In 2019, Obsidian Entertainment released The Outer Worlds, a first-person sci-fi RPG led by original Fallout creators Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky that played similarly to the Bethesda Fallout games. The Outer Worlds was a success, and it didn’t take long at all for Obsidian to announce the follow-up. The Outer Worlds 2 offers the same kind of “Fallout in space” vibes as the 2019 original, but with significant upgrades that make it a superior sequel. Rest assured, fans of the original game or these types of RPGs in general will find a lot to love when it comes to The Outer Worlds 2.
The Outer Worlds 2 retains the biting satire of capitalism and corporate culture that defined the first game, with a harrowing and more engaging main questline than before. The Outer Worlds 2 moves the action from the Halcyon colonies to the Arcadia system, which is struggling with dangerous rifts in space and time that threaten to destroy everything. As players attempt to solve the mystery behind the rifts and put a stop to them, various corporate entities and other factions come into conflict, with the player character at the center of it all.
The Choices You Make Matter in The Outer Worlds 2
Player choice is huge in The Outer Worlds 2, with many decisions having meaningful, lasting, sometimes catastrophic, sometimes hilarious, and sometimes absolutely heartbreaking consequences. Depending on what players do on their journey, entire areas can be destroyed and some important NPCs can be killed. Certain choices can even lock players out of side quests. Some games have the illusion of choice, but Outer Worlds 2 fully embraces the concept and ensures that players can have a real impact on the game world, its story, and its characters.
Unfortunately for this guy, my choices led to this, but different choices can lead to different outcomes for this NPC and other characters in the game.
What can be accomplished by any given Outer Worlds 2 character depends on their stats. Someone with a high speech stat will be able to talk their way out of conflicts, while someone with low speech will inevitably fail and wind up in a lot more fights as a result. Someone with a high engineering stat can fix machines that otherwise require players to find a hidden object to fix, and someone with high lockpicking can enter areas that will otherwise be completely inaccessible to those without it. There are so many ways to play this game, and it’s fun to see how different scenarios play out and all the different ways players can complete objectives.
Every Outer Worlds 2 scenario can be tackled from a variety of angles, not only giving the game an incredible amount of replay value, but once again reinforcing the idea of player choice. Let’s say there’s a facility that players need to infiltrate for a quest they’re on. One option is to acquire the appropriate clearance to the place by completing a side quest, allowing players to roam the area freely and complete their main objective much more easily. But someone that doesn’t have the patience to complete the side quest can go full stealth mode by sneaking around, knocking out enemies from behind, and cautiously making their way to their destination. Of course, another option is to go in guns blazing and kill everyone.
The Outer Worlds 2 is a Step Above the Original Game
Moment-to-moment combat in The Outer Worlds 2 is a lot more fun than in the first game, with a wider variety of weapons that all have weight behind them and feel great to shoot. Gadgets players acquire in the game add an extra layer to the proceedings, like one that lets them slow down time and another that lets them see through walls. I found that it was a little too easy to run low on ammo, but otherwise, Outer Worlds 2 combat is action-packed and exciting.
Players aren’t fighting The Outer Worlds 2‘s legion of alien creatures, robots, and hostile human enemies alone. Depending on the choices players make and quests they decide to pursue, companions can join in on the adventures. Outer Worlds 2 companions have special abilities that players can call on in combat, like one that restrains opponents and another that heals the party. Companions can earn new perks that increase their utility, plus they have their own questlines that tell some of the more compelling stories in the game. Outer Worlds 2 companions have their own opinions on what’s going on in the game and depending on what players do, they can wind up in direct conflict with them. No, Outer Worlds 2 doesn’t let you romance the companions, but they are still interesting characters that add a lot to the experience if you dedicate the time to fully explore what they have to offer.
Outer Worlds 2 has a lot of worthwhile side content, whether it’s the companion quests or other missions found while exploring its worlds. But players don’t have to engage with any of it if they don’t want to. Those who decide to plow their way through the main questline can do it in under 10 hours, which may seem a little light, but is a good length for a main quest. Those who want a larger experience can have that, but those who only care about what happens in the main story have a well-paced narrative to experience. It’s fun to see how everything plays out in the end, and you will be left with a burning desire to run back through and see how the fates of characters and factions can change.
I initially beat The Outer Worlds 2’s main quest in 8.5 hours, but that only scratched the surface of what the game has to offer.
The only downside to that is the fact that The Outer Worlds 2 does not have New Game+. Players have to start from scratch each playthrough, which, at least in my experience, dampens my enthusiasm for replaying the game. After investing so many hours in one character and building up a sizable arsenal of your favorite weapons, making a brand-new character and having to do it all over again isn’t as enticing as having a proper New Game+ where players can keep all their stuff, but make new choices and crank up the difficulty if they want to.
Players may also take some exception to the glitches they will encounter in The Outer Worlds 2. Outer Worlds 2 is definitely polished (especially compared to some of its peers in the genre), looks fantastic, and runs smooth as butter most of the time, but it’s not without some notable issues. In one instance, an NPC disappeared and seemingly teleported to a different room. In another, I had to use an elevator to progress a quest, but the buttons wouldn’t appear. There is strange artifacting on the edges of the screen that appears enough that it is potentially a purposeful effect, but looks bad regardless. The game also crashed on me on one occasion, but while these technical issues are a nuisance, the frequent auto-saving keeps them from weighing down the experience too much.
While the occasional technical hiccup is disappointing and the lack of a New Game+ mode is a bummer, The Outer Worlds 2 still provides an excellent action-RPG experience that will greatly appeal to Fallout fans and those who enjoyed the original game. The Outer Worlds 2 is yet another great RPG from Obsidian and is a brilliant way to cap off what has been an incredibly impressive year for the studio.
- Released
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October 29, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Strong Language
- Publisher(s)
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Xbox Game Studios
- Choices have a real and noticeable impact on the world
- Strong writing with memorable characters and companions
- Worthwhile side content that you can get lost in for hours
- Gorgeous graphics
- Freedom to play how you want
- Minor but annoying technical issues
- No New Game+ is a big missed opportunity
The Outer Worlds 2 launches on October 29 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X. Early access is available on October 24. Game Rant was provided with an Xbox Series X code for this review.
