Outriders, the new third-person RPG from People Can Fly, is set to release in February of 2021. The game will blend looter-shooter mechanics with its RPG system, allowing players to improve their characters with both skills and weaponry. Titles like Borderlands 3 have helped this combination to explode in popularity recently, and it'll be interesting to see what Outriders can bring to the table.
Borderlands 3 is very much a game that sticks to the classic formula of its predecessors. Combining irreverent humor with satisfying looter-shooter combat, Gearbox's title knows just how to balance effort and reward. The question is, how can new-kid-on-the-block Outriders outdo Borderlands, the granddaddy of looter-shooters?
Combo-ing up in Co-op
It's well-known that the Borderlands series is at its best when played in co-op, but even so, its multiplayer mechanics are beginning to look a little basic. In the 11 years since the launch of the original Borderlands, there have been many great co-op titles to push the genre forward. These days, popular co-op action titles such as Destiny 2 and Monster Hunter often feature mechanics that heavily reward active co-operation.
In Borderlands 3, just like the rest of its series, each Vault Hunter is an army-unto-themselves. While there are some minor ways that allies can help each other, for most classes it's limited to helping each other up. This can too often lead to co-op gameplay where each player is in their own little world, and just happens to be firing at the same enemies.
We already know that Outriders' classes will have many different powers and abilities, which can be combined in elaborate combos. What's more exciting is the possibility that these combos can be performed by multiple players. With each player class having its own distinct theme, there's a lot of room for cross-class power plays.
Turning up the RPG
They may have been considered deep for a shooter back in 2009, but Borderland's RPG elements haven't evolved much over the past 11 years. In fact, they've barely changed at all. On the mechanics side of things, the Vault Hunters in Borderlands aren't really distinguishable from those in Borderlands 3. They each have three skill trees to choose from, which are roughly themed toward certain gameplay styles. The only real difference is that the characters in Borderlands 1 only got a single Action Skill, while those in Borderlands 3 get one for each tree.
When it comes to roleplaying in gameplay, the Borderlands series again finds itself sticking to the classics. Although Gearbox consider the series a looter-shooter first and RPG second, it still aims to fall into the latter genre. Despite this, Borderlands 3 is lacking many RPG elements that are common among its peers. These include branching dialogue trees, which give players a chance to decide the voice of their character, and reactive quest-lines that can change based on player choices.
People Can Fly has already confirmed that Outriders will have branching dialogue trees, although it won't have a dynamic narrative to fit them. On the mechanics side, it seems that the looter-shooter will be taking inspiration from Diablo 3's flexible skill system. This means multiple active skills, all of which can combo with each other as well as passives to create unique playstyles.
More Serious Tone
It's fair to say that the Borderlands series has a bit of an obsession with scatological humor. It's a love affair that began all the way back in the first game, and seems to have reached fever pitch in the third. Now, there's nothing wrong with a little crass humor, but in moderation.
The Borderlands series has long been praised for its irreverent humor, but where it really shines is in the witty writing and exaggerated characters, not in the gutter. Borderlands 3's quests include causing a poop tsunami, saving a guy trapped in a porta-potty, and creating a poop-firing rocket launcher made of, you guessed it, poop.
People Can Fly have never claimed that Outriders will be a funny game, and no one expects it to be. In fact, it's clear that the game will hold a much darker tone than other looter-shooters, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. As Borderlands 3 frequently trips over its own obsession with toilet-humor, perhaps it's time for a looter-shooter from the other end of the absurdity spectrum.
A Complete Package
Right from the first announcement, People Can Fly has made it clear that Outriders will launch as a complete game. What it means by this is that the looter-shooter will completely avoid live-service mechanics. Instead, the game will favor an old-fashioned narrative experience. This makes Outriders unusual in a genre that tends to prioritize endless gear-grinding and seasonal DLC.
Borderlands 3 has also tried to avoid being labelled a live-service title, though it's getting harder to avoid it. While it'll never commit to the system in the way that games like Destiny 2 or Anthem have, Borderlands 3 has picked up several similar traits. Things like constant in-game events, lots of free content additions to keep players engaged, and frequent paid DLC are all hallmarks of the live-service system.
We'll have to wait and see if, as a looter-shooter, Outriders will fall into these same traps, or truly manage to keep itself away from live-service mechanics. The model has become increasingly popular in the last few years, and looter-shooters are the genre that have most eagerly embraced it.
Better Antagonists
Some of the biggest criticisms levelled at Borderlands 3 were aimed squarely at its primary antagonists, the Calypso Twins. A pair of megalomaniacs streamers, the twins fell flat as villains with fans and critics alike. For a long time now Gearbox have been attempting to recapture the magic of Borderlands 2's Handsome Jack, the series' last truly memorable villain. Jack's legacy is so all-encompassing that his shadow can be found in every game since, often providing a key part of the plot.
Jack was a loathsome yet charismatic sociopath, with plenty of nuance in his character. By comparison, the Calypso Twins are more like Saturday morning cartoon villains. Everything from their skull-laden outfits to their sneering attitudes label them as cliché post-apocalyptic villains, and in a way that just doesn't fit with Borderlands parodical style. In previous Borderlands titles they'd get to be an Act villain at most, and maybe even be relegated to a single-quest mini-boss.
While we don't known much about the villains of Outriders so far, we can guess that the game's bleak tone will have a strong influence on them. Enoch is a planet consumed by chaos, with rogue scientists, bloodthirsty tribes, and mutated beasts all fighting for supremacy. It's a world calling out for a great villain, and here's hoping that People Can Fly will provide one.
There are still a few months to go until Outrider's launch date, giving People Can Fly plenty of time to reveal more about the game's direction and style. From what we've seen so far, their new looter-shooter is set to shake up a genre that's been beginning to feel a little stale.
Outriders releases February 2, 2021 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, with a Stadia version in development for later in 2021.