044PREVIEW
This sort of caption which
sits on the image doesn’t
have the little coloured
box at the start. 4 lines.OUTRIDERS
Bringing superpowers to a gunfight
fairly short cooldown timers, meaning
you’re able to rotate through all your
class’ unique skills at a decent clip.
The Trickster zips across the
battlefield teleporting behind enemies,
throwing time-slowing daggers and
creating slow-down bubbles, while the
Devastator encases themself in stone,
creates a series of earthquakes, and
leaps into the air, selects a target, and
smashes their stony self into a group
of enemies – and that feels fantastic.
They’re joined by the flame-spewing
Pyromancer and the newly announced
Technomancer, who summons turrets
and rocket launchers to freeze and
poison enemies. As all the players’
powers come together, the battlefield
really becomes chaotic. “From the
beginning we wanted the skills to
be almost as important as guns. So,
there’s a 50/50% balance in gameplay,”
shares creative director Bartek Kmita.
While the fights are electric,
the funnelling between them is
straightforward, and as the world tier
system pushes us to harder difficulties
for better loot we find enemy captains
become quite bullet-spongey. We
love using our powers to own the
battlefield, but even good things can
become a slog with enough repetition.
Whether Outsiders slips in this regard,
we’ll have to wait and see.FORMAT PS4 / ETA Q4 2020 / PUB SQUARE ENIX / DEV PEOPLE CAN FLYFACTRICK
Crafting can improve rarity,
level up, attach mods,
raise attributes, or swap
variants on your gear.- CRAFT CLUB
Key to the story is
traversing Enoch with your
pals on your truck, which
you can customise.- PIMP MY RIDE
Difficulty is adaptable. The
better you do, the higher
the world tiers you unlock,
giving you better loot.- WORLD SHAKER
Above The story has you
pushing into Enoch’s
Anomaly-ravaged wilds,
taking your pals around in
a truck-base, coming up
against monsters.“WE USE OUR
ANOMALY SKILLS
AS FREQUENTLY AS
WE USE OUR GUNS.”
The game’s playable
alone or with friends –
even going solo allows
for enjoyable chaos.Yes, there is cover in Outriders,
but it wouldn’t be accurate to
call it a cover shooter. During our
hands-on, we only spend a fraction
of our time ducking behind the
ol’ waist-highs, our moments of
catching our breath brief. Instead, the shooting is
much closer to that in something like Vanquish,
rewarding electric daredevil activity with
bounteous advantages, not least of all recovering
health. To cower behind cover in Outriders is to
die slowly – only by meeting enemies in a blaze
of glory will you be able to live forever.During cryosleep, your Outrider (chosen
from four classes) was given special powers
by the Anomaly, an electrical storm ravaging
the planet Enoch and putting a spanner in
the space-age works of humanity’s efforts
to settle there.POWER TRIP
But don’t mistake those Anomaly skills for
mere ultimate attacks (as the parlance goes).
No, during our hands-on we use those
skills as frequently as we use the guns –
and that’s a lot. It’s like having your super in
Destiny 2 active all the time. And that’s rad.
(Though this isn’t a Destiny-like ‘game as a
service’; the focus here is on a completable
story with replayability baked in). You can equip
three of these skills (from a selection of eight, earned
at higher levels, in the build we played) to activate
using o, u, or a combination of both. They all have044
OUTRIDERS
Bringingsuperpowersto a gunfight
fairlyshortcooldowntimers,meaning
you’reabletorotatethroughallyour
class’uniqueskillsata decentclip.
TheTricksterzipsacrossthe
battlefieldteleportingbehindenemies,
throwingtime-slowingdaggersand
creatingslow-downbubbles,whilethe
Devastatorencasesthemselfinstone,
createsa seriesofearthquakes,and
leapsintotheair,selectsa target,and
smashes their stony self into a group
of enemies – and that feels fantastic.
They’re joined by the flame-spewing
Pyromancer and the newly announced
Technomancer, who summons turrets
and rocket launchers to freeze and
poison enemies. As all the players’
powers come together, the battlefield
really becomes chaotic. “From the
beginning we wanted the skills to
be almost as important as guns. So,
there’s a 50/50% balance in gameplay,”
shares creative director Bartek Kmita.
While the fights are electric,
the funnelling between them is
straightforward, and as the world tier
system pushes us to harder difficulties
for better loot we find enemy captains
become quite bullet-spongey. We
love using our powers to own the
battlefield, but even good things can
become a slog with enough repetition.
Whether Outsiders slips in this regard,
we’ll have to wait and see.FORMATPS4/ETAQ4 2020 /PUBSQUAREENIX/DEVPEOPLECANFLYFACTRICK
Crafting can improverarity,
level up, attachmods,
raiseattributes,orswap
variantsonyourgear.1.CRAFTCLUBKey to thestoryis
traversing Enochwithyour
palsonyourtruck,which
youcancustomise.2.PIMPMYRIDEDifficulty is adaptable.The
better you do,thehigher
the world tiersyouunlock,
giving you betterloot.3.WORLDSHAKERAbove The story has you
pushing into Enoch’s
Anomaly-ravaged wilds,
taking your pals around in
a truck-base, coming up
against monsters.“WE USE OUR
ANOMALY SKILLS
AS FREQUENTLY AS
WE USE OUR GUNS.”
The game’s playable
alone or with friends –
even going solo allows
for enjoyable chaos.Yes, there is cover in Outriders,
but it wouldn’t be accurate to
call it a cover shooter. During our
hands-on, we only spend a fraction
of our time ducking behind the
ol’ waist-highs, our moments of
catching our breath brief. Instead, the shooting is
much closer to that in something like Vanquish,
rewarding electric daredevil activity with
bounteous advantages, not least of all recovering
health. To cower behind cover in Outriders is to
die slowly – only by meeting enemies in a blaze
of glory will you be able to live forever.During cryosleep, your Outrider (chosen
from four classes) was given special powers
by the Anomaly, an electrical storm ravaging
the planet Enoch and putting a spanner in
the space-age works of humanity’s efforts
to settle there.POWER TRIP
But don’t mistake those Anomaly skills for
mere ultimate attacks (as the parlance goes).
No, during our hands-on we use those
skills as frequently as we use the guns –
and that’s a lot. It’s like having your super in
Destiny 2 active all the time. And that’s rad.
(Though this isn’t a Destiny-like ‘game as a
service’; the focus here is on a completable
story with replayability baked in). You can equip
three of these skills (from a selection of eight, earned
at higher levels, in the build we played) to activate
using o, u, or a combination of both. They all have