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Bigger isn't necessarily improved. It's a cliché, however it's the most accurate way to sum up my thoughts after spending five dozen hours with The Outer Worlds 2. Developer Obsidian added more of everything to the sequel to its prior futuristic adventure — additional wit, enemies, firearms, traits, and settings, every important component in games like this. And it operates excellently — at first. But the burden of all those daring plans causes the experience to falter as the hours wear on.

A Strong First Impression

The Outer Worlds 2 makes a strong initial impact. You are part of the Earth Directorate, a do-gooder institution committed to restraining unscrupulous regimes and businesses. After some capital-D Drama, you end up in the Arcadia sector, a settlement splintered by war between Auntie's Option (the result of a merger between the first game's two large firms), the Defenders (communalism pushed to its worst logical conclusion), and the Ascendant Brotherhood (similar to the Catholic faith, but with calculations in place of Jesus). There are also a number of rifts tearing holes in the universe, but at this moment, you really need access a communication hub for pressing contact reasons. The issue is that it's in the center of a combat area, and you need to determine how to arrive.

Following the original, Outer Worlds 2 is a first-person role-playing game with an overarching story and numerous optional missions spread out across multiple locations or regions (large spaces with a lot to uncover, but not open-world).

The initial area and the journey of getting to that communication station are remarkable. You've got some humorous meetings, of course, like one that features a agriculturalist who has fed too much sugary treats to their beloved crustacean. Most direct you toward something helpful, though — an unforeseen passage or some fresh information that might unlock another way onward.

Unforgettable Events and Overlooked Chances

In one memorable sequence, you can encounter a Guardian defector near the overpass who's about to be eliminated. No task is associated with it, and the only way to discover it is by exploring and hearing the ambient dialogue. If you're swift and careful enough not to let him get defeated, you can rescue him (and then rescue his defector partner from getting eliminated by monsters in their lair later), but more pertinent to the task at hand is a energy cable obscured in the grass close by. If you trace it, you'll find a secret entry to the relay station. There's an alternate entry to the station's sewers stashed in a cavern that you might or might not detect based on when you pursue a specific companion quest. You can encounter an readily overlooked person who's essential to rescuing a person much later. (And there's a plush toy who indirectly convinces a team of fighters to fight with you, if you're considerate enough to save it from a minefield.) This initial segment is packed and thrilling, and it feels like it's overflowing with deep narrative possibilities that compensates you for your curiosity.

Waning Hopes

Outer Worlds 2 fails to meet those opening anticipations again. The following key zone is arranged comparable to a map in the initial title or Avowed — a big area sprinkled with key sites and secondary tasks. They're all thematically relevant to the struggle between Auntie's Option and the Ascendant Order, but they're also mini-narratives separated from the main story narratively and geographically. Don't look for any world-based indicators guiding you toward new choices like in the opening region.

Regardless of pushing you toward some difficult choices, what you do in this zone's side quests is inconsequential. Like, it really doesn't matter, to the extent that whether you enable war crimes or lead a group of refugees to their death results in only a casual remark or two of conversation. A game isn't required to let every quest impact the story in some big, dramatic fashion, but if you're making me choose a group and giving the impression that my selection counts, I don't believe it's irrational to hope for something additional when it's finished. When the game's earlier revealed that it can be better, any diminishment seems like a concession. You get additional content like the developers pledged, but at the cost of substance.

Ambitious Plans and Lacking Stakes

The game's middle section tries something similar to the primary structure from the first planet, but with distinctly reduced flair. The idea is a bold one: an linked task that spans two planets and urges you to request help from assorted alliances if you want a more straightforward journey toward your aim. Aside from the repeated framework being a little tiresome, it's also just missing the drama that this sort of circumstance should have. It's a "deal with the demon" moment. There should be difficult trade-offs. Your association with either faction should be important beyond earning their approval by completing additional missions for them. All of this is lacking, because you can simply rush through on your own and achieve the goal anyway. The game even takes pains to give you means of achieving this, pointing out different ways as additional aims and having partners advise you where to go.

It's a consequence of a broader issue in Outer Worlds 2: the apprehension of permitting you to feel dissatisfied with your choices. It frequently goes too far in its attempts to ensure not only that there's an alternate route in most cases, but that you realize its presence. Secured areas practically always have several entry techniques signposted, or nothing worthwhile inside if they do not. If you {can't