Today is the official release of Outriders. On this occasion, MeinMMO summarizes all important information about the loot shooter for you and shows what to expect in the game.
What is Outriders? It is a third-person shooter developed by People Can Fly. The publisher is Square Enix. Outriders is primarily a loot shooter with an extensive main storyline and offers deep RPG mechanics.
The game focuses on solo and cooperative players and mixes gameplay reminiscent of The Division and the Gears series with mechanics from games like the Diablo series. The setting is a mix of sci-fi and dark fantasy and takes place on the planet Enoch, with a high level of brutality.
Players can experience the story alone or in groups, explore different areas of the planet, and choose from one of four classes. These classes differ significantly from each other and allow for different builds and playstyles. This article provides you with an overview of the game.
Update, April 2: Outriders has been released since April 1, and we have updated the article accordingly.
If you have seen little of the game so far, check out the launch trailer for the demo:
The most important information at a glance
The loot shooter will be released on April 1, 2021.
The game will be released on PC (Epic and Steam), Stadia, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS4, and PS5.
Yes. It will include some adjustments and improvements from the demo. It is not yet clear whether it will be included in the pre-download or how large the download will be.
There is no official information for all platforms yet. The system requirements for PC state 70 GB.
Yes. A free demo version of Outriders was released on February 25. It includes the first chapter of the story. You can carry over progress to the main game.
No. Outriders is intended to be released as a complete game. There is no Season Pass and no fixed roadmap for any expansions. The developers have deliberately chosen a more ‘old school’ approach.
According to the developers, this depends on how Outriders is received by players after the release. Basically, People Can Fly would like to deliver additional content, but they don’t want to make too many promises in advance.
No.
No. It is purely a PvE experience; you cannot compete against other players.
Buy Outriders
Here you will find the links to the respective stores:
- Steam: 59.99 Euro
- Epic Games Store: 59.99 Euro
- PSN Store: 69.99 Euro
- Xbox Store: 69.99 Euro
Download Sizes
What is the download size of Outriders? This varies from platform to platform:
- PS4: approx. 67 GB
- PS5: approx. 46 GB
- Xbox Series X|S: approx. 48 GB
- Xbox One: approx. 61 GB
- PC: approx. 42 GB
The story of Outriders
What is the story about? The story of Outriders takes place far in the future. Humanity has nearly destroyed our planet and is searching for a new home. It is eventually led to the planet Enoch by a mysterious signal.
The players are part of an elite unit called Outriders. The task of this unit is to explore the planet upon arrival and determine whether it is truly suitable as a new home. However, during their initial exploration, the Outriders encounter a strange anomaly storm that causes unpredictable events.
This storm is ultimately responsible for the special abilities of the four classes of Outriders. They can, for example, control fire or space and time.
Throughout the Outriders campaign, you will find out what the mysterious signal and the anomaly storm are about. In doing so, you must defend yourself against the dangers of Enoch and other people.
How much content does the story offer? According to the developer People Can Fly, the main story is supposed to take around 30-40 hours to complete. Additionally, there are numerous side missions.
The world of Outriders – dark, brutal, strange
The world is dark, brutal, and strange. In the scenes known so far from the story, there is no restraint in absurd brutality. Enemies burst, dissolve into skeletons, and leave a fountain of blood after another.
The creators strive to create a merciless world and show no particularly optimistic vision for humanity’s future. Outriders makes no compromises in this regard and additionally relies on strange humor.
This is no coincidence. People Can Fly was behind the shooter Bulletstorm, which was notable for similar elements. The studio was also involved in Gears Of War: Judgement, which also did not shy away from brutality.
Some of you may also know the parody of Call Of Duty, “Duty Calls.” The developers from People Can Fly are also responsible for this title. They mocked many clichés of the shooter series, especially the militarism criticized in many CoD offshoots.
The 4 classes of Outriders
How do the classes work? During the game, you unlock a total of eight abilities for each class. Each class also has its own skill tree with three additional subclasses. Each class also has its own ability to heal itself.
What classes are there? In Outriders, you choose from four different classes that play differently and each have their own specialties. You choose from
- Technomancer: This class is considered an all-rounder and uses various gadgets such as a freezing cannon, rocket launcher, or minigun with its skills. It has bonuses for ranged weapons and can also heal its entire group as the only class in Outriders.
- Pyromancer: The Pyromancer is described by the developers as a crazy fire mage. It is especially strong at medium distances. Its skills burn enemies, and its strengths lie mainly in controlling entire hordes of enemies.
- Devastator: The Devastator is something like the tank and frontline fighter in Outriders. It can control gravity and thereby, for example, create earthquakes that disrupt entire groups. It can also float in the air and initiate fatal drop attacks from above. Additionally, it can impale enemies with earth pillars and deflect enemy projectiles with a magnetic field.
- Trickster: This class controls space and time, can teleport using abilities, or slow down enemies in a kind of time bubble. It also has something like an energy blade that can dissolve enemies into skeletons and make them explode. It is quite fast and zips back and forth between enemies.
In our overview of the classes, you will find a summary of the classes: All information about the 4 classes of Outriders – Gameplay and Skills
Singleplayer and Coop
This is how it works: You can play Outriders either in 3-player groups or solo. The difficulty of the missions is determined by the number of players. The developers emphasize that solo players with the right playstyle and builds can also easily complete the entire main story.
However, the endgame content is primarily designed for groups and is more difficult, so it becomes significantly more challenging for solo players, according to the developers.
Endgame of Outriders – The Expeditions
This is how the expeditions work: After completing the story of Outriders, the expeditions await you. There are a total of 15, but the last one can only be unlocked at the end after completing all others.
These are particularly challenging missions that take you to new areas. None of these levels are supposed to be recycled from the main story. These expeditions offer a greater challenge but also better loot.
To play them all, you must master the 15 different world tiers of Outriders. These determine the difficulty level, but promise rewards and better loot with each tier. More information can be found in our special: Expeditions are the endgame of Outriders – This is how they work
The 15 world tiers determine how hard Outriders is
This is how the world tiers work: As mentioned above, there are a total of 15. With each tier, enemies become more powerful and numerous. At the same time, you also benefit from higher chances for particularly good loot and receive rewards for unlocking them.
The world tiers can be switched at any time in the game; you must complete kills and missions to gradually unlock all of them. Once you reach a tier, it remains unlocked. More about this can be found in our summary: This is how the 15 world tiers function that make Outriders truly challenging
Loot and Crafting
This is how loot works in Outriders: Anyone who has played games like this knows the principle. Loot is divided into different rarity levels. These are marked by categories and colors.
- Gray (Normal)
- Green (Unusual)
- Blue (Rare)
- Purple (Epic)
- Gold (Legendary)
Equipment becomes really exciting once it reaches the rare tier. Weapons and armor then have modifications that give them special properties. By dismantling them, you can remove mods and unlock them for crafting and modifying other equipment.
Thus, you can combine different weapon and armor mods and customize them according to your preferences. This is even possible with legendary equipment.
What is legendary equipment? This is the strongest loot in Outriders. There are numerous legendary weapons and armor in the game that you can collect and use to create powerful builds.
- Legendary weapons have unique mods that give them special abilities. Additionally, they look particularly cool. In the demo, already 10 legendary weapons are available, but there are said to be significantly more.
- Legendary armor has particularly powerful set bonuses and comes with a distinctly unique design. We have presented 8 different legendary armors that the developers have shown so far.
The 11 weapon types of Outriders
What weapons can be played? The guns are not neglected in the game either. Players can choose from a total of 11 different weapon types. These are:
- Assault rifles
- Light machine guns
- Submachine guns
- Rifles
- Repeater rifles
- Automatic sniper rifles
- Pump-action shotguns
- Automatic shotguns
- Revolvers
- Handguns
- Double guns
Accolades – the in-game achievements of Outriders
What are accolades? These are challenges you can complete in the game. There is a wide variety of accolades that fall into different categories. This can be eliminating enemies with a specific weapon or skill, or something completely different.
The more accolades you complete, the higher you rank in the accolades tier. Each rise brings you various cosmetic rewards such as emotes or variants for your personal banner in the game.
We had an interview with a reader who reached the highest level in the demo and spent over 100 hours just there: The demo of Outriders is said to last 10 hours – We talk to someone who played over 100
Outriders offers crossplay for all platforms
This is how crossplay works in Outriders: You can play cross-platform with other players. However, you will need a Square account for this. You need to create one anyway to play Outriders, as matchmaking is also done through it.
Crossplay can be activated or deactivated through the settings. So you have a choice.
System Requirements for Outriders
The developers have presented numerous features for the PC in a video:
Your PC must be able to handle:
Minimum requirements for 720p / 60fps
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- Operating System: Windows 10
- Processor: Intel i5-3470 / AMD FX-8350
- RAM: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 750ti / AMD Radeon R9 270x
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 70 GB of available storage space
Recommended hardware for 1080p / 60fps
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- Operating System: Windows 10
- Processor: Intel i7-7700 / AMD Ryzen 5 1600
- RAM: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: Nvidia Geforce GTX 1060 6GB / AMD Radeon RX 480 8GB
- DirectX: Version 12
- Storage: 70 GB of available storage space
Ultra settings for 4k / 60fps
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- Operating System: Windows 10
- Processor: Intel i7-10700K / Ryzen 7 3700X
- RAM: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 10GB / Radeon RX 6800XT
- DirectX: Version 12
- Storage: 70 GB of available storage space
Gameplay trailer “This is Outriders 101”
In the trailer, the developers presented all content including gameplay:
Cheaters are marked for all to see
People Can Fly has already commented on how they handle cheaters in Outriders. If one is caught, there is a kind of watermark that marks not only the player’s HUD but also makes it visible to other players that they are a cheater.
Additionally, cheaters are excluded from normal matchmaking and can only play with other cheaters. More about this in our summary: Those who cheat in Outriders will be permanently marked
How has Outriders been received so far? Despite technical difficulties, initial reactions are quite positive. However, due to the late sending of test access codes, there is still no comprehensive picture of player sentiment. We will keep you updated on this.
Will you play Outriders? Or is the game not for you? Let us know your opinion about the game in the comments.
MeinMMO will continue to keep you updated and report on everything about the loot shooter. Therefore, keep an eye on our information page about Outriders.
