The Outer Worlds 2 has quickly jumped from a passing interest to one of my most anticipated games left in 2025

Obsidian Entertainment looks to be setting itself up to bookend 2025 with two strong RPG offerings, with Avowed back in February and The Outer Worlds 2 soon in October. Recently, I had the chance to try out a small snippet of the beginning of the game, and even from this brief peek at Obsidian's latest sci-fi offering, it's apparent that the team has managed to improve over the original game in every way. Strap in, Commander, Outer Worlds 2 is looking to deliver an out-of-this-world RPG.

The demo we got to try took us through character creation and the introductory tutorial mission, lasting me about an hour my first time through. Taking place on Horizon Point Station, we are tasked with infiltrating, rescuing, and evacuating a fellow member of the Earth Directorate. Things don't quite go according to plan, with the occasional loss of limbs, explosions, betrayals popping up to keep things exciting, before cutting to a cinematic that feels like it cues up the game proper. All of this was done with the same sarcastic, campy, and more light-hearted tone that the original Outer Worlds featured and that Obsidian has proven time and time again to be great at, starting all the way back with Fallout: New Vegas.

Despite being a relatively short demo, content-wise, it did a great job showcasing just how varied and different you can play through the same content multiple times. New choices become available depending on your level in various skills or what perks you have access to, such as one situation where I could try to reprogram the robot guards, take them head-on, or sneak around them, or in one case, choosing to send my squad to handle one of two possible objectives while I would tackle the other. I wouldn't say that it reaches full-on "Immersive Sim" levels of choice, but maybe immersive-lite? I was really impressed by just how many different options I had to work around, and I completed the demo about three times, just trying out different ideas and approaches. I have my fingers crossed that Obsidian manages to keep a similar pace of choices for the rest of the game.

In addition to all these choices, Outer Worlds 2 also feels better to play than its predecessor, thanks to improved movement options and better gunplay. Obsidian has mentioned previously that they took great care and looked for advice from the Halo team and how games like Destiny handled their weapons to improve how guns feel in this sequel. The results of their efforts are instantly recognizable when looking down the sights of my Directorate-issued pistol, feeling quicker and snappier. Shots and the recoil seemed to have more weight behind them, thanks in no small part to the improved audio. The demo didn't seem to feature any of the more outlandish and unique weapons that they have shown in previous trailers, at least that I found. However, since this was just the intro, that is to be expected. Still, seeing as the team has managed to make even the most basic weapon feel good to use, I can only imagine what the rest will be like. 

From a movement standpoint, players will have a number of new options open to them in this sequel, resulting in a much faster-paced experience. You can now slide and pull yourself up objects, which I found gives this new game a greater sense of verticality, causing me to look up more for alternate places I can now reach, in contrast to the first game, where I found myself always looking straight ahead with little need to look up or around as much. Even sneaking around feels better with a "sneak attack" prompt popping up whenever I get within range of an enemy I want to take care of. Outer Worlds 2 just feels better to play. 

Prior to my time with the demo, The Outer Worlds 2 was one of those games that was on my radar more because it was from Obsidian than because I had a deep love for its predecessor. I dabbled in it and enjoyed the game well enough, but now, having invested some time in this new adventure, it has quickly become one of my most anticipated games remaining for 2025. The limited scope of the game I got to experience means that many of the game's systems, like crafting or the wild 92 new Perks, were beyond my reach. Outer Worlds 2 feels like it will be one of those titles where players will compare their stories of playthroughs with one another, discovering wildly different results, and I hope that's the case. Obsidian has shown they know how to make a damn good RPG, and if they manage to continue and expand on what I saw in this intro section, then it may just be the last big hit of the year when it launches in October. I can't wait.

The Outer Worlds 2 launches on October 29, 2025, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC