For some of you, this might be the first time you’ve heard of Outriders. Or perhaps it has been on the edge of your awareness for a little while, but you still want to know specifics. Well, you’re in luck. This article is broken down into segments allowing you to skip to the bits that interest you the most.
What’s Outriders?
Outriders is a brutal RPG co-op shooter that plays in the third-person perspective. Gameplay is focused on combat, which is equally balanced between gunplay and skill usage. The developers intentionally minimized the cooldowns on skills to encourage frequent use of them.
RPG elements and loot play an important role in all Outriders mechanics, with extensive crafting and modding options, as well as some seriously deep skill trees, to allow each player to finetune their character to exactly how they would like to play.
You’ll have a choice of one of four classes: The Trickster, the Pyromancer, the Devastator, and the Technomancer. Each of these has their own unique playstyle and healing mechanics. Your guns and armour don’t just affect the way you shoot – they can significantly change the way your skills work as well. The Legendary Armour set bonuses will have you rethinking your character builds from the ground up.
Outriders plays best and is most fun when you embrace one of its guiding philosophies: Think aggressive. While each class in the game offers different healing mechanics, they generally all relate to inflicting damage on or killing enemies to restore your own health.
As a quick example: The Trickster class restores its health and shields when enemies die near it. This means that, when things get tough and you feel like you’re about to die, you will want to throw yourself into the thick of battle, where the fighting is heaviest. Running and hiding behind cover may work… but then you’re only waiting for enemies to flush you out with minimal health remaining. Survival demands aggression.
Oh, one more thing: Outriders will ship as a complete package, everything in the box. It is not a live service title and you can complete it.
Does Outriders Have a Story?
The premise of the story is, in the distant future, we attempt to colonize a planet that we believed to be a new home for humanity. Turns out, the planet doesn’t want us there.
Electromagnetic storms (Anomalies) burn out all technology more sophisticated than a light bulb. Robbed of the technological advantages upon which we had relied on, and faced with a flora and fauna that hyper-evolved to combat the human threat, colonization efforts quickly break down into a bitter war of attrition for the last remaining resources available to humanity.
You, as an Outrider, re-awaken from cryostasis 30 years after the initial landings. You emerge as an Altered, a being with access to powerful skills and healing abilities. A god on the ever-raging battlefield. This is where the main story picks up…
Tell Me About the Demo!
The Outriders demo is the entire opening chapter of the game. Complete with access to all four classes, the main story path & boss, and all side quests and areas included in this opening chapter. We estimate that an average play-through of the demo will take two to three hours… per class.
During this chapter, you will be introduced to most mechanics within the game, though deeper systems such as crafting will only fully unlock when you travel beyond the demo area.
If you’re a fan of storytelling in games, you’ll want to pay special attention to all cut-scenes and lore in the demo. The mainline story of Outriders is something we paid special attention to create a compelling narrative, and it all kicks off in the prologue and opening chapter that you’ll play in the demo. I strongly recommend exploring far and wide if you want to uncover the secrets of Enoch present in the Outriders demo.
Outriders can be played entirely solo if you’d prefer, but if you’re looking to play with your friends, Outriders supports drop in/drop-out co-op for up to three players. Multiplayer will become available once you complete the prologue and choose a class. The game also supports cross-play across all platforms, so you can play with your friends regardless of where they play. And if they don’t happen to be online at any point, we do have built-in matchmaking that will allow you to group up with other players based on your level and progression.
As mentioned before, your progress will be carried over to the main game. Your characters, gear and progression will all be waiting for you when you feel ready to dive into the full Outriders experience.
So, what do you have to lose? You can jump into the demo right now on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One!
See you on Enoch, Outrider.