In 2019 The Outer Worlds it told, through the space-opera formula, a society in which work is everything and company CEOs are visionary heroes. The year before Elon Musk had launched a Tesla into space: a grandiose marketing operation interpreted by public opinion as an avant-garde event comparable to the moon landing in 1969. Today Obsidian Entertainment’s premonition is increasingly closer to reality. Just think of the influence that Big Tech administrators have in the current Trump presidency.
This is why, years later, The Outer Worlds remains a role-playing game with a high critical value, albeit expressed through humor and exasperation of the themes. This explains the great interest in the sequel, The Outer Worlds 2, arriving on October 29th on the main gaming platforms. We at Fanpage.it played it in preview and we can say that yes, the new Obsidian title works better in its playful components, but a little less on the critical front, leaving us with a slight bitter taste in our mouth.
The struggle between capitalism and communism
After the events of The Outer Worlds, of the 33 companies that contributed to space colonization, only one remained born from the merger of Zia Cleo and Soluzioni Spaziali: Aunt’s Solutions. A monopolistic entity that works to extend its profit and its vision, composed of two simple verbs very dear to capitalism: produce and consume. There is no space for free time, social life, much less health.
The case of Hollow Knight, the small indie that became a worldwide phenomenon: the sequel Silksong is already a record
Opposing these ideals is the Protectorate: here the inhabitants are not employees, but subjects. The latter do not have to think about what type of work to do, because the manual and exhausting tasks are the responsibility of the robots, while the other professions, mostly linked to spreading the dogmas of the Sovereign and the Matriarch, are imposed from above. The economy is autarkic and everyone has a home and basic necessities. The problem is individual freedom, which is completely non-existent.
Anyone who expresses doubts or even just ambitions different from the pre-established path ends up in “Mental Relaxation”. A totalitarian regime, which takes inspiration from the Soviet Unionas demonstrated by the posters scattered around and the songs that can be heard on the radio during our wanderings. In general, it is evident the reference to the 20th century, here reinterpreted aesthetically and narratively in a retrofuturistic key.
Zia Solutions and Protectorate are at war. As an agent of the Earth Directorate, it is up to us to find a path for humanity according to our choices. The Outer Worlds 2 loosens the social criticism to throw us into a space-opera with heroic tones.
THE OUTER WORLDS 2 | The cities in the game are very inspired.
The features of The Outer Worlds 2
There is a lot of fighting and even more dialogue than in the prequel. This is because the game world is larger and encourages exploration to learn about eccentric characters and particular situations born from the struggle between capitalism and communism. In these circumstances, Obsidian reiterates its quality in writing for the role-playing gamealready evident not only in the 2019 chapter, but in other titles such as Avowed, Pentiment, Fallout New Vegas. By interacting with characters, computers and audio files, we will witness complex but never heavy-handed speeches – thanks also to the underlying sarcasm – which always insinuates doubt when we have to make a choice to advance the plot. To complicate these moments, the reactions of our two companions commanded by the intelligence of the game, who can also respond in a spiteful, if not downright violent, manner in the case of personal decisions that are contrary to their vision of the world.
THE OUTER WORLDS 2 | The phases in which we fight prove satisfying due to the sensations in hand and the truth of approaches and weapons.
To ease the tensions accumulated by moral dilemmas, there are phases of combat against enemies or alien creatures. Also in this case there are numerous approaches to adopt, thanks to a considerable variety of weapons and upgrades. If you want, you can also avoid combat and opt for silent infiltration, but it is in the shooting phases that The Outer Worlds 2 shows important improvements. Controller in hand, each weapon gives truly pleasant sensations, allowing fluid and varied actions against groups of enemies.
The only disappointment remains on the graphic-technical front: Obsidian games remain anchored to the school of Western role-playing games, with static frontal shots during dialogues and unconvincing animations of the non-playable characters, the NPCs, during exploration. An aspect that can be defined as characteristic of Obsidian role-playing games, but which today, in 2025, appears obsolete and not very credible.
In conclusion: what does The Outer Worlds 2 leave us with
To conclude, The Outer Worlds 2 is an excellent title for the excellent writing which allows numerous interpretative possibilities and for the satisfaction during the action, as well as for a game world rich in characterization and consistent with the themes covered. It’s only sad to see the step backwards on the critical and representative front compared to the first chapter of 2019. The gaming world is full of dystopian worlds that resort to post-apocalyptic, cyberpunk or space mainly for aesthetic and non-critical purposes. A contradiction for science fiction titles.
Consequently, compared to its predecessor, which warned about the trend of our society, The Outer Worlds 2 falls into a sort of comfort zone through twentieth-century themes which, despite being treated in a careful and profound way, they can no longer disturb the conscience of those who play. A step back for those who see video games as a cultural expression. For those who only see it as entertainment, The Outer Worlds 2 works perfectly.
