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| platforms = {{Unbulleted list|[[Microsoft Windows]]|[[PlayStation 4]]|[[PlayStation 5]]|[[Xbox One]]|[[Xbox Series X/S]]|[[Google Stadia|Stadia]]}}
| platforms = {{Unbulleted list|[[Microsoft Windows]]|[[PlayStation 4]]|[[PlayStation 5]]|[[Xbox One]]|[[Xbox Series X/S]]|[[Google Stadia|Stadia]]}}
| released = April 1, 2021
| released = April 1, 2021
| genre = [[Third-person shooter]], [[role-playing game|role-playing]]
| genre = [[Third-person shooter]], [[Action role-playing game|Action role-playing]]
| modes = [[Single-player]], [[multiplayer]]
| modes = [[Single-player]], [[multiplayer]]
}}
}}


'''''Outriders''''' is a [[Cooperative video game|cooperative]] [[Role-playing game|role-playing]] [[Third-person shooter|third-person]] video game developed by [[People Can Fly]] and published by [[Square Enix]]'s [[Square Enix Europe|European subsidiary]]. It was released on April 1, 2021 for [[Microsoft Windows]], [[PlayStation 4]], [[PlayStation 5]], [[Xbox One]], [[Xbox Series X|Xbox Series X/S]], and [[Google Stadia|Stadia]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/outriders/status/1314611589786501134|access-date=2020-10-09|website=Twitter|language=en|title=In case you missed it, #Outriders will release February 2, 2021 with full cross-play support on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC (Steam & Epic). Coming to Stadia later in 2021.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/GoogleStadia/status/1361729682119385088?s=20|access-date=2021-02-17|website=Twitter|language=en|title=Get ready to loot and shoot your way through a brand new cooperative adventure from the multiplayer masters at People Can Fly. Outriders arrives April 1!}}</ref> The game received mixed to positive reviews from critics, with praise towards the customization and gameplay, but criticism for its writing, characters, and technical issues upon release.
'''''Outriders''''' is a [[Cooperative video game|cooperative]] [[Action role-playing game|action role-playing]] [[Third-person shooter|third-person]] video game developed by [[People Can Fly]] and published by [[Square Enix]]'s [[Square Enix Europe|European subsidiary]]. It was released on April 1, 2021 for [[Microsoft Windows]], [[PlayStation 4]], [[PlayStation 5]], [[Xbox One]], [[Xbox Series X|Xbox Series X/S]], and [[Google Stadia|Stadia]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/outriders/status/1314611589786501134|access-date=2020-10-09|website=Twitter|language=en|title=In case you missed it, #Outriders will release February 2, 2021 with full cross-play support on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC (Steam & Epic). Coming to Stadia later in 2021.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/GoogleStadia/status/1361729682119385088?s=20|access-date=2021-02-17|website=Twitter|language=en|title=Get ready to loot and shoot your way through a brand new cooperative adventure from the multiplayer masters at People Can Fly. Outriders arrives April 1!}}</ref> The game received mixed to positive reviews from critics, with praise towards the customization and gameplay, but criticism for its writing, characters, and technical issues upon release.


==Gameplay==
==Gameplay==

Revision as of 18:30, 16 April 2021

Outriders
Developer(s)People Can Fly
Publisher(s)Square Enix
Director(s)Bartosz Kmita
Writer(s)Joshua Rubin
Composer(s)Inon Zur
EngineUnreal Engine 4
Platform(s)
ReleaseApril 1, 2021
Genre(s)Third-person shooter, Action role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Outriders is a cooperative action role-playing third-person video game developed by People Can Fly and published by Square Enix's European subsidiary. It was released on April 1, 2021 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Stadia.[1][2] The game received mixed to positive reviews from critics, with praise towards the customization and gameplay, but criticism for its writing, characters, and technical issues upon release.

Gameplay

Outriders is a third-person shooter mixed with elements from role-playing games. In the beginning of the game, players create their custom characters and choose from four classes, each of them has unique abilities that the players can utilize.[3] The four classes include the Trickster, which has the ability to manipulate time, the Pyromancer, which can manipulate fire, the Devastator, which can unleash seismic attacks, and the Technomancer, which uses turrets and other devices.[4] These special skills have a short cooldown time and can be combined with other skills for maximum effects. The game features a skill tree that allows players to unlock and upgrade their skills.[5]

Players can use different weapons such as shotguns and assault rifles to defeat enemies, and firearms can be customized with weapon mods.[6] Players can hide behind cover to shield themselves from enemy attacks, though health will only regenerate if the player manages to hurt or kill enemies.[5] Players combat both monsters and human enemies. As the player progresses, the world level (the game's equivalent to gameplay difficulty) will increase. If the world level is high, it is more likely for the player to get high-end loot from defeated enemies.[4]

The game incorporates various role-playing elements. As the players explore, they can explore different hub areas, talk to non-playable characters and complete side missions. In cutscenes a dialogue tree allows to decide the outcome of some conversations, though it does not affect the story's progression. The game can be played solo, but players can also complete the game together with two other players.[7]

Plot

During the middle of the 21st Century, Earth has passed the point of no return as climate disasters grow more frequent and dangerous, surpassing humanity's ability to mitigate them. The major governments of Earth combine their resources under the newly formed Enoch Colonization Authority (ECA) in a last-ditch effort to preserve humanity on Enoch, a distant Earth-like planet. Two massive colony ships, the Caravel and the Flores, are built, each holding 500 thousand colonists. Despite the Caravel exploding in the middle of construction, the Flores successfully reaches Enoch's orbit after an 83 year journey. The first humans to set foot on Enoch are the Outriders, a team of elite soldiers tasked with scouting the landing zone and paving the way for the colonists. However, the Outriders quickly discover the Anomaly, a massive and deadly energy storm. The Outriders attempt to warn the ECA to abort the colonization, but the ECA leadership instead send their own security forces to silence the Outriders by purging them. One of the Outriders, having survived exposure to the Anomaly, is mortally wounded during the fighting and is put into cryo stasis by Shira, an ECA scientist for a later coup.

The Outrider is awakened from cryo stasis 31 years later, where they find that the ECA's attempted colonization has failed, with the Anomaly destroying all the colony's advanced technology and trapping all the colonists within the confines of a single mountain valley. Beset by hostile alien wildlife and left with dwindling resources, the colonists split in a massive civil war pitting the remnants of the ECA against the Insurgents, militant rebels who seek to overthrow the ECA. In addition, people who have survived exposure to the Anomaly like the Outrider have become "Altered", mutated humans possessing supernatural powers. The Outrider manages to reunite with Shira, who is now the de facto leader of the ECA, and she tasks him/her with fighting against the down trodden Insurgents and eliminating their Altered.

Shira then explains that she and scientist Dr. Zahedi are trying to trace the source of a mysterious signal originating from the other side of the Anomaly. Having recorded the exact frequency of the signal when they first landed, the Outrider heads out to meet Zahedi. Zahedi reveals that he possesses the last satellite uplink capable of connecting to the Flores, which remains in orbit with half of the colony's supplies. If the colonists can relocate to an area safe from the Anomaly, they can establish a new colony. Taking Zahedi and several companions, the Outrider traverses a number of hazardous environments and is finally able to breach the Anomaly and reach the other side, only to find a vast, barren desert inhabited by a savage native race known as the Pax who are hostile to humans.

As the group continues to follow the signal, they discover the wreck of the Caravel, which has inexplicably reached Enoch before the Flores. Upon entering the Caravel, the group learns that after the Flores left Earth, the people left behind were able to rebuild the Caravel with a more advanced engine, allowing it to reach Enoch before the Flores. Upon landing, the Caravel colonists encountered the Pax, and began to enslave and experiment on them in an effort to study their abilities. Left with no choice, the Pax turned themselves into their current savage forms and wiped out the Caravel colonists. The signal they had been following all this time was the Caravel's automated distress beacon. The Pax assault the Caravel, but the Outrider and their group are able to fight them back and Zahedi sends a signal to the Flores to launch its cargo pods.

As the group watches the cargo pods land, they are met by a group of colonists who have followed their trail, inspired by the stories of the Outrider. Still determined to fulfill their mission, the Outrider presses on to look for a suitable area to colonize.

Development

Polish developer People Can Fly started Outriders's development in 2015.[8] Square Enix agreed to publish it and encouraged the team to expand on their vision. To develop the game, People Can Fly expanded the studio from having 40 members to more than 200 members.[4] Outriders's gameplay reveal caused critics to compare the game to other live service games such as Destiny and Tom Clancy's The Division, though People Can Fly affirmed that Outriders is not a live service title and that it was a game that players can "start and finish". The game was designed with cooperative gameplay in mind, though the team put a lot of emphasis in writing the game's story, with the lead writer Joshua Rubin comparing it to Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness.[9] The game's narrative features a much more serious tone than Bulletstorm as the studio wanted to prove that it can also write a mature story.[4][10]

On May 16, 2018, Square Enix announced that they would publish the next title from People Can Fly.[11] Announced at E3 2019,[12] the game is set to be released for Stadia, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X on April 1, 2021, after being delayed from its late 2020 timeline due to impacts from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[13][14] A game demo for the game was released in February 2021 and attracted 2 million players.[15]

On March 15, 2021, it was announced that the Xbox version would be available at no additional cost to Xbox Game Pass subscribers.[16]

Reception

Outriders received "mixed or average reviews" from critics, according to Metacritic.[18][19][20] The game received "generally positive reviews" for the Windows version.[17]

GameRevolution gave the game 7.5/10, praising the animations and customizable weapons, as well as the fact it was completed upon launch, but criticized the writing of the characters.[23] GameSpot gave it 8/10, praising the "combination of cover shooting, loot shooter, co-op, and superpowers create intense tactical combat".[24]

Destructoid gave the game a 7/10, praising it for being "a complete $60 game" and writing: "Solid and definitely has an audience. There could be some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun."[21]

Sales

During its week of release, Outriders was the sixth best-selling retail game in the UK all-format charts,[27] the second best-selling retail game in the Switzerland all-format charts,[28] and the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions of the game debuted at the ninth and twentieth position of the Japan individual-format charts; with 6,596 and 2,431 physical copies sold, respectively.[29] While the game's launch was plagued with server issues, it attracted nearly 100,000 concurrent players on Steam.[30]

References

  1. ^ "In case you missed it, #Outriders will release February 2, 2021 with full cross-play support on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC (Steam & Epic). Coming to Stadia later in 2021". Twitter. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  2. ^ "Get ready to loot and shoot your way through a brand new cooperative adventure from the multiplayer masters at People Can Fly. Outriders arrives April 1!". Twitter. Retrieved 2021-02-17.
  3. ^ LeBouef, Sarah (February 13, 2020). "Bulletstorm devs are making a Mass Effect-style shooter, and it's pretty good". Polygon. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d "Blazing a New Trail". Game Informer. February 20, 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  5. ^ a b Kelly, Rosh (February 20, 2020). "Outriders: Everything we know about People Can Fly's newest shooter". Red Bull. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  6. ^ Hornshaw, Phil (February 18, 2020). "Outriders Is An Aggressive Blend Of Gears Of War Shooting And Mass Effect-Like Powers". GameSpot. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  7. ^ Wales, Matt (February 14, 2020). "Bulletstorm dev shares first gameplay details of co-op sci-fi Outriders". Eurogamer. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  8. ^ Mercante, Alyssa (February 11, 2020). "Wild new Outriders trailer confirms the RPG shooter is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X". GamesRadar. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  9. ^ Bailey, Kat (February 13, 2020). ""Outriders Isn't Games as Service:" People Can Fly on What Makes Their Next-Gen Shooter "Old-School"". USgamer. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  10. ^ Billcliffe, James (February 13, 2020). ""Brutal approach" to Outriders' sci-fi universe in People Can Fly's DNA". VG 247. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  11. ^ Fogel, Stephanie (May 16, 2018). "Video Game Developer People Can Fly Working on New 'AAA Shooter' With Square Enix". Variety. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  12. ^ Brown, Fraser (June 11, 2019). "Outriders is a co-op sci-fi shooter from the creators of Bulletstorm". PC Gamer. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  13. ^ Bankhurst, Adam (February 12, 2020). "Square Enix's Outriders Coming Holiday 2020, PS5 and Xbox Series X Versions Confirmed". IGN. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  14. ^ Frech, Ricky (October 8, 2020). "Outriders Gets a February 2, 2021 Release Date". DualShockers. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  15. ^ Nunneley, Stephanny (March 4, 2021). "Outriders demo saw over 2 million players, patch coming next week". VG 247. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  16. ^ https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2021/03/15/outriders-coming-to-xbox-game-pass/
  17. ^ a b "Outriders for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  18. ^ a b "Outriders for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  19. ^ a b "Outriders for PlayStation 5 Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  20. ^ a b "Outriders for Xbox Series X Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  21. ^ a b https://www.destructoid.com/stories/review-outriders-624328.phtml
  22. ^ https://egmnow.com/outriders-review/
  23. ^ a b "Outriders Review: 'A blast from a simpler past'". GameRevolution. April 7, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  24. ^ a b Petite, Steven (April 7, 2020). "Outriders Review". GameSpot. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  25. ^ https://www.gamesradar.com/outriders-review/
  26. ^ https://hardcoregamer.com/2021/04/09/review-outriders/401742/
  27. ^ Dring, Christopher (April 5, 2021). "Outriders debuts at No.6 as FIFA 21 returns to No.1". Gameindustry.biz. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  28. ^ "PLATTFORMÜBERGREIFEND". GameChartz.ch. Archived from the original on April 12, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  29. ^ Romano, Sal (April 8, 2021). "Famitsu Sales: 3/29/21 – 4/4/21 [Update]". Gematsu. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  30. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (April 3, 2021). "Outriders launch dwarfs Marvel's Avengers". Eurogamer. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
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