Recent reviews by Big Fat Travis

After pre-ordering the $100 package I was pretty invested, and spent about 8 hours hoping I was the problem and the game was actually fun before finally just asking for a refund. Of course I didn't get a refund, so I spent about 20 more hours hoping the game would become fun eventually. It didn't. I doubt 2042 will ever be good, but I'd be happy to eat those words if they can patch away the bad. Until then though..

PvE is the same handful of assets recycled throughout the entire game, PvP is inaccessible to most of the population, and the end game is totally non existent anyways. It has good bones, just needs content and the PvP needs some tweaking. Unfortunately by the time they fix new world, it's likely to have lost most of its relevance.

I usually wouldn't pick up a title like this but the premise seemed interesting to me, so maybe my review is a bit biased.

The story is pretty meh in my opinion, which is a shame because it could have been very engaging. You aren't really given any reason to care about any of the characters, including the protagonist which is only accentuated by the whole "silent protagonist" thing. I can't help but think back to far cry 3 where you're immediately given a reason to hate the antagonist, and how they did so many things right with the story progression.

I was disappointed to find that the story wasn't engaging, but thought maybe the gameplay would make up for it. It really didn't. The limited customization and crafting leaves the game feeling like you're given this huge open world with no real reason to explore any of it. Not to mention the entire game is waypoint driven. It's just "go here, kill these guys" or "go here, collect 3 of these then blow this thing up." They have this beautiful map with no reason to do anything other than mindlessly walk towards waypoints. Even the loot stashes you can find are all waypoint driven. The animals are basically just a way to make money, and the combat feels very repetitive. It's also pretty comical how just standing in one spot will provide literally endless encounters generally alternating between animal attacks and patrols driving down the road.

I'm 8 hours in and basically cleared out the first large area of the game but I think I'm done. This game feels more like a chore to play at this point, I don't know that I'd even recommend it on sale.

Initially I really hated this game. I was in love with the mod back in the day, but had always heard the standalone was pretty bad. I tried playing the standalone for about 10 hours and just could not get into it, it seemed so much more focused on survival mechanics than it was on pvp, but I stuck with it and now I'm hooked. I actually think I like the standalone more than the mod at this point, something I never thought I'd say.

Compared to the mod, my thoughts so far:

The environments are so much more detailed, which I guess really isn't saying a whole lot, but it makes a huge difference in everything from traveling through the woods to your next destination, to getting into a firefight in treelines and cities. The first time you take the red deer trail towards stary you'll see what I mean.

The ambient and gun sound is much improved. The world feels very tranquil until you hear an illusion shattering gunshot a few hundred meters away. The way the world goes from peaceful and quiet to pure chaos then abruptly back to the sound of wind in the trees and birds in the distance makes a sort of roller coaster of suspense.

Zombie spawns are significantly better. Zombies used to be a sign of players, a single zombie 500 meters away meant you weren't alone. Now it seems like it's still possible to detect players through this mechanic, but due to a persistent spawn mechanic a few zombies doesn't necessarily mean you're chasing your next kill.

So far vehicles leave something to be desired, but it looks like they're working on that.

Overall 'jank factor' is reduced significantly. No more snapping your legs on tree trunks, bludgeoning yourself to death with doors, items TEND to not disappear when you drop them, and moving stuff to and from your backpack is safe now. There are still some things that need improvement, but if you could get used to the mod's meta mechanics you shouldn't have many problems getting used to the standalone's clunkyness.

Combat logging is still a problem, as far as I can tell.

This game is difficult. If you have three competent friends, GTFO could be worth your time.

I'll start by saying that this game sets the scene for interesting things to start happening, then they never do. The first few hours are really interesting but I think most people will have that "oh... this is it.." moment after scanning about 10 to 20 signals. The fun I had was worth my money, but I don't know that I'll be revisiting this game anytime soon.

Also if you're thinking about buying this game because of the horror tag, don't. There are a couple lighthearted jump scares but nothing that would make the game deserving of a horror tag.

Outward is proof that a studio doesn't need a bottomless budget to produce a fantastic experience.

It's just like having real hands.

Super good.

Good