When Xbox PR reached out about a digital preview for The Outer Worlds 2, I literally beamed at the opportunity. They had done exactly the same for Avowed a couple of months ahead of that Obsidian RPG's launch, and that demo did a lot to get me even more hyped for the final game. It was an extensive demo that provided more or less free rein to roam Avowed's first region of Dawnshore, explore it, and get a proper taste of what the full game would be all about. It also included companions, who are always a big part of Obsidian's roleplaying games, as fans of the Irvine-based studio know all too well.
Unfortunately, the demo that was shared for The Outer Worlds 2 is much more limited. It starts at what appears to be the very beginning of the game; in that regard, it's akin to Avowed. However, whereas the latter game's demo went much further than the tutorial mission, this one does not. I learned afterward that it was the same demo available at Gamescom 2025, and it would have made sense there given the one-hour slot limit, but for a digital preview, it is a thorough disappointment.
The demo doesn't even provide access to companions, so you're completely on your own for the mission. Moreover, it does not include any explorable zone like the aforementioned Dawnshore from Avowed. This straightforward mission doesn't really showcase the 'much more expansive worlds' touted by the developer in recent The Outer Worlds 2 media blasts, or the many new cool gadgets showcased in previous videos.
Sure, there were a couple of different paths to take while going through the mission. You can, for example, use the Eloquence skill (provided that you've picked it up when creating your character) to convince an NPC to disable the automated security and get you into the facility without having to fight the robots. You can also use other skills like Hacking or Engineering or Lockpicking to unlock specific doors. But all those features were already in the first The Outer Worlds game. I hoped to get a peek at what's new and improved, but this build didn't have much of that.
It did have the option to play in third-person view, which was completely absent from the previous installment. You will have to select it from the game's options, and there are two choices: a close third-person camera and a far one. Honestly, though, just like with Avowed, I believe they are there more for accessibility reasons than a genuine alternative. It's fine if you just cannot stomach first-person due to health concerns like motion sickness, but otherwise, you're much better off with first-person; the animations do not look nearly as good in third-person.
Another thing that Obsidian said it improved in The Outer Worlds 2 is the shooting part, which was refined based on feedback from Halo Studios and the analysis of Bungie's Destiny. The improvements are definitely there; shooting feels more solid, but still not quite as good as a top-notch shooter. Melee combat, unfortunately, still doesn't appear to be as in-depth as Avowed, and the lack of a dodge button certainly does not help.
The combat gameplay relies heavily on the 'Tactical Time Dilation' device (which also returns from the original title). This device allows the player to slow down time, which is essential if you want to survive against multiple foes at higher difficulty levels. The sequel does add destructible cover, but again, this was not featured in the demo build.
Lastly, from a technical standpoint, The Outer Worlds 2 is powered by Unreal Engine 5 instead of Unreal Engine 4. The visual improvement compared to the original is noticeable but perhaps slightly less significant than I would have hoped, even with ray traced lighting, shadows, and reflections enabled. The game also already supports High Dynamic Range (HDR) displays, although the implementation might still need some tweaking.
On PC, the graphics settings already offer plenty of options for users to tinker with, including a built-in frame rate limiter, five upscaling options (TAA, TSR, AMD FSR 3, Intel XeSS, and NVIDIA DLSS, the only one to support Frame Generation), a slider for Field of View, and a toggle for Chromatic Aberration. On my RTX 5090 and Ryzen 7 9800X3D, the demo ran smoothly without any stuttering, but like I said, it was a small level. The real test will be on those larger open-ended areas. Given that the game will launch simultaneously on Sony's PlayStation 5 consoles, I hoped to see support for the DualSense controller's haptic feedback and/or adaptive triggers, but there seems to be only regular rumble.
Closing Thoughts
Despite the fairly disappointed tone of this preview, I am still confident that Obsidian will deliver a meaty, fun, and enjoyable roleplaying game with The Outer Worlds 2. It's just that the demo they provided did not give us much of an opportunity to discover its new features and improvements.
Still, the full game is just two months away from being released on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S|X. Look forward to our review ahead of the planned October 29 launch.
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