The Switch has been a massive hit for Nintendo. Being able to handle massive open world games like The Witcher 3, Assassins Creed Black Flag and Skyrim, more and more games in this genre are being ported to the handheld console. The latest game to grace the hybrid console is The Outer Worlds which came out on Xbox One and PS4 late last year. While there is a definite dip in quality if you directly compare the two versions, the point really is how does this game run and is it worth your money? The answer is a resounding yes. The port is beautiful and does include all of the content from the initial release on the other platforms.
The Outer Worlds is an open world RPG that draws similarities to the Fallout series. You are part of a colony in the solar system and your player travels around accepting various missions across the different outposts. Apart from combat, you can also choose your responses to gain an advantage in situations you are faced with. You can lie, manipulate and persuade your way through situations. There is also a truth option to take a chance and see what happens. These options build up skills which determines your character as a thug, scoundrel or diplomat. There are a number of varying mission types and a lot of local alien wildlife can be difficult to get past on your pursuit, the 30 hour campaign does offer a balance puzzles, shooting and looting.
Credit does have to be given to the writers of this game who have injected a very dark level of humour into the game. Each character you encounter and talk to, you never want to rush through the conversation. In addition to this there are billboards and signs that are dripping in this dark and hilarious wit that sets the game apart from the sombre visual tone that you expect from the outset.
Visually this game was stunning when I first played on Xbox One X. Comparing it to the Nintendo Switch version is not entirely fair. The game is locked to 720p and 30fps when in handheld mode and does up to 1080p resolution when docked. The textures are the biggest thing that I noticed change in this version. There is a blurring on backgrounds which is a little disappointing. A lot of care has been taken into making these signs entertaining, splashed with black humour, unless you are really on top of it, it is easy to miss due to the blurring. This little niggle aside, the rest of the game does look really good. Characters have ported well from the big console version with their detail.
The games frame rate is locked at 30fps and there are instances when the game really struggles. If you run around, the system stutters to keep up. This is also the case when there are too many characters on screen at the same time. The system struggles to keep up with too much action on the screen and while this isn’t a deal breaker, it is something that other companies like Panic Button have perfected in their ports of Doom and Wolfenstein on the Switch. This game is ideal for the Switch and Switch Lite to be played in handheld mode, if you do want to play it docked on your TV, it is recommended to get the Xbox or Playstation version of the game for the full experience.
What the game has added are gyroscope controls. You can use the joy-con remotes and even Nintendo Switch pro controller to really hone in on your aim. While this feature wasn’t present in the Xbox version, I didn’t know how much I was missing it until I used it in this version. It felt much more precise and offered an added experience to this version that really makes it unique. Taking the auto-aim off that was present on the Xbox version really opened up the game for me to feel like something different. It is for this reason that I enjoyed the Switch version of Outer Worlds the most.
The Outer Worlds is another example of a great AAA port to the Switch. Keeping all the content from the original games has ensured a satisfying port. While the game does dip graphically, it is to be expected on a handheld console. Adding in the motion controls for both joy cons and the pro controller is such a smart move. You can do this in either hand-held or docked mode and it adds an extra challenge to the game that the other consoles missed out on. The humour and depth to each character in the game will have you coming back for multiple playthroughs and now you can play it whenever and wherever you are.
The Outer Worlds is available on Nintendo Switch now.
