Outriders doesn't care if you like it or not. You shoot/blast the same variations of enemies through a half-developed story campaign, then repeat dull mini-strikes ad infinitum for the "endgame." No, PCF convinced enough of us to play it and secure its future...as what, we're not quite sure. SQUENIX wants it to succeed, possibly due to the sad state of their other ventures. (Avengers beat-em-up, faded FF glory, etc...) In all fairness, there are some interesting bits of lore and events buried underneath the unintentionally hilarious dialog and live-service tropes (without the "service.") Some of the environments beg to be explored, but we are confined to small arenas and hallways. We shoot. We loot. We rinse and repeat. None of the weapons or gear are interesting enough to entice anyone beyond the hardcore theorycraft and min-max crowd, and the spongy enemies are little more than fuel for your anomaly powers and health bar. The visual design is an odd mix of PS3/360-era filler with modern bells and whistles tacked on to present a fairly dull and ugly vision of a mysterious alien world. The limitations of the PS4 Pro are obvious, and a 1080p option is sorely needed to avoid the huge slowdowns and stop-motion animation of everything outside of the smallest battles. Audio channels cut in and out, most sound effects seem to be ripped from old B-Movie, and the overall mix is awful. Bring your own tunes, and blast them to drown out the noise. Nothing that any of the characters have to say is important, so don't worry about missing out. Customization is irrelevant. Crafting is only useful when modding high-end gear. Skill trees are dull micromods to stat points. No offline mode. Connection demands seem to be higher than most--lag is definitely a thing. Etc. Etc. I truly have tried to like Outriders, but this condensed pile of shooter tropes fails on almost every front. It's Gears of War meets Destiny blended with the air of disappointment surrounding something like Anthem. PCF can do better, and so can you. Mediocre, scrub. Mediocre.