The Outer Worlds 2 gave an in-depth look at its combat

Obsidian Entertainment’s highly anticipated sequel, The Outer Worlds 2, is gearing up for its 2025 release window by showing off some of its core ideas. In a series of interviews with IGN, Obsidian Entertainment is pulling back the curtain on its plans to evolve The Outer Worlds 2’s combat system. With significant upgrades to mobility, gameplay variety, and character progression, The Outer Wilds 2 is shaping up to be a worthy successor.

Rob Donovan, Senior Combat Designer at Obsidian, explained the studio’s perspective on combat in The Outer Wilds 2, “That was something we identified we could really sort of polish up and improve on, modernize a little bit, and add really interesting features.” For all the success The Outer Worlds achieved, it wasn’t exactly because of its groundbreaking RPG shooter mechanics, but it seems The Outer Worlds 2 is not content letting it lose priority.

Movement and customization upgrades

Major emphasis was put on how upgrading player mobility increases the dynamism of combat encounters. New parkour-style mechanics like vaulting, sliding, and mantling have been added to make movement quicker and more natural--bringing to mind games like Apex Legends, where movement is half the fun. RPG progression systems intertwine with movement, allowing players to invest in perks that let them shoot weapons while sliding.

Nested within these movement changes is the addition of smarter enemy AI that will now strategically use cover. Enemies will now hide out if they are getting sniped at from a distance, or hide behind walls when suppressing fire is put down.

A key tool addressing this new system is the addition of grenades. They will be available to both players and enemies, so expect some cover-flushing grenades to be a core part of combat strategy. Obsidian is also adding layers of RPG customization to better flesh out class-based combat strategies:

• Leadership - emphasizes companion synergies
• Rogue - benefits from stealth mechanics
• Science - leans into energy-based gadgets
• Soldier - capitalizes on a vast arsenal of weaponry

Additionally, The Outer Worlds 2 will have armor classes separated into light, medium, and heavy types. Each armor class promotes different play styles when mixed with other build elements, making players take into consideration how mobile versus tanky their builds are.

A more tactical and dynamic experience

Furthermore, Obsidian hopes to make combat feel more varied with the decision to remove enemy level scaling, Open world games thrive from having tough zones that encourage players to challenge themselves early, or come back stronger later.

“It prevents, from my perspective, from the combat side, having a lot of the game feel same-y,” said Donovan.

To drive home the varied feeling, Lead Systems Designer at Obsidian, Kyle Koenig, brought up that they wanted to, “step up that weapon feel and moment-to-moment gunplay.” That means making meaningful RPG stats matter, like damage and range, while taking RPG elements out of less satisfying stats like recoil or weapon sway.

With a spectrum of difficulty settings available, from Story Mode all the way up to Very Hard, The Outer Worlds 2 is designed to accommodate all types of players while rewarding strategic thinking and build experimentation.