Play Station Official Magazine - UK (2019-12)

093

REVIEW

INFO
FORMATPS4
ETAOUTNOW
PUBANNAPURNA
INTERACTIVE
DEVMOBIUSDIGITAL

OUTER WILDS

Not such a small world after all

H

ere it is, a whole solar system for you

to explore – but it’s a solar system in

miniature, where you can get from one

end to the other in a couple of minutes.

Outer Wilds does a lot with a little, creating

a rich open world which never feels small, so

let’s follow its example and get straight to

the point: this is one of the best games

you’ll play this year.

It’s the kind of game which makes you want to

grab friends by the collar and recite your own

version of Rutger Hauer’s Blade Runner speech.

You know: “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t

believe. Quantum moons off the shoulder of

Giant’s Deep. I watched ghost matter glitter in

the dark of the Hourglass Twins. Um, this one

time there was a coral reef that was covered in

lightning... I’m still not exactly sure that was all

about.” That sort of thing.

All those aforementioned marvels are yours to

discover, at your own speed, in pretty much any

order you like. At the start of the game you’re

handed the keys to a spaceship and sent out into

space, free to go in any direction you like, poke at

anyplanetthatcatchesyoureye(or,occasionally,

that you accidentally crash-

land on). It creates a sense of

exploration more real than any

tomb we’ve ever raided or far-

off mountain we’ve climbed.

TIME TO DIE

A couple of things help give

your expeditions structure. One

is the ship’s log, which collects

everything you’ve encountered

so far into a digital version of

those pinboards TV detectives

use to track serial killers,

making sure there’s always a

fresh lead to follow.

The second thing is the

fact that every 22 minutes

the entire universe resets and

you wake up outside your

spaceship, ready to blast off

all over again. The same thing

happens when you die. It’s your

own little Groundhog Day. Or,

more to the point, Groundhog

Half(ish)Hour.Partofthe

pointofyourexplorationis to

workoutwhythistimeloop

keepshappening.

Thismeansyoucan’tgettoo

lostamongthestars.Youwake

up,picka manageablegoal,and

havea 22-minuteadventure.

This makes most failures more

palatable – if you find yourself

floating out in deep space, fuel

supplies depleted and oxygen

rapidly following suit, it’s hard

to despair knowing you only

had a few minutes left before

returning to the start anyway

• but in some cases, it creates
  frustrating repetition. Some
  trickier sections require you
  to spend precious minutes
  navigating there, over and
  over, before you can tackle
  the actual challenge the planet
  you’re aiming for presents.
  It’s these slightly frustrating
  times which hold Outer Wilds
  back from achieving that nice
  round 10, but they fade in the
  memory quickly. Whereas the
  many hours of sheer wonder
  exploring this tiny solar system
  has to offer, those will stick
  withyoufora long time.

WILDLY GOOD @alexjayspencer

VERDICT

Your homeworld, Timber

Hearth – it’s just a few

kilometres across, but that

space is densely packed.

Whether you want to play

explorer, detective, or Bill

Murray, Outer Wilds has you

covered. We’ll say it again: one

of the best games you’ll play this

year. Alex Spencer

“EVERY 22 MINUTES THE

UNIVERSE RESETS. IT’S YOUR

OWN LITTLE GROUNDHOG DAY.”