Here's everything we know about the gameplay for RPG shooter Outriders
Here's everything we know about the gameplay for RPG shooter Outriders
By Heidi Nicholas, 14 Feb 2020
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Square Enix and People Can Fly's sci-fi RPG shooter Outriders is releasing sometime in the Holiday period this year. They've been keeping pretty quiet with details up until now, but we recently had an influx of new trailers, interviews, and details from the official reveal stream, giving us an idea of what we'll be doing in the game.
Outriders is a co-op for one to three players, with a mash-up of shooter and RPG elements, so players get to decide on the combat and play style they want when going up against Enoch's hyper-evolved creatures. The idea is that after coming into contact with an anomaly on the planet, the Outriders are put into cryosleep for thirty years. When they wake up, everything's changed, and so have they; with a variety of strange and supernatural powers. There's four classes in the game, although the devs have so far only revealed three: Pyromancer, Trickster, and Devastator. Pyromancers have a "volcanic", explosive, and fiery energy. Tricksters, the devs say, will have more of an assassination gameplay. They "manipulate the fabric of time and space", and get a bit of health back through assassinating enemies. Lead writer Joshua Rubin particularly likes this class, saying there's a "temporal splice" ability which basically lets you eviscerate enemies. Devastators "shatter the earth"; they're a "brute force powered by the planet itself". The devs talk about this one as playing like a tank; Devastators are apparently intended for short range combat, and get health back by being close to enemies. The gameplay reveal showed off one of the abilities of this class; a "golem" power which basically turns them into solid rock and buffs them even further. You'll be using your abilities against a mix of creatures and humanoids, as well as other characters with powers like yours.
We'll go into detail on the story and world lore later, but the devs say that the anomaly basically wipes out technology; leaving the planet in a state of "pre-World War 1" tech, with trenches and the like. This also plays into the weapons and gear you'll find at the beginning. When players start out, they'll be finding and using weapons which have a similar World War 1 and 2 heavy artillery feel. But the more you progress through the game, the more otherworldly the weapons become; the trailer shows weapons like the Bulwark, the Inferno Seed, which looks like it's made out of a tree branch, and the Heir to the Desert. One of the devs favourites is a molten lava gun, which will apparently transform as you use it. Weapons will have a rarity system. Players can find a lot of loot in the world, and also buy gear, modifications and other items from vendors (bought with scrap — the game's currency). Some vendors will have items which can only be bought in their respective location.
Everything can be customised, including your character. Players will have an Outriders truck, also customisable, which functions as your home throughout the game. You can't drive it, but it becomes your centre each time you arrive and "claim" an area. "Claiming" an area with a flag will unlock it as a possibility for fast travel. When you play in multiplayer, your friend's trucks will join yours as a convoy. Like Roach in The Witcher 3, you can also put trophies on your truck; the heads of monsters you kill, for example. Your convoy will have NPC characters, who can upgrade and fix your gear and give you sidequests. They'll also chat with you and sit around the campfire with you, Red Dead 2 style. The devs also mentioned how cutscenes and the like will work when you're playing with others. You'll appear, complete with all your gear and customisation, as the star of each cutscene, with your friends in the background with all their loot. Meanwhile, they'll see themselves as the centre of the cutscene, with you in the background.
That's everything we know so far about the gameplay in the sci-fi RPG, Outriders. You can check the official reveal stream if you'd like to know more. Outriders releases in Holiday 2020.
Xbox One
Written by Heidi Nicholas
Hey, I'm Heidi! I've just finished studying a Masters in English Literature, but I've been obsessed with gaming since long before then. I began on the PS2 with Spyro, before graduating to the Xbox 360 and disappearing into Skyrim. I'm now a loyal RPG fan, but I still like to explore other genres — when I'm not playing Assassin's Creed Odyssey, or being lured back into Red Dead Redemption 2 or The Witcher 3!