038
PREVIEW
We’ve all been there: red-faced,
having to explain an embarrassing
bum-dial. Maybe you call your
editor at an inopportune moment
but style it out into a pitch for an
upcoming issue. Or maybe you
accidentally send off a garbled distress signal
from a planet that’s home to some super-secret
research you’d really rather the rest of the galaxy
didn’t catch wind of. Happens to the best of us!The distress signal in question reaches your Captain,
a person of occasionally questionable judgement
who doesn’t always manage to fit the puzzle pieces
together. Your companion, Ellie, tells you the sender
is likely long dead judging by the message’s abrupt
ending. The Captain, through a truly inspired
dialogue option, can suggest the message is simply
an intergalactic bum-dial.
Ellie isn’t convinced by this: “You’re
saying they walked into a communications
tower, turned on the transmitter, held
down the talk button and sent half a
message by accident?”
On being asked not to judge she scoffs,
“Oh, I’m judging all right.”
At an intellectual stalemate, there’s nowt
left to do but venture down and investigate
the source of the signal.CRITTER-CRUSH
On the ground, the scientist Anton Crane
claims the message was accidental after all.
The Captain is satisfied and is about to call
it a day when the ever-sceptical Ellie digs a
little deeper. Turns out all of those corpses
outside, the ones the Captain merrily stepped over
thinking nothing untoward of, are the result of
Crane’s test subjects breaking loose. A scaly alien
species, raptidons may look cute with their pink
and bioluminescent green colouring but, trust us,
they’ve got bite. Anton’s secret lab has been overrun
not only by them but also by marauders who want
to separate him from his secret (and definitely not
entirely legal) research. He tasks you with retrieving
his decidedly dodgy work and also clearing out his
self-induced pest problem.
On the way to the lab, those raptidons soak far
more laser rounds than is welcome. It’s a scarringexperience, and your Captain may
develop a case of raptiphobia. Allowing
this fear to take root will make you
less effective against the scale babies
but grants you a perk point to spend
as you choose. This is the Flaw
system, a risk-versus-reward addition
that allows your custom character to
be shaped by their adventure.TIMELY SHOT
Outside the secret lab there are fewer
raptidons, though far more marauders.
Time Dilation allows you to line up
that perfect headshot to get the jump
on them, but when you’re out of
ammo you’ve still got options, such as
a rather fetching cyber-scythe with a
molten edge that makes melee combat
just as compelling as the gunplay.
Another of your companions, Felix,
has a giant hammer that we can’t wait
to get better acquainted with either.
Speaking of Felix, as much as you
may be taken with his ruddy great
hammer, you won’t be able to romance
any companions you encounter in your
travels. You will still have to put the
effort into keeping them on-side with
specific missions, especially because if
you let ill will fester between they can
up and leave you.
Within the facility, you have to
go on the charm offensive, starting
with the outlaws’ leader, Cassandra
O’Malley. Yes, she has Crane’s research.
No, she isn’t inclined to give it back.
But she is cornered, so perhaps you
can come to an agreement...
If you do decide to help her out,
you’ll have to deal with the facility’s
security forces, who have seen
everything and are none too happy
with your fraternising with the enemy.
You could sweet-talk your way out or
you can straight up attack ’em and see
where that gets you. Decisions, eh?
Who doesn’t love them? As Ellie says,
“You just keep being you.”THE OUTER WORLDS
This pulpy space oddity will spoil you with choice
FORMAT PS4 / ETA 2019 / PUB PRIVATE DIVISION / DEV OBSIDIAN ENTERTAINMENTFACTRICK
You can customise your
Captain’s appearance but
won’t see their face outside
of menus or idle animations.- SAVING FACE
Your companions’ skills
stack onto yours, boosting
your chance of making
successful skill checks.- TEAM WORK
Skills like Intimidation may
play a role outside dialogue.
Killing one enemy may
intimidate the rest to flee.- STREET CRED