Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, PC
Outriders: Worldslayer is stupid – and that’s a compliment. A significant expansion to 2021’s original Outriders, developer People Can Fly’s return to the devastated colony world of Enoch is a bizarre chimera of ambitious sci-fi ideas, ridiculous B-movie tropes, and turn-brain-off-now shooter action. It packs in gorgeous new locations and over-the-top powers alongside cartoonish gore and some of the hammiest, most too-serious dialogue this side of a ‘90s Sci-Fi Channel miniseries. It’s kind of glorious, in a cheesy way.
Worldslayer’s story takes place after the events of the original campaign, with the mysterious Anomaly that caused the customisable player character to wake up from a decades-long cryostasis nap with superpowers now threatening to destroy the entire planet. Meanwhile, new ultra-villain Ereshkigal – named after the Mesopotamian queen of the dead, so you know she’s bad news – leads a new trouble-making faction called the Insurgents. Think too hard on anything that’s going on, or why, and it may fall apart, but go with the flow and it’s tremendous fun.
While you’ll be able to take an existing character through the Worldslayer campaign, it’s also possible to jump straight in by creating a fresh one with stats maxed out to match the higher level content. It’s a nice trick that we’ve seen used in the likes of World of Warcraft and other long-running games – and a welcome one, making the expansion inviting for newcomers or dedicated fans alike.
While the story campaign itself is relatively meagre – most players will probably burst through it in eight hours max; likely far less for seasoned ones who’ve been playing Outriders since launch – the real heft of the expansion is in how it opens up character growth and provides more endgame content.
Combining the various new systems allows for considerable variety in character builds, with a level of flexibility and potential for specialisation that will please even the most stat-obsessed player.
Rather than introduce new combat classes, Worldslayer allows players to expand upon the existing four – Devastator, Pyromancer, Technomancer, and Trickster – with Pax trees. These are separate from existing subclasses, requiring dedicated Pax points to level up, but allow for pretty fun variants. For instance, the Pyromancer Pax tree opens up new identities of ‘pyromaniac’ and ‘gunblazer’, the latter providing skills that massively expand your ammo capacity and enhance weapon damage and effects, turning you into a fiery explosion of near-infinite bullets. Told you it was stupid.
This is bolstered by Ascension skills, allowing more granular, incremental changes to characters over time – such as reducing cool-down time on special abilities – and Apocalypse gear, aka items that feature a third mod slot for even more customisation. Combining the various new systems allows for considerable variety in character builds, with a level of flexibility and potential for specialisation that will please even the most stat-obsessed player. All of these elements combined make the character builds feel more powerful than ever, allowing you to storm across Enoch taking down enemies that would have used up a whole ammo clip before in just one shot.
It feels as though the big draw is meant to be the “Trials of Tarya Gratar” though, a sort of randomised endgame dungeon run that emphasises the game’s loot-and-shoot identity, with plenty of intended replay value for those hunting down the highest level gear. However, given multiplayer in Outriders is entirely optional, constantly replaying in hopes of getting a rarer weapon or armour piece to show off isn’t quite the same draw that it is in live service games such as Destiny. Although Trials offers branching routes, it can still get pretty repetitive.
There’s also no getting away from the fact that, despite the additions, Worldslayer is still Outriders at its core, faults and all. The general formula is still making your way through fairly linear maps, with combat areas recognisable before a shot is fired by the clutch of waist-high cover points that populate them. The weapons still often feel unbalanced, with guns that possess the ‘leech life’ ability a near-necessity to keep health up and make it through the game, rendering most others effectively pointless. Plus, despite the customisation options the new systems bring, it’s all too easy to land on a set of skills that feels comfortable and never have any cause or incentive to change them again.
All of this is compounded by the fact it’s been a full year since Outriders itself came out, and bar the New Horizon update in November 2021 – which focused more on expeditions, loot, and balance tweaks – this serves as the first major content update. While Worldslayer brings a lot to the table on a technical level, it doesn’t feel densely packed enough for the gap – indeed, fans of the genre may feel it’s more of a season update at best, rather than a full expansion or overhaul. What’s here is solid, but it’s unlikely to win over anyone other than existing devotees.