OUTRIDERS for Windows

OUTRIDERS – the dark, bloody and daring People Can Fly co-op shooter RPG, definitely offers great action, which is complemented by impressive sci-fi superpowers, cool world design and a rather pleasant grind of loot.

At the same time, the sometimes clunky interface, some persistent bugs and a convoluted plot make the game less like a big-budget sci-fi epic and more like the original Sy-Fy Channel series.

OUTRIDERS Overview

Gameplay
Outriders is the ultimate game where you have to fight your way through hordes of bad guys with a couple of friends. Firefights are frantic action that literally leaves battlefields covered in blood. Of course, the combat scenarios get pretty repetitive – especially after going through more than a few Outriders endgame missions that follow the 30 hour campaign. But the combination of sadistically pleasing superpowers and devastating weapons ensures it’s always fun.

Each of the four classes has strengths, weaknesses, and skill sets that are familiar from action games – except that here they are all mainly focused on dealing damage (of the 32 class skills unlockable in Outriders, only two have healing abilities ). However, they each complement each other in more interesting ways than the standard healer.

Opponents
The human enemies to face are fairly limited, ranging from casual shooters to fast-paced berserkers and occasional super-powerful mini-bosses (which get much more powerful towards the end of the game), but they provide enough tactical variety to require quick thinking and strategy.

As you explore the planet’s interesting and diverse wildlife, Outriders offers some really cool monsters and environments, with interesting options for snowy mountains, dense jungle and more. The second half of the campaign puts a little too much emphasis on desert landscapes, but the creature designs out there are one of the best.

Items
When it comes to items that drop after killing an enemy – or that explode in a blinding flash from a giant loot box after an expedition – Outriders doesn’t completely revolutionize the loot process, but at least offers some great looking options. Notable inclusions such as a “double-barreled” – which is essentially two assault rifles welded together – or Legendary-level weapons (most of which look like they’ve been carved from some monster’s ribcage) add flavor to the standard set of weapons.

disadvantages
Outriders also has its fair share of technical challenges. These range from bizarre idiosyncrasies like shaky scenes when doors are opened or poor balance between dialogue and background audio, to some more annoying persistent mistakes. Enemies can often shoot through cover, abilities sometimes don’t work properly. These issues can be annoying, but they are fixable enough not to distract from the general pleasure of kerploding monsters and bad guys.

Verdict
Outriders offers some really great sci-fi action as well as some really interesting world and creature designs. The mostly satisfying approach to RPG mining progress is worth putting up with the weak storyline, a few awkward interfaces, and some lingering technical problems. Outriders is a good type of grind, especially if you like to kill enemies with friends.