The Outer Worlds has shown me that something better than a Fallout game could be made. I had much more fun with The Outer Worlds content than with a few Fallout games and the Outer Worlds had less budget! Of course, this game has way less story than any Fallout but still doesn’t fail on making it long enough to be enjoyable.
Now, improving the gameplay gets harder and harder so DLCs have to be released, being this Peril On Gorgon DLC a slightly huge expansion that is able to renew the whole game by mixing the content of the base game and the newly added planet. I wasn’t expecting much, just a few quests and a little bit of weaponry, but I was blown away with the design and the architecture used that fitted perfectly in the environment of Gorgon.
The Outer Worlds: Peril on Gorgon DLC
Developer: Obsidian
Price: $15
Platforms: PC (reviewed), PS4, Xbox One.
MonsterVine was provided with a PC code for review.
Peril On Gorgon, in general, doesn’t offer an open world system but instead offers different semi-open planets, meaning that it’s possible to explore different sections of the same area without having to progress the entirety of the story and without loading into unnecessary areas. This is great for those, like me, who like to explore things firsthand in this case, an advantage that will allow the character to travel instantly to the discovered location (fast travel feature).
The first time I visited the new world, Gorgon, I started exploring everything and ended up getting lost after less than 30-minutes but thanks to the smart auto-saving features I had a dozen different checkpoints which ended up being very useful later on… Otherwise, I would have to walk through several confusing paths over and over and this would be extremely painful.
There is strong attention to detail, put into Peril On Gorgon but the lack of work in the design of certain areas is also noticeable. The main area is a labyrinth by itself with lots of doors that can be lock-picked in order to save time between rooms. This design choice undervalues the rest of the stats and ability pathways, all but forcing players to go down the lockpicking upgrade path.
Sadly we encounter the same problem as always, there are many important characters in Peril On Gorgon that can be a good use if they are treated as allies. However, a few missing shots can make the best enemies out of our allies, having to kill them and maybe not being able to see them anymore.
In terms of length, I was expecting to finish Peril On Gorgon in a single day but the amount of added content was enough to keep me busy for more than 10 hours which is perfect for a DLC. It includes an increased level cap, the addition of new perks, weapons, and tons of lore…. Now, the DLC requires the game to be played till a certain point (most planets unlocked) meaning that all made decisions will affect all the content related to the DLC. For example, all our possible companions will have a word in most of the DLC (but not if they are already dead) and this is what is going to happen to most people when they reach this point so the best option would be starting a new game to explore new options and possibilities and preparing all characters for all the new content (including the second DLC that will come eventually). For this reason, this DLC won’t only give around 10 hours of content but can double this amount by forcing the player to create a new save.
The Final Word
Without a doubt, this is a worthy expansion that has to be bought with the season pass as a leap of faith to see what can Obsidian bring to us next time.
MonsterVine Review Score: 4 out of 5 – Good
