The Outer Worlds 2 - Preview

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Gameinformer checked out The Outer Worlds 2:

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The Outer Worlds 2: 8 Fun Facts About Its First Biome, Paradise Island

As part of our cover story for The Outer Worlds 2, we were treated to an exclusive demo of the game's first open-world area: Paradise Island. This idyllic destination is located on a moon called Eden, and while it may sound lovely, it's embroiled in a three-way conflict between the game's primary factions: The authoritarian Protectorate, the ruthlessly capitalist Auntie's Choice, and the scientific church that is the Order of the Ascendant.
Following The Outer Worlds 2's prologue chapter, this is where players become truly acclimated with the game's new and improved systems in an open-world setting. After exploring Paradise for a couple of hours and speaking to the developers about their approach to creating it, here are some of the most interesting facts we learned about this destination.

The Bridge Mission Is The First Centerpiece Of Branching Mission Design
Shortly after arriving at Paradise Island, you're tasked with infiltrating a Protectorate base housing a towering transmitter called the Vox Relay. There's only one big problem: The facility sits on the other side of a chasm, and is accessible only by crossing a heavily guarded drawbridge.

This mission offers the first big example of The Outer Worlds 2's larger emphasis on branching mission design and player choice. A Protectorate guard may let you pass in exchange for hunting down two traitors to their organization. You can explore the surrounding area for any hidden pathways behind enemy lines.

Fellow editor Wesley LeBlanc, who played the same demo alongside me, somehow managed to obtain jump boots that allow him to leap and boost over a secondary entrance shrouded in a deadly gas called Zyrainium, bypassing the bridge completely. Helping a nearby forward operating base may net you some well-armed backup to storm the bridge head-on. You may even choose to sell out an ally in exchange for passage. And before you ask, no, you can't just fly your ship across the bridge because the airspace is riddled with floating mines.

As design director Matt Singh explains, "[Game director Brandon Adler] in particular really wanted that bridge experience to exemplify 'How can we get as many different choices, different ways that the player can get across this objective, specifically' in the game?" Obsidian states there are upwards of six fully supported methods for completing this mission, and that's not including more creative solutions you could concoct on your own. Paradise Island's Vox Relay mission offers the first of what Obsidian promises will be multiple missions throughout the game featuring this high level of variance and flexibility.

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