The loot shooter Outriders has been available since April 1st. At launch, MeinMMO highlights 9 important things you should know before buying.
What is Outriders? The third-person shooter is developed by People Can Fly and is compared to games like Destiny, The Division, as well as Diablo and Gears of War.
The comparison of Outriders with Gears of War is no coincidence, as People Can Fly was involved in the development of Gears of War Judgement. The over-the-top shooter Bulletstorm also comes from the developer studio, which is noticeable in the setting of Outriders. It is a dark mix of sci-fi and fantasy.
When is the release? Outriders was released on April 1st for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC (Epic, Steam) and Google Stadia. A complete overview of features and content can be found here: Release, Classes, Preload, Gameplay – All Info about Outriders
But what exactly makes Outriders special? We summarize 9 things for you to consider before buying.
Update, April 2: Outriders has now been released, and we have updated the article accordingly.
Buy Outriders
Where can I buy Outriders? Here are the links to the respective stores and their prices:
- Steam: 59.99 Euros
- Epic Games Store: 59.99 Euros
- PSN Store: 69.99 Euros
- Xbox Store: 69.99 Euros
For all pre-orders, there was the Day One Edition with the “Hell’s Rangers Content Pack.”
What’s included in the pack:
- Hell’s Rangers gear sets for male and female characters
- Hell’s Rangers arsenal with 11 weapons
- Hell’s Rangers truck mods and truck designs
Xbox players can save a lot of money on Outriders. At least, if they own the Xbox Game Pass.
Outriders is in the Xbox Game Pass
What is the Xbox Game Pass? It is a subscription model for Xbox consoles. You pay for a subscription and have a large selection of games. It will only cost you the subscription price. One could also call the pass Netflix for games.
How much does such a subscription cost? Depending on the platform, you pay monthly between €9.99 (each for PC or Xbox) and €12.99 (Game Pass Ultimate for PC and Xbox). However, keep in mind that Outriders is currently only supposed to appear in the Game Pass for Xbox.
However, there is a trick to get it much cheaper. With this trick, Xbox players can snag Outriders for €1. MeinMMO author Patrick explains how it works: Caution, do not simply pay €10 for the Xbox Game Pass – I almost made the mistake
Outriders has a true story
The developers have emphasized several times that the story of Outriders plays an important role. Unlike many other shooters, the story is not just an accessory.
What is it about? Humanity has destroyed the Earth and is looking for a new home. This seems to be found on the planet Enoch. However, there are numerous dangers caused by the humans themselves as well as the planet itself.
The players’ task is to save the new world while investigating a mysterious signal that is being sent from somewhere on Enoch. They are to achieve these goals using mysterious powers awakened by the so-called anomaly storm at the beginning of the game.
How much playtime does the story offer? According to People Can Fly, the main story is supposed to deliver around 30-40 hours of gameplay, in addition to side missions.
RPG with classes and crafting
These are the RPG mechanics: The gameplay mechanics involve the four classes of Outriders. These are
- Pyromancer – The fire mage
- Technomancer – The all-rounder
- Assassin – The manipulator of space and time
- Devastator – The gravity bender
Each class has special properties and play styles. In addition, each has its own skill tree, which splits into three subclasses. There are also 8 different abilities.
You can find an overview of the classes on our site MeinMMO – Outriders: Everything we know so far about the 4 character classes – Gameplay and Skills
You level up throughout the story, unlocking abilities and skill points, allowing you to customize your classes as you like. It is useful that you can reset your skill trees for free at any time. Even in combat.
Then there are weapons and armor with which you can create builds. Crafting also plays an important role.
This is how crafting works: In Outriders, you modify weapons and armor with modifications. You can unlock mods by dismantling found equipment and then attach them to other gear. This allows effects to be transferred and combined.
However, this only works once you reach a certain equipment level. This is where the loot system of Outriders comes into play.
Loot mechanics of Outriders
Outriders has a conventional loot system. Equipment is classified into different rarity levels, which differ in color, designation, and properties.
These are the different rarity levels:
- Normal (Gray)
- Unusual (Green)
- Rare (Blue)
- Epic (Purple)
- Legendary (Gold)
Legendary loot is particularly powerful and will play an important role in the endgame of Outriders. Here is an example of a legendary weapon:
Legendary armor influences your build even more than weapons do. They significantly enhance the abilities of the classes. Recently, Outriders showcased how a legendary set looks in the endgame for the Pyromancer: The Pyromancer is the crazy fire mage of Outriders – Here’s how he plays in the endgame
15 Expeditions in the Endgame
What to expect in the endgame: With the expeditions, after the main story, there are 15 more missions and areas. These missions are gradually unlocked through the 15 world tiers, which determine the difficulty of Outriders.
These levels are reminiscent of the torment ranks from Diablo and simultaneously increase the chance for rare loot. In the endgame, you will mainly be occupied with playing the expeditions, improving your equipment and classes, in order to survive in the higher difficulty levels.
Will there be more content after release? People Can Fly generally intends to deliver further content. However, the developer wants to wait for players’ reactions before discussing post-release content: It depends on you whether Outriders will receive a DLC and new classes
Outriders, however, will certainly be supported after release, improved, and maintained. Quality-of-life improvements are also possible.
Multiplayer and Crossplay – What about PvP?
How does multiplayer work? You can team up with up to two other players. All content can be replayed at any time. There is a matchmaking system where you can either join random players, create a group, or specifically join friends.
Is there PvP? No. You cannot compete against other players in Outriders. There are no PvP modes. Throughout the story, you encounter various enemies controlled by AI, including humans and monsters.
However, you can play nearly all activities with friends and random players. This includes the story, side missions, and expeditions.
How does crossplay work? Thanks to the crossplay feature, you can play Outriders across all platforms. This includes PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC (Epic, Steam), and Google Stadia.
The crossplay in Outriders works through Square Enix’s account system (via sqex.me), so you will need an additional account that you must link to your respective profile. You will then have the option to play all content with players of the mentioned platforms.
More about this can be found in our guide – Outriders: What you need to know about crossplay and multiplayer
Can you play Outriders in singleplayer?
The developers say: In an interview with MeinMMO, the developers emphasized that the story and side missions can be played solo without any problems up to a certain point. The game’s scaling adjusts the difficulty for solo players.
By the way: Even if you play solo, Outriders requires a permanent internet connection.
How is it in the endgame? In the expeditions, however, it is different. The activities are designed for groups and are correspondingly challenging.
While it is possible to survive alone with the right equipment and adjusted builds, it requires significant time to assemble such builds and the associated equipment.
You can read the entire interview here. In it, the developers discuss the two biggest differences from other loot shooters: With these two things, Outriders wants to distinguish itself from other loot shooters
Outriders is not a live service game like Division or Destiny
What does that mean? Games like Destiny 2 or The Division 2 have laid out plans from the very beginning for how content will continue after release. Both games introduced a season model after release that continuously provided content.
Outriders takes a more “old school” approach and avoids such plans. There will also be no season passes or in-game shops with paid content. The developers state that they want to release a finished game.
Still undecided? You can also simply try the free demo of Outriders. In the test version, you can play the first chapter of Outriders and try out the four classes.
Your progress can even be carried over into the main game. Here’s an overview of the demo – Outriders: All info about the free demo of the RPG shooter – Download, platforms, content
Are you going to play Outriders? Or are you going to wait? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments.
