The online cooperative RPG may have enticed players with its interesting sci-fi premise and strong visuals before launch, but Outriders didn't manage to stick the landing the way People Can Fly and Square Enix had hoped. With a release that was plagued with bugs and server issues that made the online-only game almost inaccessible, Outriders quickly established itself as a bit of a disappointment despite some other strong aspects of its gameplay. Improvements have been made since its 2021 release, and many fans are hoping that there's still enough life left in the IP for a sequel.
It can be hard to turn a title's fortunes around after such a rocky start, and it's definitely true that there are some areas Outriders still needs to work on, but thanks to the New Horizon update and the Worldslayer expansion, the game is in much better shape now than it was at launch. The work that the developer has done on Outriders since it was released has helped to pave the way for a sequel, and that's definitely something the game deserves.
Outriders' Unanswered Questions
Although the world of Enoch and its incredibly hostile inhabitants was an interesting new setting to explore, many felt that the characters and the story were some of the weaker elements of Outriders' gameplay. The narrative had good bones, with an intriguing hook, a mysterious new planet to call home, and some in-depth lore centered around an alien race and its unexpectedly complicated history with humanity. The worldbuilding and creature designs were also compelling, but there were still some hefty plot holes and awkward exchanges that kept Outriders' narrative from being great.
At the end of the base game's story and the additional section provided by the Worldslayer expansion's campaign, players are left with quite a few questions that are lacking answers. The Anomaly remains a fairly mysterious phenomenon, there's still a lot to unpack regarding the nature of the Pax and the Ferals, and humanity's future on Enoch is anything but certain, so there are definitely a few narrative avenues that a sequel could explore. As the story was one of the things that ended up pulling Outriders' overall experience down, a sequel would also be a chance to right this wrong and make improvements where they're needed most.
Developing Outriders' Gameplay
Story problems aside, it's undeniable that Outriders can be a really fun game to play. There are plenty of options when it comes to how gamers can approach combat, what characters they build, and how they combine their abilities with other players to take on Outriders' roster of enemies. The action is fast-paced, at times frantic, and endlessly engaging. The gameplay loop is pretty satisfying as well and with new dimensions to the progression systems implemented in post-launch updates, Outriders has continued to evolve and offer something different to players that have stuck with it since its release.
The developer's repeated assurance that Outriders is not a live-service game means that fans won't have any controversial microtransactions to deal with, but they also won't have a stream of new content to look forward to post-launch, either. A sequel would be a great way to work on what Outriders didn't do so well the first time, level up the enjoyable aspects of the gameplay, and open up the world of Enoch to even more areas for players to explore. There were so many things that Outriders did right, and creating a new experience for gamers that builds on what the first game introduced would be the perfect way to establish its legacy as a solid ARPG and banish the memory of its less-than-ideal launch.
Outriders is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.