When Outriders was announced at E3 2019, it was received with mixed feelings. A later gameplay reveal caused many critics to compare the game with other live service games like Destiny and Tom Clancy’s Division. Polish developer People Can Fly maintained that Outriders is not a live service title, but a game that people can “start and finish”.
Is it though? Methinks not. Too many shenanigans happened in the background.
A demo was released in February 2021, and had me thinking that they must have a lot of faith in their game if they released a demo the way they did. You could progress you chosen character class, or all of them up to level 7, right up to killing the first boss you encounter in the game. This demo would be available after launch as well, to see if the game was for you or not.
And yes, I was excited. So much so that I leveled all 4 classes in the demo to level 7, and came to grips with the game. I loved it!
And I was not the only one. Many Youtubers released countless videos about builds and the like, which made me chuckle. “How to farm this and build that” videos shot up overnight, with the many Youtubers jumping on the bandwagon to be the first one to show you how the game should be played. Many of them found exploits, and were reportedly punished for it by PCF. Many of them just stating the obvious. “How to get this shotgun or that gear piece”, but you get it anyway as you progress through to level 7. Anything for a click, was my initial thought, and a lot of them were slammed in the comment sections of their vids as the game wasn’t released yet and they were already jockeying for clicks.
The game released on April 1, 2021, after being delayed somewhat due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
And we were left staring at this screen for a long, very long time:
There were also a lot of server issues, with players getting kicked from the game with server connection messages, causing mayhem to erupt and players whipping out pitchforks on Twitter. US players threw blame at “freeloaders” playing the game via the Eggsbawks Game Pass…LOL.
Eventually they fixed the problems and Kasie spent hours in the depths Cheddar’s Landing, aka GoudaFell by some, levelling three character classes, Technomancer, Trickster and Devastator and ignoring the Pyromancer like a text from my ex. I plotted my skill trees and generally just had shoot, loot and scoot fun.
The story was somewhat meh, but the missions were fun and the gunplay was decent. My characters, though, looked and sounded suspiciously like my character in Ghost Recon: Breakpoint.
Youtubers that did build content on The Division 2, jumped ship to Outriders and littered the platform with videos of what you should be doing to clear CT15 Expeditions quick as a flash, builds you should be running, weapons to look out for, YOLO SOLO this, the best Class to play with and countless other “need to know” content. All those clicks made them giddy, I suppose.
The endgame quickly became stale and repetitive as I struggled through the challenge tiers and eventually, after a whole weekend of grinding, I just left the game. I was burnt out on it, and just didn’t want to play it anymore.
Players were complaining about the legendary drop rate and some even accusing PCF of holding out on certain legendary items they needed to complete builds, to keep players coming back for more.
For me, personally, I just got bored and tired of grinding for very little reward.
Evidently though, a bunch of fixes sorted out the legendary drop rate and various other problems and an upcoming patch will improve matchmaking and some other beasties plaguing the inner workings of the game. Things seemed to have become better, or so they say.
But still, an endgame just running the same expeditions over and over? Nooooo, spank you.
What are your thoughts? Will you be going back to Outriders or are you still playing?
For Kasie though, it’s done and dusted. I’m done with it.
Last Updated: July 13, 2021
Marius Nell
July 13, 2021 at 09:19
I loved the demo, preordered it and a week after launch i was still unable to join a match with a friend. Thankfully I managed to refun through the Playstation store and I wont be back till its free on plus
MonsterCheddar
July 13, 2021 at 09:29
Errr… Just a mention. This is not a review. The editor put the review part in.
Mandalorian Jim
July 13, 2021 at 12:52
You’re trying to confuse me, clearly this is a review…. 😛
MonsterCheddar
July 13, 2021 at 09:29
Errr… Just a mention. This is not a review. The editor put the review part in.
Mandalorian Jim
July 13, 2021 at 13:05
I’ll offer a counterpoint, but then I only levelled up one character to level 30, and merely played a little bit with the others during the demo. I think it’s a game that could potentially be built on, however the current end game system (built on the expeditions) isn’t perfect. I mean, just as an example, one of the expeditions is used to explain what happens to a seemingly important character – that during the main campaigns appears to be someone who will play a major role in future story DLC.
But, it’s all thrown into an expedition… it’s mindblowingly silly.
But, I still think the game will benefit from updates, and the developers are frequently updating it, and who knows maybe they’ll do a complete overhaul of the expeditions and make them less repetitive.
But, the Kaas wants to know, will I continue playing it? And, my simple answer is, “Yes”.
But, not now, or in the immediate future. I enjoyed my time with the game, I even platinumed it, but I still think there’s more story to be told and the second they have more story DLC, I’ll consider returning to it, or I might just play it from time to time.
Gareth Runnalls
July 13, 2021 at 11:14
“Eggsbawks”… Want to know the difference between the old CH and the current one? The old one would never EVER allow an article to be published that ridicules part of their demographic. What I understand from reading this is that CH doesnt give a fuck about console gamers and is TOTALLY OKAY poking fun at them at every opportunity (not the first time I have seen Eggsbawks on this site in the last week)
Fuck, I’m out. Keep your very exclusive circle jerk as exclusive and divisive as you can make it, I’m sure its going to win you all the clicks.
MonsterCheddar
July 13, 2021 at 12:27
Also… Its supposed to be fun. Thats why I write like a poepol.
Being divisive is not the aim at all. I love poking fun at people and its all meant to be in good fun.
If my article, yes I know Im using theb term loosely as I am no journalist, read like a News24 article and I wrote that I would understand people getting angry.
Thats why I try my best to make it fun.
I write like I talk to my friends and not like Im a teleprompter.
Im sorry it offended you.
Will
July 13, 2021 at 19:15
Dude, you’re explaining your obvious tongue in cheek style to someone who will seek offense anywhere they go. Just… Don’t.
MonsterCheddar
July 13, 2021 at 12:27
Also… Its supposed to be fun. Thats why I write like a poepol.
Being divisive is not the aim at all. I love poking fun at people and its all meant to be in good fun.
If my article, yes I know Im using theb term loosely as I am no journalist, read like a News24 article and I wrote that I would understand people getting angry.
Thats why I try my best to make it fun.
I write like I talk to my friends and not like Im a teleprompter.
Im sorry it offended you.
MonsterCheddar
July 13, 2021 at 12:16
Its meant in jest. Im a console player myself.
In my other articles I wrote PeeThee. Its a longstanding joke between me and people that know me. Absolutely no offense meant to anyone.
I own an Eggsbawks by the way as well as my PS5.
Mandalorian Jim
July 13, 2021 at 13:09
If only people really knew how much you love your eggsbawks… those multiple side USB ports, and the one in the rear, or the shiny black exterior, with those sharp angular corners…
There’s just too much shape on the PS5, and let’s be honest, what’s up with that single USB port in the front. How is that sexy?
Mandalorian Jim
July 13, 2021 at 13:09
If only people really knew how much you love your eggsbawks… those multiple side USB ports, and the one in the rear, or the shiny black exterior, with those sharp angular corners…
There’s just too much shape on the PS5, and let’s be honest, what’s up with that single USB port in the front. How is that sexy?
Andre Moraes
July 13, 2021 at 16:51
I agree w/ the article, the loot improve did nothing to get good gear, all I get is duplicated items and yes tons of cannonball; how hard is to go to user inventory and drop something that was never dropped before, if was a sql command in sql lite; could be local or server;
that will be like e.g.:
if local: select gear_id from table legendaries_gear where gear_id not in (select gear_id from user_inventory)
or if server – very similar but would add a userid in the last sub sql
anyhow, whatever tech they are doing, can’t be that complicated
best yet they should make possible to buy any gold items from the vendors
till them.. so long outriders, not even w/ new dlc I would spend time there if gold drop duplication is not properly fixed
SurvivalJunkie
July 14, 2021 at 01:41
Good thing I dont listen to reviews, I have 35 hours logged on the game since released and never crashed once, never had any bugs. Maybe I am lucky.
MonsterCheddar
July 14, 2021 at 03:17
Look, its not a bad game. I had hours of fun levelling my character classes, even though it was rinse and repeat. What got to me was running the same endgame expeditions, trying to get to CT15, a whole weekend, and not really getting anywhere.
Then I got tired of it.
madtitan
July 14, 2021 at 18:05
Thinking maybe you missed the point of this game. It’s not really about leveling characters, yet more of tinkering with different builds (mods, perks, attributes, etc) to create a character that fits your style. On that note, whoever skipped over building a Pyro Def missed out being it has the most options imo.
MonsterCheddar
July 15, 2021 at 02:57
Nah…I did everything. Looked at builds, mods the works.
I just got bored with the endgame.