THE OUTER WORLDS: PERIL ON GORGON Review: More Is Better, Mostly

Xbox One code provided by Private Division and Obsidian Entertainment

The Outer Worlds is getting bigger with a new rock full of squabbling humans with a penchant for murder. Obsidian is handing the reins back over to the players and their decisions will alter the course of even more Halcyon colonists.

Peril on Gorgon, the first narrative expansion to the critically-acclaimed RPG from Obsidian Entertainment, is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

You can get it now for $14.99 or you can buy the expansion pass that will give you access to both expansions that are planned for The Outer Worlds, saving you $5 in the long run.

But before you decide, let’s join back up with the crew of the Unreliable and see how space has changed in the last year.

STORY 

Here’s what kicks off the descent into madness:

A severed arm and a mysterious message lead the crew of the Unreliable to the Gorgon Asteroid, formerly the site of one of Halcyon’s most ambitious and disastrous scientific undertakings, now a lawless den of monsters and marauders. Wealthy recluse Minnie Ambrose tasks the crew with finding answers about Dr. Olivia Ambrose, her mother, and the doomed project’s disgraced director, but they are soon ensnared in an intrigue that will change the colony forever.

If you’ve never played Fallout or The Outer Worlds, then that paragraph might be pretty disturbing. It might sound hyperbolic, outrageous, and unlikely.

For players familiar with the base game, though, and any of the Fallout games, then the story hook probably elicited a wry chuckle and an “Oh really?” Someone is always making a bad decision. It’s usually a corporation, staffed by incompetent management. And it falls to the player to sort out the mess… or make it bigger.

At the end of the day, it’s business as usual for the colony and for anyone starting to play Peril on Gorgon.

GAMEPLAY

The story may blend in with other plotlines in The Outer Worlds and the cynicism may not be as welcome as in the Before Times, but the gameplay is still a lot of fun.

The abandoned Spacer’s Choice facility gives you so much room to go wild with all of the rooms and levels spread out across that chunk of the asteroid. NPCs are still there to get in your way, and gunfights are slick and satisfying, per usual. And if you’re outside, then there are canyons and other topographical features for players to roam through and around. The crew of the Unreliable won’t be alone, though. Science has gone wrong on this planet, and there are some demented results of those experiments.

Science weapons are one of the most amusing parts of the game, and they make an appearance, which made me really happy. The character building allowed me to try out both a melee approach and ranged encounters depending on my preference. The freedom in The Outer Worlds to make a character and their companions as badass as possible still exists in the DLC, and I do love the creative expression that’s possible—even though it typically leads to the dismemberment, vaporization, and general destruction of many humans and creatures.

I didn’t think it made much of a difference, but there is also an increased level cap, from 30 to 33. That doesn’t make a huge difference (or even a small one), but it does allow for some additional flexibility when customizing your characters. Add in the extra armor, weapons, and gear and you’ve got some more fun.

Again, it doesn’t really change the game’s formula, but that will be good news for some players. Those hoping for change, however, will be disappointed at how seamlessly Peril on Gorgon fits in the bigger picture of the game.

VISUALS

Like it was upon release, The Outer Worlds is still pretty to look at.

The Halcyon colony grows ever more diverse with the Gorgon asteroid. Anyone exploring the area will be rewarded with new places to see and crazy weapons to experiment with.

If you liked how the world opened up before you last year, then this is a continuation of that aesthetic, just with more areas to discover.

REPLAYABILITY

Because of how the DLC is incorporated into the game—wedged in the narrative before the end of the main campaign—it will force players who beat the game to do one of two things: start the game all over again or load an old save file.

If players decide that they want to dive back in all the way and start from scratch, then this requirement succeeds in raising the replay value of the game. Players are starting over. They’re experiencing the game anew. And they’ll be able to access the DLC as the story progresses.

If players just load up an old save, then it’s really just adding between 6-8 hours of content for them to explore. That should be enough for most players to finish the new adventure and any side quests that they picked up along the way.

Peril on Gorgon is nice because it opens up more of this exotic and dangerous world, but the DLC doesn’t add supplementary game content like new modes or anything that will provide other ways to enjoy The Outer Worlds.

It’s a good value, but not a great one.

WHAT IT COULD HAVE DONE BETTER 

The Outer Worlds is a collection of connected planets, ships, and other locales that provide the player with a nomadic space opera of outlaw justice, corporate expansion, and lots and lots of killing—unless you abstain from much of the mechanics in the game.

As a narrative expansion that occurs before the end of the game, the Gorgon asteroid and the sad story that takes place on it ultimately become part of the whole, rather than a substantial add-on afterward or an anomaly that deviates from the norm.

Yes, there’s a new storyline. More armor, weapons, and character options are available. New things have been added. I’m not arguing that. But it still doesn’t greatly shake up the formula in The Outer Worlds. If you got your fill of the game when it released last year, then I’m not certain Peril on Gorgon can adequately change your mind about the game.

It’s dark, it’s humorous, and it’s got the DNA of the original game. But it also has released in a time when the world is completely different from the original release date for The Outer Worlds. Things have changed and so have gamers.

It will be up to them to decide if they want to wade back into the murky depths of a game that reflects a little too much of what we see in the world on a daily basis.

VERDICT

If you liked The Outer Worlds then the Peril on Gorgon narrative DLC is likely enough to convince you back into the ridiculous world of corporate greed, human indecency, space piracy, and general mayhem.

Witty writing, eye-popping vistas, and diabolical gameplay all return for a victory lap.

While the story gets a big kick of Adrena-Time, it’s ultimately familiar territory for players used to The Outer Worlds and the Fallout series. So you will either love it or you might simply enjoy the excuse to come back and play some more in this obscene sandbox.