As part of the Summer Game Fest, developer People Can Fly started a new video preview series for their upcoming game Outriders. The first Outriders Broadcast video went live earlier today and showed off both gameplay and background information.
The first part of the preview episode presented new gameplay footage. For those who haven’t been following this title previously, Outriders could easily (though inaccurately) be described as a combination of the weird sci-fi of Destiny mixed with the third-person action of The Division.
As a project from the folks who made Bulletstorm, careful use of cover and thoughtful advancement through the battlespace are not on the menu. The gameplay mechanics encourage and reward players who embody the philosophy of “agile, mobile, and hostile.” Your character is going to get shot, cut, burnt, poisoned, and in all other ways, damaged.
The only way you’re coming back from those injuries is spreading the misery and reciprocating with interest. The idea of “tanking” through an encounter is going to be somewhat different than other shooters.
Outriders looks to be employing a new tweak on how to handle difficulty. As a player progresses through the game, they not only build up XP to improve their character but also build up a second “World Tier” meter which increases the number of enemies and the quality of loot drops as they move up the ranks.
So far, there are fifteen World Tiers. Dying in the course of the game will cut some of the World Tier progress you’ve accumulated. Die too often, and you’ve dropped down a World Tier in a rather Darwinian process.
The developers also took some time to answer some burning questions. Since Outriders all too easily invites comparison to both the Destiny and Division series, they were asked if it was going to be another live service game. The developers responded negatively. They were equally emphatic in their assertion that there would be no Denuvo products packaged in with the game, and there would be no microtransactions.
People Can Fly looks to make a different sort of game with Outriders. We’ll see how different and how good it will be this holiday season.
