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During my first experience with the first Outer Worlds title, I was quickly hooked by its sarcastic, Fallout-inspired style of comedy. The game boasted lively conversations, personal journals, and promotional posters that illustrated a business-controlled nightmare that was at once dark and amusing. My biggest worry heading into The Outer Worlds 2 was that this installment – without blame on its part – could fail to be as comedic compared to the first.

Admittedly, situations weren't flawless. Yet society certainly seemed a bit less broken back then. This universe presented a dystopia that didn't hit too close to home, and still managed to be both touching and uproarious. I began The Outer Worlds 2 pretty sure that the sequel wouldn't be able to achieve this a second time, but I'm delighted to announce that I was wrong. This sequel is just as chuckle-inducing as the title that preceded it, and also introduces new themes instead of just recycling identical material similar to a worn-out business tune.

Changing NPCs

A large portion of the NPCs players encountered in the initial release had been defeated by the activities of corporate entities such as the in-game corporation, and were acutely conscious of how much their lives sucked. The Outer Worlds 2 progresses matters in a different direction, presenting individuals who are programmed (sometimes figuratively, frequently actually). A lot of these personalities aren't conscious of how deeply disordered their situations are, or that there may exist options to a life lived beneath the control of a massive corporation or restricted by the creeds of a high-demand religion.

The sequel examines forms of company influence that are more insidious than merely maintaining the masses poor. Many NPCs have been indoctrinated into the kind of excessively zealous "hustle mentality" language you'll find on digital platforms that claim to disclose the path to accomplishment if you pay a costly program, or put money into a questionable digital currency plan. Even the game's company advertising has evolved.

Modern Themes

There continue to be plenty of demotivating signs in various locations indicating reductions in pay from workers who even contemplate taking a day off, but there are also allusions to pyramid scheme methods, featuring an employee manual that confidently announces, "Unfamiliar individuals are simply patrons you have yet to encounter!" Being a person who grew up in a network marketing household, I instantly erupted with laughter when encountering this allusion, because it's a saying I have frequently encountered repeated exactly by those at the bottom of such schemes.

Luckily, The Outer Worlds 2 is just as funny and irreverent as the first game.

This installment furthermore explores the situation numerous people encounter regarding employment, politics, and including buying decisions: Having to pick the smaller of two or three evils. During efforts to decide whether to assist a harmful business or a dangerous religious group within the title, I realized I became supporting the known negative: A recognized corporate entity that is terrible (though just utilizes advertising to indoctrinate its followers), instead of the cult, which also sucks, but utilizes a terrible method termed "psychological renewal" to maintain its followers compliant.

Questionable Employers

Additionally, the individuals you work for might not be trustworthy. As an galactic official, your mission involves working to return control to this outpost following a forceful company buyout, and you will quickly find that each of the attackers and the defenders adhere to distinct (yet equally horrific) ideologies. But a quick review of the transmissions on your vessel's computer demonstrate that this organization is hardly the universe's most principled authority too, as shown by an answer to an emergency signal that notifies the contact it will take "three to five organizational cycles" for a response to their message. (That time frame is approximately the time it takes for many people to get a hold of a non-robot help desk employee via telephone currently.)

Relatable Moments

Numerous instances in The Outer Worlds 2 are highly recognizable, but it's a cleansing sort of relatability, and the game succeeds in balancing its grim future world with wit that's authentically amusing without feeling inappropriate. One major theme is the rapid beginning of enshittification that happens to unfold following significant business mergers. Employees on both sides of this sequel's significant consolidation experience their living standards worsen as a result, while the CEOs in charge of the food chain are, naturally, raking in profits rapidly.

Well, at minimum I understand my position.

Comparable to the first game, this follow-up is naturally humorous, but it also doesn't hesitate to become dramatic. During a moment, while exploring around the title's initial accessible planet, I stumbled across a deceased individual with a recording nearby. This message showed that this NPC (associated with the programming faith group) had perished in an incident during efforts to track down and dispatch her significant other. This romantic partner had apparently defected from their faction, and the perished individual was enraged by her partner's {traitorous