Outriders preview: A new blast from People Can Fly and Square Enix

In the not too distant future, the mortal Earth has caused its inhabitants to seek a new planet and call it home. After traveling for decades leaving its passengers parked on time, the brave team assigned this great task of moving to the new world. For the first time you can see, this distant planet is mysterious, drinkable and peaceful – a place where people can feel at home. But not everything is as it seems, and this new world is soon filled with hostile creatures and mysterious forces beyond human power.

Oh, have you heard that before? OK, I agree – External ports, the next co-op passenger from developer People Can Fly (Bulletstorm, Battle Gears: Judgment ) as well as the publisher of Square Enix, definitely offers some general capabilities. Release this holiday season and make its next-generation tools for Sony and Microsoft (as well as PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One), External ports follows a titular group that traveled to the planet Enoch in front of everyone in the hope of establishing an available platform for human survivors. What they find is a mysterious land and land that has been damaged by devastating storms called “anomalies” that infiltrate and destroy the party. Before long, it is as light as the sick are prevented, and in pursuit of our heroic hero is mortally wounded, leading to another moment of suspended animation. When they did, it was decades, and Enoch was a military man.

Described as a "great RPG shooter" by People Can Fly CEO Sebastian Wojciechowski, External ports he has been growing for almost four years – or since the time of the studio breakup with the parent company of Epic Games. After collaborating with Epic on the Gears of War series again FortniteSave the world mode, PCF wants to go back to making its games. Come in External ports, a sci-fi atmosphere created from scratch that shoved RPG elements into their third-person shooter.

After keeping it inside a Polish-based studio for the past few years, Wojciechowski and his team on People Can Fly have shown External ports to the media for the first time this month. Its virtual identity is described as "sci-fi meets misery," with a structure that gives players "immense freedom," game director Bartek Kmita told Polygon. From open character builders to tree skills, difficulty options, co-op skills (you can play on your own or in pairs), and various categories, External ports do a lot to make you feel like you're in control of how you play – even though many of its ideas have been seen before.

First, you will build a character from scratch to act as your game distributor. I was a little disappointed by the graphic designer in its current form, as the choices were meaningless: Besides the gender-specific mix of men, women, you can choose from a few hairstyles, skin colors, some minimal fashions, and scars or piercings to give your Outrider a battle-worn look.

Personally, I could spend hours building a character of your own, but I wanted a bit more depth from External ports – for example, there were only five hair colors and a few choices of darker skin tones. While Kmita does not say how many options the completed game will have, she has assured me that character customization is "still under construction."

Let's pull out some obvious comparisons from the way: External ports feel like Desiny it blends in A song and others Gears of War thrown in. It Desiny& # 39; S sci-fi DNA, A songThe action of other things, too Gears& # 39; A third-person perspective and a simple breastplate spread to Enoch. And I have ideas for it, but during my two-hour play, I couldn't help but make juxtapositions of those other games in my head.

While External ports it sounds like an arrow first and foremost, heavy on the role plays. There is a rating system and a tree of skills; there are separate requirements for dismissing and choosing negotiations to pursue. After one player's prelude, you will select one category, which will determine the strength of your character throughout the game.

Only three classes were taken during this period of play, with the fourth under-wrapping. There's the Pyromancer section, which is exactly what it sounds like: They use fire and use it to burn enemies in the cream. The Trickster is more of a close-up category, with time-consuming capabilities that allow attack and racing. Then there is the Devastator, which is a large tank. I went with the Pyromancer because mid-range attacks are more in line with my style of play (but also because playing with fire is cool).

Going back External portsThe story & # 39 ;, the pre-game portion of the game took place after your Outrider got up from 31 years ago – a long time after it took 80 years to reach the world. If Enoch appeared to be in disaster on the first day, things have only gotten worse over the years. Outriders become paranoid, accused of Enoch's deadly circumstances and tragic end to humanity. Few of his fellow protagonists have survived, and those who spent the next decades moved into a domestic settlement called Rift Town.

But there is something different about Outrider when you wake up; they find themselves overwhelmed by supernatural forces. That's how the classes interact on the subject: Somehow, the anomaly provided Outrider with some skills. From then on, combat will use a mix of traditional weapons and these special forces, but taking cover is also a major part of the combat strategy.

This is also the point where the game opens up for interactive play, and I found myself meeting another player in my other event. It took a little time and some communication, but eventually we got the same idea and found out how to work together. Hard to say if External ports you are better off alone or with a group, because it really depends on your tastes.

Co-op is built-in External ports right from the beginning, according to Kumita, who called it "the foundational pillar." Its difficulty comes in the scale of the number of players, but co-op is not the only factor affecting the difficulty level. In addition to traditional gaming standards, External ports introduced World Tires, developing to make the game more complicated – but only if the player wanted to. External ports first it is simple and gradually works its way; At the end of the demo I opened the fourth cheetah for the world, which was already tight, but there was still more to go. Players can change the World Tier at any time, changing the difficulty in the tract (even though in a team, only the leader can take the forest).

Not that we haven't seen difficulty levels before, though External ports it forms part of its DNA, rewarding players as they unlock new options without forcing them into a challenge they are uncomfortable with. Kimita told us that World Tires is part of a comprehensive development plan to encourage players to try different strategies. Those who want to focus on the story may be blowing on the lower World Tier, while players looking for a real challenge may stumble upon it as they go.

How long External ports it brings out a player with new ideas like this that is really interesting, and I wish I could see more of that in my demo. For example, during the launch, PCF promised "twisted and elegant" goodness in its customized applications, mixing organic and mechanics. On the other hand, the weapons found in the first few hours are the most common types of firearms and assault rifles. I feel that there is something more subtle under the surface, but I don't have enough time to get there.

The more I think External ports, that's when I want to get the whole issue. We've been to the outside world before, I'm sure, but External ports shows that there is still a place for testing out there. What made Enoch different? Why slow down some people to the molecular level and bless others with superhuman abilities? What mysterious ad is being broadcast on the planet? I don't know, but I want to.

But here's the important thing: it's really fun. The action is fluid and satisfying, even though it feels familiar. Kumita told me that developers look at the games they play to find out what kind of genres and features they like; they wanted to make the game they wanted to play.

"On the other hand, it's crazy," says Kimita about working on a new studio IP for some years. "We'll have to figure out … how to build the game from scratch." But at the same time, "It's very exciting, to be honest."

Lead author Joshua Rubin, who has previously worked on franchises such as The Walking Dead, Assassin & # 39; s Creed, and – yes – Destiny, has feelings for Kmita. "This is a different task because working on a known IP, is like writing historical fiction … While creating a new IP with a group of people as a creative team, it's like … building this fantastic platform in the air that you all define different sides of one another and then you'll play around with it."

You probably want to know more about the People Can Fly experience of interacting with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, but Kmita and Rubin remain standing when it comes to any details on the upcoming console. For the most part, the next generation of PlayStation and Xbox remain a mystery, but at least we know the one game we will be playing when they launch later in 2020. Hopefully with a few new hairstyles.