Outriders Review (PS5) | Push Square

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Republished on Wednesday, 15th February, 2023: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of February 2023's PS Plus Extra and Premium lineup. The original text follows.

You know what? Outriders is pretty good. Torn apart during our first impressions piece based on the demo, the final version proves developer People Can Fly hadn't put its best foot forward during those opening hours. It's still that same style of game, but the Polish studio cunningly saved a few tricks up its sleeve for the full experience. And while it's not without blemishes — uninteresting characters and the requirement of a constant Internet connection prove especially troublesome — Outriders provides an impressively tempting alternative to the looter shooters some have come to know and love.

At first glance, though, you'd be forgiven for thinking it's an otherworldly knock-off of The Division 2. Both are third-person, cover-based looter shooters. However, that cover isn’t for you. It's for the enemy. This fundamentally changes how Outriders plays, where cowering behind a piece of rubble is more likely to get you killed than anything else. The game thrives when you do the complete opposite and take the fight to the enemy with flamboyant abilities and feel-good gunplay — staying rooted to the spot is essentially a death wish. It's the power fantasy done right.

In fact, People Can Fly's follow-up to Bulletstorm (and the Save the World campaign for Fortnite, but we’ll forget about that) really is all about the feel. Four different classes feel distinct, each equipped with their own skills and roles during combat. The Trickster is all about getting up close and personal with the inhabitants of Enoch thanks to abilities