The Outer Worlds 2 reviews are finally available, and they are all very positive in their own unique way. The game has already received a considerable number of 9/10 reviews from various leading publications, including Playstation Universe, Gameliner, SirusGaming, Generacion Xbox, NoisyPixel, Metro GameCentral, TierraGamer, and Inverse. ACG even placed a Buy rating on it, which is always great. Notable scores include CogConnected’s 8.5/10, Xbox Mag’s 8/10, and IGN’s 8/10. Checking the aggregate sites, Opencritic puts it at 80, and Metacritic is slightly better at 85. This is definitely a big win for Obsidian’s newest installment in the sci-fi RPG genre.
There is no doubt that the gaming community was split as soon as those numbers were published. Some players are really thrilled and ready to explore, while others are already considering not buying the game at all or at least waiting for a discount. This seems to be an inevitable division between gamers that goes along with the release of every major title.
Usage of platform bias is one of the points that the public has noticed. Lup said, “PushSquare giving it a 7 is hilarious. Guys can’t get rid of that PS bias.” On the other hand, Drum2dbeatz said, “Playstation Universe rated it higher than Xbox Mag? lol” which is quite humorous considering the fact that The Outer Worlds 2 is an Xbox console exclusive. But then Yikesity replied with “Xbox journalists give PS games bad ratings” and we found ourselves in that eternal console war loop again.
The marketing of this game was a point of contention. Brandoncomandon asked, “This games releasing? Haven’t heard anything about it since the announcement.” which is quite strange given that we are talking about a major sequel. FumeGaming69 chimed in to express agreement, “I mean, I meant no offense but, compared to the marketing of most other AAA games, this had very little buzz.” However, JD1424_ countered, “I mean they did an entire game showcase right after the xbox showcase in june” so it wasn’t like the game was totally off the radar. Still, the sentiment that this game missed the radar for many is quite strong.
Looking at the scores of the reviews, we come to discuss the gamers’ responses and implications for the players involved. AntonioWey dropped a bomb with the comment: “If the media likes it that much it’s a red flag. Remember Dragon Age Vangaurd was a Masterpiece. Concord was a brilliant game.” this really reflects the lately common suspicion of “if critics love it, I might hate it” that has emerged. VillainTroy remarked, “lol if I played this and if it were anything like the 1st one, I would never listen to reviews again 😔 which possibly indicates the first game did not resonate with everyone even though it received good reviews.
The whole ACG review issue devolved into a controversy. Several users such as Abel, ShadowThi3f, and Bconman44 all noted that ACG’s actual recommendation was “‘wait for sale'” rather than a straight buy. Bconman44 even declared, “ACG is the only review that really matters. The rest are frauds” which is… quite a statement. But then, the initial tweet’s creator, HazzadorGamin, later clarified that Opencritic’s aggregate symbolizes Buy, so there is some confusion about what the actual consent is.
Price has always been a recurring theme in the discussion. Torrent_Of_Pork merely stated, “Cool, see you at $40.” Meanwhile, ErsintheNorth spoke bluntly with the words, “Easy skip, this trash not worth for $70.” The $70 price tag for new games remains a significant hurdle for many gamers, especially if they are not entirely convinced about the product at the beginning.
JimoarGaming shared his experience with the first game saying, “I played the first and thought it was fine. I remember nothing about it other than I was disappointed with how few crew options there were.” This shows how the past experiences with a franchise can have a significant impact on the expectations for the sequel. On the contrary, fabregaspastore commented, “My type of game. But I’m going to start Yotei first this weekend” thus revealing that even the potential players have other games that are competing for their time and money.
There is also the odd meta-commentary on the review aggregators themselves. nickytrillgang shouted, “I don’t want to be the guy but didn’t you say you were only posting opencritic from now on? weird you now post metacritic when it’s higher than the open” which is just… gamers noticing the smallest details and patterns I guess.
Tony54381404 was more optimistic and said, “Hope they got a bonus this time for hitting 85 on metacritic lol” which is a reference to the practice of some developers having bonus incentives based on Metacritic scores. Kate Sánchez from ButWhyThoPC also added to the favorable critical reception by presenting their own 9/10 review.
To sum up, The Outer Worlds 2 receives mostly the critics’ good references and reviews, with the scores being 8 to 9 out of 10 and the aggerate scores in the lower to mid 80s. However, player reactions are different, to some they are all in others being skeptical, many are waiting for discounts and a few are just completely ignoring the game. It’s the typical modern gaming scenario where the critics and the community are not always aligned, and each of them has their specific reason for wanting to play or skip the game. Whether The Outer Worlds 2 lives up to the hype or not is going to ultimately depend on individual player experiences once they get their hands on the game. The reviews indicate it’s a fantastic JRPG experience, but as we have seen countless times before, review scores do not necessarily mean universal satisfaction among players.
