Obsidian Entertainment revealed their new title at The Game Awards, The Outer Worlds. And judging from the trailer, The Outer Worlds looks a lot like a Fallout game.
Obsidian has a strong reputation as a developer that does a lot of projects that are sequels to other popular game franchises. Not only is it the studio behind Neverwinter Nights 2 and Star Wars: Knights of the Republic II: The Sith Lords, both sequels to BioWare games, but it is also the developer of Fallout: New Vegas, a sequel to Bethesda's Fallout 3. However, the company recently started devoting itself to its own properties, including its crowdfunded Pillars of Eternity and Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. Its recent success got the attention of Microsoft, who bought Obsidian back in November.
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Obsidian's newest title, The Outer Worlds, was unveiled at The Game Awards. The trailer shows a game with a steampunk kind of feel that also has a very retro wasteland vibe that is very reminiscent of Fallout. The trailer announces that the player has arrived at the edge of the galaxy, "the frontier of space," a place that has become overrun with corporations, which explains all the retro advertisements seen throughout the video.
Obsidian partnered with Take-Two with this new title before the company became part of Microsoft, which means The Outer Worlds will not be an Xbox One and PC exclusive: it will also be on the PS4. The trailer also announces that the game will release sometime in 2019. Perhaps what's most evident in the trailer, though, is how very much like Fallout the game appears to be. Not only does the game have that same vintage vibe, but even some of the outfits resemble those seen in Fallout games. Even the camera shots feel familiar. The trailer also mentions that The Outer Worlds comes from the original creators of Fallout, as well as the developers of Fallout: New Vegas, so these similarities are apparent for a reason.
With the complete train wreck that has become the release of Bethesda's Fallout 76, The Outer Worlds seems like the Fallout game that fans have wanted all along. It's an obvious throwback to titles like Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, and because it's an original IP, shouldn't come with the baggage that the franchise now has, thanks to the issues with Fallout 76. When The Outer Worlds releases next year, it's likely to appeal to players who feel like they got burned by Bethesda.