Exclusive gameplay of the External World 2:11 Minutes – IGN First
Blog Andrew Joseph 09 Apr , 2025 0
Welcome to our latest IGN First – an exclusive report from April, which is all about Outer World 2. This is the first look at its gameplay in real time, and it takes us through a mission where you can infiltrate the N-ray facilities to showcase several new features and mechanics of the game, and how to rethink the level design. One of the biggest things for me is that as an RPG, the developer’s Obsidian looks back in the past, it will be the depth of RPG, and even draw inspiration from immersive Sims like Deus Ex and Dishonononed.
Although this DNA has always been part of a first-person RPG, External World 2 has more complex systems than the first game, such as a true stealth system, and better tools to make PlayStyle viable, including effective melee weapons and skills to make silent commands possible. Take the health bar above the enemy's head as an example – there is a purple reading that shows how the damage from the stealth attack will occur, helping you tell if you can kill a blow, or even worth popping up on the target. Enemies will also detect corpses and alert guards, but if you have the skill to break down your body on the spot, you can clean it up quickly.
Behind the mission, you can pick up the N-ray scanner, which allows you to see certain objects and NPCs/enemys through the walls. While this is crucial in finding more important parts of the environmental puzzle, it is also an important tool for stealth and combat. There are enemies covering themselves in the entire N-ray facility. The lens of the N-ray scanner is invisible to the naked eye, but cannot escape. If you don't have a liar about using it, the masked enemy is easy to run on you. This is just an example of how adding a widget can add new wrinkles to gameplay.
There are several interlocking systems that will affect your gameplay, and tend to make up RPG elements that make up specific character-builds. So stealth and those immersive simulation sensitivity aren't the only way gameplay can expand 2 in the outside world. Improving gun battles is the main focus of Obsidian, and destiny is the touchstone of a good shooting technique. It's not that the game will become a full-time shooter, but it's closer to a first-person game with guns.
When we use a firearm, you will see an example in the method of N-ray facility movement. The movement has also been tweaked to complement the gunplay, making you more flexible and doing things like Sprint-Slide while aiming for action heroes (such as action heroes), and with the return of Tactical Time Expansion (TTD), Bullet Time Fantasy is once again an effective part of your combative spin. We were able to see Tollables, which is by no means revolutionary for a game like this, but this time included, you have another tool that can weave into the arsenal and even do something nasty like throwing grenades, activate TTD, and shooting grenades in grenades in the air to make it burst out of neglected enemies.
So far, there isn't much to share in the story, let alone the background of the tasks in the N-ray facility, but we do see how to adjust the conversation a little bit in the sequel. In the game video above, we have a moment facing an NPC called exemplar foxworth, who survived. She is bleeding and you can help her patch her based on your medical statistics, or respond based on your gun or melee statistics. Although we can’t study the partner in more detail, this section also highlights a new companion named Aza, a former cult guy who is a little crazy, but with you it seems that helps them undo what they do.
Many of these elements are part of some form of the original outer world, but that game is more about laying a new foundation for Obsidian, and Outer World 2 seems to be the fully implemented version it tries to build with the first. In addition to checking it out early, I also had conversations with people at Obsidian to learn about its vast array of new features and the vision to drive this sequel. Meanwhile, considering what the consequences can be intravenous, they often mention “Fallout: New Vegas”, and when making the Outer World 2, they often mention modern first-person RPGs, thus seemingly eager to waving the studio's past RPG roots.
This is just the taste of Outer World 2, and what we cover in IGN this month. I'll break down character building, new flaw systems, all the wild and quirky weapons, and how big this sequel is through interviews with key characters like original Fallout Developer and creative director Leonard Boyarsky, game director Brandon Adler, and design director Matt Singh. Continuously check back on IGN for more information!
Michael Higham is the tech review editor for IGN, but is still talking about one of the RPG Sickos of Fallout: New Las Vegas staff. You can @brazyazn.bsky.social.
