The Outer Worlds: 10 Ways It'll Blow Fallout Out The Water
6. Semi-Linear Gameplay Allows For A Stronger Focus On The Story
Arguably the biggest difference between Outer Worlds and Fallout is that Outer Worlds is not going to be an entirely open-world game. Obsidian have confirmed that they’ll be taking a more story-driven and semi-linear approach.
The protagonist will travel to different worlds as they progress through the story; each of which will be open to explore with a range of side quests available, alongside the main quest. This will likely be the most polarising aspect of Outer Worlds as many fans who are coming over from the Fallout franchise will expect an open-world RPG experience.
However, this formula has proven to be successful in the past. The approach was adopted by 2018’s God of War to critical acclaim. Having the player be slightly more guided allows for a better focus on the game’s narrative. Pacing can be a major issue in fully open-world games such as Fallout. The player could be given an absolutely vital mission, only to spend the next tens of hours rescuing cats from trees instead.
With Obsidian’s stellar writing staff, this semi-linear structure makes sense. Given their smaller budget and their skillset, a 30-40 hour story-focussed experience would far outclass another buggy and empty sandbox with a lacklustre narrative.