Obsidian talks The Outer Worlds combat & length in new Gameplay videos

Game Informer has shared some spanking-new gameplay footage of the highly-anticipated The Outer Worlds. Obsidian Entertainment’s widely-accepted spiritual successor to the cult Fallout: New Vegas.

The Outer Worlds had a spectacular announcement last December at The Game Awards 2018, but the immense excitement sparked among gamers has deeper reasons than one might expect at first glance. Developed by Obsidian Entertainment, a powerhouse role-playing game studio, their newest project is wearing it’s heart on its sleeves when it comes to inspiration. We’re of course talking none other than Fallout: New Vegas. The Fallout entry that regularly gets name-dropped as one of the best Fallout and RPG games in general. Created by Obsidian.

As such, it doesn’t come as a big surprise that the newest gameplay shared today is showing some choice similarities to Fallout. Namely, VATS. Fallout’s iconic time-slowing combat mechanic, notably bastardized in the recent Fallout 76. The Outer Worlds does feature a similar mechanic called TTD or Tactical Time Dilation. As explained by the devs, there’s some depth to it however. You can’t just spam it and it’s definitely not a get-out-of-jail-card. Instead of stopping time altogether, it merely slows time down to give the player the edge in combat and land critical shots.

It also offers some extra tactical depth by limiting how extensive it can be used. For example, while standing still and only observing the flow of combat, player will have more time in TTD. But once you move or shoot, it’ll deplete quickly.

The exclusive video feature done by Game Informer is showing a lot more from combat in The Outer Worlds. For example, your companions and the choice of them will directly play into how combat pans out. Each companion possesses unique attack methods which the devs see as special skills that can be used in combat. Adding another layer to the RPG experience.

Just prior, Obsidian shared details about what players should expect in terms of game length. Because the nature of an RPG makes it impossible to exactly pinpoint how long players will need to finish the game, the devs stated that up 40 hours should be an expected playtime. With the rather unexpected failure that Fallout 76 turned out to be, The Outer Worlds has some serious potential to make a name for itself as a formidable alternative to Bethesda’s Fallout games.

The Outer Worlds is set to come out this year for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.