▷ Outriders – Hell at the other end of the galaxy… [PEGI 18] 🎮

In the games of the moment, we find Outriders trying to find their place in the sun. Of course, yours truly has gone out of its way to prepare a preview for you so you know what to expect if you're considering picking up the title. This preview was made on PC in ultra/1080 quality and without too many spoilers...

Graphics & atmosphere

Graphically, the game is interesting and offers nice effects depending on the scenery, like in the desert and its really well done sandstorm. For the models, it's quite uneven, as some are extremely well made, while others pose a small problem in terms of their simply ridiculous facial expressions. But let's come back to the sets which are really varied and make us travel in a dark and violent world both in its atmosphere and thanks to its graphics. Because yes, after the introduction, violence is omnipresent, but not that... we feel the madness, the fear, and all that that generates in this world which is a real hell where only the fittest will survive.

Outriders – Hell at the other end of the galaxy… [PEGI 18]

On the sound side, we are in the immersive, whether under the assaults of creatures, looters, insurgents or other vermin who will come to mess with you. The fury of combat and skills accompanied by the background music that will punctuate your fight is flawless.

History

You are part of the "Outriders", an elite corps tasked with exploring and securing places on the planet Enoch, which turns out to be the last hope of the human race after the dying Earth is abandoned. You see the sublime green expanses of the planet, and explore the places to find the probes that will give you the viability of the place. But a series of events will plunge you into a 30-year sleep. When you wake up, you find yourself in a place that looks like the hell of a war, bloody trenches and places of nameless butcheries.

Later, you will discover after being struck by the "anomaly", that you have become more than a human, you are an alter. . that is to say a person capable of doing crazy and terrible things, but can also be able to save humanity which has been killing each other for so many years, triggering conflicts against itself and all the threats that populate this new and hostile world...

Gameplay

After the creation of your character which will leave you a good margin of customization (modifiable during the game, except for the gender), you will have the right to a quick tutorial in a world of idyllic appearance. Following this, you will wake up some time later in the middle of a war and the hour of choice is imposed on you on your class!

Technomage
Pyromage
Illusionist
Telluriste

Turret, trap and long range combat will be your friends!

You'll fry your enemies in deluges of flame, all at medium range.

You see him, you see him more, he's behind his enemy's back slicing him. Adept at melee, a real eel.

The mountain personified. you wield the rocks to protect your allies, smash the lines and hold your position. You'll be a fan of short distance, but hey, you can impale your enemies... that makes up for it!

Once this final choice is made, you can begin your journey through this ravaged world. Typically, you will be able to walk around in a 'corridor' world where, in the end, little choice and freedom will be allowed, apart from the quests that will be imposed on you. While some form of freedom is present, you won't be able to stray from the mainline either other than during side quests that will give you access to areas that are here and there. And it is precisely a good thing as we really have the impression of being free in these wide open spaces, when not really! Moreover, a radar is available with a function of 'guiding' via a luminous rope, but the system is quite often badly put together and regularly gives the direction of a quest previously accomplished.

And every inch you explore will of course be paid for with the blood of the enemies you'll fight your way forward. Simple enough in themselves, the first challenges will be the "elites" who have particular abilities and resistance, followed by their big brothers, the altered, who will often be quite powerful bosses. But nothing will beat the real bosses, which are often gigantic and offer fairly simple fights once you understand the pattern. Unfortunately, as a "tellurist", I didn't really feel any danger during these clashes, whereas some "elite", when they are in a group, are more violent.

To face all this, you will be able to use three skills among those that you will unlock by leveling up (the maximum being level 30) which will reflect your fighting style and will be adaptable via a talent tree and "mods" on your equipment.

Equipment and Skills

The many modes available on the weapons will influence your shots and the way and the bonuses/penalties inflicted directly via 3 levels which mainly represent the power of the effect and the power of the latter. Armor mods have 3 distinct levels which are more categorized, with especially a first level which will only affect the character's skills. For example, the Earthquake will be able to gain bleed effects, armor steal, power increase, range, max use, etc... to further customize your playstyle. And to be sure not to deprive yourself, you will be able to modify any passive of a part if you have already dismantled it at least once. Of course, it will be necessary to unlock the option, but it is quite fast.

Moreover, an object dismantling system will allow you to obtain valuable resources to improve your objects during your journey, or you can simply sell them to make some scrap metal, the currency of the game. resources are: Leather, Iron, Titanium, Fragments.

Each skill has various effects and the ability to interrupt the enemy. This is vital for avoiding annoying buffs, annoying skills, or just throwing an enemy off balance. But it will be necessary to take into account that this one will gain a temporary (and visible) resistance during the interruptions. So once again, it will be necessary to balance well between the skills of damage and those of protection.

Customization, Commendation, and World Level

The game offers challenges that only affect your character's customization in terms of their banner, emotes, and convoy. Depending on the actions, achievements and missions you complete, you will have more and more cosmetic customization elements.

But the most interesting aspect is the world level. This symbolizes the increasing difficulty that you will unlock as you progress via a specific experience bar. This will affect the difficulty of enemies, but also the items and the chance of getting rarer and more valuable loot. Personally, I have always kept the maximum level, but having met people with a lower level in multiplayer, the difference is very clear.

Multiplayer, Expedition and Endgame

The game is the victim of a moderate bashing because of its somewhat strawberry multiplayer. Cross-platform was really expected and had to be disabled due to a lack of synchronization between PCs and consoles. On the other hand, the cross-platform between PC Steam / EGS and Xbox / Playstation consoles works quite well as far as they are concerned.

The multiplayer offers to join a team of between one and four other players to advance in the story and pass the more complicated challenges. Many distinctions will also be linked to this. Like resurrecting your allies a certain number of times, doing the same emote at the same time, etc. And that's an integral part of one facet of the endgame: expeditions.

Once the game is over, you will have to find capsules that will be located in various places in the world among the places already visited. To do this, you can choose a difficulty level between 1 and 15, although level 5 will be the maximum at the start. After that, you can gradually increase the level by doing missions at the maximum possible level until you reach the eye of the storm. Once at the end of a mission, you will have many rewards and chances of getting legendary items depending on how long it took you to finish.

Each mission takes place in a succession of zones with multiple elite enemies with classic enemies, ending in an often tough boss zone, and sometimes with certain enemies that you may have encountered during the adventure, such as Kang or well Moloch, even with others never met such as Dr Detonator. The difficulty is full-bodied, the cocktail of action is there and we never rest!

Summary

Outriders is a game that promised a lot. Its mastered semi-open world, its environment speaking for itself and its unusual atmosphere are all qualities to be credited to it. However, the gameplay full of good ideas is somewhat diminished by the monotony of the "arena" fights which will be predictable and simply identical. And which become boring after a while... a bit of a shame. But, even if some points are a little predictable, the game is very far from being bad and certainly offers an original experience with a really surprising and rich story.

In conclusion, Outriders is a game that I recommend for many reasons, including multiplayer which promises really nice games between friends and, for sure, everyone will find something for themselves as long as you like the style. of play and that we manage to override the slightly repetitive side of the fights.

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