and its visuals were impressive, but some felt that the story and the characters were a little lacking. Despite these setbacks, Outriders managed to find its audience, but it was hardly a commercial or critical success to match the likes of Destiny or other online loot shooters.
Developer People Can Fly has continued to support Outriders since launch, with free updates like New Horizon that brought massive changes to the base game to improve the overall experience for players. As an online-only game, gamers would expect Outriders to continue to receive substantive content post-launch, so the announcement of the next big expansion was certainly a welcome one. The Worldslayer expansion, Outriders' biggest expansion to date, will drop this summer and is set to add a lot of new content to the game, as well as bring about some improvements to the existing systems.
The Current State Of Outriders
While technically the developers have avoided the live service label, there are certain expectations for online-only games from fans. Outriders has a campaign that players can follow, which sees them uncovering the fate of colony ship Caravel, and fighting against many conflicting foes to make a home for humanity on Enoch. Enoch's hostile environments and less-than-friendly inhabitants provided plenty for players to do during the campaign, and the never-ending quest for loot and various endgame activities should keep gamers entertained even after they've completed the story.
Outriders' story campaign provided a suitable format for players just looking to experience the game, and then not necessarily come back to it again to engage with the endgame. However, People Can Fly's aim was undoubtedly to keep players onboard and keep the online community for Outriders invested beyond the end of the narrative. Despite being labeled by some as one of the more disappointing games of 2021, Outriders is still committed to expanding the world of Enoch and the story of the Outrider with post-launch content to see if it can entice gamers back.
Worldslayer Announcement
Earlier this month, People Can Fly revealed more about the next expansion with the Outriders: Worldslayer reveal trailer, as well as a deeper dive into everything the new content would entail. From everything fans have been shown so far, it seems like an incredibly meaty update. A few aspects of Outriders will be completely overhauled, while other features will be added to help elevate the existing elements.
Outriders hasn't exactly taken the gaming world by storm since its 2021 release, and while it has already received some updates, many fans will be excited to know that a whole new bunch of content is on the way. A new section of campaign to work through will undoubtedly excite fans, particularly as one of the main criticisms the base game faced was that its storylines and central conflicts felt a little lackluster. With new areas to explore, new enemies to face, and new gear to try out, the Worldslayer expansion seems like it might pack a much-needed punch.
Expansion Breakdown
Players will be able to explore a whole new area of Enoch; a harsh region covered in snow and ice and beset by blizzards. Here they will come up against Ereshkigal, the leader of the human insurgence faction and an incredibly formidable enemy, as they try to stop her plans for humanity on Enoch. In addition to taking on Ereshkigal, players will encounter new enemy types to challenge their combat abilities.
Along with a new campaign, Worldslayer will add almost a hundred Legendary items to the game. These include two five-piece legendary armor sets for each of Outriders' four classes, different mods, a variety of weapons, and multiclass three-piece legendary armor sets. These are all available immediately for players that have high-level characters, but if gamers want to jump in the action straight away, Worldslayer will have a Level 30 Boost that will let players get even a brand-new character up to speed from the get-go.
Outriders' existing endgame is characterized by its Expeditions and Challenge Tiers. These received a bit of an update when New Horizons dropped, but thanks to Worldslayer Challenge Tiers are being replaced by Apocalypse Tiers, which will be much more challenging but will offer players more in terms of XP and loot. For anyone that doesn't have the Worldslayer expansion, they will still be able to access Apocalypse Tiers, but their progression will be capped at Tier 15. Apocalypse Tiers will ultimately go up to Tier 40 and will give players the chance to earn Apocalypse-grade gear.
In addition to new story missions and lore to unpack, fresh weapons, mods, and gear to try out, and new Apocalypse Tiers to get to grips with, Worldslayer is also adding new progression paths. Without meaningful progression, online games can quickly lose their audiences, so it's vital that Outriders can offer players interesting ways to improve their characters. The Power of the PAX will allow gamers to open up a second skill tree, which will add two new subclasses for each of Outriders' main classes. Thanks to this feature, players will be able to further customize their builds and explore aspects of either the Devastator, Pyromancer, Trickster, or Technomancer classes.
There will also be the Path to Ascension, which will operate alongside the Power of PAX and give players some longer-term progression. Once players reach level 30 in Outriders, all subsequent XP will go towards the Path to Ascension instead, which features 200 points to unlock. This new and improved progression system seems like it's improving Outriders for the better, and giving players more than enough to sink their teeth into as well as rewarding fans for sticking with the game.
Outriders: Worldslayer expansion releases June 30, 2022, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
