The Outer Worlds was a hit RPG first released in 2019, set in a space-faring sci-fi world that was developed by Obsidian Entertainment. Around the same time, Bethesda Studios, which is famous for The Elder Scrolls series and the latest Fallout games, is currently developing its own sci-fi RPG called Starfield. Given the similarities between many of the past titles these respective developers have made, as well as their complicated history with each other, it’s inevitable that fans will compare and contrast once again after Starfield launches.
For starters, both games are set centuries into the future where humanity has explored and colonized distant star systems across the galaxy. This leads to opportunities for advanced technologies and weapons to wield, and fascinating, hostile alien worlds to explore. Both titles also seem to not feature any intelligent alien species, where the known galaxy is predominantly settled by humans of different factions.
It’s likely that Starfield is being developed with a much grander scale in mind, with more planets and regions vastly larger than The Outer Worlds, which is set entirely in the Halcyon System. Set in a region of the galaxy called the Settled Systems, it can be assumed that players will command a ship that’s capable of FTL travel, and can explore whole new systems and everything within. Planets that can be landed on are believed to have much more area to travel in than even The Outer Worlds’ largest explorable region of Monarch Wilderness.
While the visuals and graphics look impressive in the trailers, and it can be assumed that the combat and gameplay, in general, will be just as fun as Fallout 4, a big aspect that fans are worried about is the actual RPG mechanics. Many have criticized Bethesda’s latest games for being less focused on good storytelling, characters and meaningful choices for players to make, and there’s fear that this will also happen to Starfield. The Outer Worlds, meanwhile, can be a fairly short experience, but one that fans remember fondly for the story, characters, hilarious dialogue and choices. Bethesda should consider that sometimes, larger doesn’t always mean it's better.
When playing The Outer Worlds, various characters can be recruited as companions and crewmembers of your ship, the Unreliable. Their looks, abilities and personalities have a wide range and are always enjoyable to talk with and fight alongside on missions. It’s unknown how many companions players will potentially have in Starfield, but it’s likely they’ll also be made crewmates of your ship as you travel to different star systems. Whether or not they’re just as engaging as the Unreliable crew is yet to be seen.
One of the biggest differences between these titles is that despite the serious main story, The Outer Worlds is filled with tons of humor, sometimes in things as subtle as item descriptions. On the other hand, all of Starfield’s marketing has indicated that it’ll be set in a much more serious and realistic world. This can be seen from the interior of a ship with bridge controls, buttons and switches that people would expect to see on a real-life starship. Its team has the game themed around various future technologies and locations themed around NASA space missions and projects.
Starfield is still at least another year away, so there’s a lot of speculation on what to expect. Obsidian also has a head start in their own series since they’ve already announced that a sequel is being developed. If Bethesda wants to make this a great start for its new IP, it should look at what made The Outer Worlds a great experience and apply those ideas.