The Outer Worlds 2has announced that it’s bringing back the best feature fromFallout: New Vegas, and I couldn’t be happier.The Outer Worldsis developed by Obsidian Entertainment, a studio formed by veterans of the original isometricFalloutgames who later returnedto work onNew Vegas. For the most part, the hallmarks ofFalloutare there: the retrofuturistic setting, the capitalist satire, the perk-focused RPG gameplay, and the absurd humor.
Butone major feature fromFallout: New Vegas(and every 3DFalloutgame before or since) was sorely missing fromThe Outer Worlds. In its effort to addresscriticisms of the first game, Obsidian is adding a variety of new features to the sequel, including a revamped combat system with lots of wacky weapons. However, its coolest change is something a lot smaller - although it could have a big impact on the way players experience the interstellar setting ofThe Outer Worlds 2.
The Outer Worlds 2 Will Have A Fallout-Style Radio
Jingle Jangle Jingle
Interactive radio stations have become a mainstay of theFalloutseries, and, crucially,they’ll be coming back inThe Outer Worlds 2. The radio serves multiple functions: for one,it plays lots of great songs. The music is an important part of the setting, as it demonstrates the impact of the Great War and the bombs on popular culture. It’s also immersive and atmospheric, as nothing sets the tone of post-nuclear America quite likeFallout’s music. The radio also responds dynamically to your gameplay, with announcements of the player character’s deeds as they cut a path across the wasteland.
Radio stations are part of every 3DFalloutgame, butthey’reexecuted best inNew Vegas- Obsidian’s lastFalloutgame. That’s because the song choice is sincerer, informed by the locale, where the radio in games likeFallout 4and76takes a more ironic tone, filling the airwaves with songs about “Uranium Fever” and “Atom Bomb Baby.” That makes the world feel broad and varied, instead of singularly fixated on the misery of day-to-day life.
The Outer Worlds 2will have a similar radio system:each of its three main factions will have its own radio station, featuring both music and news. Similarly toFalloutgames, the news stories will react dynamically to your choices. If you betray a particular faction, they may come on the air to denounce you; do a big favor for a different one, though, and you’ll hear them singing your praises. It sounds like a delightful and fascinating evolution ofNew Vegas' radio system - but I have to wonder what it’ll sound like.
What The Outer Worlds 2’s Radio Stations Might Sound Like
Period-Accurate Music, Or Something Else?
During the Outer Worlds Direct,Outer Worlds 2director Brandon Adler spoke for a short time on the new radio system (viaPC Gamer). He says, “Each station might have like 20 tracks of unique music that we’ve made for it,” which makes me curious -will the radio stations inThe Outer Worlds 2play original music?
It’s certainly possible, and I’m curious to see how Obsidian might interpret the challenge of composing music for an alternate history setting. I can only imaginethe myriad ways popular music might manifest itself inThe Outer Worlds- how the various megacorporations would get their hands in it, how it’d be informed by the differences in its fictional history, how discovering new alien worlds and spending long stretches of time in space would impact the composition and recording of music.
Of course,The Outer Worlds 2could take theFalloutapproach and simplyuse popular music from around the timeThe Outer Worlds' timelinediverges from the real world’s - circa 1901, when William McKinley was assassinated by Leon Czolgosz. Things like ragtime, Dixieland jazz, folk and gospel hymns sound about right, and I could see how an eclectic mix of the three would make for interesting and immersive radio stations. Of course,The Outer Worlds 2could also land somewhere in the middle, composing space-age music that draws on these classic genres for inspiration.
Ultimately, this is an aspect of the game we know relatively little about. I admire the many waysThe Outer Worlds 2is trying to build on the original game, and for what it’s worth, it certainly looks like a solid sequel at this point. One thing’s for sure: I’ll be tuning into my beloved radio once again the momentThe Outer Worlds 2gives me the chance.
