Outriders Reviews
A surprising, old school looter propped up by a contained sci-fi campaign, ferocious combat, and a modding system that encourages endless creativity.
When it all comes together, Outriders can be good fun. The gunplay felt a little stilted and laboured to me early on, but I've found it to be really satisfying at times, especially when you empty a volcanic-charged cartridge into an enemy's head — and they plop to the ground. And Outriders keeps you on your toes as you're constantly balancing various elements: where to find cover, dodging grenades, when to jump back out, who to target first, how to maximise your powers, and working with your squad. Outriders was built with co-op in mind and that's when it comes alive. It's nice to have a friend to lean on, and that goes for Outriders too, as they can help revive you. In fact, some of our most intense conversations have come out of debating when it's a good time to attempt to revive someone.
Outriders absolutely excels when it lets combat, solid gunplay, and supremely satisfying abilities do the talking. Its unique blend of aggression really is something to behold in action. Rubbish characters, the requirement to maintain an online connection and couple with servers, and various technical hitches hold it back from greatness, but they don't muddy the picture so much to dissuade a recommendation. Outriders is pretty class in motion.
Giving Outriders a score is a tougher challenge than I thought. The core gameplay loop is fun, incredibly so when it clicks, the loot system is well thought out and wielding the powers of the Anomaly is power-tripping. But the game is also a slow burner, enemy variety is disappointingly poor, there is no scaling of content for party members of lower levels, and audio and animations aren't always that great. But the core is good, and we have faith that People Can Fly will polish those rough edges.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Outriders' fast-paced combat and imaginative sci-fi setting make it a journey worth taking. And For all its flaws, this could be the start of something very special for developer People Can Fly.
Outriders really has taken us completely by surprise. This is a game that gets off to a pretty bad start but, once the combat kicks off properly, quickly reveals itself to be one of the slickest and most addictive looter shooters we've played in a long while. Launch weekend has been a mess of server issues, for sure, but stick with what People Can Fly has dished up here and you'll find yourself handsomely rewarded. This one comes highly recommended.
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.
Buried by an unsatisfying combat loop and bad campaign, Outriders is a forgettable loot game that ends right as it's getting started.
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
Outriders is a game that seems to bring together the advantages of many of the root shooter games that have existed. Therefore, it shows a high level of completeness even though it is a new game, but it does not feel new despite it being a new IP. Fortunately, interesting stories and sophisticated narratives somewhat offset this lack.
Review in Korean | Read full review
Overall, Outrider’s gameplay and customization are enough to satisfy the loot-hungry players. While its story misses the mark on multiple occasions, it’s gripped me enough to continue pushing through the post-game content.
This is a strange beast of a game, compromised on numerous fronts yet undeniably sincere and energetic at its core. Its haphazard plot and profound design flaws threaten to squash the game’s modest success at delivering a fun combat system. Those capable of overlooking an abundance of issues may find Outriders to be decent action fare, but otherwise it’s best to look elsewhere.
Outriders is an absolute blast to play, with it easily standing out as my favourite game of 2021 so far. I won’t deny that it has some issues (the early server problems being the most obvious), but they’re easy to look past when the combat mechanics are so varied and fun, building your character and unlocking new loot is satisfying, and sharing the experience with friends brings with it a rewarding sense of strategy. It’s brilliant. It doesn’t re-invent the looter-shooter genre in any way and there won’t be anything on offer that you wouldn’t have seen done before, but it doesn’t matter – especially since all of the things it offers are of a high quality. Everything Outriders does is done well and it makes for a super fun experience because of it. There might be a few teething issues right now, but I’m excited to spend more hours with my friends taking down the baddies that are roaming across our new home of Enoch…
Outriders actively props up its own strengths and encourages you to employ them, organically allowing you to experience its full potential and mostly outweighing a disjointed story.
Outriders is a competent third person shooter with solid gunplay and a surprisingly developed story. This makes it a great game for any player on the hunt for a compelling third person shooter.
Outriders is a looter shooter that offers many hours of fun to players, despite some structural problems such as the absence of heterogeneity in the missions. The strong point, however, is fast-paced and explosive gameplay that is well supported by interesting RPG mechanics.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Capturing exactly what makes the genre tick, this is perhaps the best looter-shooter game since Borderlands
If you're willing to overlook some questionable design choices, there's plenty of fun to be had with Outriders. Despite its numerous flaws, Outriders manages to provide loads of incredible, over-the-top fun.
Outriders delivers satisfying combat but suffers from a lackluster story. For co-op players, there’s a lot to entertain you here and the banter will help fill in the duller moments. The grind is also less intense than in similar experiences. What’s more, a bonus nod has to be given for this title’s completeness at launch.
For its weird flaws, bugs, always online issues, obnoxious use of cutscenes, and b-movie attitude, Outriders is still mostly what I wanted it to be in execution and I think it's built for a wealth of future content and improvements that mean it's just going to get better from here. Whether I jump into the game on my solo character or team up with my friends, I know I’m in for a good, visceral, and rewarding time.