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During my first playthrough of the first Outer Worlds game, I was immediately drawn by its sarcastic, Fallout-like type of wit. This release included engaging exchanges, personal journals, and advertising displays that portrayed a corporate dystopia that was at once dark and entertaining. My main fear heading into the sequel was that this entry – without blame from itself – might not be as humorous compared to the first.

Certainly, conditions weren't ideal. But the world certainly seemed somewhat less damaged at that time. This game showed a bleak future that didn't hit too close to home, and nonetheless succeeded to be both heartwarming and uproarious. I commenced the follow-up pretty sure that this installment wouldn't be able to accomplish this once more, but I'm pleased to state that I was wrong. This follow-up is equally laughter-provoking as the game that preceded it, and additionally brings original ideas instead of just recycling identical material comparable to an tired company slogan.

Evolving Characters

The majority of the non-player characters players encountered in the first title had been defeated by the deeds of company organizations including the in-game corporation, and were painfully aware of how much their lives sucked. The Outer Worlds 2 progresses matters in an alternative path, presenting individuals who are indoctrinated (periodically symbolically, regularly truly). Many of these personalities aren't conscious of how deeply screwed up their situations are, or that there might be choices to a life lived beneath the control of a large business or restricted by the doctrines of a demanding cult.

This follow-up examines forms of corporate control that are more subtle than only making the population impoverished. Many NPCs have been indoctrinated into the kind of extremely eager "work ethic" rhetoric you'll find on social media accounts that claim to disclose the path to accomplishment when you buy for an overpriced workshop, or invest in a sketchy crypto scheme. Furthermore, the release's corporate propaganda has evolved.

Modern Themes

There continue to be numerous demotivating signs throughout facilities warning about deducting staff compensation who so much as contemplate having a break, but there are also allusions to pyramid scheme tactics, including a new hire handbook that boldly states, "Unknown people are merely clients you have yet to encounter!" Being a person who was raised in a multi-level marketing environment, I immediately burst out laughing when encountering this reference, because it's a refrain I have regularly listened to repeated exactly by individuals in lower positions of such schemes.

Thankfully, The Outer Worlds 2 is just as funny and irreverent as the first game.

This installment also examines the predicament various individuals experience regarding occupation, government, and including buying decisions: Needing to pick the lesser of several poor choices. During efforts to decide whether to assist a risky company or a problematic faith organization within the title, I discovered I was aligning with the familiar evil: A recognized business organization that is awful (yet merely employs propaganda to program its members), rather than the cult, which also sucks, but uses an awful technique named "cognitive reset" to keep its adherents in line.

Unreliable Masters

Furthermore, the characters you represent might not be reliable. As an space operative, you're tasked with working to return control to this settlement following a forceful company buyout, and you will quickly find that the two the attackers and the defenders adhere to differing (but similarly terrible) doctrines. But a quick review of the transmissions on your ship's terminal show that the Earth Directorate is hardly the universe's most principled organization either, as shown by a response to a distress call that tells the sender it will take "3-5 organizational cycles" for a response to their communication. (This duration is about how long it takes for many people to get a hold of a human customer service agent via telephone nowadays.)

Relatable Moments

Various situations in this sequel are highly recognizable, but it's a cathartic kind of recognition, and the game achieves equilibrium between its depressing dystopian setting with humor that's authentically amusing without feeling out of place. One major theme is the quick commencement of enshittification that appears to occur following significant business mergers. Staff members from all factions of this installment's major acquisition find their existence decrease as a result, while the CEOs at the top of the food chain are, expectedly, collecting money hand over fist.

Well, at minimum I recognize where I stand.

Similar to the initial release, this follow-up is naturally humorous, but it also doesn't shy away to turn solemn. At one point, while traveling around the game's first explorable world, I stumbled across a body with an audio log close by. The audio log revealed that this NPC (who was aligned with the programming faith group) had been killed in an event during efforts to track down and kill her lover. This partner had apparently defected from their organization, and the perished individual was incensed at her significant other's {traitorous