A common theme in today’s gaming world is that “open-world games are one of the best things to create because players love them!” That might sound true, given all the open-world titles that are out there, but whether fans “love them” depends on the game itself. In fact, at this point in time, gamers only enjoy open-world titles if the game FEELS like it’s full of stuff within those worlds instead of just “being open spaces.” For the upcoming title, The Outer Worlds 2 by Obsidian Entertainment, the team knew it wanted to make bigger places for its universe and ensure that it had meaningful content for players to enjoy.
In a special chat with IGN, game director Brandon Adler broke down what that meant and what the true mindset for Obsidian was in making the sequels’ game worlds better:
“One of the very first things we were targeting when we started The Outer Worlds 2 was to make these big, expansive areas. It’s what players told us they wanted. Before we get into any area, we have deep conversations about the overall story, the factions and what they’re doing, what’s important to them. Asking things like, why was anybody in Golden Ridge? We’ll say like, we want the trench lines here, maybe for gameplay reasons, but talk about why it makes sense story-wise.”
For him and the others at Obsidian, the goal was to “get players hooked” into any and every area that they go into. That way, they know that these aren’t just “random areas to explore” but ones that have a history, a story, and a meaning behind everything that’s there. Adler used the Golden Ridge example to make his point further:
“I won’t get into what happens at the beginning of Golden Ridge, but there’s a big state change in the area when you first get there. It’s going to blow people away and make them really want to investigate what’s happening. You’ll see that throughout a lot of our areas as well. We try to do those types of things – let the players see big events that are happening pretty early and get them hooked into the area.”
That being said, there is still a desire for players to check out every inch of the game’s many worlds, and there will be plenty to do within them outside the main story. That includes doing numerous side quests, getting all manner of collectibles, and more.
