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During my first encounter with the original Outer Worlds title, I was quickly hooked by its irreverent, Fallout-esque brand of humor. The game featured engaging exchanges, individual logs, and promotional posters that portrayed a business-controlled nightmare that was both bleak and humorous. My biggest worry heading into the follow-up was that this version – without blame on its part – might not be as humorous as its predecessor.

Sure, things weren't perfect. Yet society undoubtedly appeared a bit less broken in those days. This universe presented a dystopia that didn't hit too close to home, and still managed to be both emotional and comical. I commenced the follow-up rather certain that this release couldn't succeed to accomplish this again, but I'm pleased to state that I was mistaken. This follow-up is just as smile-generating as the title that came before it, and also introduces original ideas as opposed to merely repeating similar elements like an overused corporate jingle.

Evolving Characters

Most of the game characters gamers met in the first title had been defeated by the activities of business corporations like the in-game corporation, and were acutely conscious of how much their situation was terrible. This installment progresses matters in a different direction, featuring characters who are brainwashed (periodically symbolically, frequently actually). Many of these personalities aren't even aware of how deeply messed up their circumstances are, or that there might be alternatives to an existence spent beneath the control of a large business or limited by the doctrines of a high-demand religion.

This second installment examines forms of corporate control that are more deceptive than merely maintaining the people destitute. Various personalities have been programmed with the sort of extremely eager "hustle mentality" discourse you'll find on social media accounts that claim to disclose the path to accomplishment should you purchase for an overpriced workshop, or put money into a dubious blockchain project. Additionally, the title's business promotion has developed.

Modern Themes

There are still plenty of demotivating signs in various locations indicating reductions in pay from workers who so much as consider requesting leave, but there are also references to multi-level marketing strategies, featuring an employee manual that confidently announces, "Strangers are just clients you haven't met yet!" As someone who grew up in a direct sales household, I promptly exploded laughing when encountering this mention, because it's a phrase I have frequently encountered spoken verbatim by people at the base of these systems.

Luckily, this sequel is just as funny and irreverent as the initial release.

This installment also examines the dilemma many of us experience when it comes to employment, political matters, and even personal purchases: Needing to choose the reduced of several poor choices. When trying to determine if to support a dangerous corporate entity or a problematic faith organization throughout the experience, I discovered I was siding with the known negative: An established company structure that is awful (but only uses advertising to program its members), instead of the faith organization, which also sucks, but uses an awful technique named "psychological renewal" to control its members in line.

Doubtful Authorities

Furthermore, the characters you serve may not be trustworthy. In the role of an Earth Directorate agent, you're tasked with attempting to restore order to this settlement after a hostile corporate takeover, and you rapidly learn that the two the aggressors and the defenders subscribe to separate (though equally awful) doctrines. Yet a speedy examination of the messages on your spacecraft's system show that the Earth Directorate isn't precisely the world's most ethical employer as well, as shown by a reply to a distress call that tells the sender it will take "three to five corporate years" for a reply to their transmission. (That time frame is about how long it takes for many people to reach a real help desk employee over the phone currently.)

Relatable Moments

Numerous instances in this installment are painfully relatable, but it's a cleansing sort of relatability, and this release achieves equilibrium between its depressing dystopian setting with wit that's truly humorous while avoiding out of place. An important idea is the quick commencement of decline that appears to occur in the wake of any major corporate acquisition. Staff members from all factions of this sequel's big merger see their quality of life worsen as a result, while the executives in charge of the hierarchy are, naturally, raking in profits rapidly.

Okay, at the very least I know my position.

Just like the initial release, this follow-up is naturally humorous, but additionally isn't afraid to become dramatic. At one point, while exploring around the release's primary discoverable location, I came upon a body with an audio log in the vicinity. The audio log disclosed that this NPC (who was aligned with the programming faith group) had died in an accident while attempting to track down and dispatch her lover. This romantic partner had reportedly deserted from their organization, and the deceased character was angry about her lover's {traitorous