Outriders Reviews
Buried by an unsatisfying combat loop and bad campaign, Outriders is a forgettable loot game that ends right as it's getting started.
After a disastrous launch People Can Fly's third-person sci-fi adventure emerges as a smart if familiar shooter.
Outriders is the type of game where players get what they put in. For those who want a pick-up and put-down RPG with an emphasis on story, Outriders has that covered. For those who want hundreds of hours of gameplay in tense and adrenaline-pumping combat with powerful builds, Outriders has that covered too. Ultimately, the strength of Outriders is how it connects to its players and what they want out of the game, meaning everyone walks away feeling different about it, and that can only be a good thing.
Outriders would have been a much better game had the campaign been half as long and the end game had twice as much content. I had fun exploring the dozen or so environments throughout the story mode, but the game doesn’t start firing on all cylinders until the gear you get becomes meaningful. The disposable nature of gear during the campaign/leveling process makes the game feel a lot more shallow than it actually is, and getting players to that end-game grind sooner would likely have exposed a lot more players to the best that Outriders has to offer.
Outriders is a brash and bold looter shooter that will keep you entertained through the campaign and side missions, but its endgame content gets repetitive fast.
Taking to combat and combo-ing skills with other players is immensely satisfying and make each run-in with enemies feel exhilarating rather than a chore
People Can Fly's Outriders mixes a lot of well-worn shooter and RPG elements to create something that feels fresh, if you can get used to its balance.
That's a huge letdown, because the encounters feel tuned for co-op rather than solo play. Playing alone, I could feel the absence of other players; although enemies are tougher when playing with friends, having another person to divert a boss' attention feels more natural than having you and a boss circle a pillar as you whittle down its health, or slowly working your way through the unrelenting hail of bullets that some of the later encounters subject you to. You also get to revive your friends in multiplayer (you even get one self-revive), which makes some of the tougher fights a little easier.
I’m happy that Outriders tries to be something different and more self-contained. It might limit its longevity, but it was nice to play something that was an adventure and not a treadmill covered in bad loot and battle passes.
Outriders is an exciting evolution of the third-person shooter genre, with thrilling sci-fi powers and satisfying gunplay that makes nearly every battle feel fast-paced and gripping until the last enemy drops.
Outriders takes what previous looter-shooters have done well and adds its own RPG flair. The result is a game with a good story, fun gunplay and a staggering amount of build diversity.
Despite a largely forgettable story and a few misfires, Outriders is a great looter shooter that feels satisfying to play alone or with others and easily holds its own among contemporaries.
The best time I had with the game was a ten-minute stretch that contained (a) no crashes or bugs, (b) the right level and world tier-essentially, a measure of enemy toughness-and (c) a harmony of tactics, sorcery, and gunfire.
Outriders has surpassed my expectations in almost every way. Months ago, I figured this would be another looter flop, but now, it’s one of the best current entries in the genre, and even with no “live service roadmap” at hand, it’s clear you could potentially extract hundreds of hours from it regardless. I plan to do just that.
Outriders is much more than meets the eye. People Can Fly have done a superb job to deliver a self-sustaining looter shooter that manages to come up with some great ideas.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Either solo or multiplayer, Outriders is a fun, fast paced shooter, full of great moments. People Can Fly delivers great combat mechanics and RPG elements, but we have the feeling we´ve seen most elements in other games. We love that Outriders is not designed as "game as a service".
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Is Outriders a sophisticated action game with a compelling sci-fi story? No. Does it feel fun to freeze a spider with an ice turret and shatter it with a well-placed sniper shot? You bet. Sometimes, that’s all one really wants from a shooter like this. It could use an offline mode for single-player sessions and a fair bit of maintenance, but it’s a solid foundation for an action game that respects its players’ time.
It's a lower bar to clear to be sure, but People Can Fly delivered what Bungie and other studios can't seem to do these days: a complete $60 game. Outriders is a flawed looter shooter that can fall into a rut with its core looting loop, but the gunplay is fun, and that's a decent-sized win. If you can grab two other people to recruit via Game Pass, it's a great way to spend some time.
A surprising, old school looter propped up by a contained sci-fi campaign, ferocious combat, and a modding system that encourages endless creativity.