Outriders

Outriders gather true and tried gameplay functionalities from many games in the same genre. There’s no originality to be found here, but it will reward everyone who takes the time to discover its generous content and challenges.

If you're willing to overlook some questionable design choices, there's plenty of fun to be had with Outriders. Despite its numerous flaws, Outriders manages to provide loads of incredible, over-the-top fun.

I have no doubt that Outriders will improve over time but I’m kind of torn about how I feel for it in its current state given its issues. On one hand I’m addicted to the shlooter treadmill, but on the other, having already reached endgame and grind the hell out of it, I think I see my end in sight without much further to do aside from yet another run for hopefully a new piece of gear. That said, Outriders is currently included with Xbox GamePass, so there’s no reason to not jump into the shoes of an Altered to save Enoch, even if it does turn into quite a grind later on and having to suffer through numerous game crashes daily.

The game shows great potential, but in its current state, the game feels a little half-baked. It needs more types of enemies, some better story missions and a much better net-code, in order for me to enjoy the game at its fullest.

Outriders semi-bravely attempts to be more than just another third-person shooter, but fails to be more interesting than the many other games it resembles. Borderlands 3 for example is a better looter shooter, Destiny 2 offers a more solid (super)powered trip, Deep Rock Galactic is more fun as a co-op experience and Gears 5’s singleplayer campaign is far more fascinating. This means Outriders is hard to recommend, except of course to those who have Game Pass and a some hours of free time to spare.

Although it features moments of satisfying action and a few good end-game design tweaks, the majority of Outriders experience consists of conflicting design ideas, technical issues in multiplayer, and poorly implemented borrowed mechanics.

The only reason you should pay attention to Outriders is the current gaming drought and the Game Pass. The combat with all its abilities is quite fun, sure, but the story is just so dull, as is the environment and uninteresting, generic activities.

If you’re absolutely craving a new game that has tight gunplay and a loot loop that you can get into for a long period of time, Outriders definitely isn’t your worst option. But if you have played a litany of games like this over the past few years, I’m hard-pressed to think that there is anything about this one that will resonate with you on a greater level.

People Can Fly’s special brand of explosive gunplay is better than ever in Outriders, but the game loses its way by shoehorning in too many of the RPG mechanics that have become bog standard for the “looter shooter” genre. What should have been a rollercoaster all the way through ends up feeling more like a car in stop-and-go traffic.

The best time I had with the game was a ten-minute stretch that contained (a) no crashes or bugs, (b) the right level and world tier—essentially, a measure of enemy toughness—and (c) a harmony of tactics, sorcery, and gunfire.