The Outer Worlds: 11 Gameplay Details You Need To Know

11. Gunplay Is Responsive And Meaty

The biggest, most immediate surprise of the entire demo was that the shooting and overall combat in The Outer Worlds is punchy, responsive, and pretty deep. The assumption that it wouldn't be isn't a knock on the developers; Obsidian simply haven't made that many first-person shooters, and the combat of Fallout - even the fourth game - has always felt a little clunky and secondary to the storytelling, world and exploration.

Here though, the devs have clearly made it a point to make the combat as enjoyable as the other gameplay pillars. There's a huge amount of variety to the weapons, whether they're guns or melee-based, with distinct aesthetic styles that make them familiar enough, but suitably alien considering the setting.

Whether it's the semi-auto rifle that can detach every limb from a body with one well-placed critical hit or a mini-gun that turns aliens into mulch, every weapon in the demo had a distinct feel and its own unique set of pros and cons. It helps that you can tinker with these in the workshop as well, adding attachments and even switching out the ammo type.

Throw in inventive enemy types, such as a mech that can take to the skies for a brief period, which imbues battles with a sense of verticality it may have otherwise lacked, and the combat in general was a pleasure to engage with.