Loot based games are pretty popular with gamers these days and there doesn't seem to be a shortage of them currently on the market. Many of them also seem to turn to the live service route as a way to not only continue expanding and improving the experience over time, but to also hopefully keep players invested for the long haul. Unfortunately, many games seem to use this as crutch, launching a flawed or unfinished game with the hopes to fix many of the issues over the weeks and months after release.
For many games, this has proven to be a fatal flaw with games like Anthem essentially being reworked into something completely new or Marvel's Avengers which continues to cling onto life support with a fan base that is tired of waiting and quickly decreasing in number. Most looters are attempting to replicate the success of the current market leader Destiny 2, a game that had its own launch issues but has since stabilized thanks to years of updates, expansions, and seasonal content.
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Even after multiple delays, Outriders remains an intriguing concept for fans of this genre. While it appears to tap into that Looter Shooter RPG power fantasy of a Destiny 2, developer People Can Fly is aiming to do something different, namely to avoid the pitfalls of the live service game and deliver a complete experience out of the box on day 1. To help sell people on the concept, the developer is releasing a demo this month that promises to give players a good taste of what to expect when the main Outriders game launches in April.
Thankfully, the official Outriders Twitter account gave a thorough look at what players can expect when booting up the demo on February 25. In terms of the game's story, players will have access to the prologue mission as well as the first chapter of the story. Gear and enemies encountered will be locked to early game versions, though People Can Fly promises that the further that players delve into the game, the more twisted, exotic, and powerful gear and enemies become.
The demo will end after players take on the first boss of the game known as Gauss, another rival Altered individual. Once the boss is defeated, new side missions will unlock and players can go back and simply explore the world if they wish. The demo doesn't have a time limit and will remain active beyond the game's launch in April, unlike some recent demos like Monster Hunter Rise, which was made available on the Nintendo Switch for a limited time only.
People Can Fly is enabling all four character classes for the demo so fans will be able to experience what makes each class feel different. Better yet, the demo will have six character slots open, letting players try out different characters without having to delete one to open a spot.
Characters will be capped at level 7 which lets players unlock four different active skills that can be mixed and matched during gameplay segments. In addition, reaching level 7 in the demo also unlocks two skill points that can be used in any of the three skill trees that each class has access to.
It has also been confirmed that players will be able to switch between five different World Tiers, a dynamic difficulty system that alters the game world to make enemies more challenging by increasing their damage, armor, and health while offering better odds on finding good loot. Playing well automatically promotes players to a higher world tier, though players still can manually change it if they wish.
For the demo, World Tier 5 increases rare gear drop chances, though the chance for legendary gear remains extremely low. Once the full version of Outriders launches, players can go all the way up to World Tier 15, which offers a significant challenge but increases the change for legendary loot by 800%.
For those who intend to play the demo on their platform of choice for the full version, progress can be transferred. So PlayStation players can transfer their demo progression provided they get the full game on the same platform. However, People Can Fly warns that Steam players won't be able to move data over to the Epic Games Store and vice versa. Progression includes gathered resources, in-game accolades, as well as character progress.
Outriders releases on April 1, 2021, for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.