The Outer Worlds: Murder on Eridanos

 PC
User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 39 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 39
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 39
  3. Negative: 8 out of 39

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  1. KGlife
    Mar 15, 2023
    5
    The first thing I noticed when I stepped out on Eridanos was the music. That stop and start dissonant chord - it’s the Stellar Bay theme! And while I can hardly blame cash-strapped Obsidian for allocating their remaining budget to the essentials, that sort of repetitiveness just about sums up the rest of this DLC.

    I really got the sense from the outset of this game that the writers    The first thing I noticed when I stepped out on Eridanos was the music. That stop and start dissonant chord - it’s the Stellar Bay theme! And while I can hardly blame cash-strapped Obsidian for allocating their remaining budget to the essentials, that sort of repetitiveness just about sums up the rest of this DLC.

    I really got the sense from the outset of this game that the writers wanted to write a mystery story - you’ve got that weird, half-finished gambling debt quest in Stellar Bay, that cannibal house investigation on Monarch - a whole slew of detective stories that never really realize their potential. So okay, I thought. You’ve got your big ol’ mystery story. What’re you gonna do with it? As it would turn out, nothing!

    The biggest problem here is that the actual mystery is kinda **** Keene presents you with 2 credible suspects at the beginning - everyone else is an arbitrary ‘important’ character the DLC has to tell you to go investigate. The game does nothing to exonerate literally any hotel guest or bellhop - it just introduces a select few and then weirdly sweeps them aside.

    The (obvious) perpetrator is obvious not because the game gives you any actual evidence of their guilt (aside from 1 high-hack terminal entry) but because it decides to extend itself in the most boring way possible - by giving every other suspect an alibi. I won’t pretend you can’t write a mystery story like this. But if you do, you’d better craft it around some real interesting characters. And Eridanos just doesn’t.

    In what would’ve been a great opportunity to give our companions some work to do, they’re all strangely silent throughout. Companion interactions are gone, and their dialogue amounts to a tree of reactions to aforementioned ‘Important’ characters, that, mind you, you won’t even get to see if you’re not constantly rotating companions.

    The actual suspects, that is, the ones the DLC doesn’t just abandon, are decently written. Spencer’s a fun **** Bertie’s got some unexpected depth and Sedrick was genuinely delightful. Keene and Goodnight are also a breath of fresh air against a whimsical backdrop. Much like the base game, though, the content runs dry real quick.

    Presumably, the money ran out - I sure hope the money ran out! Because for God’s sake - if you’re gonna write a fun, character-driven mystery, you can’t write your characters into isolated little quadrants that never interact with each other. By the time you’ve sorted out everyone’s alibis, the game is ushering you to the final set piece, and the world has nothing left to say.

    I won’t spoil the twist, I guess, but it suffers from the same problems - and happens totally separate from the actual mystery you’re supposed to be solving. The DLC goes full b-movie at the end and you know… I guess that’s the joke. You’re investigating a serial actress, so ha ha, you’re in a stupid serial.

    I guess I just expected more. People have a weird amount of faith, I think, in Outer Worlds 2. Everyone seems so confident that Obsidian was just testing the waters - just warming up. After Eridanos, I can’t say I share that faith. Everything about the Outer Worlds has been plagued with the same problems. Everything just feels tedious and half-complete. Every smart moment feels unspeakably stupid and every idea feels mired in replicating something that did it way better.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 19
  3. Negative: 0 out of 19
  1. CD-Action
    Nov 15, 2021
    65
    The DLC’s undeniable advantage is its impressive length – I needed eight hours to finish it. The problem is that the story, though well-written, doesn’t actually need you. It is absolutely linear and doesn’t even pretend not to be, so no matter what you do, you’ll get roughly the same ending (the final decision seems crucial but its impact is small). Other than that Murder on Eridanos is more of the same, but you’ll be shooting less than you did in the base game. [05/2021, p.45]
  2. RPG Site
    Apr 5, 2021
    70
    The Outer Worlds - Murder on Eridanos is a sizable DLC offering that exhibits some fun murder-mystery hijinks with the same Outer Worlds flair you've come accustomed to in the rest of the game. With some niggling quest issues and an unsatisfying conclusion, I'm not sure if it is excellent enough to convince players to spend $15 and dust off a game they've already completed more than a year ago, but there's still fun to be had for those looking for more.
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  3. GamingTrend
    Mar 24, 2021
    55
    While Murder on Eridanos has fun moments focusing on investigating and dialogue choices, it is actively undermined by shoving combat in your face and a twist that makes events leading up to that point feel pointless.
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