Outriders is Square Enix and People Can Fly's upcoming sci-fi focused third-person shooter, and while the game still lacks an official release date, it likely ranks high on many's most anticipated lists for its window of Q4 2020. It seems to bring the best of Destiny, Division 2, and Mass Effect into one concentrated shooter, all the while maintaining its own identity.
And that is where the Outriders broadcast comes in: it makes clear that Outriders is indeed its own thing. Many questions were answered, and while many still linger, there's a ton of content to dive into. It does establish some back story a bit more, with humanity existing in The First City on Enoch. A part of the SS Florence, the space ship human arrived on, is being used to power its first colony...until the first Anomaly storm hits. This cause the reactor to overload, wrecking havoc on the city.
Outriders attempt to understand this anomaly and find the mysterious signal, with segments of gameplay being shown in pursuit of a truck which is said to have some answers. The gameplay is mostly on par with expectations of this genre, with there being moments of environmental gameplay, showcases of both the Pyromancer and Trickster classes (with the Trickster getting a full blown spotlight), and a solid amount of gunplay. Where it appears to differentiate is the unique qualities of each class: Tricksters, for example, manipulate space and time to get close to enemies, damage and kill them, and heal all at the same time.
It's clear from the broadcast that this gets harder and harder, depending on player desires. Similar to Division 2 and some looter shooters, there's a world tier system that sees difficulty and reward scale the higher it goes. It is worth mentioning, however, that Outrider's World Tier system takes a slightly different approach. Instead of using World Tiers as a gating mechanism to harder gameplay, World Tiers slowly unlock based on how well a player does. Someone who is breezing through will unlock World Tiers faster than someone who is struggling on their current World Tier, changing up the weapon and XP grind slightly in the process.
Furthermore, Outriders also touches on its UI customization a little bit. Players have control over their "screen real estate" in how heavy the UI goes. It can be a full-blown one where every thing players need to know is there, or it can be boiled down to something more akin to an average shooter. The player agency here and throughout its systems seems interesting, as players also have three subdivisions per class that can be tied together in various ways. One skill tree will connect to another in some spots, allowing players to create a unique hybrid based on their style.
Finally, the broadcast ends with a spotlight on the Trickster, showcasing 4 of its 8 class abilities. This includes a way to teleport into the thick of battle, a way to slow enemies with a spectral blade (which creates an amazing animation of their body decomposing into a skeleton and back again). At the end of the day, this is just the first stop on the hype train leaving fans with two major questions: when's the next Outriders broadcast and what is the actual release date?
Outriders releases Q4 2020 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.