Outriders launched on April 1. The game was created by Polish game studio People Can Fly, the creators of the original Gears of War trilogy as well as the popular 2017 battle royale, Fortnite. Outriders is a third-person shooter, with a multiplayer focus. Players can join up in teams of three to play together, but the game is able to be solo ran if preferred.
The game uses a tier system, starting out with World Tier 1, the story mode of the game. Players can reach up to Tier 15, but can also change the level at any time if it becomes overwhelming or too difficult.
Players are introduced to their character after landing on an alien planet, dubbed ‘Enoch’. At first, things seem great and it looks like the planet may be the answer to humanity’s prayers. However, it’s rather short-lived as something, which is later known as the Anomaly, begins to destroy and change everything in its path.
Several of the Outriders are hit and most die, however, the player character manages to survive, becoming an Altered, which is a human with supernatural abilities. They are locked away in cryo and emerge several years later to a changed world. Most of the people they arrived with are dead, and the ones that remain have either gone rogue and become evil, or are struggling to survive in small cities.
Upon reconnecting with a couple of members of their old team, the Outrider sets out to find the source of a signal that seems to be coming from the other side of the Anomaly. The Outrider meets Dr. Zahedi, who’s been tracking the signal and they set off to find out what’s truly on the other side.
Outriders is a beautiful game with a solid story, but that doesn’t mean it’s without problems. On launch day, the game suffered repeated server crashes that made it nearly unplayable. These issues continued to plague the game for the first three days post-launch, but seem to now be resolved.
Another issue is that PC/Console cross-play has currently been disabled by People Can Fly, as there is a major issue that causes players to disconnect or crash when attempting to play with another device.
Connecting with teammates on the same console seems to be an issue as well, as there exists major stuttering and lag issues when playing with other players, no matter if it’s a team of two or a full squad of three.
Playing on an Xbox Series X, when I was able to connect to my friends, I found the game nearly unplayable. I was barely able to move and my shots did almost no damage, which was odd given that I was at least two or three levels higher than my friends, and at least one to two world tiers higher, which meant I should have been stronger than most of the enemies in their games.
It’s also easy to get trapped by enemies and be unable to move, or get stuck on something in the environment and inevitably die due to being stuck. Occasionally while playing with friends, my ‘ultimate ability’, or the one that required me to hit two buttons to trigger, would get stuck and I couldn’t finish the move or shoot anything.
Nothing could get it unstuck except letting my character get downed. Post-campaign isn’t without its own issues, as the game will randomly crash to the main screen of the console sometimes without warning. As a whole, the matchmaking system appears to be broken, and unstable at best.
Bugs and issues aside, the game has a great footing and a story that has the potential to be expanded upon. While there are limited customization options, the game gives you enough that it’s possible to make unique characters. The game is worth replaying just to experience the different classes available and their abilities, and with the number of side quests and activities to do, it’s easy to put a good chunk of time into the game. That being said, is Outriders worth paying for? I believe so.
However, if you want to play it safe and you’re on PC or Xbox, Outriders is available through Xbox’s subscription service, Gamepass, essentially making the game free for those who want to see what it’s about without dropping $60.
Outriders is available now on PC, PlayStation and Xbox!
Jeri Hensley
Creative Director