Trailer Index
00:00 – Reveal Trailer
01:46 – Class and Power Reveal Trailer
03:10 – Story Trailer
05:17 – Gameplay Trailer
07:43 – Appreciate Power Trailer
09:23 – Become Terror – Trailer
10:59 – No Turning Back Trailer
12:07 – outrider Explained Trailer
18:30 – Demo Launch Trailer
20:05 – Official Launch Trailer
21:08 – New Horizon & Worldslayer Trailer
Outriders is an online-only cooperative action role-playing third-person video game developed by People Can Fly and published by Square Enix’s European subsidiary. It was released on April 1, 2021 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Stadia. The game received mixed reviews from critics, with praise towards the gameplay, customization, and visuals, but criticism for the story and characters.
Gameplay
Outriders is a third-person shooter mixed with elements from role-playing games. In the beginning of the game, players create their custom characters and choose from four classes, each of them with unique abilities that the players can use. The four classes include the Trickster, which has the ability to manipulate time, the Pyromancer, which can manipulate fire, the Devastator, which can unleash seismic attacks, and the Technomancer, which uses turrets and other devices.
These special skills have a short cooldown time and can be combined with other skills for maximum effects. The game features a skill tree that allows players to unlock and upgrade their skills.
Players can use different weapons such as shotguns and assault rifles to defeat enemies, and firearms can be customized with weapon mods. Players can hide behind cover to shield themselves from enemy attacks, though health will only regenerate if the player manages to hurt or kill enemies.
Players combat both monsters and human enemies. As the player progresses, the world level (the game’s equivalent to gameplay difficulty) will increase. If the world level is high, it is more likely for the player to get high-end loot from defeated enemies. Players can equip armors that offer protection against incoming damage, with each class having their own unique armor sets to collect.
The game incorporates various role-playing elements. As the players explore, they can explore different hub areas, talk to non-playable characters and complete side missions. In cutscenes a dialogue tree allows to decide the outcome of some conversations, though it does not affect the story’s progression. The game can be played solo, but players can also complete the game together with two other players.
Reception
Outriders received “mixed or average reviews” from critics, according to Metacritic. Mack Ashworth from GameRevolution gave the game a 7.5/10, criticizing the story and characters, although praising the gameplay, level design, visuals, and combat animations, as well as the fact the game felt complete upon launch.
In summary, he wrote that “it doesn’t innovate in any huge way and its many flaws are tough to ignore, but Outriders is a blast from a simpler past”. Destructoid gave the game a 7/10, also praising it for being a complete game at full price and wrote, “Solid and definitely has an audience. There could be some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun”.
Sales
During its week of release, Outriders was the sixth best-selling retail game in the UK all-format charts, the second best-selling retail game in the Switzerland all-format charts, and the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions of the game debuted at the ninth and twentieth position of the Japan individual-format charts; with 6,596 and 2,431 physical copies sold, respectively.
On Xbox, Outriders was the best-selling digital game during launch week. During its launch month of April 2021, it placed within the top ten best-selling digital games on Xbox, and within the top five best-selling digital games on PlayStation.While the game’s launch was plagued with server issues, it attracted nearly 100,000 concurrent players on Steam. For the period between February 28 and April 3, 2021, Outriders was the third best-selling game in the US based on dollar sales.
The game attracted 3.5 million players one month after the game’s initial launch. According to Square Enix, releasing the game at launch for Xbox Game Pass subscribers “worked in their favour” as it helped the game to build an install base in a short period of time.
Awards
In 2021, Outriders won the Technology award at the Central & Eastern European Game Awards (CEEGA), an annual award ceremony aimed at recognizing and promoting the best video games from Central and Eastern Europe
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