Outriders Today

People Can Fly set out to make a brutal, power-fantasy looter-shooter. They succeeded. It just took a few patches to get there.

When OUTRIDERS dropped in April 2021, the gaming world was skeptical. Developed by People Can Fly (the geniuses behind Bulletstorm and Gears of War: Judgment ) and published by Square Enix, it arrived in the shadow of Destiny 2 ’s dominance and Outriders ’ own disastrous demo server issues. Most critics wrote it off as "that other looter-shooter" — a game trying to cash in on a trend three years too late. OUTRIDERS

Outriders showers you in guns. Blue, purple, and eventually legendary (gold) drops happen constantly. You will spend a significant portion of your playtime in the menus, comparing stats, dismantling duplicates, and applying mods. For loot gremlins, this is heaven. For everyone else, it’s exhausting. People Can Fly set out to make a

The tone is aggressively early 2010s. Characters scream lines like, "I didn’t sign up for this!" and "That’s classified!" with absolute sincerity. The main antagonist, a dictator named Seth, monologues about "order" while wearing a leather trench coat. It’s ridiculous. When OUTRIDERS dropped in April 2021, the gaming

Outriders is a game of violent contradictions. It is janky yet hypnotic. Its story is laughable, yet its lore is fascinating. Its endgame is repetitive, yet its core combat loop is arguably the most visceral in the genre. So, grab your favorite anomaly-infused sidearm, and let’s dive back into the planet Enoch. Let’s get the obvious out of the way: Outriders is not subtle. You wake up as a custom protagonist who has been in cryo-sleep for decades. The moment you step out, you are immediately thrown into a civil war on a hostile alien world, betrayed by your own commander, and accidentally imbued with reality-bending superpowers called "Anomaly abilities."

In the tutorial, the game literally tells you that staying behind a wall for more than three seconds will get you killed. Enemies have grenades, flanking AI, and "Breacher" units that rush you with shotguns. The only way to survive is to be aggressive. Use your movement skill (Teleport, Leap, or Gravity Jump) to close the gap. Heal by killing enemies close-range. Chain your abilities like a fighting game combo.

The issue isn’t the quantity—it’s the distinctiveness. Legendary weapons have unique models and set perks, but 90% of the purples and blues look identical. You’ll see the same "Double Gun" skin for twenty hours. The armor is better, with each class having distinct silhouettes, but you’ll still be squinting at stat bars more than admiring your character.