The Outer Worlds: 10 Ways It's Already Better That Fallout 4

Bethesda's latest releases have left fans of sci-fi first-person RPGs with relatively bad tastes in their mouths. Fallout 76 had about as much bad press as a game could get and is still far from a stable, populous open world. Moreover, Fallout 4 promised a lot but failed to deliver a game to match the high expectations set before it.

However, Obsidian Entertainment, the original Fallout developers, are back to restore our faith in what made their original games (and New Vegas!) so good. Their newest project, The Outer Worlds, stirred up so much hype upon its announcement at last year's Game Awards, and all the trailers we have seen show so much potential for this new IP.

Ahead of its release, here are some of the reasons why The Outer Worlds already looks like a much better time than Fallout 4.

Open World fatigue is a very real problem for modern gaming, and the last space-faring epic that promised one fell flat on its face until a long time after its initial launch (yes, I'm looking at you, No Man's Sky).

Thankfully, Obsidian have decided that having several fixed maps to explore rather than an open collection of planets to fly about amongst will make for a tighter, more enjoyable experience overall. Ideally, this must mean that there's been a great level of care gone into every nook and cranny of The Outer Worlds, to account for what could potentially be perceived as bucking the trend.

What has been advertised so far is a rich collection of varied environments, with each planet or colony having a distinct feel. Brief glimpses of some of these places show that Obsidian have really run with the endless possibilities of setting something in deep space, and as such exploring what lies on the planets that make up The Outer Worlds will undoubtedly be more of a treat than trudging through yet another Vault or burned-out building ever could be in Fallout 4.